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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Christie faults school administrators, teachers union for student walkout

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Christie faults school administrators, teachers union for student walkout

N.J. Gov. Christie faults school administrators, teachers union for student walkout
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
In his first public comments since a massive student walk-out, Governor Christie Wednesday criticized administrators for not stopping protests during the school day and said he believed the teachers unions were behind the demonstrations.
"Most parents would think that the principals, the superintendents and others should be exercising control over that," he said. "The schools did a lousy job in really permitting all these students to walk out in the middle of the school day. Their parents send them there not to protest. They send them there to learn. And I have no problem with students protesting. They have absolutely every right to exercise their first amendment rights. But they should exercise their first amendment rights either before school or right after school."
Christie said the students' parents - and, perhaps, students who could vote - "spoke very loudly and very clearly" when they rejected 58 percent of school budgets last week. On Tuesday, thousands of students walked out of their classrooms to protest the nearly $820 million in cuts to total state spending on education.
The Republican governor questioned why students were blaming the state instead of asking teachers about refusals to take wage freezes and other give-backs he said would have saved jobs. Christie, who has declared victory in a fight with the state's largest teachers union over the handling of school budget cuts, made the comments to reporters today after he toured a factory in Paterson.
"I understand that they love their teachers, and I'm glad that they do," he said. "And I loved the teachers, for the most part, that I had when I was in junior high and high school in Livingston in the public schools. But the fact of the matter is that those teachers and their union have not stepped up to join the shared sacrifice. ... Their unwillingness to do that makes me wonder why the students are protesting only against what the governor is doing, and not against what their teachers are doing. I have a suspicion that since I don't give them grades and the teachers do, that might have something to do with it."
Before school board elections on April 20, Christie pushed teachers to accept a one-year wage freeze and fast-forward a requirement to pay 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health care before it was written into



N.J. teachers union files suit challenging health benefits contribution
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 2010, 8:30 PM
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
The state’s largest teachers union opened up a new front in their fight with Governor Christie Wednesday, filing suit against a key pension reform law he championed.
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian met with Governor Christie earlier this month.
TONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGER
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian met with Governor Christie earlier this month.
In the suit, filed in state Superior Court in Mercer County, the New Jersey Education Association claims the law violates teachers’ rights to negotiate their salaries and benefits at the local level by forcing them to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health benefits.
"This legislation was ill-conceived from the beginning, and was rushed through the Legislature to meet an artificial timeline imposed on lawmakers by the governor," said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian, whose union represents 200,000 teachers and other school employees.
Last week, the state’s largest police and firefighters unions challenged the same law, as well as two other pension reform bills signed into law last month, on similar grounds.
The package of pension reforms passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the legislature and is scheduled to take effect on May 21, or when current labor contracts expire. Lawmakers project it will save local governments up to $314 million in the next fiscal year.
The NJEA suit claims the new contributions will cause "significant financial hardship" on teachers and school employees "who have provided long-standing, honorable and essential service to the public school students in the state of New Jersey ... These public employees will be singled out and punished for that service, unlike their private sector counterparts."
Asked earlier Wednesday about the police and firefighters lawsuit, Christie said he was confident the laws are constitutional.
"I don’t think it will change reform going forward because, candidly, anybody can file a lawsuit," Christie

Sacramento Press / Live Streaming video of community events this summer

Sacramento Press / Live Streaming video of community events this summer


Live Streaming video of community events this summer

The Sacramento Press is excited to be using live, streaming video as a new media tool. We hope that by streaming the events we go to live, it will enhance the connection we have with our current readership, engage the community at these events and encourage new readership not just in downtown and Midtown, but all neighborhoods in the Sacramento area.
Our first live streaming video experiment at the de Vere's Irish Pub's St. Patrick's Day block party was a big hit with The Sacramento Press' readers.
St. Patrick's Day allowed us to realize that live video really helps us to showcase the great events happening in our neighborhoods and entice Sacramentans to get out and explore our community and become more involved with where we live.
Visitors to The Sacramento Press will be able to read an article about an event happening in our community, click on an embedded link in the body of the article and watch the excitement as it happens.
When we live-stream video of events in Sacramento this summer, we plan to bring our readers live footage of all the entertainment as well as interviews with performers, participants, sponsors and involved organizations. We hope to get valuable feedback from our readers on our event coverage as well as opinions on how well The Sacramento Press serves the people of Sacramento.

