Saturday, March 27, 2010

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Blog: Who were those VIPs on Duncan's list?

When in Chicago, Duncan kept list of VIP requests for prestige schools

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U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan (AP).

More on Duncan’s VIP list in Chicago

It was disclosed this week that when Arne Duncan was superintendent of Chicago schools, he kept a list of people--including some prominent ones--who asked for help in getting certain children into the city’s best public schools.

The Chicago Tribune obtained documents and reported on details of nearly 40 pages of logs, showing requests from, among others, politicians and influential business people.

In a follow-up story, the Tribune reported that it had verified six instances in which the staff of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, or Daley's nephew, made admissions requests. Daley denied any role in the list.

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Private $$$ for teachers must be "legally binding"

If, for some reason, the private foundations Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee says are lined up to fund at least a portion of teacher salary increases don't deliver, the District is on the hook. That's the judgment of Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, as laid out in an Oct. 14, 2008 letter to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray.

Gandhi will soon be asked to evaluate a financial package in the proposed DCPS labor contract that is allegedly in the final stages of formation. Before any deal can be ratified by the council, he must provide a "certification of funding sufficiency," meaning that the money promised in the contract is actually available.

Ordinarily, this would involve Gandhi looking at the District's own resources -- not all that flush at the moment -- and rendering an opinion. In this case, he'll have to be persuaded that the potential private sources are stable enough to use as the basis for a contract with the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU).

"In the case of a labor agreement that involves the use of private

Ed Buzz: The Nation

Could bus ads save school budgets?(Associated Press)
Loan bill stripped of early ed., other priorities (Education Week)
Unions slam Obama's education budget (Education Week)
Obama effigy hung at R.I. school (New York Times)
Hispanics face barriers to college degree (New York Times)
Suspensions lead to legal challenge(New York Times)
Detroit ed chief wants to close 45 schools (Detroit Free Press)
State, district leaders press transformation (Education Week)
Hurdles await new education agenda(New York Times)
Union tries personal tactics on UC regents (San Francisco Ch

Eduflack: Heading into Race's Phase One Homestretch

Heading into Race's Phase One Homestretch

According to the good folks over at Politics K-12, the U.S. Department of Education intends to announce its Race to the Top Phase One winners on Monday afternoon. If you will recall, 16 states — Colorado, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee — made the cut as finalists. All were asked to show their wares before the RttT reviewer panel in DC last week.

No one has indicated how many states will win in Phase One, but EdSec Arne Duncan and many others have indicated that very few will be winning this time around. Personally, Eduflack has long expected to see three win in Phase One, meaning 13 of the remaining candidates go away disappointed, hoping they have enough time to amend their applications before the Phase Two deadline in June.

So who will win? That becomes the four-billion-dollar question. After reviewing the state RttT applications and consuming much of the analysis of the same, dear ole Eduflack does have a few thoughts:

* Most in Need — If we are awarding based on need, New York and Ohio would walk away the big winners, demonstrating the most tangible need for these funds just to keep their public schools afloat

* The Darlings of Reformers — If the ed reform community had its way, we'd likely see grants headed

Schools Matter: Ravitch Responds to Business Rountable "Thought Leader"

Ravitch Responds to Business Rountable "Thought Leader"

by Jim Horn

The Business Roundtable's attempts to deconstruct Diane Ravitch's withering critique of corporate education reform is now underway. The other day His Arrogance Andy Rottenham, the self-acknowledged edu-priest of"thought leadership" for numerous corporate sludge tanks including Eli Broad's, had a go at Ravitch in TNR, using terminology for which he had the patronizing courtesy to define for his "thought followership." Here isRavitch's response, too good to be missed.

A TNR Symposium.
Diane Ravitch

March 21, 2010 | 5:39 pm

From: Diane Ravitch
To: Andrew Rotherham
Subject: We need to improve our education system—not tinker with models that affect tiny numbers of kids and can’t be replicated.
You complain that, in my new book and in this symposium, I fail to provide the way forward or at least a few silver bullets. You say that I do not show the way forward. So let me give it a try.
First, the punitive approach embedded in NCLB, in my judgment, has poisoned the atmosphere. Teachers feel fearful, beleaguered, and disrespected. A few months ago, a national survey found that 40 percent of U.S. teachers were "disheartened.” I have heard from many teachers (and posted some of their e-mails, often anonymously at their request, on my website atwww.dianeravitch.com). They are indeed discouraged because of the blame game that makes teachers the culprits for poor performance.

