Friday, December 3, 2010

Report finds education disparities among Asian subgroups in California | 89.3 KPCC

Report finds education disparities among Asian subgroups in California

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

Pomona College Dean Sefa Aina urges policymakers to address education disparities among Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders and native Hawaiians in California.

6:42 a.m. | Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC

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A report released in Los Angeles today reveals what its authors call grave disparities in educational achievement between Asian-Americans, native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in California.

For one Asian-American subgroup, the Hmong of Southeast Asia, the idea that all Asians are academic high achievers is a dangerous myth. Nearly half of Hmong adults don’t have a high school diploma.

It’s dangerous, says University of California researcher Lois Takahashi, because the myth keeps the struggles of Hmong families out of the policymaking spotlight. She says statistics about the much larger Samoan, Guamanian and Tongan populations in California are just as troubling.

"One fifth of Pacific Islanders in our grades 9-12 are expected to drop out by grade 12," Takahashi said. "That’s very similar and almost equivalent to the dropout rate for Latinos in the state."

Most of those dropouts are bound to falter in life. The teens’ struggles and the shortcomings of schools to address their needs play out in cities such as Hawthorne, the center of the Southland’s

Union Investigating Teacher Assault Claims - Baltimore, Maryland News Story - WBAL Baltimore

Union Investigating Teacher Assault Claims

School Says No Incidents Reported Since School Opened

POSTED: 3:37 pm EST December 3, 2010
UPDATED: 7:11 pm EST December 3, 2010

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BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Teachers Union is calling for more resources at a high school where a teacher was attacked by a student.

Social studies teacher Jeffery Slattery is still recovering from his injuries after he said a 14-year-old former student attacked him Wednesday in the hallway just outside of his classroom at Baltimore Community High School.

Slattery said he told the boy to go back to his classroom when the attack happened. He said he was punched several times, causing serious injuries to his jaw and eye.

On Friday, teachers union President Marietta English showed up at the

Nanaimo teachers' union takes district to B.C. high court over class size

BY DEREK SPALDING, NANAIMO DAILY NEWS DECEMBER 3, 2010 12:53 PM COMMENTS (8)

Nanaimo teachers are challenging class sizes in their disrict.

Photograph by:Daily News Files, timescolonist.com

NANAIMO - The province's teachers' union will be watching for a possible precedent-setting B.C. Supreme Court legal challenge of class sizes and class compositions in the coming weeks.

The Nanaimo District Teachers' Association filed the petition with the court because executive members claim the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district's board of trustees has incorrectly interpreted the School Act when it approved the number of students in its classrooms.

District staff have been silent about the challenge, but school trustee Ron Dale publicly slammed the NDTA and the B.C. Teachers' Union yesterday, saying that a radical group of teachers are behind the latest attack on the district.

The court's decision could have a resounding impact across the province, as unions in nearly all districts have long criticized Bill 33, the legislation that set out strict guidelines for the number of students and special needs students that can be in one classroom.

NDTA president Derek DeGear was not available for comment and newly elected board chairwoman Sharon Welch only issued a written statement to news media yesterday.

"I think most of our teachers are reasonable people, but we have these radicals who follow the BCTF party line at any cost," Dale said, during a visit to the Nanaimo Daily News.

"Nanaimo's just a test case. There is a war being waged by the union and it's going to cost our district money."

District superintendent Mike Munro approves all class size and composition formulas sent to him by each principal. He presents those results to the trustees regularly throughout the year.

NDTA executive members have long criticized the numbers, calling on

The Fight Over a Fired Charter School Teacher - voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog

The Fight Over a Fired Charter School Teacher

Posted on December 3, 2010

by Emily Alpert

The San Diego teachers union plans to fight the firing of a teacher who spearheaded union efforts at Tubman Village Charter School, where teachers became unionized nearly a year ago.

The battle is an unusual one because while Tubman is unionized, its teachers have yet to hammer out a contract. That leaves them in labor limbo.

