Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Mayor Rolls Out Attendance Initiative

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Mayor Rolls Out Attendance Initiative:

Mayor Rolls Out Attendance Initiative

by Melissa Westbrook

Tomorrow Mayor McGinn will be rolling out the city's new attendance initiative,

Be Here, Get There.

Every day in school matters.

The Mayor will be having a press conference on Monday, Oct. 3rd at Denny Middle School at 11:30 am to announce this new initiative.

This is an effort to, obviously, get more kids to be in school every day. The goal is 80% attendance throughout the year with 5 or fewer absences a year.

This initiative is NOT just for kids who are not in school because of family issues. They are also going for parents who take their kids out of school for vacations during school days. They are emphatic that this issue impacts every child who is not in school.

Here's a good website about this issue that the Mayor's staff directed me to called Attendance Works about why

More on Occupy Wall Street — You Don’t Win By Making Demands « Student Activism

More on Occupy Wall Street — You Don’t Win By Making Demands « Student Activism:

More on Occupy Wall Street — You Don’t Win By Making Demands

by Angus Johnston

So I’ve been tweeting up a storm today on the question of whether #OccupyWallStreet needs to compile a formal list of demands. (Spoiler alert: Nope.) I’m not going to rehash my whole argument here right now, but someone tweeted something at me a little while ago that gives me an opportunity to explore one piece of it.

Here’s the tweet in question, posted in response to me saying that “When people say #OccupyWallStreet needs to articulate demands, they usually mean they want it to embrace their demands.”

@dc_dsa: @studentactivism Partially agree. As Frederick Douglass said, “power concedes nothing without a demand.”

That was pretty well played, I must say. Apt, pithy, and deploying one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite activists. But let’s take a look at the whole passage:

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will

Achievement gaps start before school starts | | The Bulletin

Achievement gaps start before school starts | | The Bulletin:

Achievement gaps start before school starts

By Diane Ravitch / The Saturday Evening Post

Published: October 02. 2011 4:00AM PST

If you read news magazines or watch TV, you might think that American education is in a crisis of historic proportions. The media claim that our future is in peril because our students have low test scores caused by incompetent, lazy teachers.

Don’t believe it. It’s not true.

Yes, our students’ scores on international tests are only average, but our students have never been at the top on those tests; when the first such test was given in 1964, we ranked 12th out of 12. And, yet, the United States continued to prosper.

So maybe standardized tests are not good predictors of future economic success or decline. Perhaps our country has succeeded not because of test scores but because we encouraged something more important than test scores —the freedom to create, innovate, and imagine. Unfortunately, recent educational reforms throw aside that philosophy in favor of an even greater emphasis on test scores.

In 2001 Congress passed No Child Left Behind, which imposed a massive program of school reform based on standardized

Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Monday | Duke Today

Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Monday | Duke Today:

Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Monday

Duke's Program in Education and Durham Public Schools join to bring speaker to campus, Durham schools

TOPICS FOR THIS STORY: HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES, CAMPUS NEWS, DURHAM & THE REGION, EDUCATION & CLASSROOM LEARNING

October 2, 2011 | David Jarmul

print |

• ARTICLE

Diane Ravitch's criticism of standardized testing has changed the national debate on education.

DURHAM, NC - Diane Ravitch, one of the country's leading authors and activists on education issues, will discuss school reform in a speech at Duke University's Page Auditorium at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 3.

Her visit is sponsored jointly by the university'sProgram in Education and Durham Public Schools (DPS), each of which is arranging private gatherings with Ravitch. She will meet that morning with Duke faculty and administrators to discuss teacher education and partnerships between schools and universities. In the afternoon, she will meet with DPS teachers, principals, administrators and board members to discuss ways of enhancing student performance.

"We worked together to arrange this visit, which illustrates the long-standing and vibrant partnership the university and its Program in Education have with the public schools," said Jan Riggsbee, who directs the Duke program.

Occupy Wall Street: First Official Statement | Dailycensored.com

Occupy Wall Street: First Official Statement | Dailycensored.com:

Occupy Wall Street: First Official Statement

Written by HurricaneDeanDaily Journal (Opinion), Media, PoliticsOct 2, 2011

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Occupy Wall Street

This weekend, the Occupy Wall Street movement entered its third week of non-violent public assembly and peaceful protest. However, once again, the New York Police Department has proven peaceful protests against the “Masters of Universe” must be met with violence.

Unlike the astro-turf Tea Party, the Occupy Wall Street movement is truly a grassroots movement. Before the movement had even defined it goals, let alone made declarations of purpose and demands, people began to occupy a park, just two blocks away from Wall Street, in protest. A few protesters turned into a hundred protesters, then hundreds and now thousands of people are camping out near Wall Street. Both the young and old came with sleeping bags and handmade signs calling for an end to corporate control

Herman Cain’s Naive Education Platform of Flawed Assumptions | Scathing Purple Musings

Herman Cain’s Naive Education Platform of Flawed Assumptions | Scathing Purple Musings:

Herman Cain’s Naive Education Platform of Flawed Assumptions

by Bob Sikes

Herman Cain’s ascendency to the top-tier of Republican presidential candidates occurred last week with hissurprising victory in Florida’s straw poll. It’s understandable that Americans might find an impressive man of accomplishment like Cain a desirable alternative to professional politicians. The idea that Washington needs someone versed in sound business and economic principles has appeal to voters of all political leanings.

