White House party crasher is a UC Davis grad - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

White House party crasher is a UC Davis grad - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Tareq Salahi, a Virginia winery owner who made national headlines when he and his wife crashed a White House state dinner Tuesday as part of audition for a TV reality show, has ties to the Sacramento area.

University of California, Davis officials confirmed today that Salahi is, in reality, an Aggie.

UC Davis spokeswoman Pat Bailey said records show that Salahi began his studies at the campus in 1987 and received a bachelor's degree from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science in 1994. Bailey said Salahi had an "individual major," meaning he designed his own course of study in enology and management.

Professor emeritus Ann Noble remembers Salahi as a "delightful person," but one who was more interested in campus social life than academics.

"He was a kid in a candy shop," she said.

Noble said she had the impression Salahi was reared in a strict family and that he had enjoyed a new-found freedom at UC Davis. But she said he was not a prankster."

Joblessness adds to burden on D.C. area schools - washingtonpost.com

Joblessness adds to burden on D.C. area schools - washingtonpost.com:

"Schools throughout the Washington area are feeding an unprecedented number of poor students as unemployment continues to rise.

One in four students in Fairfax County qualifies for free or reduced-price meals this fall, up from one in five three years ago. In Montgomery County, 29 percent of students were deemed eligible for meal subsidies in October, up from 26 percent in October 2007. In Prince William County, the eligibility rate increased from 29 to 33 percent, and in Prince George's County, from 46 to 52 percent."

As the lunchroom poverty barometer rises, schools are solidifying their role as centers for social services.

"If basic needs are not met, children cannot learn," said Karen Thompson, a guidance counselor at Guilford Elementary School in Sterling. "If we have children coming to school hungry, that is our first concern. We also have to make sure they have shoes, warm clothing. Have they slept? Do they have a place to live?"

Charter founder's pension benefits cut | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/23/2009

Charter founder's pension benefits cut Philadelphia Inquirer 11/23/2009:

"Eighteen months after Pennsylvania's retirement system began investigating Dorothy June Brown for collecting full-time salaries from two charter schools, Brown's pension benefits have been slashed.

The state Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) has informed Brown that her monthly benefit is being cut from $14,150 to $3,254 - a 77 percent drop.
Ruling that Brown had provided incomplete and conflicting information, the system wiped out all employment credit she had claimed since July 2004."

The information was contained in an Oct. 14 letter to Brown, who founded three traditional charter schools in Philadelphia and the Agora Cyber Charter School in Devon. The Inquirer obtained a copy after filing a request under the state Right-to-Know Law.

Brown, 72, has appealed. She disputes the findings and says she is entitled to the pension, which is partly based on her 19.3 years of service as a Philadelphia School District administrator.

"They are going to end up paying me my money," she said recently. "PSERS owes me money."

Evelyn Tatkovski, a spokeswoman for the retirement system, could not say how often the state takes such actions. She said the agency must follow the retirement law and cut benefits "if a benefit was improperly paid to a member."

Employees at most of the 127 publicly funded charter schools statewide participate in PSERS.

Cyber school founder gets $3 million to cut ties | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/23/2009

Cyber school founder gets $3 million to cut ties Philadelphia Inquirer 11/23/2009:

"The founder of a charter school in Devon that is under federal investigation has received $3 million to sever all ties to the institution, according to terms of a settlement that includes the state Department of Education.

The payment to Dorothy June Brown's firm settles four lawsuits involving Agora Cyber Charter, an Internet-based school that has 5,500 students throughout the state. Agora is one of at least six Philadelphia-area charters whose finances and operations are under federal scrutiny."

The New Cost Of A UC Education - KTXL

The New Cost Of A UC Education - KTXL:

"SACRAMENTO - Students from across the University of California system are outraged over future fee increases approved one week ago by members of the university system's board of regents. But just how much will students now have to dish out to pay for their education?

According to a document released on November 19th by the UC Board of Regents Committee on Finance, graduate professional students with majors in business, law, theatre and most medicinal fields currently pay $6,822 in student fees. This fee will increase to $7,401 during the current academic calendar in time for the Spring Quarter in January 2010.

