Saturday, January 23, 2010

Local News | UW President Mark Emmert to tout program across state for low-income students | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | UW President Mark Emmert to tout program across state for low-income students | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"University of Washington President Mark Emmert will hit the road on a statewide tour Monday to promote Husky Promise, a program that guarantees lower-income students will get their full tuition paid at UW.

Emmert and other top administrators have stops planned at high schools in Seattle, Tacoma, Aberdeen and Toppenish, Yakima County. More stops are expected to be added to the itinerary.

Launched in 2007, Husky Promise covers the tuition of about 7,000 students, more than 20 percent of all undergraduates. But the program is under threat from state budget cuts"

Transparency Watch: Race to Top Judges to be Kept Secret - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Transparency Watch: Race to Top Judges to be Kept Secret

By Michele McNeil on January 22, 2010 4:11 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has pledged to conduct an open, transparent competition for $4 billion in Race to the Top funds.

But the Education Department is falling short on one key piece: letting the public know who will judge the competition.

The department has vetted and selected 60 peer reviewers, and there will be a training session for them tomorrow. But the department won't say who they are—that will be announced in April when the winners are named. These are the folks who are tasked with reading through thousands of pages of applications from 40 states, plus the District of Columbia, and scoring them on a complex, 500-point grading scale. Although Duncan has the final say on who wins, the peer reviewers hold a considerable amount of power in determining who wins and who loses.

Who are the Education Experts that will Judge Race to the Top???

Who are the Education Experts that will Judge Race to the Top??? -

CONTROVERSIAL DOCUMENTARY PICKED UP BY PARAMOUNT AT SUNDANCE - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

The controversial documentary on education, Waiting For Superman, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, 1/22/10, was picked up by Paramount for worldwide rights.

Directed and produced by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim of An Inconvenient Truth,Superman "reminds us that education 'statistics' have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily."

According to the Festival's info page here which includes a brief trailer and interview with Guggenheim, Waiting for Superman:

". . .follows a handful of promising kids through a dysfunctional education system. Embracing the belief in the philosophy that good teachers make good schools, and questioning the role of unions in maintaining the status quo, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have - in reshaping the culture - refused to leave their students behind".

Judging from this comment alone, The Daily Riff expects this film to

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - San Diego Unified Asks Teachers to Take a Pay Cut

San Diego Unified is asking its teachers to weigh a salary cut for the 2010-2011 school year. How much of a salary cut? It hasn't said. The proposed cut would be temporary and would be reversed between 2013 and 2015. You can check out the full proposal here. The idea is that San Diego Unified would fill in the blank later as budget numbers get clearer.

"We're heading out into schools and having discussions with members to decide" what to do, said Camille Zombro, president of the teachers union. With little information about how much, exactly, San Diego Unified would cut, Zombro said "all we can do is talk about concepts and options."

Rancho Cordova Library to Re-Open February 13 — The Rancho Cordova Post

Rancho Cordova Library to Re-Open February 13 — The Rancho Cordova Post
As an early Valentine’s Day gift to local residents, Rancho Cordova Library will re-open its doors with a community-wide celebration beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 13 at 9845 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento. The free family festivities will include formal remarks from elected and library officials, a face painter, a magic show, a classical string-music trio, a Friends of Rancho Cordova Library book sale, and light refreshments.

The library branch has been closed since October 26 for refurbishment and renovation. Among the building’s new features are a “just for teens” area with four new computers, new lounge space with comfy furniture and an expanded view of the landscaped patio, colorful new carpet, an enhanced children’s area, more catalog computers and expanded self-check opportunities. Two large book drops have also been added for customer convenience. In addition, the staff workroom has been renovated through a generous bequest from a passionate library volunteer and member of the Rancho Cordova Friends of the Library, Anne Richardson.

The Educated Guess O’Connell’s big plans for his last year

The Educated Guess

O’Connell’s big plans for his last year

Posted in Achivement GAP, Common Core standards, Race to the Top

Superintendent of Public Instructions Jack O’Connell can legitimately claim some accomplishments during his seven years in office: enacting and successfully defending the high school exit exam; broadly expanding career academies in high school with courses approved for UC admission; drawing attention to disparities of achievement among ethnic and racial groups and creating strategies, through his P-16 Council, for narrowing them; and cheerleading a modest growth in test scores.
But even with debilitating cuts in school funding beyond O’Connell’s control, his last year could be his best – if the state wins hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Race to The Top money.
Listening to his final State of Education address, you’d think that it already has. He’s clearly jazzed at the possibility, devoting the bulk of his speech to Race to the Top – even though there’s no saying California will get a penny. It’s one of 40 states that applied to the competition this week.
(Read more and comment on this post)

SAC CHARTERGATE: Rhee says Laid-off Teachers in D.C. Abused Kids

Rhee says Laid-off Teachers in D.C. Abused Kids

The Washington Post is reporting today that DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee claimed in an interview with a national business magazine that some of the teachers laid off as part of a disputed budget reduction plan had sex with children or had hit them.

