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Sunday, September 5, 2010

New Orleans schools have chance to become centers of their communities | NOLA.com

New Orleans schools have chance to become centers of their communities | NOLA.com

New Orleans schools have chance to become centers of their communities

Published: Sunday, September 05, 2010, 6:35 AM

By Cindy Chang and Michelle Krupa, staff writers

abramson-modular.jpgNew Orleans Charter Science and Math Academy has moved to modular classrooms on the former Abramson campus in eastern New Orleans.

In the three years since it opened, New Orleans Charter Science and Math Academy has been housed in modular classrooms at one eastern New Orleans site, then another.

The move to the former Abramson campus, accomplished a week before school started because the new modular classrooms were not ready until then, has been especially difficult. The cafeteria was declared unsafe by the fire marshal, so students have been making do with sack lunches.

Sci Academy is one of the top-performing high schools in the city and is often touted by Recovery School District officials as a shining example of the academic achievement made possible by post-Katrina school reforms. But while the transformation of many city schools into independently run charter schools has been swift, physical changes have been much slower in coming than intangible ones. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, new buildings are just

Charter school leaders seek exemptions from state | DailyComet.com

Charter school leaders seek exemptions from state | DailyComet.com

Charter school leaders seek exemptions from state

Published: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 11:41 p.m.

THIBODAUX — The MAX Charter School in Thibodaux, deemed “academically unacceptable” last month by the state, is seeking exemptions from certain achievement requirements because almost all of its students have dyslexia or other learning disabilities.


And the school’s new director, Linda Musson, is redoubling efforts to focus on student reading. The MAX school is public and open to all applicants. But almost all of the school’s 106 students — about 50 each from Lafourche and Terrebonne, with the remainder from four neighboring parishes — have dyslexia or similar language-related learning disorders.

Such students have trouble with reading, writing, spelling and pronunciation.

That causes problems with state tests, administrators say. Fourth- and eighth-grade students

No Child Left Behind and Global Competitiveness on Vimeo

No Child Left Behind and Global Competitiveness on Vimeo

Charter school applications assisted by OKC's Ben Harris | NewsOK.com

Charter school applications assisted by OKC's Ben Harris | NewsOK.com

Charter school applications assisted by OKC's Ben Harris

Oklahoma City man is behind a dozen charter school applications that have ties to former colleagues who now run new companies.

BY MEGAN ROLLAND Comment on this article 1
Published: September 5, 2010

© Copyright 2010, The Oklahoman

Ben Harris, an Oklahoma City man who is working on a dozen charter school applications in other states, is behind a proposed virtual charter school in Oklahoma that sued the state Education Department.

Harris is listed as a registered agent for Community Strategies Inc., the nonprofit that is opening Epic 1 on 1 Charter School. He uses his home address on the corporate papers, and he worked behind the scenes to get the school approved by the University of Central Oklahoma.

Harris, 35, is an expert on virtual charter schools. He worked on the applications of a dozen schools in Florida, California and Arizona for the Bricktown-based company Advanced Academics Inc.

Yet, Harris said all of the work he has done in Oklahoma is strictly on a volunteer basis to assist his childhood friend David Chaney, who is the founder of Epic 1 on 1 Charter



Read more: http://newsok.com/man-calls-role-a-service-in-forming-virtual-schools/article/3492028#ixzz0yfEUm974

Gibbons' bill requests target collective bargaining, K-12 mandates | NevadaAppeal.com

Gibbons' bill requests target collective bargaining, K-12 mandates | NevadaAppeal.com
Gibbons' bill requests target collective bargaining, K-12 mandates
Among the 92 bills the Gibbons administration submitted to the Legislative Counsel Bureau this week are proposals to eliminate collective bargaining for schools and local government, create a school voucher system and remove K-12 mandates such as class size reduction.

Chief of Staff Robin Reedy said the governor's list was proposed to the special legislative session in February but didn't get much support.

At the top of the list is eliminating mandatory collective bargaining for local entities. Reedy predicted it would win some supporters.

“Right now, there is debate as to whether we are at the bottom,” Reedy said of the recession. “If things don't get better, I think 288 (the collective bargaining statute) could go away if legislators are listening to the voters.”

Rather than blame local governments for the high salaries of their union workers, Reedy said people should

Chris Christie / Bret Schundler dust-up hurts children the most | NJ.com

Chris Christie / Bret Schundler dust-up hurts children the most | NJ.com

Chris Christie / Bret Schundler dust-up hurts children the most

Published: Sunday, September 05, 2010, 6:11 AM
tom-kean-byrne.jpgFormer New Jersey governors Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne.

The following exchange between former New Jersey governors Brendan T. Byrne and Tom Kean took place in a Thursday morning teleconference.

Q: In effect, Gov. Chris Christie and fired education commissioner Bret Schundler are calling each other liars. Is that merely this week’s news, or do you think it will cause some damage down the line?

GOV. BYRNE: I don’t hear anybody talking about Christie for president right now, but that comes and goes. There’s no question he has been hurt by all of this, but I think he’s handling it as well as he can.

Creating Music Online | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Creating Music Online | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Dad at the Chalkboard: The Father 100 - Episode 2 Winner

Dad at the Chalkboard: The Father 100 - Episode 2 Winner

The Father 100 - Episode 2 Winner


When I posted this weeks prompt, forgiveness, on Twitter on Tuesday night I got several messages sent my way almost immediately about the difficulty of the chosen word.