Saturday, April 3, 2010

Assemblymember Fuentes: Help Make California Count in 2010 Census | California Progress Report

Assemblymember Fuentes: Help Make California Count in 2010 Census

by kaldveer

By Assemblymember Felibe Fuentes
In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar), Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Census, discusses how census participation helps California receive its fair share of federal funding and congressional representation. Fuentes notes that there is still time to mail in census forms and that because the Census Bureau keeps the information confidential and does not share it with anyone, no California resident should fear participating in the census.
Click onto the following link for the English language MP3 file. The running time is 1:46.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100401RadioAddressCens...
Click onto the following link for the Spanish language MP3 file. The running time is 2:28.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100401RadioAddressCens...
Website of Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes: www.asm.ca.gov/fuentes
Transcript:
Hello, this is Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Census.
read more

La Salle Catholic College Preparatory taps into solar energy | OregonLive.com

La Salle Catholic College Preparatory taps into solar energy

By Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian

April 03, 2010, 7:00AM

BRENT WOJAHN/THE OREGONIANFacilities manager Bill George was the main force behind La Salle Catholic College Preparatory’s solar panels, the latest project of its kind to hit Portland area schools. The black, thin-film panels could save the school about $10,000 to $15,000 in energy costs when the school purchases the system.
MILWAUKIE -- At La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, it wasn't easy going green.

Former Principal Bill George first explored solar paneling when he picked up his facilities manager title two years ago, but financing shortages and a recession halted two projects in their tracks.

Turns out the third time was the charm for the Milwaukie school. In January,Oregon Electric Group installed a solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the school's 116,400-square-foot building, making it the latest Portland metro school to harness solar energy.

The black, thin-film solar panels were funded and are owned by FutureSource Capital Corp., a subsidiary of the North Dakota-based energy and transportation infrastructure company MDU Resources, but the school will have the option of purchasing the system in six years.

The 98-kilowatt system should provide about 10 to 20 percent of the school's power, according to George. If the school purchases the system from FutureSource, the estimates point to $10,000 to $15,000 in energy savings each year. The school pays about $75,000 for power annually, according to George.

La Salle paid no upfront costs for the project, but purchases the power from FutureSource, according to project manager Matt Saager of Oregon Electric Group, who helped broker the deal. Oregon Electric Group also is affiliated with MDU Resources.

Schools going solar

La Salle's foray into solar energy follows other area schools. Clackamas High installed solar panels on its roof several years ago, and Portland Public Schools undertook

Outrages (Susan Ohanian Speaks Out)

Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Sen. Paula Dockery opposes Senate Bill 6 Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Paula Dockery, one of a few Republicans to vote against the so-called "teacher tenure bill" speaks out against the bill. Note from a Florida teacher:

I spoke to Eddie from speaker Cretul's office. We had a very polite conversation. He had his logic. I had mine. We talked for a half-hour. But what really floored me was toward the end of the conversation when he said the legislation would pass anyway and that it was a "done deal." Yes, why are hundred's of teachers calling? Why is the house even going to bother with a vote?

My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad) | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad)

Filed under best of the year, classroom practice, school reform, teacher resources

It’s approaching the time in many states when our students will have to take annual standardized tests.

I’ve written quite a few posts about how I prepare my students to take them, as well as posts writing about how bad the tests are. I thought I’d bring them all together in one “The Best…” list.

I’ve made it quite clear that our school we intentionally do little explicit “test-prep” work with our students. Instead, we believe the work we do during the entire year prepares them to be lifelong learners and that this will show-up in test results. We also do a number of things to help students feel positive on test days.

Huberman has been on hiring binge since he took over CPS in January 2009 - Substance News

CHICAGO'S BUDGET BIG LIE III: Reader article only outlines tip of the iceberg in Daley, Huberman patronage binge... The four most important 'degrees' needed for an executive job at CPS in 2010 are: the CTA, the CPD, the CCH, and the MBA. Educators need not apply

George N. Schmidt - April 03, 2010

The recent article by Ben Joravsky in the Chicago Reader began the long search by Chicagoans for the latest examples of patronage and politics in the city's school budget. But beyond the examples used in the Reader article, any close student of the actions of the Chicago Board of Education during the past 15 months (from roughly January 1, 2009, when Arne Duncan became U.S. Secretary of Education and Ron Huberman was plucked from the Chicago Transit Authority by Mayor Daley to become the third Daley-selected non-educator white guy to save the school system) would have noticed that the Chicago public schools has been on the greatest patronage hiring binge in its history, while the pouring of dollars out the door for crony contracts was continuing to increase, as it has since Daley took control of the city's schools in 1995.