The explosive charges were made as she responded to interview questions about teacher union allegations that the budget crisis was manufactured to attack teacher seniority rules and move out older teachers.

DC teacher union members are furious, with the union head noting that he received no information that any of the 266 teachers laid off was under investigation for sexual misconduct with children.

Other union activists said they were especially offended by Rhee's remarks, in light of the recent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by her fiancé, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Before Johnson's 2008 election, the inspector general for the federal Corporation for National and Community Service filed a criminal referral with the U.S. attorney in Sacramento about Johnson. It included allegations that Johnson had inappropriately touched a minor girl and climbed into bed with a teenager who worked for the charter school he founded. The school received funding from Americorps, which is part of the community service corporation. Johnson was not charged.

Antihunger groups ask $1 billion a year for U.S. child meals - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. child nutrition programs need at least $1 billion a year in new funding as a step toward elimination of childhood hunger by 2015, an anti-hunger coalition said on Friday.

Congress delayed a renewal of the nutrition programs until this year because it could not find the additional money last year. The programs, centered around school lunch programs, were given $24 billion this fiscal year.

In a letter to congressional leaders, the antihunger coalition pointed to President Barack Obama's proposal a year ago for a $1 billion increase for child nutrition. Obama has a goal of ending child hunger by 2015.

"Given the recent (Agriculture Department) report showing that one in every four children live in households struggling against hunger, the child nutrition programs will need at least that amount of funding, if not a significantly higher investment, to respond to the current crisis," they wrote.

Signing the letter were 53 farm, education, health, religious and food groups.

Backers say more money is needed because of the surge in food prices in 2007 and 2008, higher enrollment due to the recession and the cost of putting fresher and healthier foods into school meals.

Cuts needed amid S.F. schools' $113 million gap

Cuts needed amid S.F. schools' $113 million gap:

"San Francisco schools are facing a $113 million budget shortfall over the next two years - a staggering figure that would mean layoffs, cuts to popular programs like summer school and increases in class size."

Superintendent Carlos Garcia announced the projections Wednesday in a letter to San Francisco Unified School District staff and at a teachers union meeting.

Garcia said there will be layoffs, but the number of teachers and staff members released will depend on what else is cut. Given the shortfall, however, the district can't avoid pink slips.
"Inevitably you're not going to cut $113 million without a single person laid off," he said Thursday. "We want to get it down to as few people as possible."
The district's projected shortfall is $30 million more than previous forecasts and reflects the latest numbers in the governor's proposed budget.
Garcia said he will lay out a specific plan to address the cuts at Tuesday's school board meeting, but his list is likely to include cuts in the district office, summer school and busing, increases to class size, and employee furloughs and layoffs.
"These numbers are large, and they will be devastating," Garcia said in his letter. "The cuts that

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNCG1BLM6G.DTL&type=education#ixzz0dS6SVwhs

EPA vows to do all it can for school's air - USATODAY.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pledged Thursday to "use all the tools at our disposal" to reduce high levels of a toxic chemical that continues to permeate the air outside an elementary school in Marietta, Ohio.

The chemical, manganese, can affect children in much the same way as lead. Government scientists have concluded that long-term exposure can cause mental disabilities and emotional problems.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Toxic Air and America's Schools

The EPA plans to release data today that show high levels of manganese outside a cluster of schools in and near Marietta. One air sample — taken Oct. 22, 2009, outside Warren Elementary — shows manganese levels that were 23 times above what the EPA considers safe for long-term exposure.

"That is pretty remarkable," said Stephen Lester, science director for the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a Virginia-based advocacy group that focuses on children and schools.

Two other schools, including Neale Elementary in Vienna, W.Va., just across the Ohio River from Marietta, also appear affected. One reading at Neale was five times higher than what is considered safe for long-term exposure.

