Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, May 31, 2010

What Interested You Most in The Times This Week? - The Learning Network Blog - NYTimes.com

What Interested You Most in The Times This Week? - The Learning Network Blog - NYTimes.com

What Interested You Most in The Times This Week?

Student Opinion - The Learning NetworkStudent Opinion - The Learning Network
Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.
Last week we began our summer reading “Student Challenge” with this question, and we’ve gotten some great responses. We’ll be choosing a favorite from among them and posting it Friday.

This week we ask again, as we will every Monday: What interested you in The Times this week, and why? Whether you choose an article about pretzels, a blog post about life as a robot, or a slideshow of reader’s photos of the Gulf oil spill, tell us why it mattered to you.
In “Student Challenge | The Times as Your Summer Reading,” we explain some of the guidelines for this summer-long challenge:
We invite you to visit weekly to share the New York Times articles, columns, blog posts, photos, graphics, videos and podcasts you’ve found interesting, and tell us why you chose them.
We’ll regularly read through all the comments and pull out a favorite. Then we’ll highlight that comment in a special post, just as we did for our previous Student Challenge.
So whether you were moved by an article, amused by anessay, bowled over by a photo, irked by an editorial, intrigued by a feature, or inspired by a how-to, tell us what got your attention and why. We’re open to pretty much any response that follows our commenting rules.
We’ll post the same Student Opinion question every Monday all summer long, starting today: “What Interested You Most in The Times This Week?” That’s where you should post your picks (and reasons why) anytime until the following Monday. Then we’ll close that post and open a new one with the same question.
Feel free to participate each week.
Students: Tell us what you’ve read, watched or listened to in The Times recently that got your attention and explain why. Maybe you liked a piece because you have a personal connection to it, because it reminded you of someone or taught you something, or because it moved you or made you laugh. Or maybe you were annoyed by something you read and want to argue with it. Whatever: we’re just interested in hearing what you’re interested in.
Please keep your response to 400 words or fewer (you can test that with this tool), and please don’t include your last name — though if you’d like to include your age and hometown, that’s fine.

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

Free Technology for Teachers: Month in Review - May's Most Popular Items

Free Technology for Teachers: Month in Review - May's Most Popular Items

Month in Review - May's Most Popular Items

The school year is winding down for many of us, but there is still time to try something new in the classroom. If that's not the case for you, May's most popular links might give you something to think about for next fall when school starts again.

Here are the ten most popular items of the month:

State trying again for $250m US education grant Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

State trying again for $250m US education grant

Massachusetts is taking another shot at getting millions of federal dollars to create new programs and overhaul failing schools. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

Choir director faces sex charge

A choir director accused of sexual misconduct was arrested over the weekend and placed on leave from St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Woburn. (By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff)

Framingham school budget avoids worst-case scenario

The $88.7 million school budget approved by the Framingham Town Meeting last week wasn’t the worst case possible for school officials in a tense and divisive budget season. (By Megan McKee, Globe Correspondent)

Online high school courses grow in popularity

PLYMOUTH — Robert Morgan had a dilemma as he scheduled his classes this year: The Plymouth South High School senior wanted to take creative writing, but it conflicted with the Latin class he needed for graduation credit. (By Michele Morgan Bolton, Globe Correspondent)

Cohasset school superintendent’s future unclear

COHASSET — School Superintendent Denise Walsh, who has been a lightning rod for controversy all year, is leaving at the end of next school year. (By Johanna Seltz, Globe Correspondent)

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Brian McCall's Economics of Education Blog: New York allowed to … | Educational New York

Brian McCall's Economics of Education Blog: New York allowed to … | Educational New York

Brian McCall's Economics of Education Blog: New York allowed to …

The New York state legislature voted to increase the cap on the number of charter schools in the state from 200 to 460. As the NY times article ” New York State Votes to Expand Charter Schools” reports this may increase New York’s …

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest in Higher Education

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest in Higher Education . As a senior, a former university professor, I am deeply pained when I see the d octrine shameful

Louisiana will reapply to education grant program | – NOLA.com

Indeed, the dangling of Race to the Top’s millions prompted significant — although not seismic — changes to education laws in several states. For instance, after months of tumultuous debate, New York’s lawmakers supported raising the state’s cap …

Blog About Pizza Delivery Rochester New York » Alternative …

Meanwhile, Education Division, weak local people and some representatives of the Aeta recently took part in this month (August 2008). They were to prepare the ground for Indigenous Peoples (IP) and indigenous peoples Core Curriculum …

On Louise Bourgeois. � Fred Klonsky's blog

On Louise Bourgeois. � Fred Klonsky's blog

On Louise Bourgeois.