Fees will inflate onece again for graduate student professionals to $9,312 -- an increase of $1,911 per semester -- to fulfill the full 32% fee increase over nearly two school years."

Next Steps Being Determined in Rancho Cordova School Closures — The Rancho Cordova Post

Next Steps Being Determined in Rancho Cordova School Closures — The Rancho Cordova Post:

"The FCUSD school board has already handed down their decision to close two Rancho Cordova schools, and the district is now gathering its resources to begin students’ transitions to new schools.

Students currently attending Riverview Elementary will be transitioned to Peter J. Shields Elementary, located at 10434 Georgetown Drive; students attending Cordova Lane Elementary will either be attending Williamson Elementary at 2275 Benita Drive or Rancho Cordova Elementary at 2562 Chassella Way. Cordova Lane students will be split up because its population is “too large to fit into one school,” Public Information officer Stephen Nichols said."

Self-Advocacy: Student Resources: Education: Disability.gov

Self-Advocacy: Student Resources: Education: Disability.gov:

"Tips for Teens: Use Your IEP Meetings to Learn How to Advocate for Yourself

Information for teens on how to begin to express their needs and wants by participating in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. At these meetings, teens can learn ways to talk about their disability to others, set goals, build teamwork skills, ask for accommodation and practice other self-advocacy skills. This link opens a PDF document."

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity Video on TED.com

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

About Sir Ken Robinson
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types… Full bio and more links

-->

Cutback in class supplies puts strain on educators

Cutback in class supplies puts strain on educators:

"Some Valley educators teach in high-tech classrooms, some in low-tech versions, but they now all have to deal with the same issue: shrinking classroom supplies.

On Monday, the Legislature cut $144 million from Arizona districts in what's known as soft capital, or books, technology and classroom supplies.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill for the current fiscal year, which will end June 30."

And more K-12 education cuts will likely be on the horizon. Brewer and top legislators will meet Monday to begin planning for their fifth special Legislative session this year.

From paper to plastic tubs, there isn't much Tiffany Larsen hasn't bought for her Mesa students, much of it out of her own pocket.

Although the school year began only three months ago, the fourth-grade Whitman Elementary teacher already has spent $500 on classroom supplies, a personal expense that she said comes with being a teacher.

Class Struggle - Should we inflate Advanced Placement grades?

Class Struggle - Should we inflate Advanced Placement grades?:

"The Rochester Community public schools in Michigan do a fine job. Their leaders often have great ideas. But according to school board member Mike Reno, they are talking about doing something to their Advanced Placement courses that could be troublesome, even though I once thought it was a good idea. (Some people who know me say that is the very definition of a bad idea.)

Here is what Reno revealed in an email to me:"

"Our district, in an effort to increase AP participation, is proposing to lower the grading scale for AP classes. The idea is based on the notion that kids in Rochester don’t want to take AP classes because they are afraid that the tougher work will lead to a lower grade, and they don’t want to damage their GPA for fear it will harm their college entrance chances. The district’s logic suggests by that lowering the grading scale, students will have a better chance of getting a better grade, and therefore be more willing to take the class.

"This is not their brainchild. They claim other districts are doing it. They are calling it internal weighting. They believe this is a better approach than grade weighting, where an A in an AP class would be worth, say, 5.0 instead of 4.0. The district argues that colleges strip off weighted grades, whereas an internal weight benefits the student during college entrance. (I believe grade weighting has value when calculating class ranking, vals, sals, top scholars, etc, but think colleges are free to recalculate anything they’d like). Am a crazy to think this is a bunch of nonsense?"

Carroll ISD considers ranking only top 10 percent of high-schoolers | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Carroll ISD considers ranking only top 10 percent of high-schoolers News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Latest News:

"Carroll ISD could soon become the latest exemplary district in the area to stop ranking all but the top 10 percent of high school students.