Most of the Chicago press has been ignoring the actual workings of the Board of Education's executive staffs for more than a decade, content to repeat, as nauseum, the carefully crafted Salvation Narrative that says, in what at any other time would be seen as a racist way, that before 1995, when Richard M. Daley was given dictatorial control over the Chicago Public Schools, the school system was "America's Worst" (as the Tribune called the system following the lead of former U.S. Secretary of Education Williams Bennett 22 years ago) and that Daley and his miracle management team saved the school

$154K schools job for ex-Daley aide :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

$154K schools job for ex-Daley aide

CPS | Lumpkin gets outreach post despite tax hikes, job cuts

Comments

November 5, 2009

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com

Despite a burgeoning financial crisis that has forced a $43 million property tax increase and hundreds of job cuts, the Chicago Board of Education has found a $154,000-a-year job for an all-purpose mayoral troubleshooter.
Barbara Lumpkin, 59, will serve as deputy CEO for external affairs for the Chicago Public Schools forging partnerships with the business community to support school programs. The job has been vacant for nine months -- ever since Lumpkin's predecessor retired.
"We need to continue to do outreach to major corporations. We cannot function without fulfilling those responsibilities. We have high-level jobs like this that we always intended to fill," said CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond.
Schools CEO Ron Huberman found the job for his former City Hall colleague two years after Lumpkin resigned as Mayor Daley's $169,452-a-year chief procurement officer, leaving behind a department that has struggled to boost black contracting and weed out minority fronts.
Lumpkin is the City Hall equivalent of a utility infielder. She has also served as Daley's city comptroller, budget director and city treasurer following the conviction of Miriam Santos.
In 2005, her name turned up on city documents as one of four official

Schools Matter: Imagine's "Demonstrably Bad" Application in PA

Imagine's "Demonstrably Bad" Application in PA

by Kenneth Libby

Imagine's attempt to expand in Pittsburg continues to progress (or regress?), this time with Pittsburg Public Schools superintendent Mark Roosevelt chiming in. After calling the charter application "demonstrably bad," Roosevelt added this (via Karamagi Rujumba at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):

"They did not have a plan for developing a curriculum or how they would hire experienced teachers or a principal. They simply did not pass the standard of what it takes to operate a school," Mr. Roosevelt said.

But there's a bit more to this story, too. Part of this stems from real estate developer Sam Glasser's attempt to purchase real estate for the school (remember, Glasser has a history with Imagine), and part of this stems from a very legitimate concern for improving the education of communities not served by public schools:

After 43 years as a teacher and administrator in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Sarah Martin says the school system in which she spent her professional life still does a bad job of educating many low-income African-Americans.
Ms. Martin, 69, who retired from the district as a curriculum and instruction supervisor in

The Perimeter Primate: Last night’s stunning Bill Moyers Journal

Last night’s stunning Bill Moyers Journal

by The Perimeter Primate

There were two segments on the April 2^nd program. Please take time to watch them or read the transcripts.
Part One featured Bill Moyers’ interview with Bryan Stevenson and Michelle Alexander. Part Two was Moyers’ essay on the growing income inequality.
Thank you, Bill Moyers.
Excerpts from Part One:

BILL MOYERS: With me now is Bryan Stevenson, one of the country's leading advocates for justice. He lives in Alabama, where he founded and leads the Equal Justice Initiative, whose mission is defending the poor and people of color. He's won wide recognition, including the MacArthur "genius" award, for his efforts to end the death penalty. He teaches clinical law at New York University.
Michelle Alexander is also an expert in civil rights advocacy and litigation. The former director of the civil rights clinics at Stanford Law School in California, she teaches law now at Ohio State University. You're going to hear a lot about her powerful new book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”…
MICHELLE ALEXANDER: …individual black achievement today masks a disturbing, underlying racial reality. You know, to a significant extent, you know, affirmative action, seeing African Americans, you know, go to Harvard and Yale, become CEOs and corporate lawyers, you know,

Census 2010: Time, Become counting - Univision 23

Censo 2010: Llegó la hora, hazte contar

No esperes más y envía tu formulario del Censo 2010 cuanto antes.

Fuente: Miami: WLTV

Census 2010: Time, Become count

Go ahead and submit your 2010 Census form as soon as possible.

Source: Miami: WLTV

Union chief: GOP is attacking teachers

Disagreement about federally mandated school reform has pitted teacher unions and education administrators against one another, both here in Monroe County and across the state.

Earlier this week, Florida was passed over for Phase 1 funding in the Obama Administration's $4.35 billion education reform package dubbed Race to the Top.

Speculation on why centers around the fact that only five of 67 district-level unions gave their blessing to the state application. United Teachers of Monroe, led by President Leon Fowler, is counted among those dissenting unions, led at a state-level by the Florida Education Association.

