Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

CSU tells students studying in Japan to come home - San Jose Mercury News #CSU #CSUS #UC

CSU tells students studying in Japan to come home - San Jose Mercury News

CSU tells students studying in Japan to come home

Oakland Tribune

Updated: 03/16/2011 11:36:50 AM PDT

Dozens of California students studying abroad in Japan are being asked to return home.

The California State University chancellor sent a memo Tuesday ordering the 22 CSU schools to bring back the 65 students studying in Japan, according to ABC7 news. San Francisco State has 12 students studying in Japan.

San Jose State has three students studying in Japan who are being asked to return, according to university spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris. One of those students is traveling in China as Japanese universities are between terms.

Three other San Jose State students who were expected to leave for Japan in the coming weeks have cancelled their trips.

The University of California has suspended its programs at Tohoku and Tsukuba universities, according to a statement from UC. Tohoku University has closed the school until April 24. All UC Education Abroad Program students in Japan are accounted for and safe, the statement said.

Stanford University says its 35 students studying in Japan have been accounted for and are on their way home, according to ABC7 news.

WISCONSIN LABOR NEWS BLOG #miunion #wiunion #MadNation

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO - Home

For the latest local labor news, click here to visit the BLOG of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

Recieve updates via e-mail. Click here to sign up for the e-Activist Network of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.



The battle against Governor Walker's union-busting efforts continues. There are also lots of activities happening all over the state to fight the unprecedented cuts in his proposed 2011-13 Biennial State Budget. Click on the headline above for the latest scheduled events. Join us!


Click here for BLOG reports on activities.


A short comment on how collective bargaining rights evolved as essential for employees in public service, along with the positive role of all unions in providing a counterbalance to the power of employers and wealthy interests. “Most Americans believe strongly in the idea of checks and balances and understand that unchecked power, whether in a workplace or politics, is a dangerous thing”, writes Professor Paul Clarkof Penn State University. Click here for the opinion piece as it appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on March 6.

Angry Teacher Raps About Getting Unjustly Fired #miunion #wiunion #MadNation


on Mar 14, 2011

Two Teachers and a Microphone

We are both products of LAUSD schools and have spent our careers teaching in LAUSD schools. We love what we do, and we feel that our public school teachers are compassionate, creative and critical to the intellectual and emotional success of our youth.

If you feel the same, please call the school board members and demand that they rescind all pink slips immediately.

Radiation Plume Course Charted by U.N. Agency - NYTimes.com

Radiation Plume Course Charted by U.N. Agency - NYTimes.com

Scientists Project Path of Radiation Plume

A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.

Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

At a rail station in South Korea on Wednesday, passengers viewed news reports about Japan.

Multimedia

Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the West Coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

The projection, by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, an arm of the United Nations in Vienna, gives no information about actual radiation levels but only shows how a radioactive plume would probably move and disperse.

The forecast, calculated Tuesday, is based on patterns of Pacific winds at that time and the predicted path is likely to change as weather patterns shift.

On Sunday, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it expected that no “harmful levels of radioactivity” would travel from Japan to the United States “given the thousands of miles between the two countries.”

The test ban treaty group routinely does radiation projections in an effort to understand which of its global stations to activate for monitoring the worldwide ban on nuclear arms testing. It has more than 60 stations that

KOCH OUT PM News | www.kochwatch.org #miunion #wiunion #MadWi #Madunion #MadNation

News | www.kochwatch.org

Anna’s Video Pick – The Fukushima 50

Anna’s Video Pick – The Fukushima 50


Anna’s Video Pick – The Fukushima 50

by ANNA DANIELS on MARCH 16, 2011
This video news clip is about the unknown Japanese workers who are putting their lives in peril to avert a nuclear disaster. This is a sobering reminder about what workers do.
The right in this country has declared war upon the working class. It is hard for me to imagine the Koch brothers putting their lives in peril to avert nuclear disaster. Maybe that’s worth thinking about too.

Click the image to go to Yahoo and watch the video

What the Revolution Feels Like and Looks Like in Michigan | The UpTake #miunion #wiunion

What the Revolution Feels Like and Looks Like in Michigan | The UpTake

Michigan musician Seth Bernard of the Earthwork Music Collective, narrates the raucous, party-like scene below him at the State Capitol in Lansing today, where thousands gathered to protest Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican legislature’s push to create a path toward privatizing municipalities, counties and school districts and eliminating collective bargaining rights.

Councilwoman Blackwell: Don't fire Moffett | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Councilwoman Blackwell: Don't fire Moffett | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Councilwoman Blackwell: Don't fire Moffett

by thenotebook on Mar 16 2011

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell plans to introduce a resolution in City Council tomorrow calling for the retention of Audenried High School teacher Hope Moffett.

The resolution says that Moffett was removed from her classroom andrecommended for termination "after expressing her personal opinions. " It calls the punishment "severe and unwarranted," saying she gave the students tokens "openly and with positive intentions."

Moffett had spoken out against District plans to convert Audenried to a charter school and gave tokens to students who used them to attend a protest at School District headquarters.

The District issued a statement in response saying that "we respect the opinions o

Anti-teacher climate humbles the conservative husband of a Cleveland educator: Connie Schultz | cleveland.com #madOH

Anti-teacher climate humbles the conservative husband of a Cleveland educator: Connie Schultz | cleveland.com

Anti-teacher climate humbles the conservative husband of a Cleveland educator: Connie Schultz

Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 5:15 AM Updated: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 9:25 AM
senate bill 5.JPGView full sizeSupporters of Senate Bill 5 wave signs outside the Ohio Statehouse on March 2 in Columbus. Teachers and other public workers are the center of controversy because of the Ohio legislature's effort to limit their collective-bargaining rights.

It's a question on a lot of parents' minds these days: How do we teach character?

New York Times columnist David Brooks was in Cleveland on Monday to talk about his new book, "The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement." During the audience Q-and-A, the self-described conservative was asked how he would design high school curriculum to include the teaching of character.

Brooks shared a memory of his own teachers: "I don't remember what they taught me, but I remember how they behaved." Many in the audience nodded and murmured in agreement.

Like most people, I could easily rattle off the names of several teachers who changed my life by