Tuesday, November 23, 2010

School Chief May Not Get Waiver - WSJ.com

School Chief May Not Get Waiver

By BARBARA MARTINEZ And MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL

Daniella Zalcman for The Wall Street Journal

An advisory panel appointed by State Education Commissioner David Steiner, center, met Tuesday to review Mayor Michael Bloomberg's request for a waiver to appoint Cathie Black as schools chancellor.

David Steiner, the state education commissioner, has "serious concerns" about granting magazine executive Cathie Black the necessary waiver so that she can become the next New York City schools chancellor, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

The commissioner, however, would be more open to granting a waiver request if it includes a plan to pair Ms. Black with a strong deputy with educational experience, this person said.

Mr. Steiner "recognizes the leadership qualities" of Ms. Black, the person said, but education

UCPD Continue to Harrass Students « occupy california

UCPD Continue to Harrass Students

by *

…This morning UCPD officers showed up to the home of ASUC External Affairs Vice President Ricardo Gomez and asked the building manager to put them in touch with him. If you recall, Gomez was not only pepper sprayed and severely beaten last Wednesday — he was hit with such force in the face with a baton that he received a concussion — but was subsequently arrested and slapped with vague obstruction and resisting charges (along with a dozen others). UCPD then proceeded to phone Gomez and told him they wanted to interrogate him about the Regents’

David Steiner Considering Denying a Waiver to Cathleen Black - NYTimes.com

Condition Put on Schools Pick in Rebuke to Bloomberg

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

Published: November 23, 2010

REPRINTS

The candidacy of Cathleen P. Black, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s choice to be chancellor of New York City schools, was in jeopardy on Tuesday as both a panel weighing her credentials and the state official who will determine her fate expressed deep doubts about her readiness for the job.

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The official, David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner, said he would consider granting Ms. Black, a publishing executive, the waiver she would need to take office if Mr. Bloomberg appointed an educator to help her run the system. Ms. Black lacks the education credentials to be the schools chief required under state law.

But Dr. Steiner did not rule out ruling no entirely, expressing skepticism about Ms. Black’s ability to master the intricacies of the nation’s largest school system. Her cause was further undermined on Tuesday when six of the eight members of a panel Dr. Steiner

UAW Contract Ratification Vote « Occupy UCI!

UAW Contract Ratification Vote

by Mr. F

*** VOTE NO ***

Dear UAW Local 2865 members,

The contract ratification vote for the tentative agreement we reached with UC last Tuesday (see previous email below) will occur statewide next Monday-Thursday. Polling times/locations for Irvine Campus are:

Monday
10am-4pm: Ring Road in front of Reines Hall (FRH)
10am-1pm: Ring Road in front of Social Science Tower
2pm-4pm: In front of Humanities Hall
5pm-8pm: on the pedestrian bridge to Palo Verde

Tuesday
10am-4pm: Ring Road in front of Reines Hall (FRH)

Blow to Bloomberg: Panel votes down mayor's pick for schools chancellor Cathie Black

BY KERRY BURKE AND RACHEL
MONAHAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Originally Published:Tuesday, November 23rd 2010, 5:47 PM
Updated: Tuesday, November 23rd 2010, 6:44 PM

Seth Wenig

The new chancellor of New York City Public Schools Cathie Black.

RELATED NEWS

In a stunning blow to Mayor Bloomberg, his controversial pick for schools chancellor got a thumbs-down Tuesday from a state advisory panel.

State Commissioner David Steiner asked the panel of eight education experts to vote down media exec Cathie Black's application for a state waiver - for now.

"My recommendation was they vote 'not at this time,'" said Steiner, who has the final say.
Steiner favored an approach that would require the city to resubmit Black's application and officially designate a chief academic officer, who Black can rely on to fill in for her lack of education experience,

'A Community Concern,' cinematic counterpoint to 'Superman' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

'A Community Concern,' cinematic counterpoint to 'Superman'

by Ron Whitehorne

Davis Gugenheim’s "Waiting for 'Superman'" documentary has quickly become the media narrative about what’s wrong with public education and how to fix it. The film boils it down to that bad teachers and their unions are the culprits and charter schools are the solution.