"If you want change, you need it slow," Fowler said.. "I think people need to start coming to their senses. They're just too mean-spirited."

At the forefront of this discussion is Florida Senate Bill 6, which ties teacher pay to student success rather than advanced degrees or certifications. It was pushed through, with a party-line vote, by state GOP Chairman John Thrasher (R-St. Augustine). He affectionately calls SB 6 "the hammer."

Fowler is leading UTM in negotiations with Monroe County School District Superintendent Joseph Burke on a proposed three-year contract for teachers and school-related-personnel including food-service workers and bus drivers. Current contracts expire June 30.

"We haven't actually talked about anything since March 3," Fowler said. "There's been no attempt to get back to the table. I'm kind of disappointed. We had agreed to negotiate, take a look anyway, at a three-year agreement and a restructure of the salary schedule."

"I guess Senate Bill 6 has thrown a wrench into everything. It's anti-teacher totally, and the teachers are the ones moving us forward."

Switching teachers statewide from seniority-based pay (like we have here) to a performance-pay system is the direct goal of SB 6 and Race to the Top, designed to better recruit and retain quality teachers by using multiple

Montgomery schools in running for urban education prize - washingtonpost.com

Montgomery schools in running for urban education prize

By Michael Birnbaum

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 2, 2010

The Montgomery County school system was named a finalist Thursday for a national education award that aims to reward urban school districts for increasing student performance and reducing achievement gaps.

The school system is among five finalists out of 100 eligible districts nationwide for the Broad Prize for Urban Education. The annual $2 million prize recognizes urban school districts "making the greatest progress in America in raising student achievement," according to the announcement.
It's another feather in the cap for the Montgomery system, which over the past decade funneled extraresources into schools with the largest numbers of low-income and English-language-learning students. Many indicators have risen accordingly, and the school system is the first in the Washington area to be so

Left, BJP feel Right to Education may go wrong way-Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

Left, BJP feel Right to Education may go wrong way

3 Apr 2010, 0450 hrs IST,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: After the applause, the reality check. The Manmohan Singh government is now faced with questions about implementation of the Right to

Education Act with opposition parties expressing apprehensions about infrastructure and funds required to execute the target envisaged in the law.

The CPM, which has complained about lack of financial wherewithal for states to implement the Right to Education Act, wants the central government to create conditions to enable children to go to school. “It’s a positive step. Legally it gives the right to education for children. But there are around five crore children below the age of 14 working in India because of their family’s poverty-stricken conditions,” CPM politburo member and CITU leader M K Pandhe said on Friday.

This means, the government should address the problem of child labour in the country. Mr Pandhe said unless these children are provided books, meals and clothes they will not be in a position to attend school.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has already written to human resource development minister Kapil Sibal expressing his reservations about provisions of the right to education law. The state government’s lament is that under the law, the entire onus is on it. The state government will be answerable if it failed to provide free and quality education to all students

Sacramento Press / Sacramento's Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art Contest

Sacramento Press / Sacramento's Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art Contest:

Sacramento's Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art Contest

Equality Action Now and Contest Sponsor, Barnes & Noble at Arden Fair is hosting an essay and art contest to commemorate California’s first Harvey Milk Day, Saturday May 22, 2010.

Harvey Milk Day was enacted and signed into law last October by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under the measure, May 22 is officially Harvey Milk Day in California, coinciding with Milk's birthday. While it is not a state holiday, schools are encouraged to hold lessons "remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognizing his accomplishments and familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state".

Equality Action Now is a local grassroots civil rights organization and is leading the way in organizing Sacramento’s Harvey Milk Day events. Note: Equality Action Now is working on forming a curriculum for school-aged children and teens. For more information check out http://www.EqualityActionNow.

Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art Contest Rules:

1. The Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art contest is open to the following age-groups (as of May 22, 2010):
a. 6 and under (Art Contest)
b. 7 – 12 yrs old (Art Contest)
c. 13 – 14 yrs old (Essay contest)
d. 15 – 18 yrs old (Essay contest)

Complimentary E-copy: Teaching as an Act of Love:Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Kid > Richard Lakin's Thanks2Teachers.com - A Wellspring of Teacher Appreciation and Teacher Inspiration > Inspiration for Teachers and Parents

Complimentary E-copy: Teaching as an Act of Love:Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Kid > Richard Lakin's Thanks2Teachers.com - A Wellspring of Teacher Appreciation and Teacher Inspiration > Inspiration for Teachers and Parents

Complimentary E-copy: Teaching as an Act of Love:Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Kid

Here's your complimentary e-copy of my book!
Click on the title below:

Teaching as an Act of Love:
Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Kid

This is copyrighted material, but you are free to and encouraged to FORWARD it to anyone you wish--teachers, parents, colleagues, students, friends--as long as you don't make any changes or profit from its use.