Breathing high levels of manganese for extended periods can cause "irreversible damage," Lester said. He worried that the readings might represent "just the tip of the iceberg. How many other chemicals are these kids exposed to?" he asked. "It's not just manganese alone that you worry about. It's the combined effect of all these chemicals on the central nervous system."

Depth of Paterson’s School Cuts Depends on Who’s Getting Them - NYTimes.com

ALBANY — When Gov. David A. Paterson proposed this week cutting more than $1 billion in school aid to help address the state’s financial crisis, the critics quickly pounced. Mr. Paterson’s cuts would cripple New York’s schools, they charged, hurt children and undermine the state’s economic recovery.

“The governor’s proposal in essence pries open our schoolhouse doors and extracts every dollar from children’s education that Albany can put its hands on,” Billy Easton, the executive director for the Alliance for Quality Education, said in one widely quoted statement.
But looked at more closely, Mr. Paterson’s cuts — likely to be the most bitterly fought-over, most fiercely resisted portion of his budget plan — may not be quite as dire as some education advocates make them appear.
The discrepancy between rhetoric and reality is clearest when it comes to the state’s wealthier and more politically connected school districts, especially on Long Island and in Westchester County, where suburban lawmakers have long flexed their muscle to ensure that their districts receive a disproportionate share of state money. Wealthy districts have also piled up significant cash reserves in so-called undesignated accounts, to be used for emergencies.

Thornton voted new MPS chief - JSOnline

Thornton voted new MPS chief - JSOnline:

"The Milwaukee School Board voted unanimously Friday to elect Philadelphia native Gregory Thornton as the next superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, despite the candidate's history of personal bankruptcy and questions that have been raised about his ethics.

The 9-0 vote, which came just after 7 p.m., will likely secure Thornton as the next chief of the state's largest school district, at a starting salary of $260,000 for a two-year term that will begin July 1.

The other candidates for the superintendent position had included Stacy Scott of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland and Robert Alfaro of Clark County School District in Las Vegas, but Alfaro withdrew his application from the School Board's consideration Friday because of personal reasons, according to the MPS Office of Board Governance."

Yale Secret Society's Skull Not On Today's Auction Block - Courant.com

NEW YORK - A New York City auction house says a human skull that had been used as a ballot box by Yale's elite Skull and Bones society has been withdrawn from sale.

Christie's said Friday that the 19th century skull was being removed from the Jan. 22 sale due to a title claim. The auction house declined further comment.

The skull had been expected to sell for $10,000 to $20,000. Christie's only identified the seller as a European art collector.

The skull is fitted with a hinged flap and is believed to have been used during voting at the mysterious society's meetings. The club was founded in 1832 and publicly known members, called Bonesmen, include both presidents Bush and MassachusettsSen. John Kerry.

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On the Net:

http://www.christies.com

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else):

Teaching without gimmicks

My guest today is Diana Senechal, who taught for four years in the New York City public schools and is writing a book about the loss of solitude in schools and culture.

By Diana Senechal
In discussions of “effective” teaching, we often hear about the “objectives” that teachers should spell out and repeat, the “learning styles” they should target, the “engagement” they should guarantee at every moment, and the constant encouragement and praise they should provide—all in the interest of raising test scores. The D.C. public schools IMPACT (the teacher assessment system for D.C. public schools) awards points to teachers who implement such practices;Teach For America addresses some of them in its forthcoming book.

Except for the misguided notion of targeting learning styles, none of these techniques is wrong in itself. But together they raise a barrier. Instead of bringing the subject closer to the students, this heap of tools proclaims: “No entrance! The subject is too hard without spelled-out skills, too boring without adornment, and too frustrating without pep talks and cheers!”

Continue reading this post »

Rhee vs. teacher-student sex

You have to read right away my colleague Bill Turque's latest post on his hot new blog, D.C. Schools Insider. He reports that D.C. schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is quoted in Fast Company magazine saying people who accuse her of firing teachers unfairly don't mention that some of the people let go hit children, had sex with children and missed many days of school.

I have been in the news business for 44 years, so I am not so dumb as to reach any conclusions from such a quote until I know more. What does Rhee say about this? What was the context of her quote? Turque has already sent to Rhee the good questions, such as: how many teachers did these things and did she seek criminal prosection?