Join The Sacramento Press via live steaming video or in person at Celebrate California at the Sacramento Zoo Saturday http://www.saczoo.com/Page.aspx?pid=418... and The Jewish Heritage Festival Sunday on Capitol Mall http://jewishsac.org
http://www.jewishsac.org/page.aspx?id=193167
Additional events in May:...
Concert in the Park summer series every Friday starting May 7 at Cesar Chavez Park http://www.downtownsac.org/DSPAPP/V/promo/friday-night-concerts.html
Celebrate Oak Park, Saturday, May 8 at McClatchy Park mb@inmycom munity.com
Second Saturday Art Walk at Zocalo, May 8 at 18th and Capitol http://2nd-sat.com/
Oak Park Farmer's Market Saturday May 15 at 35th and Broadway http://www.nwsac.org/oakparkfarmersmarket
Walk 'N' Rock for local children's charities May 30 http://www.walknrock.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=335979
Events for June, July and August will be announced later on the site.


Schools Matter: Foundation $$$ i3 = ???

Schools Matter: Foundation $$$ i3 = ???

Foundation $$$ + i3 = ???

From its very beginning, the i3 fund, a $650 million pot of cash set aside for competitive grants as part of the ARRA, was intended to be a public-private partnership between the Federal DOE and private philanthropy. The wording of the bill specifically states the i3 grants will only be given out to those able to secure matching funds.

Today it was announced that 12 major philanthropic donors - including the Gates Foundation and Walton Family Foundation - will put up $506 million in matching grants. It was hardly a surprise to see this formally announced; the Office of Innovation and Improvement, created under George W. Bush, was designed to operate like the various venture philanthropies.

From the AP:

Details of the 2010-2011 budget bill that lawmakers are expected to pass Friday � Tangerine, Florida

Details of the 2010-2011 budget bill that lawmakers are expected to pass Friday � Tangerine, Florida

EDUCATION

Second-most expensive part of the budget: $23.4 billion

Per-student funding: Would increase 1.7 percent to $6,958 for the state’s 2.6 million public school students.

Class-size limits: Schools would receive another $2.8 billion to reduce the number of students per classroom. Lawmakers believe they have complied with the strict caps, but will ask voters in the fall to relax the restrictions.

Taking sides: School district officials would be required to hold public hearings to explain steps they have taken or still need to take, such as rezoning or expanding bus routes, to get each and every class to the size required by the class-size amendment by the start of the 2010-2011 school year. The House also wanted districts to publish a report about the benefits of keeping caps at the more relaxed standard of a school-wide average, but the plan was scrapped in budget negotiations.

College tuition: Tuition will go up by at least 8 percent, with each university having the authority to raise its tuition and fees up to 15 percent. That would still leave Florida below the national average.

Bright Futures: Amounts will be reduced and scholarships will be tougher to obtain. The awards will drop by $1 per credit hour to $125 for the top award and $94 for the cheaper “medallion” award. SAT score thresholds will

Riverdale considering two superintendent finalists | OregonLive.com

Riverdale considering two superintendent finalists | OregonLive.com

Riverdale considering two superintendent finalists

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian

April 28, 2010, 5:35PM
Leaders of the Riverdale school district are weighing which of two finalists to hire as the next superintendent for their small high-achieving school district.

Brook McNamara was director of student services for Corvallis schools before becoming curriculum director for Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jonathan Schoenwald directs Hunter College's Macaulay Honors College, which serves 430 undergraduates.

Those two finalists, chosen from a field of 17, will be in the Riverdale district

Russian-based charter school seeks to open in Hillsboro

Academy for International Achievement wants to open a charter school in Hillsboro catering to students who struggle with English

Clackamas Community College students get First Amendment lesson

Journalism and improvisational acting students offer free food to those willing to give up certain constitutional rights.

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Schools' Technology Choice Draws FBI Interest

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Schools' Technology Choice Draws FBI Interest

Schools' Technology Choice Draws FBI Interest

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  • Pete Spencer, president of a La Mesa company that installs digital whiteboards, says an FBI agent recently requested he turn over documents related to a lawsuit he filed against San Diego Unified.

Sam HodgsonThe Promethean company name is emblazoned across the corner of one of its digital whiteboards.

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    Posted: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 3:51 pm | Updated: 4:15 pm, Wed Apr 28, 2010.
    The way in which the San Diego Unified School District chose a specific brand of technological tools has drawn the interest of the FBI, according to a local businessman who sued the school district over it.
    Pete Spencer, president of a La Mesa company that installs computerized whiteboards, filed a lawsuit against the school district last year alleging it had inappropriately picked a specific brand of boards for its classrooms. Spencer says he was visited this month by the FBI, which is already investigating whiteboard purchases in Florida and Iowa.
    Federal investigators have sought information in the other school districts on the purchase of computerized whiteboards exclusively from a British company named Promethean. Federal prosecutors sent a subpoena to Sarasota County schools in February asking for documents detailing how the boards were picked. The U.S. attorneys also sought information in the Iowa district that the former Sarasota chief now heads.
    Like the other school systems, San Diego chose to only allow the Promethean brand of whiteboards in its classrooms. That meant that companies vying to install the boards had to purchase and install Promethean, not any other brand on the market. Here and across the country, selecting a specific product has raised questions and stirred up debate about fair competition in awarding work in schools.
    A Promethean spokeswoman said she was unaware of any investigation in San Diego. She said the company is cooperating and believes it is a witness, not a target, in the Florida and Iowa investigations.
    San Diego Unified is undertaking a sweeping technological makeover for schools that include classroom sound systems, laptops for each child and computerized whiteboards that can pull up web pages and interactive lessons. Two Promethean resellers, Vector Resources and Logical Choice Technologies, won a $50 million contract to install Promethean whiteboards in San

    Presidential Proclamation-National Foster Care Month | The White House

    Presidential Proclamation-National Foster Care Month | The White House


    Presidential Proclamation-National Foster Care Month

    A PROCLAMATION
    Nearly a half-million children and youth are in foster care in America, all entering the system through no fault of
    their own. During National Foster Care Month, we recognize the promise of children and youth in foster care, as well as former foster youth. We also celebrate the professionals and foster parents who demonstrate the depth and kindness of the human heart.
    Children and youth in foster care deserve the happiness and joy every child should experience through family life and a safe, loving home. Families provide children with unconditional love, stability, trust, and the support to grow into healthy, productive adults. Unfortunately, too many foster youth reach the age at which they must leave foster care and enter adulthood without the support of a permanent family.
    Much work remains to reach the goal of permanence for every child, and my Administration has supported States that increased the number of children adopted out of foster care, providing over $35 million in 2009 through the Adoption Incentives program. We are also committed to meeting the developmental, educational, and health-related needs of children and youth in foster care. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a significant increase in funding for the Title IV-E adoption and foster care assistance program. States can use
    these funds to ensure those placed in foster care will enter a safe and stable environment.
    In addition, we are implementing the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act. This law promotes permanency and improved outcomes for foster youth through support for kinship care and adoption, support for older youth, direct access to Federal resources for Indian tribes, coordinated health benefits, improved educational stability and opportunities, and adoption incentives and assistance. Former foster youth will also benefit from the Affordable Care Act, which, beginning in 2014, will ensure Medicaid coverage for them in every State.
    This month, caring foster parents and professionals across our Nation will celebrate the triumphs of children and
    youth in foster care as they work to remove barriers to reaching a permanent family. Federal, State, and local government agencies, communities, and individuals all have a role to play as well. Together, we can ensure that young people in foster care have the opportunities and encouragement they need to realize their full potential.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2010 as National Foster Care Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities to honor and support young people in foster care, and to recognize the committed adults who work on their behalf each day.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
    BARACK OBAMA


    Home page for the Foster Care|Change A Lifetime campaign.
    www.fostercaremonth.org/