Friday, November 5, 2010

NJEA president praises teachers during address, ignores Christie administration snub | NJ.com

NJEA president praises teachers during address, ignores Christie administration snub

Published: Friday, November 05, 2010, 2:43 PM Updated: Friday, November 05, 2010, 2:43 PM

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Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerNew Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian at the podium with three members of the New Jersey State Board of Education meeting at the NJEA convention in Atlantic City.

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ATLANTIC CITY — Politics were set aside today during an address by the president of the state's largest teachers union at an event honoring teaching excellence, in spite of expectations she would use the speech to criticize the Christie administration.

New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian said she considered the celebration of excellence a highlight of the annual teachers convention at the Sheraton in Atlantic City. She said the spirit of the event was to recognize those teachers making a difference in New Jersey's classrooms.

Election 2010: Voters say yes to districts | EdNewsColorado

Election 2010: Voters say yes to districts

by Nancy Mitchell

Few Colorado superintendents could have been happier this week than Mapleton’s Charlotte Ciancio, who learned Tuesday night that sometimes three strikes don’t mean you’re out.

This election marked the Mapleton school district’s fourth consecutive attempt to win voter approval of a bond issue to build and repair schools. Each year, the yes-no vote tally got a little better – from a 44%-56% loss in 2007 to this week’s 58%-42% win.

“If you look at where we started, we were building every year,” Ciancio said Thursday. “It’s taken us four years to

NJEA head to speak amid new tension with Christie - NorthJersey.com

NJEA head to speak amid new tension with Christie

Friday, November 5, 2010

THE RECORD

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTIC CITY — The head of New Jersey's politically powerful teachers union will speak to a statewide convention Friday.

New Jersey Education Association president Barbara Keshishian is expected to discuss the decision by Gov. Chris Christie's acting education commissioner not to appear at the annual Atlantic City event.

Christie and the union have battled over pay rates, job security and proposed

Film and forum will explore the challenges of Black male students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Film and forum will explore the challenges of Black male students

by Guest blogger on Nov 05 2010 Posted in Community voices

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We have another guest blog this week. This one comes from Ouida Washington and is about thefilm screening and event taking place at CCPtomorrow.

Black male students are in crisis in America.

According to the Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, African American boys are the lowest performing students in 46 states. The Breaking Barriers Report, produced by theCongressional Black Caucus Foundation, indicates that Black boys are more likely to live in a home where their father doesn’t live. Other troubling statistics say that Black boys are more likely to attend a school where the teachers are not certified in science and math, and are more likely to live in a household that falls below the federal poverty line.

Yes, Black boys are in crisis, but they also have the potential to be tomorrow’s

Teaching Patience Where There Is None — The Jose Vilson

Teaching Patience Where There Is None

by Jose

Today, I felt compelled to break down some skills around adding like terms because kids were still a little confused between 3x and x^3. Many adults profess this, too. Yet, anyone who does understand this tend to roll their eyes at those who don’t. For that matter, anyone who gets anything finds it vital to get annoyed at anyone who doesn’t get that thing they get, even when they’re simultaneously getting their eyes rolled at by someone else who understands something they don’t.

That’s where I come in.

Today, as the kids worked on their “Do Now” problem, I noticed a bit of vexation, normal for kids whose mental retention can go from overflowing to flaccid in a matter of a few minutes. Well, except that one kid, who, after learning something once, just gets it. I love that kid because that kid reminds me too much of me, so much so

NJEA president to address N.J. teacher's convention about Christie administration snub | NJ.com

NJEA president to address N.J. teacher's convention about Christie administration snub

Published: Friday, November 05, 2010, 12:18 PM Updated: Friday, November 05, 2010, 12:34 PM

Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
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Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerNew Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian appears at the podium with three members of the New Jersey State Board of Education on Thursday.

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ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian is expected to address the Christie administration’s latest snub of the union during an address at the annual teacher's convention in Atlantic City today.

On Monday, acting Commissioner of Education Rochelle Hendricks e-mailed Keshishian declining an offer made six weeks earlier to speak with thousands of New Jersey teachers about the challenges facing public education in the state. Hendricks pegged her decision to the union’s disinterest in reform.

NJEA president Barbara Keshishian talks about Gov Christie and Education Commissioner

Keshishian said Thursday that the

ASCD Inservice: In Case You Missed It

The Answer Sheet - Who’s NOT on Forbes powerful people list -- but should be

Who’s NOT on Forbes powerful people list -- but should be

Go down the Forbes magazine list of the 68 most powerful people in the world and you will find presidents, kings, prime ministers, chancellors, a supreme leader (of North Korea), Pope Benedict XVI (No. 5) and the Dalai Lama (No. 39), business titans, bankers. The chief of staff of Pakistan’s Army is on the list (N0. 29), as is China’s propaganda chief (No. 32); Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (No. 40); the chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (No. 43); New York Times executive editor Bill Keller (No. 50); drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera (No. 60); media personality Oprah Winfrey (No. 64).

This Week In Education: Desegregation: Chicago's Income-Based Deseg Plan, Take Two

Desegregation: Chicago's Income-Based Deseg Plan, Take Two

by Alexander Russo

After last year's income-based deseg plan made parents miserable and reduced diversity in popular magnet schools (for black kids in particular), Chicago knew it had to make some changes or risk losing even more families to the suburbs than it already has. But nobody's sure that the new plan, announced just yesterday, is going to do any better at balancing fairness, excellence, and diversity goals that are all pulling in different directions. (And there's not much wiggler room in a city who's school system lags behind others like New York, whose student body at this point is just 9 percent white and 10 percent nonpoor, and whose head, Ron

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Deconstructing Decoding Election 2010: IN STATES, GOP WINNERS MAPPING COURSE FOR K-12 GOP VICTORY MAY PROMPT FEDERAL FUNDING, POLICY SHIFTS

Deconstructing+Decoding Election 2010: IN STATES, GOP WINNERS MAPPING COURSE FOR K-12 + GOP VICTORY MAY PROMPT FEDERAL FUNDING, POLICY SHIFTS

In States, GOP Winners Mapping Course for K-12

BY SEAN CAVANAGH | EDUCATION WEEK | HTTP://BIT.LY/97O9G7

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at his victory party in Buda, Texas, on Nov. 2. —LM Otero/AP

November 5, 2010 - The big incoming crop of Republican governors and state lawmakers will inherit bleak conditions for funding school programs and face potentially vexing decisions about whether to pursue the ambitious education proposals crafted by their predecessors, often with bipartisan support.

Many of those victorious GOP candidates campaigned on time-tested conservative platforms, emphasizing a return to local control over education and resistance to what they see as state and federal overreach.

But they will also take office during a dynamic time for education policy.

Many states have pursued major changes to policies for charter schools, teac

Pension fraud. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Pension fraud.

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

tags: Illinois, Pension, Retirement, Social security

by Fred Klonsky

The real story of public employee and teacher pension fraud are the lies that demagogue politicians tell.

The Southtown’s Phil Kadner has a column today. But here are some highlights:

In Illinois, pubic employees who have state pensions do not receive their social security benefits, even if they are fully vested in the social security system, like me.

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Friday, November 5, 2010