Jonathon Mello, an organizer for the San Diego Education Association, said the union plans to file charges with a state board, arguing the teacher is being discriminated against as a labor leader and that her work terms were changed unilaterally.

Principal Lidia Scinski wrote in an email to us that "Tubman doesn't conduct business in public," but added, "I am confident that the school's actions are in compliance with the law."

The firing goes to the heart of why Tubman is unionizing and why unions argue their protections are needed. When Tubman teachers joined up with the union in January,

HISD talks to students, removes computers from Pin Oak Middle School | School Zone | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD talks to students, removes computers from Pin Oak Middle School

As we reported in today's paper, the Houston Independent School District confirmed that the recent hacking incident stemmed from a computer at Pin Oak Middle School. District officials said that only one student's records were viewed, but that the private data of other students, employees, vendors and job applicants was exposed.

This afternoon, HISD's chief middle school officer, Dallas Dance, told Pin Oak parents in a letter that "authorities have spoken with some Pin Oak students and have removed several computers from campus for analysis." The letter says no arrests have been made and says nothing about whether the students are suspects. HISD's chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett, told me Thursday that district officials did not know whether the hacking was done by

City and union officials are “in talks” over school closures | GothamSchools

City and union officials are “in talks” over school closures

by Anna Phillips

City officials have been holding on-again-off-again meetings with the teachers union to discuss the fate of the nearly 60 schools that could be closed or have their principals removed this year.

A source familiar with the meetings said they’ve been going on throughout the fall and have been spearheaded, on the DOE’s side, by Deputy Chancellor John White. A union official said part of the reason for the talks is that the city is eager to avoid another lawsuit like the one last year that barred the planned closure of 19 schools.

“I think they’re making a real attempt to avoid what led us to win that suit against them,” said the official. “I don’t think it’s any glasnost, there’s no kumbaya here. But they’re making an effort to avoid getting sued.”

City and union officials would not comment on the substance of the discussions. As early as next week, city officials will begin announcing which schools they plan to keep open, which will close, and which will undergo one of several “turnaround” models mandated by the federal government.

City officials are also trying to iron out an agreement with the principal’s union that will let them use the

This Week In Education: Reform: Is "Intellectual Elitism" Getting In The Way?

Reform: Is "Intellectual Elitism" Getting In The Way?

One of several conversations going on right now about the current political malaise involves the issue of elitism -- Democratic elitism, in particular (Democrats Have an 'Intellectual Elitism' Problem Atlantic Wire). Though not focused on education politics in particular, it's a relevant question to consider in light of recent setbacks and controversies (the departures of Rhee & Klein, the appointment of Cathie Black, the Waiting For Superman debacle). There's no doubt that education activists, especially the reformy kind, need to engage with teachers, parents, and other non-elites better than they have over the past couple of years. Right now it seems like they're being destroyed by

Ed Schools « School Finance 101

Ed Schools

by schoolfinance101

Ed schools seem to make an easy target in public policy debates over the quality of American public schooling and the American teacher workforce.

In many recent lopsided “ed school as the root of all evil” presentations, “Ed Schools,” are treated as some easily defined, static entity over time. In the book of reformyness (chapter 7, verse 2), “Ed Schools” necessarily consist of some static set of traditional higher education institutions – 4 year teachers colleges including regional state colleges and flagship universities – where a bunch of crusty old education professors spew meaningless theory at wide-eyed undergrads (who graduated at the bottom of their high school class) seeking that golden ticket to a job for life – with summers off.

In order to craft a clearly understandable (albeit entirely false) dichotomy of policy alternatives, pundits then present teachers who have obtained alternative certification as a group of individuals, nearly all of whom necessarily attended highly selective colleges and majored in something really, really rigorous and then received their certification through some more expeditious and clearly much more practical and useful fast-tracked option.

This was certainly the theme of a discussion (hashtag #edschools) at Thomas B. Fordham Institute actively tweeted the other day by Mike Petrilli and a few others. What I found most interesting was that no-one really challenged the assumptions that “ed schools” are some easily definable group of traditional higher education

Where is Cathie Black today? Her television appearances begin | GothamSchools

Where is Cathie Black today? Her television appearances begin

by Maura Walz

Cathie Black’s radio silence appears to be ending.

