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Calderon refused to wear recording device in FBI probe
The California state senator alleges that federal officials leaked sealed affidavit to Al Jazeera in retaliation
‘Study questions’ about Justin Lookadoo after the Richardson High School controversy
You may have seen the story about motivational speaker Justin Lookadoo and the controversy he caused yesterday at Richardson High School. (If not, here’s your … [visit site to read more]
Letter going out from the Richardson High School principal about yesterday’s controversial motivational speaker. Justin Lookadoo’s gender-specific advice was not exactly universally applauded. Neither was what some students and parents found out about his background as a Christian speaker and author. (visit site to read more]
NEWS: Remainders: New safety rules announced after disappearance
The city is amending safety procedures in response to Avonte Oquendo’s disappearance. (Schoolbook) To see improvements, a writer says Chicago schools must put focus on poverty. (Chicago Reader) One take: Teach for America is the go-to because top schools are snobs about education. (Atlantic) Nationwide, parents of special education students say budget cuts have hurt their services. (HuffPost) No
Black and Latino students are being disproportionately suspended from Pennsylvania's schools under the auspices of "zero tolerance" provisions. This from a new report by the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which analyzed aggregate data from each of the state's 500 school districts. Key findings of the report include: Black students make up 13.6 percent of Pe
The 9 States Where The Most Kids Get Spanked In School
The 9 States Where The Most Kids Get Spanked In School By Rebecca Klein The controversial practice of corporal punishment in schools is still very much alive and kicking in the United States. In September, an Alabama mother named Wendy Chandler gained national attention for speaking out over a permission slip from her daughter’s elementary school that asked parents to let their kids be paddled f
Mt. Diablo District and teachers union declare impasse November 14, 2013 On Wednesday the Mount Diablo School District and its teachers union have declared an impasse in contract negotiations. This post has been generated by Page2RSS
California Educators to Present at National Conference on Teaching 21st Century Skills to Students.
Dispatch From Philadelphia: The Brutal End of Public Education
Photos by Julianne Hing
Othella Stanback could very well be a Philadelphia public school success story in the making. At 19 years old and in her senior year at Ben Franklin High in North Philly, she’s dropped out of school twice and considered leaving more times than that. But she’s always come back. And she has dreams for herself.
“I want to be an FBI agent,” Stanback says, sitting in the late afternoon on the steps of a local welfare office, where she’s come to file paperwork. She has two young children—4-year-old Amor and 2-year-old Amira—and while it’s been tough juggling school and parenting, her ambitions have remained intact. “Or teach philosophy,” she says, ticking off her potential careers. “Except I took one of those quiz things for college recently and it told me the thing I’d be good at is organizing.” Of course, before starting any of those careers, she needs to get into to college—and that’s where the odds are stacked against her.
Stanback’s got her sights set on Millersville University, a state college in Pennsylvania an hour and a half west of the city. College applications are typically due at the end of November, but she doesn’t have the strong file she ought to. From ninth through eleventh grades, Stanback attended University City High, where she took biology, chemistry and physical science from a favorite science teacher. That’s who Stanback would have asked for a letter of recommendation for college. But earlier this year, Universtiy was shut down in a massive sweep of school closures in Philadelphia. In the ensuing chaos, Stanback lost touch with her science teacher.
“I had connections with teachers, it was relationships I built,” Stanback says, looking back at the educational home she lost. “So now when I come to school I don’t really know anyone. I have nobody I can connect to and no teacher I can really trust to talk about certain things, because that takes time.”
Philadelphia’s public education system, with roughly 140,000 students, is struggling for survival. In 2010, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett was elected on a platform that included a range of controversial, if increasingly widespread education reform ideas. He called for test-driven teacher accountability, vouchers, decreased regulations for charter schools and a larger role for private, for-profit entities. So when Corbett faced a state fiscal crisis—one that has been compounded by the loss of federal stimulus money, which was propping up the state’s education budget—he responded with a mixture of austerity measures and hardline reforms for public schools. Last year, the governor slashed $1.1 billion from the state’s K-12 budget, cuts that particularly devastated Philadelphia’s state-controlled schools. On the advice of a private consulting group, school officials announced that the district would need to close a stunning five dozen schools, and noted that the district ought to brace itself for dissolution. This year, in an effort to forestall that devastation, the district asked teachers to take pay cuts of between 5 and 13 percent of their salaries. That wasn’t enough. In the spring, the district closed 23 schools, including Stanback’s. This fall, students went back to schools with skeletal staff after the district laid off 3,859 people, one of every five district employees.
Philadelphia is deep into worst-case scenario territory, but it’s not alone. In cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Chicago—all of them with sizable black populations and long histories of entrenched poverty—lawmakers have responded to budget crises with cuts to public education and market-driven education reform agendas. In a city like Philadelphia, which has the worst poverty rate of the ten largest U.S. cities, in which 39 percent of the city’s children live in poverty and in which blacks and Latinos are twice as likely as whites to be poor, robust public schools are even more vital. The consequences of the collapse of the city’s public school system is falling squarely on the backs of Stanback and her classmates. [Photo below: Mural outside now-closed University City High School]
SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Free Screening of "A Place at the Table" Friday Ni...: Campus Progressive Alliance Presents A Place at the Table From the People Who Brought You FOOD INC. “As important and eye...