I thought from the beginning that the appointment of Rhee as chancellor was the most amazing decision by a big city mayor I had ever seen, both because she knew so much about how urban schools raised student achievement and because she had zero experience dealing with the press in such a high-profile job. She has stumbled a few times since in her relations with the Post, but has found a way to regain her feet each time. I will get back to this issue when I know more, but for the moment I hope she answers Turque's questions quickly and completely, as she

Rhee mum on teacher sex flap

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee passed on multiple chances Friday to explain her remark that some of the 266 DCPS teachers laid off last October had hit children or had sex with them. The quote appears in the February issue of Fast Company magazine.

In a brief item, Rhee addressed the union charge that she contrived the budget crunch to circumvent seniority rules and rid the system of older teachers.

"I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school. Why wouldn't we take those things into consideration?" she said.

The only official word came from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson, who said (brace yourselves):

"The mayor cannot comment on personnel matters."

Continue reading this post »

Ricoh and California Polytechnic State University Open Digital Printing Laboratory -- WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ --

WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) officially opened the Ricoh Digital Printing Laboratory in conjunction with the university's celebration of International Printing Week commemorating Benjamin Franklin, an early pioneer of printing technology. As part of Ricoh's strategic focus on the digital production printing market, the company has partnered with Cal Poly's Graphic Communication Department to benefit students and the industry alike. As the cornerstone of the laboratory, Ricoh donated a fully configured Pro C900S digital color production printing system to the university's Graphic Communication Department, with on-going service donated by IKON, a Ricoh company. The partnership was first announced at Print '09 in September of last year.

The Ricoh Digital Printing Laboratory will provide benefits for students, printing professionals, and the industry as a whole. Students enrolled in Cal Poly's Graphic Communication curriculum are exposed to Ricoh technology via the school's experiential "learn by doing" approach to education. The Pro C900S is also central to Cal Poly's student run and managed printing and publishing company: University Graphic Systems (UGS). This exposure to both digital printing technology, and the business of running a print shop, helps prepare students for industry leadership positions. The Digital Printing Laboratory will also play a role in special student projects, offering research and testing capabilities, such as allowing senior-level students and faculty to provide product evaluations on system performance related to quality, productivity, color management, and substrate and toner handling. Seminars and workshops will also be made available to Ricoh customers, providing the ability to explore emerging trends in digital printing markets and applications.

01.22.2010 - Positive prospects for California's green businesses, study finds

Positive prospects for California's green businesses, study finds

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations | 22 January 2010

BERKELEY — California's green businesses are more focused on local markets and more likely to stay in the Golden State than are their non-green counterparts, according to a University of California, Berkeley, study released Thursday (Jan. 21). And when compared with traditional businesses, green ones are more likely to expand.

"Innovating the Green Economy," a report by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation (CCI), was unveiled at yesterday’s conference on green economy innovation. (A policy brief from the report, titled "Green, Local, and Growing," is posted on the CCI website; the complete report will be available on the website next Wednesday.) Sponsored by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the study comes at a time of heightened economic anxiety and of renewed pledges by elected leaders in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento to focus their efforts on job creation — especially green jobs.

The researchers found that in California, the green economy accounts for just one percent of jobs in the state, but is growing about 50 percent faster than the rest of the economy overall.

And while the green economy’s innovation appears concentrated regionally in areas such as the East Bay, Silicon Valley, San Diego and the Central San Joaquin Valley – there’s evidence of wide ripple effects in terms of jobs as green businesses concentrate on new products and services and as many traditional firms develop new green processes within their operations.

"This suggests that the entire state stands to benefit from the growth of the green economy," reads the introduction to the report that William Kittredge, director of the Economic Development Administration’s Performance and National Programs Division, described yesterday as "groundbreaking."

News: Autism Speaks responds to recent publications citing autism clusters in California.

News: Autism Speaks responds to recent publications citing autism clusters in California.:

"NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 21, 2010) Two recent, separate publications identified regions with higher than expected numbers of autism cases or clusters in California. Using data collected by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on 2.5 million births including almost 10,000 autism cases from 1996-2000, investigators at UC Davis uncovered several clusters of elevated risk for autism. Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, reviewed these studies and found that the majority of these clusters were found to be strongly associated with higher parental education and, to a lesser extent, with parents of older ages. It is thought that parents with higher levels of education may have better access to the regional diagnostic and service centers in California, as the DDS relies on parents actively seeking services. Thus the distribution of cases is likely influenced by proximity to specialty research and service centers."

In Memoriam: Joyce King Stoops, 86 - USC News

In Memoriam: Joyce King Stoops, 86 - USC News:

"Joyce Barlow King Stoops, lifelong educator, philanthropist and supporter of USC, died Dec. 16. She was 86.