If you prefer a paperback edition or to give it as a gift to a teacher or a friend, you can purchase it online at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Thanks,
Richard

Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed

MARCH 29, 2010 | ISSUE 46•13

Parents of school-homed children say they relish the extra time they are able to spend away from their kids.

WASHINGTON—According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education, an increasing number of American parents are choosing to have their children raised at school rather than at home.

Deputy Education Secretary Anthony W. Miller said that many parents who school-home find U.S. households to be frightening, overwhelming environments for their children, and feel that they are just not conducive to producing well-rounded members of society.

Thousands of mothers and fathers polled in the study also believe that those running American homes cannot be trusted to keep their kids safe.

"Every year more parents are finding that their homes are not equipped to instill the right values in their children," Miller said. "When it comes to important life skills such as proper nutrition, safe sex, and even basic socialization, a growing number of mothers and fathers think it's better to rely on educators to guide and nurture their kids."

"And really, who can blame them?" Miller continued. "American homes have let down our nation's youth time and again in almost every imaginable respect."

According to the report, children raised at home were less likely to receive individual adult attention, and were often subjected to ineffective and wildly inconsistent disciplinary measures. The study also found that many parents expressed concerns that, when at home, their children were being teased and bullied by those older than themselves.

In addition to providing better supervision and overall direction, school-homing has become popular among mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in the day-to-day lives of their children.

"Parents are finding creative ways to make this increasingly common child-rearing track work," Miller said. "Whether it's over-relying on after-school programs and extracurricular activities, or simply gross neglect,† school-homing is becoming a widely accepted

Project celebrates promise of black youth | OregonLive.com

Project celebrates promise of black youth

By Kimberly Melton, The Oregonian

April 03, 2010, 6:00AM

For the first time, Portland Public Schools specifically recognizes achievements of African American students

For many high schoolers, the class that challenges them the most is often the one that they dread to attend and love to skip.

Roosevelt campus freshman Alize Gaston said his most challenging class -- social studies -- is also his favorite one. Why? The class pushes him to study harder, think more deeply and develop his own perspective on what's happening in the world.

"As teens, we don't always know or care about what's going on around us," Gaston said. "But in this class, we have a voice. It's my biggest challenge because I have to come up with my own opinion. But it's my favorite class because what I say matters."

For the first time, Portland Public Schools is recognizing the achievements of African American students like Gaston. Next week, the district will honor 10 African American middle and high school students in a project called "Young, Gifted and Black."

African American students in Portland are more likely to lag behind their

Merlo Station's annual plant sale set for April 9

by Roger Gregory, The Oregonian

The annual fundraiser benefits Beaverton School District's Horticulture Program

La Salle Catholic College Preparatory taps into solar energy

by Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian

In January, Oregon Electric Group installed a solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the school's 116,400-square-foot building, making it the latest Portland metro school to harness solar energy.

College foundation that's paying Palin to speak has seen its contributions fall - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

College foundation that's paying Palin to speak has seen its contributions fall

Published: Saturday, Apr. 3, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 4ABy Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON – Tax records show leaner times for the college foundation now drawing fire for paying Sarah Palin an undisclosed sum to speak at California State University, Stanislaus.

Overall collections by the California State University Stanislaus Foundation fell by more than half over the past decade, tax records show. Fewer contributions, in turn, crimp the foundation's ability to help students and the Turlock-based university.

In fiscal 2001, the foundation reported collecting $8.9 million in gifts, grants and contributions. By 2004, that jumped to $10.3 million. But over the next several years, the foundation's fundraising slid to about $4 million in 2008.

From 2006 to mid-2008, meanwhile, the foundation also told the Internal Revenue Service that

Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 3, 2010

La Salle Catholic College Preparatory taps into solar energy

By Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian

April 03, 2010, 7:00AM

My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad)

CHICAGO'S BUDGET BIG LIE III: Reader article only outlines tip of the iceberg in Daley, Huberman patronage binge... The four most important 'degrees' needed for an executive job at CPS in 2010 are: the CTA, the CPD, the CCH, and the MBA. Educators need not apply

$154K schools job for ex-Daley aide

CPS | Lumpkin gets outreach post despite tax hikes, job cuts

Censo 2010: Llegó la hora, hazte contar

Census 2010: Time, Become count

Union chief: GOP is attacking teachers

Montgomery schools in running for urban education prize

Sacramento's Harvey Milk Day Student Essay/Art Contest

Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed

Project celebrates promise of black youth

By Kimberly Melton, The Oregonian

April 03, 2010, 6:00AM

College foundation that's paying Palin to speak has seen its contributions fall