Weekly Address: Reforms Will End Student Loan Bank Subsidies and Expand Access to College | The White House

Weekly Address: Reforms Will End Student Loan Bank Subsidies and Expand Access to College

by The White House

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WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Barack Obama praised the bold reforms to the higher education system passed by Congress this week. These reforms save the taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade by ending the subsidies given to banks and middlemen who handle student loans. The money saved will help expand and strengthen the federal Pell Grant program. The reforms will also cap college graduates’ annual student loan repayments at 10% of their income, revitalize community colleges, and increase support for Minority Serving Institutions.
The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
March 27, 2009
This was a momentous week for America. It was a week in which together, we took bold new steps toward restoring economic security for our middle class and rebuilding a stronger foundation for our future. It was a week in which some of the change that generations have hoped for and worked for finally became reality in America.
It began with the passage of comprehensive health insurance reform that will begin to end the worst practices of the insurance industry, rein in our exploding deficits, and, over time, finally offer millions of families and small businesses quality, affordable care – and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.
And it ended with Congress casting a final vote on another piece of legislation that accomplished what we’ve been talking about for decades – legislation that will reform our student loan system and help us educate all Americans to compete and win in the 21st century.
Year after year, we’ve seen billions of taxpayer dollars handed out as subsidies to the bankers and middlemen who handle federal student loans, when that money should have gone to advancing the dreams of our students and working families. And yet attempts to fix this problem and reform this program were thwarted by special interests that fought tooth and nail to preserve their exclusive giveaway.
But this time, we said, would be different. We said we’d stand up to the special interests, and stand up for the interests of students and families. That’s what happened this week. And I commend all the Senators and Representatives who did the right thing.
This reform of the federal student loan programs will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade. And with this legislation, we’re putting that money to use achieving a goal I set for America: by the end of this decade, we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
To make college more affordable for millions of middle-class Americans for whom the cost of higher education has become an unbearable burden, we’re expanding federal Pell Grants for students: increasing them to keep pace with inflation in the coming years and putting the program on a stronger financial footing. In total, we’re doubling funding for the federal Pell Grant program to help the students who depend on it.
To make sure our students don’t go broke just because they chose to go to college, we’re making it easier for graduates to afford their student loan payments. Today, about 2 in 3 graduates take out loans to pay for college. The average student ends up with more than $23,000 in debt. So when this change takes effect in 2014, we’ll cap a graduate’s annual student loan repayments at 10 percent of his or her income.
To help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates over the next decade, we’re revitalizing programming at our community colleges – the career pathways for millions of dislocated workers and working families across this country. These schools are centers of learning; where students young and old can get the skills and technical training they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. They’re centers of opportunity; where we can forge partnerships between students and businesses so that every community can gain the workforce it needs. And they are vital to our economic future.
And to ensure that all our students have every chance to live up to their full potential, this legislation also increases support for our Minority Serving Institutions, including our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to keep them as strong as ever in this new century.
Education. Health care. Two of the most important pillars of a strong America grew stronger this week. These achievements don’t represent the end of our challenges; nor do they signify the end of the work that faces our country. But what they do represent is real and major reform. What they show is that we’re a nation still capable of doing big things. What they prove is what’s possible when we can come together to overcome the politics of the moment; push back on the special interests; and look beyond the next election to do what’s right for the next generation.
That’s the spirit in which we continue the work of tackling our greatest common tasks – an economy rebuilt; job creation revitalized; an American Dream renewed – for all our people.
Thank you.