The documentary “A Community Concern” tells a different story and points us in a different direction when it comes to solutions.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ownership Society News

Ownership Society News

by Mike Klonsky

Before he left his post as NYC chancellor, Joel Klein made sure his nest was feathered. He helped put together a mega-deal for his new boss, Rupert Murdoch, a deal that would give the media mogul a no-bid entry point into

Schools Matter: The Goodloe-Johnson Strategic Plan, p. 11

The Goodloe-Johnson Strategic Plan, p. 11

by Jim Horn

As Mr. Dempsey noted in a comment on an earlier post, the Big Lie by the Broadies is on page 11 of the Strategic Plan, "Excellence for All. (Click image to enlarge)

The University of Arizona Puts Its Honors Program Up For Sale « Student Activism

The University of Arizona Puts Its Honors Program Up For Sale

November 23, 2010 in Students

The University of Arizona has seen enrollment in its honors program drop bynearly twenty percent after it began charging students $500 a year to participate. More than six hundred students have left the program this year, the first year in which the fee has been imposed.

Remember this story the next time you hear some professor or administrator whining about the “consumer mentality” among today’s college students.

It’s not the students of the University of Arizona who looked at the school’s

Panel denies Bloomberg’s choice for schools chancellor | GothamSchools

Panel denies Bloomberg’s choice for schools chancellor

by Anna Phillips

An eight-member panel of education experts has voted to deny publishing executive Cathleen Black a waiver to become the next schools chancellor.

State education officials said that four panel members voted against granting the waiver, two voted in favor, and two voted “not at this time.” They would not say how individual panel members cast their votes.

Without a background in education, Black needs a waiver from the state that will let her bypass the prerequisites: that she have a degree in education and several years of teaching behind her.

The final call rests with State Education Commissioner David Steiner, who would not say when he plans to make his decision.

Michelle Rhee Revisited - Armstrong Williams - Townhall Conservative

Armstrong Williams

Michelle Rhee Revisited

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These are interesting times for education reform in America today. A lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle are calling for "reform," but no one seems to know what "reform" really looks like.

The issue reached new levels of salience just a few weeks ago when "Waiting for Superman" - the new Davis Guggenheim documentary following five students and their futures in charter schools - opened to nationwide critical acclaim.

There's no question this country must have a serious debate on what reform is needed in our education system. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. students in 10th grade rank 28th in math and 22nd in science out of a total of 39 countries in proficiency.

Once the hotbed of innovation, medical and technical advancements, America is now sucking the exhaust fumes of revving machines such as India, China and other advancing nations. We are beyond arrested development. We are regressing. It's one thing to grasp this reality. It's quite another to do something about it.

That's why the departure of D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee in the wake of a new mayor in our

Editorial: Outrage directed at Regents better spent against Sacramento - The Highlander - Opinions

Editorial: Outrage directed at Regents better spent against Sacramento

By Editorial Board

Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 14:11

Irin Son / Highlander

Last Thursday, the Regents voted 15-5 to increase student fees and tuition by eight percent to take effect next fall quarter. As with last year's approval of a 32 percent fee hike, students voiced their protest during the hours leading up to and following the decision to increase student fees yet again.

By this point, however, it should be clear that the Regents must have at least some inkling as to why so many would protest any attempt to raise student fees. While it remains important to continually pressure the Regents to act with the best interests of Californians and students in mind, there are other avenues of approach that students and activists should consider with regards to preserving an accessible, affordable higher education.

In other words, the fight to preserve higher education must evolve past simplistic Regent-bashing and bludgeoning.

Granted, it is deservedly easy to demonize those who directly control the University of California and its affairs for everything they have done and failed to do. On more than one occasion, students have pointed out a myriad of ways

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Tuesday, November 23, 2010