I met Anne in 1973. She was living in an apartment on the far South Side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Roseland.
I can tell you it was pretty much love at first sight (at least on my part) and we ended up getting married three years later.
I’m thinking of this now because in 1973 in the kitchen of her apartment above a storefront in Roseland was the most amazing collection of spices I had ever seen. Anne made her own curries. She had fenugreek and cardamom and things I had never heard of.
Anne’s father was a noted art historian. When she was a little girl, Anne explained, she would go with her mom and dad to visit the Manhattan apartment of Robert Goldwater, a noted historian of primitive art, and his wife, the French-born sculptor Louise Bourgeois.
Bourgeois had a collection of spices in her kitchen. It greatly impressed Anne.
We still have a huge collection of spices in our kitchen, which we sometimes refer to as

Sacto 9-1-1: Sacramento police union backs Hammond, Kennedy in local races

Sacto 9-1-1: Sacramento police union backs Hammond, Kennedy in local races


The Sacramento city police union has endorsed Councilwoman Lauren Hammond in her campaign for the state Assembly's District 9 seat.
In the race for Hammond's replacement in City Council District 5, the union is supporting Patrick Kennedy in the June election.
In a statement released today, Hammond said the police union support is "priceless."
"Government's first job is to protect our citizens," Hammond said. "In the state Assembly, we must be more creative in our efforts to balance our budgets in a way that doesn't hurt public safety and doesn't punish our dedicated law enforcement employees."
Hammond is running against fellow City Councilmember Kevin McCarty, county Supervisor Roger Dickinson and Chris Garland of the California Faculty Association.
In supporting Kennedy, the police union cited "his work in the neighborhoods and as a member of the (Sacramento City Unified) school board."
Kennedy said he would "continue to work closely with rank and file cops, just


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/crime/archives/2010/03/sacramento-poli-75.html#mi_rss=Latest%20News#ixzz0pXD05QaQ

8 Days to the Election You Can Make The Difference! Patrick Kennedy for Council 2010


8 Days to the Election
You Can Make The Difference!
Patrick Kennedy for Council 2010

In this final week leading up to the election, it is imperative that we reach as many people as possible. If you can volunteer for an hour or a week, we need your energy and effort to get our supporters out on election day. There are only 8 days until the election and you can make the difference in the campaign!

Can you walk this weekend?
Can you make calls to voters this week?

Volunteer Opportunities:
Phone Bank
When: Wednesday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 2200 L Street

When: Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 2200 L Street

Walk a Precinct
When: Saturday
Time: 11 AM
Location: 4640 23rd Street (in Hollywood Park)

When: Sunday
Time: 2 PM
Location: 4640 23rd Street (in Hollywood Park)

Get out the vote!On Monday, June 7th and Tuesday, June 8th we will be talking to voters throughout the day to remind them to vote. We need your help to get our supporters to the polls. Contact me for more details, as we will be working all day.

Anything you can do helps! 

Please call me at (916) 601-8558 or e-mail me at Rachel@Patrick-Kennedy.com to join our team.

Sincerely,
Rachel Miller
Campaign Manager

(916) 601-8558
Rachel@Patrick-Kennedy.com

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: New Design High School

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: New Design High School

New Design High School

NO-SWEAT TRACK TO GRADUATION: NEW DESIGN HS STUDENTS EARN GYM CREDITS BY SELLING SNACKS, May 30, 2010, NY Daily News

It's a reel bad idea.
Exercise-starved students from a lower Manhattan school are getting gym credits for working concessions at the Rooftop Films festival, the Daily News has learned.
"Selling drinks and popcorn at a movie is not physical education. It's just not right," said Palmer Taylor, a gym teacher at New Design High School. "The kids aren't getting enough phys-ed."
Every Friday and Saturday starting in May, students can earn seven hours toward their gym requirements by staffing the screenings at the school, one of 10 venues for the popular film series, students and Taylor said.
Roughly 20 students, a handful of them packing a few extra pounds, were performing tasks that required little more exertion than flipping burgers, lifting coolers and setting tables.

Texas Budget Deficit Shatters Myths About California's Deficit | California Progress Report

Texas Budget Deficit Shatters Myths About California's Deficit | California Progress Report

Texas Budget Deficit Shatters Myths About California's Deficit

By Robert Cruckshank
Well, well, well. For years now we've been hearing that California's budget problems exist because we "overspend." Others claim it's because our taxes are so high that companies and jobs move to low-tax states. Texas is often held out by those making these claims as an example of what California should emulate - a low-tax, low-services, low-spending state that supposedly has government figured out.
Except they don't. California faces a budget deficit of about $18 billion. And how much is Texas's budget deficit?
That's right. $18 billion:
But as the state's budget shortfall widens-to as much as $18 billion, or about 20% of the next two-year budget, according to the state legislature's latest analysis released earlier this month-critics are complaining that Mr. Perry's policies have left the state with little room to reduce spending.
read more

ACT Report: Improve Teacher Evaluation � InterACT

ACT Report: Improve Teacher Evaluation � InterACT

ACT Report: Improve Teacher Evaluation

Accomplished California Teachers (the organization that sponsors this blog), has released its debut policy report, “A Quality Teacher in Every Classroom: Creating a Teacher Evaluation System that Works for California.” Watch for an official press release coming very soon.
This report was produced through a long collaboration involving thirteen California public school teachers (including me) whose teaching and leadership experience, research, discussions, and writing provide the substance of the report, and whose consensus yielded the policy recommendations in the report. Our group included teachers from up and down the state, with experience teaching from kindergarten to twelfth grade, in a variety of subject areas, in small schools and large, traditional schools and charters. We had union members and non-members, several National Board Certified Teachers, and winners of all sorts of awards for teaching. What we all had in common was a certainty that teacher evaluations can be done more effectively – and must be done more effectively, especially if other education reforms are to go forward with any chance of success. Our hope is that policy-makers at every level in California will find it helpful to review the available research and

Blackwell: Glad for West Philly delay | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Blackwell: Glad for West Philly delay | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Blackwell: Glad for West Philly delay

by Benjamin Herold on May 31 2010
It can seem that all roads in West Philadelphia eventually run through City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell.
Increasingly, it appears that the long and winding path to determine the fate of West Philadelphia High School under Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's Renaissance Schools initiative is no exception.

Asked if her office was the source of the information that led to the surprising last-minute postponement on May 26 of the School Reform Commission vote on West’s future, Blackwell demurred, but added that she was “glad to see the delay.”

“My office is always involved in these issues and concerns,” said Blackwell, who chairs City Council's Education Committee and who represents the district in which West is located. “In that regard, I hear a lot of things. It would be counterproductive for me to be more specific at this time.”

She added that she’s “glad we have the opportunity to review this so that community members, [West] alumni, parents [and others] can all feel we had a positive process. It's better to make sure it’s done well and done right.”

On May 24, after more than two months of deliberations, the West School Advisory Council (SAC) voted to recommend that West be matched with Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now. The council was strongly in favor of Hopkins, which received nine votes, compared to two votes apiece for Mastery Charter and Ackerman's own District-run Promise Academy model.

NorthJersey.com: What N.J.'s planned budget cuts mean after school

NorthJersey.com: What N.J.'s planned budget cuts mean after school

What N.J.'s planned budget cuts mean after school
Monday, May 31, 2010
WIRE SERVICE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON — In March, Elizabeth Black found herself in a child care scramble for her son, Jamere Carter, a Camden third-grader.
First-grader Briana Rouzard wears a 'NJ After 3' shirt as she participates in an after-school program at Cadwalader Elementary School in Trenton.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
First-grader Briana Rouzard wears a 'NJ After 3' shirt as she participates in an after-school program at Cadwalader Elementary School in Trenton.
He was one of about 10,000 children around New Jersey whose after-school program ended abruptly when the state stopped funding it as it tried to balance the budget with revenues falling short of expectations.
The program, NJ After 3, will not get any money from the state in the budget year that begins July 1, either, under Governor Christie's proposed budget plan.
After the three-hour enrichment program in Jamere's school was shut down, the boy returned for a time to an imperfect arrangement — staying with a grandmother who struggles to keep up with him.
Finally, Black, a mental health case manager, found another program for him, but it means walking through a rough Camden neighborhood to get to another school.
As governor, Christie must straighten out a budget shortfall magnified by a deep recession. A fiscal conservative, the Republican who campaigned last year promising to make government smaller is determined to do it without raising taxes.
In the real world, that means service cuts and disruptions for many in the Garden State.
Reduced aid to local schools is resulting in teacher layoffs in hundreds of districts across the state. Reduced municipal aid is being partly blamed for a budget crunch in Camden County's Winslow Township, where 12 of the 88 police officers will be laid off in June.
Anti-hunger activists are worried that Christie's pulling back on school meal programs will mean more kids will go hungry.
Senior citizens were fretting about a plan to impose a $310 annual deductible on