Today the chancellor appointee gave her first formal interview since Mayor Michael Bloomberg named her to the post more than three weeks ago. The appearance comes after criticism that the city has kept Black shielded from the public eye.

WABC 7 reporter Art McFarland accompanied Black on a visit to the Spruce Street School, an elementary school located at the Department of Education’s Tweed Courthouse headquarters. The DOE has already tweeteda photograph from the segment, which will air this evening.

A DOE spokeswoman did not respond to a query about whether other reporters will now have access to Ms. Black.

ABC didn’t get Black’s first sit-down. That honor goes to NBC’s “The Apprentice.” On an episode that aired two weeks ago, one contestant won a meeting with Black, but footage of the meeting wasn’t televised. Now it has

Elections Results UAW Local 2865 #UCDavis

UAW Local 2865

	UAW Local 2865 Representing Over 12,000 Academic Student Employees at UC

Elections Results

CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE
November 29-December 2, 2010

RESULTS
STATEWIDE TALLY
Y: 2421 – 62.4%
N: 1457 – 37.6%

CAMPUS TALLIES
Berkeley
Y: 203 – 21.2%
N: 755 – 78.8%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 35%

Davis
Y: 139 – 58.9%
N: 97 – 41.1%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 15%

Irvine
Y: 167 – 42.2%
N: 229 – 57.8%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 28%

Los Angeles
Y: 674 – 87.8%
N: 94 – 12.2%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 43%

Merced
Y: 24 – 100%
N: 0 – 0%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 15%

Riverside
Y: 124 – 81.0%
N: 29 – 19.0%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 15%

San Diego
Y: 633 – 95.3%
N: 31 – 4.7%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 41%

Santa Barbara
Y: 437 – 92.6%
N: 35 – 7.4%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 49%

Santa Cruz
Y: 20 – 9.7%
N: 187 – 90.3%
# of voters as % of ASEs on campus: 37%

solidaridad: Rhee, the Evil Princess of Privatization on Teabagger Transition Team

Rhee, the Evil Princess of Privatization on Teabagger Transition Team

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Right wing reactionary Michelle Rhee is finally working with her own ilk — the racist Teabaggers! Corporate darling Rhee, along with a host of other far right ideologues will work on teabagger-white supremacist favorite Florida Governor-Elect Rick Scott's transition team.

That Rhee was immediately picked to head the education transition team of a teabagger/tea party politician should come as no surprise. Her ability to put the needs of corporations before communities, to call hard working people "special interests," and to make conditions favorable for the get rich quick schemesters in the charter-

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SENIORITY RULES, BUT DO STUDENTS LOSE?

SENIORITY RULES, BUT DO STUDENTS LOSE?

EPISODE: KPCC AIRTALK WITH LARRY MANTLE FOR DECEMBER 3, 2010 | HTTP://BIT.LY/HXZM9C

smf: the LA Times is about to drop another shoe in its school reform jihad in Sunday's print edition. This is the first round in that next mixed-metaphorical attack: this time on teacher seniority / longevity / experience / educational attainment.

Once upon a time there were two newspapers in this town:
one had a database of student test scores sorted by who their teacher was that was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and used it to evaluate teacher performance.
the other had a database of teachers and their salaries, also obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
What if we were to compare the two, crunch the numbers and determine return-on-salary-investment by teachers? Would

Sacramento Press / Sacramento State Students go Ape-solutely Bananas for BORN FREE USA

Sacramento State Students go Ape-solutely Bananas for BORN FREE USA

by Kelsey Rubstello

Sacramento State Public Relations students and Will Travers, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of BORN FREE USA, will be training, stretching, lacing up their running shoes and donning their favorite animal costumes for the Kaiser Permanente MaraFUNrun & Fitness Walk on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 8 a.m.