The way forward on how we educate America’s children is at a crossroads right now. Will the work of teaching our nation’s children continue to be done by the dedicated professional educators from public schools? Or will the surge toward changing the entire teacher-learner dynamic to being motivated by profit continue to the point of no return. Cain is chosing the later. His misguided and uninformed education platform is on display on his campaign website.

Lets take a look at a few of Cain’s assumptions and subsequent assertions.

Of course, most teachers are in the field of education to foster intellectual development for eager

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Why more and more people will #OccupyWallStreet

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Why more and more people will #OccupyWallStreet:

Why more and more people will #OccupyWallStreet

by The Perimeter Primate

These are recent Tweets from Bernie Sanders @ http://twitter.com/#!/senatorsanders @SenatorSanders. Senator Bernie Sanders is the longest serving independent in congressional history. Tweets are from the senator's staff. http://sanders.senate.gov

October 2, 2011

• In 2009 Exxon Mobile made $19 billion in profits, paid no federal income taxes and took a $156 million rebate from the IRS.
• Ford's federal income tax rate was just 2.3 percent in 2009 even though it made $3 billion in profits.
• GE took a $1.1 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, even though it made over $10 billion in profits in 2009.
• The US has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country in the industrialized

NYC 'SlutWalk' Protests Raise Rape Awareness - Forbes

NYC 'SlutWalk' Protests Raise Rape Awareness - Forbes:

NYC ‘SlutWalk’ Protests Raise Rape Awareness

by E.D. Kain

New York City has been inundated with protests recently. Occupy Wall Street protests are gaining strength.Union pilots showed up on Wall Street to protest a hasty merger between United and Continental airlines. And yesterday over a thousand feminists held a scantily-clad rally, which they called SlutWalk, to protest blaming the victims of sexual assault after NYPD police warned women not to wear clothes that might make them more prone to being raped.

The event drew a diverse crowd of mostly-female protestors, some who were wearing very little and carrying (somewhat) clever signs. Most were more than willing to vent their frustrations about victim-blaming and slut-shaming.

The march took off down Broadway at around 12:30 and chants of “I’m no slut, I’m no hoe/Whatever you call me, no means no!” kept up their momentum for the entirety of the more-

I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide #edreform

This sturdy American blues-rock trio from Texas consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass), and Frank Beard (drums). They were formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands the Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and American Blues (Hill and Beard). Their first two albums reflected the strong blues roots and Texas humor of the band. Their third album (Tres Hombres) gained them national attention with the hit "La Grange," a signature riff tune to this day, based on John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." Their success continued unabated throughout the '70s, culminating with the year-and-a-half-long Worldwide Texas Tour.

Exhausted from the overwhelming workload, they took a three-year break, then switched labels and returned to form with Deguello and El Loco, both harbingers of what was to come. By their next album, Eliminator, and its worldwide smash follow-up, Afterburner, they had successfully harnessed the potential of synthesizers to their patented grungy blues groove, giving their material a more contemporary edge while retaining their patented Texas style. Now sporting long beards, golf hats, and boiler suits, they met the emerging video age head-on, reducing their "message" to simple iconography. Becoming even more popular in the long run, they moved with the times while simultaneously bucking every trend that crossed their path. As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom -- both influenced by the originators of the form and British blues-rock guitarists like Peter Green -- while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support.

Full Biography Here: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifwxqr5ldte~T1

Bad to the bone #edreform

Warning: Equal Exchange Tea Supports Small Farmers « Small Farmers. Big Change. #ag #coop

Warning: Equal Exchange Tea Supports Small Farmers « Small Farmers. Big Change.:

Warning: Equal Exchange Tea Supports Small Farmers

October 2, 2011 by Phyllis Robinson

October is National Co-op Month. To honor and celebrate this occasion, Equal Exchange is partnering with our food co-op allies to support an emerging new small farmer tea model being birthed in Darjeeling, India. If you shop at a food co-op, we hope you’ll join us in this historic moment to support the Potong Tea Garden and its workers. During this entire month of October, for each Equal Exchange product sold through food co-ops, we will donate 25 cents (up to $15,000) to the Potong community for the planting of 30,000 new tea bushes. Read on to learn more…

Children at the Potong Tea Garden, Darjeeling, India

In the foothills of the Himalayas, the Potong Tea Garden, once a colonial plantation, now collectively run by its workers, is making history. If this revolutionary new model is successful, not only will it generate significant

Commentary: Alabama\'s Dangerous New Anti-Immigrant Law - Hispanically Speaking News

Commentary: Alabama\'s Dangerous New Anti-Immigrant Law - Hispanically Speaking News:

Commentary: Alabama’s Dangerous New Anti-Immigrant Law

Last week, Judge Sharon Blackburn failed to enjoin major portions of Alabama’s extreme anti-immigrant law, HB 56, leaving many dangerous sections open to implementation. Local police, for example, are required to act as federal immigration enforcement agents by demanding proof of legal status from anyone who appears to be foreign. Other provisions—that go further than Arizona’s law—insist public school administrators check the legal status of students and their parents and create confusing and burdensome new restrictions on contracts between the state government and immigrants and between private citizens and immigrants. It’s unclear how far the restrictions on contracts will go, but at a minimum they will limit access to housing and utilities for anyone who cannot produce the proper documentation.