At various forums, teens discuss flash mobs | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/26/2010

At various forums, teens discuss flash mobs

By Bob Moran and Troy Graham

Inquirer Staff Writers

Why are there violent "flash mobs" in Philadelphia?
In different settings, different teenagers yesterday offered a variety of views on the furor over flash mobs, including the very term.
They scolded their peers. The boys said they were looking for girls. Some did it to establish a reputation, they said, and some didn't like the label being applied to them. They said the swarming was pointless. They said it probably would continue.
Authorities can't "put some tape on it and it's finished. . . . It's not really that simple," said Martisha Hardy, 17, of Germantown.
Hardy was among five teens given a live, hour-long forum on Power 99 (WUSL-FM 98.9) to offer their takes on flash mobs. The teens are part of a group called YO-ACAP, or the Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program, which provides prevention services for young people.
Earlier in the day, from a video screen in an Overbrook High School classroom, school safety coordinator Curry Bailey asked students for their opinions.
"Pointless," one boy called out.
"They're giving us a bad name," a girl said.
"I feel offended at being referred to as a flash mob," another said. The term has become convenient shorthand for the large, destructive gatherings of teenagers that have swarmed the city four times since December.
On Monday and Tuesday, 29 teens were convicted in Family Court of felony rioting for being part of troublemaking gatherings in February and this month.
The Overbrook students were taking part in a school district Webinar on the safe use of social media, which was being shown via Web cam to 10 Philadelphia high schools.

Faculty divided on draft equity resolution�|�The Guardsman

Faculty divided on draft equity resolution

Posted on 26 March 2010 by Liska Koenig, The Guardsman

By Liska Koenig
The Guardsman

A draft resolution by the City College Board of Trustees has some faculty up in arms because they feel the board is interfering with their responsibilities.

Based on data from the Student Equity Report and “Poppy Copy,” a study that evaluates basic skills as a foundation for students’ success at California community colleges, the draft resolution calls for major changes to the curriculum.

The draft resolution, which was presented to the board on Feb. 25, aims to bridge the student achievement gap and prepare students to more efficiently transfer to four-year colleges.

Students who identify as African-American, Native American, Filipino, Latino or Pacific Islander are 19 to 21 percent less likely to complete two- or four-year degrees than their white and Asian counterparts, according to the 2009 City College Student Achievement Gap and Social Equity Report.

“The role of the English and math curriculum is very important in how we understand the problem facing different groups at the college,” Trustee Steve Ngo said. “We need to intensify our basic efforts to get students college-ready and if we can’t do that, then we aren’t doing our job.”

A student entering at the lowest possible level may need to take six English classes and four math classes to finally take transferable math and English courses.

Ngo said these classes will have to be restructured so students don’t have to slowly work their way up in 3-unit increments. To speed up the process, the board is debating turning them into 11- or 12-unit classes.

Under the draft resolution students would have the option to take these subjects as pass/no pass. The board also wants to give students better access to English and math classes and improve professional development training programs to teach basic skills.

Why the GOP is delaying Obama's judicial nominee | San Diego Gay & Lesbian News

Why the GOP is delaying Obama's judicial nominee

Lisa Keen - Keen News Service | Fri, 03/26/2010 - 10:14am | Login to bookmark or comment

ENLARGE

Goodwin Liu

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee was squaring up for a showdown this week over President Obama’s most controversial judicial nominee to date, but that showdown has been indefinitely delayed after Republicans use a parliamentary delaying tactic.
The nominee is Goodwin Liu, a professor of law at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. President Obama nominated him last month for a seat on the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which covers California and eight other Western states. The American Bar Association gave him a “unanimously well-qualified” rating.
But he also has a paper trail a mile wide and a mountain high. That trail reads like good news for the LGBT community, but it screams “liberal” to Republicans.
Fox News has reported that Republicans are “champing at the bit to grill Liu, who has described the Constitution as a living document, advocated for same-sex marriage and suggested health care is a right.”
Fox says Liu’s nomination “is getting extra attention because conservatives are concerned that he could be on the fast track for the Supreme Court.”
Liu is one of four people Obama has named to federal appeals court positions since Feb. 24. The other three -- Ray Lohler Jr. and Robert Chatigny for the 2nd Circuit, and Scott Matheson for the 10th -- have relatively quiet credentials.
But Liu has been very much part of the public discourse on a number of civil rights issues, including Proposition 8, the initiative which voters in California passed in November 2008 to ban same-sex marriage.
In one of many essays he has published in various newspapers and publications, Liu told the Los Angeles Times, “there is no question that [Proposition 8] targets a historically vulnerable group and eliminates a very important right.” He has

Assemblymember Blumenfield Proclaims April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month | Asbarez Armenian News

SACRAMENTO—The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region expressed its steadfast support this week for the introduction of ACR 144, a resolution authored and introduced by California State Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield, proclaiming the month of April each year as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month in California.

“The first step to genocide prevention begins with raising awareness about human rights atrocities of the past,” said Shant Hagopian, former student instructor of 20th Century Genocides at UC Berkeley and ANCA-WR State Relations Committee member. “Moreover, the last step to genocide is its denial. This resolution stands as a deterrent for those looking to rewrite history in the future, just as the Turkish lobby has attempted to do by sending out an action alert expressing their strong opposition to ACR 144,” he added.

ACR 144 begins by stating that Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin was “motivated by the attempted extermination of the Armenian and Assyrian communities during the First World War, coined the term ‘genocide’ to describe a coordinated plan of actions aimed at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating a group itself.” Furthermore, the legislation marks the tragic anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Bosnian Genocide and the Rwandan Genocide by recognizing April of each year as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. Survivors of these genocides live in California and ACR 144 would offer them respect and comfort, knowing that their chosen home supports the type of recognition and education required for preventing the crime of genocide in the future.

California has a proud record of standing up against genocide. California was one of the first states to pass targeted divestment and contract prohibitions legislation against worst-offending companies doing business in Sudan. Just last year, then Assemblymember Paul Krekorian introduced Assembly Bill 961 (AB 961), which helps ensure that California taxpayer dollars are not spent on companies that profit from genocide. AB 961 identifies the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, and the genocide in Bosnia as cases fo

Dear Obama: You're destroying education - Education - Salon.com

Dear Obama: You're destroying education

Diane Ravitch was a champion of No Child Left Behind. Now she's speaking out about the public system we abandoned

BY MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

iStockphoto

Diane Ravitch has spent a lifetime in school. She was the assistant secretary of education under George H. W. Bush and an early advocate of No Child Left Behind. Today, she's a research professor of education at New York University, a passionate critic of the system and an articulate, outspoken advocate for saving our public schools. Her new book has the provocative title "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education."

She's certainly got my attention. As a public school parent in New York City, where on Thursday, chancellor Joel Klein threatened to cut 8,500 teaching jobs -- 20 percent of which would come from theimpoverished South Bronx -- I've been watching the ongoing fiasco in education reform with a mixture of fear, anger and outright disgust. In his announcement, Klein said he would fight Albany's mandate to cut jobs with a "last in, first out" strategy -- unsurprising given his long-standing promise to get rid of "bad" teachers. It doesn't take long, however, to notice how often Klein's criteria for career jeopardy seems to involve a higher salary and/or a class with lower test scores. At my own school, parents have heard our principal speak in meetings of removing particular teachers who make the most money -- while several of the tenured staff have suddenly found themselves written up for questionable infractions.

It's a scenario being repeated all over the country -- earlier this month in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, entire faculties at low-performing schools faced the ax. On Thursday, a Savannah, Ga., high school announced it was firing its whole staff. And California recently issued layoff notices to a staggering 30,000 teachers.

DJ Skee Tapped As California's Hip Hop Ambassador | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales | HipHopDX

DJ Skee Tapped As California's Hip Hop Ambassador

March 26, 2010 08:03:00 AM CDT | By Edwin Ortiz

DJ Skee has been appointed as Hip-Hip Ambassador to ASAS-LA, the Governor’s founded charity, serving disadvantaged youth in L.A.

Founded by Governor Schwarzenegger, ASAS-LA aims to serve 10,000 middle school and high school students in the Los Angeles area with after-school programs that promote education and youth leadership, as well as fitness and nutrition. ASAS-LA also has a separate music program, which teaches kids about the fundamentals of Hip Hop.

Skee, who has made a name for himself as a popular radio deejay in Los Angeles, as well as doing extensive mixtape work with artists across the nation, explained the opportunity to work with kids is an essential part of creating a positive image for Hip Hop. “Being involved with the kids in the After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles programs brings things full circle.”

He continued, “Hip Hop originates from the communities that these students come from. Hip Hop

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