The students and Travers are running the maraFUNrun for BORN FREE USA; a Sacramento- and Washington D.C.-based international wildlife nonprofit conservation and protection organization.

To help bring awareness to BORN FREE USA and its motto of “keeping wildlife in the wild,” the students and Travers will be running the 2.62 miles in BORN FREE USA gear and some will be participating dressed as monkeys, lions and bananas – oh my!

The Kaiser Permanente MaraFUNrun & Fitness Walk is part of the 28th Annual California International Marathon. The MaraFUNrun follows the last 2.62 miles of the marathon course, crossing the same finish line as the marathoners, and is held in the spirit of fun and fitness for youths and adults.

BORN FREE was originally founded in England in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginal McKenna, stars of the 1968

Queens Teacher: Patrick Sullivan Shames Deformers...Again

Patrick Sullivan Shames Deformers... Again

by Queens Teacher

Popout

Patrick Sullivan: "There's one idea of education for their children and a totally different idea of education for everybody else's children. And that has to stop."

Well said, Patrick.

Plainfield school board leader catches heat for Facebook post - Herald News

Plainfield school board leader catches heat for Facebook post

by catherine ann velasco cvelasco@stmedianetwork.com Nov 22, 2010 10:38AM

PLAINFIELD — Plainfield school board President Stuart Bledsoe has told the teachers’ union to KMA — (Kiss My A**) — on his Facebook page after hearing that union members have allegedly campaigned against him during their meetings at the schools.

“Really after standing up for the APT (Association of Plainfield Teachers) the past three years they are going to go after me. KMA. Watch how much support you get in the future. Look at your leadership they will lead you exactly where they want you to go,” Bledsoe wrote on his Facebook page on Nov. 10.

A person on his Facebook page asked him what he meant.

Bledsoe replied, “It just means the APT can hold their breath if they think I will be going out on a limb for them in the future. They are on their own.”

Karie Beck, president of APT, took Bledsoe’s Facebook comments to Plainfield Superintendent John Harper last week, saying the union has concerns.

“Our concern is this is what is being posted on a public forum,” she said.

Beck also said she did not campaign during the union meeting, but informed members about the

The 400 page contract. « Fred Klonsky's blog

The 400 page contract.

by Fred Klonsky

Newsweek and Bill Gate's pal, Jonathan Alter.

In the Newsweek article by Jonathan Alter and Bill Gates, Gates attacks Diane Ravitch for being a defender of the status quo.

Much has been made of this stupid comment, and much more should be made of it.

But I also noticed that part of the criminal indictment Alter and Gates make against Ravitch is her alleged love of 400 page union contracts.

Some questions occur to me about this nonsense.

In this hypothetical 400 page contract, is everything in it put there by the teachers’ negotiators? Does nothing

Mayor and Sac City schools target parent engagement in new project - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com

Mayor and Sac City schools target parent engagement in new project

By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 - 9:49 am

Sacramento City Unified School District is partnering with Mayor Kevin Johnson's education nonprofit to promote parent engagement in city schools.

Stand Up for Sacramento Schools will focus on six schools identified by Sacramento City Unified as "priority schools." Those include Oak Ridge Elementary, Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary, Jedediah Smith Elementary, Fern Bacon Basic Middle, Will C. Wood Middle and Hiram W. Johnson High.

Stand Up Deputy Director Andrea Corso said many of the district's most successful schools require parent involvement. The partnership with the district will help encourage parents to become

The Answer Sheet - What is Michelle Rhee up to in Florida?

What is Michelle Rhee up to in Florida?

Michelle Rhee is the most nationally prominent figure to join Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s education transition team, but she and the other 17 have something in common: They could all be on Jeb Bush’s Christmas card list. Bush has ties to virtually all members of the team, which is no surprise, since he has dominated Florida's politics for more than a decade, even after two terms as governor, which ended in 2007. Rhee, the former D.C. schools chancellor who became the national symbol for business-driven school reform, has now provided some details about her tenure on the transition team.

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