King Stoops devoted significant resources to USC and to helping the USC Rossier School of Education prepare future educators and enhance faculty productivity.

She was born in England on Jan. 25, 1923 and grew up in rural Ohio. She worked as a nurse and a technician in a chemistry laboratory, where she was in charge of analyzing flame thrower gel for impurities during World War II while she earned her teaching credential and a bachelor’s degree at Northern Illinois University.

Later she moved to California and earned a master’s degree at California State Univeristy, Long Beach, and an Ed.D. at USC in 1966."

UCLA Prof Proposes Sending Convicts To College - Los Angeles News - LA Daily

As the state is poised to embark upon a historic prisoner release, one professor argues that sending convicts to college could save the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lockup costs while at the same time turning career criminals in productive members of society.

In a Sacramento Bee opinion piece, UCLA film, television, and digital media professor Chon A. Noriega proposes to transfer 10 percent of state prisoners, ones who are "nonviolent offenders who have an aptitude for higher education," to the state's university systems. Because the state spends 6.5 times the amount it pays to educate a UCLA student on housing a prisoner, he calculates the cost benefit would be immediate in these budget-strapped times: $536 million would be saved annually.

Majority of Union Members Now Work for the Government - WSJ.com

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that a majority of American union members now work for the government. The pattern of unions adding members in government while losing members in the private sector accelerated during the recession. The typical union member now works in the Post Office, not on the assembly line.

Representing government employees has changed the union movement's priorities: Unions now campaign for higher taxes on Americans to fund more government spending. Congress should resist government employee unions' self-interested calls to raise taxes on workers in the private sector.

Overall Union Membership Down Slightly

The BLS's annual report on union membership shows the labor movement's decline in membership continued in 2009. While a full 23.0 percent of Americans belonged to labor unions in 1980, by 2008 only 12.4 percent did.[1] In 2009, that figure dropped slightly to 12.3 percent.[2] There are now 15.3 million union members in the United States, 770,000 fewer than in 2008.[3]

University of California students suspended for protesting budget cuts

University of California, Berkeley (UCB) students Angela Miller and Zach Bowin have been suspended from school, and Miller threatened with eviction from student housing, for participating in a protest that occurred outside of UCB Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s campus home on Friday, December 11, 2009. (See: “Police crack down on California student protests: California governor denounces ‘terrorism’”)

The protest was part of ongoing actions by University of California (UC) students last fall and early this winter in opposition to a massive assault on public higher education in the state. As the result of a multi-billion dollar reduction in funding, in mid-November fees were raised at the 10 UC campuses located across California by 32 percent. Coming alongside hiring freezes, increases in class size, reductions in course offerings, and limits on enrollment, the tuition hike has meant that many students have had to either drop out of the UC system or forego enrollment because they cannot afford to attend.

Campus police arrested eight people at the December 11 protest, including the two UCB students and two students from University of California, Davis, charging them with felony property damage, threatening a university official, rioting, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, and assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer. The police set bail at over $100,000 for each arrestee.

UC names Berkeley's Brostrom to systemwide post - Inside Bay Area

UC names Berkeley's Brostrom to systemwide post - Inside Bay Area:

"University of California regents today named UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom to a systemwide administrative post.

Brostrom, who was instrumental in financing Berkeley's upcoming retrofit of Memorial Stadium, will make $375,000 as executive vice president for business operations for the 10-campus system. He had been in the position on an interim basis since September.

UC Berkeley hired Brostrom in 2006 from JP Morgan Securities, where he was the western manager of the firm's public-finance group. He was brought to the campus, in part, to find innovative ways to raise money, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said at the time.

Brostrom also has worked for Merrill Lynch and the state treasurer's office."

State schools chief wants flexibility on class size 012310 - The Augusta Chronicle

ATLANTA --- The state's top education official said Friday that as local school boards face more state cuts they should be given greater freedom to increase class sizes.

"We have to give the local systems the ability to manage through this," Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education's fourth annual media symposium. "There's no way they can manage that (more budget cuts) without increased flexibility. ... It's not popular, but it's going to mean for a few years that our class size goes up. There's no way around it."

Currently, school systems must request approval from the state Department of Education for class-size waivers. Cox is proposing the Legislature pass a law that would allow districts to set class sizes without state approval.

"I think the General Assembly has to act," she told the media representatives. "They've got to step up to the plate."

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