School yoga protest tests flexibility in Encinitas
Gradnfather of student cites Scripture to oppose controversial P.E. program.
Lesson plans: Something scripted, something borrowed, something new. #ShareMyLesson
Today I was preparing a sub plans for next week and read Shaun Johnson’s piece about lesson plan books during my lunch period. I know I will be out for a morning next week for some dental work so I am getting my lesson plans set for the day I will be absent. Any teacher […]
Get Schooled: Druid Hills Charter Cluster and DeKalb School Board: Any hope for a redo?
In urging the rejection of the Druid Hills Charter Cluster, DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond said his concern was not only for the 5,000 students who would attend the seven schools in the proposed cluster, but for the 100,000 in the entire system. “You hired me to do what is in ...
Q&A: Investing in student health reaps academic gains - Expert opinion
Dr. Charles Basch, professor of health and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, addressed the connection between student health and school success during his keynote address at the Colorado Association of School Nurses in Loveland on Nov. 2. In particular, he addressed seven key health factors that research shows are closely associated with students’ academic performance, but are o
Voices: Ignore the haters: American teachers among most trusted in the world - lessons learned
In the second of a series on recruiting, training and supporting teachers, Donnell-Kay fellow Sarah Jenkins argues that American teachers are much more respected than many believe. When I was still teaching, friends and family always wanted to hear my classroom stories. Whether I was describing gag-worthy situations common in first grade, examples of heartwarming kindness between children, or vict
Beaverton School District nervous after 10 bond measures fail across Oregon
Superintendent Jeff Rose said he grew anxious as he watched the bond results come in during the election and has since talked with some of the superintendents in those districts.
Poll: Should children still learn cursive in school?
The debate over Common Core has unearthed a new sticking point: cursive. According to a story published today by the Associated Press, at least seven states (California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah) have moved to include script-writing instruction in their Common C
ArcelorMittal Cleveland Steel Factory Cleveland, Ohio 3:38 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Ohio! (Applause.) It is good to be back in Cleveland. The last time I was here was about a year ago, in the final days of the campaign. I know how much you miss hearing how I approve this message every night on your TV. (Laughter.) I will say it is nice to be here when the only real battle for Ohio is
Daily, Simple Ways to Support Learning
It's hard to believe that the trees are just about absent of leaves and the school year is well under way. As a parent of a 3-year-old, I spend time talking about the change of seasons as we listen to the sound of the leaves as they crunch beneath our feet. My husband and I take any opportunity that comes our way to explain the world around our son to help prepare him for his future in school and
It took some time, but Illinois Governor Pat Quinn finally got a measure of revenge against all those teachers who booed and heckled him unmercifully at last year’s State Fair. The humiliating scene at the State Fair must have enraged Quinn for a long time. This week Quinn named Paul Vallas as his running mate for the position of Lieutenant Governor. Most political experts couldn’t believe that th
New Mexico cancer patient barred from daughter’s school
A New Mexico woman has been banned from her daughter’s school because the principal is allegedly concerned about her smell, KOB-TV reported on Wednesday. “He just said he knows this is going to hurt my feelings and he understands where I’m coming from,” Kerri Mascareno...
Justin Lookadoo takes the stage before a crowd of teenagers in a rumpled white shirt and conch necklace. Beneath bleached-blonde hair, his face contorts into cartoon expressions as he rapidly spouts truthiness about dating. “First thing you need to understand ladies is that guys are going to lie to you to get what they want and what they want is sex. The end,” he says, all in one breath and in a heavy Texas drawl. That speech, posted on YouTube, was described as but a preview of what Lookadoo calls his “Dateable” program, a motivational speech he delivers regularly to teens in Texas and other
Kudos to Diane Ravitch for Owning Up to Her Mistakes » Laura and John Arnold -: Kudos to Diane Ravitch for Owning Up to Her Mistakes » Laura and John Arnold - on November 14, 2013Recently, Diane Ravitch posted on her blog an egregious personal attack against me, ostensibly regarding my and Laura’s efforts to keep Head Start programs open during the recent government shutdown. Professor Ravitch, among other things, accused me of “fleecing” Enron investors and sought to link me — through outright misstatements, innuendo and implication — to disgraced Enron executives and their criminal activity
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP mark as readEnd Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the WorkplaceEnd Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the Workplace « MomsRising Blog: End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the WorkplacePosted November 14th, 2013 by Liz WatsonBy Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students at the National Women’s Law CenterCross-posted from NWLC’s blogLast week, the U.S. Senate passed the
End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the Workplace « MomsRising Blog: End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the WorkplacePosted November 14th, 2013 by Liz WatsonBy Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students at the National Women’s Law CenterCross-posted from NWLC’s blogLast week, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with strong bipartisan support. If ENDA becomes law, employers across the nation will be barred from discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers because of the
SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Free Screening of "A Place at the Table" Friday Night at Sac State!
Campus Progressive Alliance PresentsA Place at the TableFrom the People Who Brought You FOOD INC.“As important and eye-opening a documentary as you’ll see this year.” -- New York Daily News“A shocking indictment of how people are starving in the land of plenty.” -- Toronto Star"Presents a shameful truth that should leave viewers dismayed and angry.” -- S.F. ChronicleFree Admission! Everyone Welcome!Friday, November 15, 2013Shorts -- 6:00pm Feature -- 6:30pmMariposa Hall 1000Sacramento State University