District officials in the northeast Tarrant County district started looking at abolishing rankings after Highland Park ISD chose to do so over the summer because of concerns that high grades in the academically competitive district don't guarantee top rankings. As a result, strong students with a low rank are at a disadvantage when applying to college.

Many students rank lower in their graduating class than administrators believe they would at a less-rigorous school."

Support for good teachers key to federal funds bid, Doyle says - JSOnline

Support for good teachers key to federal funds bid, Doyle says - JSOnline:

"Wisconsin's application for a slice of federal stimulus dollars for education reform must include provisions for getting quality teachers into more classrooms and supporting them so they stay there, Gov. Jim Doyle said this week at Alverno College.

While praising two of Alverno's alternative-track education programs that allow mid-career professionals or other people with degrees in other subjects the opportunity to become teachers, Doyle also outlined the state's progress on its federal Race to the Top application, which is due in mid-January.

'Programs like Alverno will be a major part of our application,' Doyle said Tuesday."

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole'

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole':

"A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on 'white privilege' as well as 'remedial re-education' for those who hold the 'wrong' views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

The organization, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America's colleges and universities, has dispatched a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks asking him to intervene to prevent the adoption of policies proposed in his College of Education and Human Development."

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

"Take out your cell phones," she said in Spanish.

The teens pulled out an array of colorful flip phones, iPhones and SideKicks. They divided into groups and Leonard began sending them text messages in Spanish: Find something green. Go to the cafeteria. Take a picture with the school secretary.

Leonard's class at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, a middle-class Florida suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, is one of a growing number around the country that are abandoning traditional policies of cell phone prohibition and incorporating them into class lessons. Spanish vocabulary becomes a digital scavenger hunt. Notes are copied with a cell phone camera. Text messages serve as homework reminders.

"I can use my cell phone for all these things, why can't I use it for learning purposes?'" Leonard said. "Giving them something, a mobile device, that they use every day for fun, giving them another avenue to learn outside of the classroom with that."

Much more attention has gone to the ways students might use phones to cheat or take inappropriate pictures. But as the technology becomes cheaper, more advanced and more ingrained in students' lives that mentality is changing.

"It really is taking advantage of the love affair that kids have with technology today," said Dan Domevech, executive director of the nonprofit American Association of School Administrators. "The kids are much more motivated to use their cell phone in an educational manner."

Citizen's Voice: Be honest about state's test scores » Knoxville News Sentinel

Citizen's Voice: Be honest about state's test scores » Knoxville News Sentinel:

"Can education exist without all the dishonesty and lying?

When did the deceit and lying begin? Answer: When the GOP attempted to reform education using standardized test scores to make educational decisions.

What was education politics like before all the lying? Before the Tennessee Education Report Card, for example?"

Tennessee is not the only state to declare students to have grade-level mastery of reading and math when they do not, but Tennessee is a target because we have chosen to set the "state's standards at a low bar," to use the words of The Associated Press.

Our Tennessee education officials are lying to our kids when they tell them they're proficient, but they're not achieving at a level that will prepare them for success once they graduate and have to compete.

Tennesseans - parents, kids, citizens - are told that our Tennessee standardized test that is used to satisfy the No Child Left Behind's "Adequate Yearly Progress" and "Achievement Value Added" says we're in "good standing." Rubbish!

Our kids and schools do fine on the tests that only Tennesseans take, but when our kids take national tests, they end up at the bottom. Why is that?

What did the conservative newspapers of Tennessee tell their readers recently when the Tennessee Department of Education released its 2009 Report Card?

Md. improves data collection to track students' performance -- baltimoresun.com

Md. improves data collection to track students' performance -- baltimoresun.com:

"Maryland has made significant progress in assembling an educational data system that would allow the state to track every student's experience through the public school system from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary education.

In a report released this week, the Data Quality Campaign said that Maryland, which was behind 48 other states in completing its data collection system, has now given each student a unique number, an important step in collecting data that will allow it to eventually link student test data to teacher performance."

State teachers union OK with using test scores for evaluations - News - ReviewJournal.com

State teachers union OK with using test scores for evaluations - News - ReviewJournal.com:

"In dropping their opposition to student test scores being used in teachers' performance evaluations, Nevada's teachers unions appear to be essentially adopting a compromise by the Obama administration.

While it earlier emphasized that student achievement data need to be linked with teacher performance evaluations, the Obama administration has since softened its tone after months of taking policy input from the public."

JOSE DE LA ISLA: Feeling smug about education reform» Standard-Times

JOSE DE LA ISLA: Feeling smug about education reform» Standard-Times:

"SAN ANGELO, Texas — HOUSTON — A major shock to the education system came during World War II when the armed services reported an appalling degree of illiteracy among recent school graduates. They complained the typical public-school graduate had trouble writing a respectable English sentence and many soldiers were woefully ignorant of elementary facts about the nation’s history.

With the 1957 launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 got the federal government involved in all levels of education that had previously been almost exclusively a state and local public-policy niche. The federal government encouraged strengthened curriculums in math, science, languages and disciplines and increased grants, loans and graduate scholarships."

In his 1959 book, “Education and Freedom,” Adm. Hyman Rickover claimed low-level knowledge impeded the United States from competing better with the Soviet Union, which was preparing its youth for a technological world. “Even the average child now needs almost as good an education as the average middle- and upper-class child used to get in the college-preparatory schools,” he wrote.

Then the mid-20th century’s focus on Cold War military and economic security led to a paradigm shift. Juan Enriquez of Harvard Business School argued in his 2000 book, “As the Future Catches You,” that nations previously needed massive agriculture and industrialization to prosper.

Now educated, entrepreneurial people were replacing natural resources as wealth. The U.S.S.R.’s gold, oil, uranium and forests could not keep it from going broke while its great scientists and mathematicians lacked freedoms that come with entrepreneurship.

Enriquez pointed out that Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Congo, Mexico, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela had vast natural resources but their people were poorer than 20 years before. Small countries, lacking natural resources, often generated more real wealth per person than large, resource-rich countries.

Misleading comparisons used in school debate | greenvilleonline.com | The Greenville News

Misleading comparisons used in school debate greenvilleonline.com The Greenville News:

"In his report on private school funding, Bruce Baker (Rutgers University) establishes the context for the new study: “This report provides a first-of-its-kind descriptive summary of private school expenditures. ... Public understanding (of public funding) remains limited despite increased accountability and annual reporting of financial statistics and student outcomes in public schools. Yet even less is known or understood regarding expenditures or costs of private schools” (http://epicpolicy.org/publication/private-schooling-US)."

Shocking: High School Grads Twice As Likely To Be Jobless Than College Grads – and Right-Wingers are Profiting From Their Pain | Politics | AlterNet

Shocking: High School Grads Twice As Likely To Be Jobless Than College Grads – and Right-Wingers are Profiting From Their Pain Politics AlterNet:

The economic meltdown has hit non-college grads much harder than the educated. And conservatives are very good at exploiting their anger and unease.

"You know how bad the economy is, right? Maybe your 401(k) has tanked. Perhaps you were out of work for a few months. You could have a mortgage under water. Or your health insurance has an impossibly high deductible. Yeah, we're all singing the blues.

I've gotten out my violin to play a mournful accompaniment to our collective angst.

Wait, what's that I hear in the distance? A dissonant, thundering chord someone just hammered on the piano -- a harsh interruption of my languid dirge. Now it repeats, getting louder and nearer."

2010 Isn’t Soon Enough for California « DC Progressive

2010 Isn’t Soon Enough for California « DC Progressive:

"Today a prominent celebrity news site, TMZ, reported that one of the world’s most well known movie stars failed to pay his taxes in 2004 and 2005 and now owes the government nearly $80,000 in back taxes. This celebrity also happens to be the governor of the state of California."

The story has since been confirmed by the Governor’s office and the problem has been blamed on a “a minor paperwork tracking discrepancy.”

51 UCD Protesters Won't Be Charged - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento

51 UCD Protesters Won't Be Charged - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento:

"WOODLAND, Calif. -- Fifty-one people who were arrested at UC Davis earlier this month in connection with a protest regarding student fees won't be charged, according to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office.

'Based on my discussions with Chancellor Katehi and Police Chief Spicuzza, the District Attorney's Office will not be filing criminal charges at this time. While criminal charges may be filed for up to one year after the date of the alleged violation, it is our hope that future student demonstrations will comply with the law and eliminate any need for the District Attorney’s involvement at all,' Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a statement."

Pinoy student at UC Berkeley released after campus standoff - Pinoy Abroad - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

Pinoy student at UC Berkeley released after campus standoff - Pinoy Abroad - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News:

"A Filipino doctorate student at the Rhetoric Department of the University of California in Berkeley heaved a sigh of relief when he and 40 other students were recently released by County police after their involvement on a recent standoff at the campus.

Filipino student Paul Nadal joined a group protesting the privatization of the University of California in Berkeley.

Paul Nadal on Friday joined fellow students protesting UC's privatization and the approval of a 32-percent tuition increase across the university system starting next year.

Nadal said their group and some UC staffers started to occupy the Wheeler Hall building at 4:30 a.m., Friday."

In weighing universal pre-kindergarten, Delaware monitors test model in Md. | delawareonline.com | The News Journal

In weighing universal pre-kindergarten, Delaware monitors test model in Md. delawareonline.com The News Journal:

"ELKTON, Md. -- Since beginning pre-kindergarten a month ago, 4-year-old Emilie Beal has started asking to help make the family grocery list. She points out words and asks mother Stephanie Beal how to spell them."

"She's more excited, I think, because the class is doing more activities she wants to do," Beal said. "It's just gotten her more involved in wanting to learn."
Emilie's pre-kindergarten classroom at the Family Education Center in Cecil County is one of 10 in a pilot program testing the feasibility of offering pre-kindergarten to all Maryland 4-year-olds, not just those in low-income or special-needs situations.

As Emilie and her classmates play games that teach basic reading and math, they are taking part in a national initiative to better prepare children for elementary school.

"They are not napping in kindergarten; it is academic all day," said Susan Banker, program coordinator for Cecil County's Judy Center, another pilot classroom. "It's the new first grade."

Education through Music program eyes music, play in learning | Muskegon News - - MLive.com

Education through Music program eyes music, play in learning Muskegon News - - MLive.com:

"SPRING LAKE — A symposium featuring the director of an innovative education program promoting the use of music and play to advance learning will be presented 6:30-8 p.m. Dec. 2, at Lake Hills Elementary School’s Media Center.

Randy McChesne is executive director of Education through Music, a program made available through the Richards Institute, a California nonprofit organization. It advances the use of music, in particular, English language folk songs and 'song-experience games,' to create real-life situations for children. It uses songs to open 'learning ports' and to encourage an 'integrated response to the environment' by participating children.

The program encourages language development, listening skills, intellectual growth, literacy, physical coordination, sensory integration, social skills, self-concept, music development and imagination."

Turlock Journal - California steps up competition for education grant

Turlock Journal - California steps up competition for education grant:

"Education cuts are coming at state governments left and right leaving local school districts with little to nothing to teach the students of the future. No one has much money and the students of America are suffering.

“It’s time to stop just talking about education reform and start actually doing it,” said President Barack Obama on Nov. 4 in Wisconsin. “It’s time to make education America’s national mission."

Daisy Lee, Galt's new superintendent, a 'team builder'

Daisy Lee, Galt's new superintendent, a 'team builder':

"Daisy Lee, currently an associate superintendent for a Modesto school district, has been named the new superintendent of the Galt Joint Union High School District after an extensive search by an outside firm. The announcement was made to staff on Nov. 13, although the board is not scheduled to officially hire Lee until its Dec. 8 meeting.

She will start Jan. 4, after wrapping up a few projects in her current position.
Nearly two years ago, Lee followed Modesto Superintendent Arturo Flores from the Sacramento City Unified School District. He recently congratulated Lee on her appointment in a letter to administrators, and told the Modesto Bee he was working on a plan to reassign her duties."