Although supporters claim the law will solve the state’s economic problems and reduce crime, HB 56 will inflict greater economic damage to Alabama, costing the state millions to implement and defend. And the crime argument simply doesn’t hold water. Since 1990, Alabama’s unauthorized population has risen from five thousand to 120 thousand. Yet the violent crime rate in the state has fallen by more than a third.

4LAKids - CAFETERIA FOOD FIGHT: LAUSD's healthful new lunches are better for kids. Of course, not everyone is sold.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: CAFETERIA FOOD FIGHT: LAUSD's healthful new lunches are better for kids. Of course, not everyone is sold.:

CAFETERIA FOOD FIGHT: LAUSD's healthful new lunches are better for kids. Of course, not everyone is sold.

LA TIMES OP-ED BY ROBERT GOTTLIEB | HTTP://LAT.MS/RCWPMM

After years of advocacy by the Healthy School Food Coalition, California Food Policy Advocates and other groups, the Los Angeles Unified School District has revolutionized the menus in its school cafeterias. (Illustration by Wes Bausmith / Los Angeles Times)

October 2, 2011 - Corn dogs and chicken nuggets are out. Butternut squash tortellini and quinoa salad are in.

After years of advocacy by the Healthy School Food Coalition, California Food Policy Advocates and other groups, the Los Angeles Unified School District has revolutionized the menus in its school cafeterias. The emphasis is on more healthful and sustainable food, and the backlash, predictably, has already begun.

The changes have come about slowly. For most of a decade, a loose coalition of groups concerned about children's health and about environmental issues has pushed the district to offer more healthful choices. In response to their efforts, the Board of Education in

Why Rick Perry's Racist Hunting Camp Sign Matters - Forbes

Why Rick Perry's Racist Hunting Camp Sign Matters - Forbes:

Why Rick Perry’s Racist Hunting Camp Sign Matters

by E.D. Kain

Image via Wikipedia

Texas Governor Rick Perry just can’t seem to catch a break. The latest in a long series of political punches came Saturday, when the Washington Post broke the story of Perry’s family hunting camp which was for many years named “Niggerhead.” While the Perry campaign has claimed that the sign with the offensive name was painted over by Perry’s parents in 1983, several people interviewed by the Washington Post claim otherwise:

“I remember the first time I went through that pasture and saw that,” said Ronnie Brooks, a retired game warden who began working in the region in 1981 and who said he guided three or four turkey shoots for Rick Perry when Perry was a state legislator between 1985 and 1990. “. . . It kind of offended me, truthfully.”

Brooks, who said he holds Perry “in the highest esteem,” said that at some point after Perry began

School Tech Connect: Our Reformy Overlords

School Tech Connect: Our Reformy Overlords:

Our Reformy Overlords

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

...to borrow a phrase from Atrios...

Check out David Vitale, appointed chairman of the CPS.

“My daughter is in elementary school and she’s taking tests every day and it isn’t a problem,” Vitale said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sharon Schmidt had just pointed out that CPS is testing students into numbness at an exorbitant cost, all for nothing, and that was Vitale's answer. Read Sharon's article--- I don't have much to add to it, other than these two points:

1. I work at a high-achieving suburban high school, and from what I can tell, the kids there don't have to endure a

Why is Dick a nickname for Richard:

Why is Dick a nickname for Richard?

In: Name Origins, Names and Name Meanings [Edit categories]

Answer:

a man named Richard may be nicknamed Dick because that is the traditional diminutive form of the name Richard. More recently, 'Rick' has also become commonplace.

The name Richard is very old and it's true origins may well be lost in the depths of time past. The name likely stems from Old English, since 'Ric' meant ruler and 'heard' meant hard. It is also feasible that with the advent of rhyming slang, Richard would be shortened to Rich and then to Rick and on to Dick. Much like William - Will - Bill.

'Dick' eventually, like 'Jack', came to mean one of the common men as in "every Tom, Dick, or Harry". Shakespeare uses "every Tom, Dick, or Francis" in Henry IV Part I.

The name Richard as well as the name Dirk comes from the name Theodoricus. When babtised in a Catholic church, one who is called Dirk, will have his name go down church records as Thedorus. People who are named Dirk, become Dick for friends. The Etimology Theodoricus, Ricus, Ricard, Ricardo, Diedericus, Dirck, Dick. And that's the only real answer to it!

Dick or Richard? You Decide: