Friday, February 5, 2010

A National K-12 Virtual School? Not Likely. � The Quick and the Ed

A National K-12 Virtual School? Not Likely. � The Quick and the Ed
A National K-12 Virtual School? Not Likely.

One of the big recommendations from “Expanding Choice in Elementary and Secondary Education,” the new Brookings Institution report, is to help establish national virtual schools:

To support the development of that sector of schooling, we recommend that Congress authorize the establishment of accrediting bodies for online K-12 education, incentivize states to participate in these accrediting efforts, and extend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provisions for school choice for students in low performing Title I schools to virtual schools. Thus students in persistently low performing schools would be able to avail themselves of accredited virtual education at the district’s expense.

Not Gonna Happen.

Think supplemental education was controversial? There is no way that Congress is going to pass what amounts to a national voucher program, where money from Johnny’s local district goes directly to Kaplan Online. More importantly, Title I deals mainly with elementary and middle schools, where there almost certainly needs to be ongoing adult supervision. Thus, most full-time virtual schools at this age level require significant parental involvement–something unavailable for many of our most disadvantaged students during the working hours. Without strong student supports and local, on-the-ground partnerships and adults, it’s hard to see how this really works for but a few kids. And let’s not even get started on the many potential problems with a program modeled on higher education accreditation.

Wanted: Another Education Secretary for California - State EdWatch - Education Week

Wanted: Another Education Secretary for California - State EdWatch - Education Week:

"What is it with the ed. secretary gig in California?

For the fourth time since Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor in late 2003, his appointee to the position is stepping down. That's some heavy turnover.

This time it's Glen W. Thomas, whom the Republican governor tapped to be his top education adviser little more than a year ago. Former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, had three different secretaries during his nearly five years in office. Why the revolving door?

Could it be that the job is all title, no power? The stage is certainly crowded for K-12 honchos in California.

There's the elected state superintendent of public instruction, who is the chief executive of the massive state department of education. There's the appointed (selected by the governor) state board of education, made up of 11 members, which sets major K-12 policy in areas like standards and school accountability"

Potomac students get fliers saying therapy turns gays straight - washingtonpost.com

Potomac students get fliers saying therapy turns gays straight - washingtonpost.com:

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/

"Some Montgomery County high schools passed out fliers this week from an organization that contends gays can become heterosexual through therapy, and the schools say they cannot prevent the use of their distribution system by such groups.

The fliers, from the group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, were distributed Thursday alongside report cards by teachers at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac. The group says it delivered them to about half the county's high schools this week and plans to do the same at the remaining high schools at the end of the school year.

The schools are required to distribute literature that isn't deemed hate speech from any registered nonprofit organization four times a year, the result of a 2006 lawsuit, said Dana Tofig, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Public Schools."

Race to the Top grant competition has 'a very high bar,' Education Secretary Arne Duncan says | New Orleans Metro Education News - - NOLA.com

Education Secretary Arne Duncan lavished praise Thursday on the Louisiana system that enables the state to tie student test scores to the teachers who taught them and to the education schools that taught those teachers.

But Duncan, in an interview with a roundtable of reporters, said that doesn't necessarily mean that Louisiana is a shoo-in to win the high-stakes competition between states for a share of the new education grant program known as Race to the Top.

Forty states and the District of Columbia are competing for shares of the more than $4 billion Race to the Top money that has become the centerpiece of the Obama administration's expanded efforts to spur education reform and innovation nationwide.

Asked whether he wasn't, in effect, tipping his hand about Louisiana's chances in issuing the latest in a series of kind words from the administration about education reform efforts in Louisiana, Duncan said, "No, I don't think I've tipped my hand at all ... good things are going on in other places."

"All of this stuff is going to be peer-reviewed," Duncan said of the Race to the Top applications.

He said he will only get a sense of what was in the applications once they've been analyzed by "people a lot smarter than me" who will present him rank-ordered results. Then, Duncan said, the states with the best entries will be asked to make presentations to his office, probably in March.

There are no set number of awardees, he said, only that "there are going to be more losers than winners."

"We have no idea (how many states will receive money)," said Duncan. "We're just going to have a very high bar."

The key to a successful application, he said, will be the courage and commitment to innovate, and the capacity to get it done.

Despite his disclaimers, it has become clear that education officials in Louisiana and in the Obama Education Department are on the same wavelength, not to mention the fact that Paul Vallas, the superintendent of the Recovery School District, used to be Duncan's boss in the Chicago schools.

On Jan. 19, the Louisiana Department of Education submitted a 263-page application seeking $300 million in Race to the Top money.

That same day, President Obama, in remarks at a Virginia elementary school, cited Louisiana as one of the states adopting effective school reform policies, particularly in encouraging the growth of charter schools.

Over the weekend, Duncan, in an interview on "Washington Watch with Roland Martin" once again praised reform efforts in Louisiana, albeit in a manner that required him to apologize.

Describing Hurricane Katrina as "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans," he explained that, before the storm the

voiceofsandiego.org | Trying to Be There, but Unsure if He Will

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.
Trying to Be There, but Unsure if He Will

Rafael Ocampo looked at the long list of names and sighed. He had been planning to meet with them all that week, the dozens of kids with Fs and spotty attendance who raise red flags. But it was already Friday and the guidance counselor was swamped, barely able to carve out time to wolf down Mexican takeout for lunch.

It was early afternoon, and the day had been a blur of therapy-on-the-go at Roosevelt Middle School. First Ocampo met with the vice principal to deal with the boy who yanked chairs from under his classmates, then squelched a spat between two girls. He talked to a parent whose child had been bullied, tried to cheer up a girl who was downcast and stopped to talk to a boy caught harassing girls. And lunchtime was like a "telenovela" -- a soap opera -- a swirl of preteen drama to sort through.

Still boyish himself, a twentysomething with spiked hair and a soul patch, Ocampo is the kind of guy who raps easily with preteens, who hurried up to confide in him as he crisscrossed the

Were you a part of Education-Twitter history? � EducationCEO's Blog

Were you a part of Education-Twitter history? EducationCEO's Blog

Were you a part of Education-Twitter history?

February 5, 2010

Tonight I had the pleasure in taking part in a ground-breaking chat on Twitter that focused on issues facing Black children and their families. BlackEd, as it has been coined, is an opportunity for parents, graduate students, educators, administrators, and community organizers to meet and discuss strategies on addressing the opportunity gap (we are rejecting the term ‘achievement gap’ as it implies that students cannot learn or are responsible for not learning) that exists for Black students, regardless of whether they are from low-income neighborhoods, single or two-parent families.
More importantly, BlackEd was born out of a desire to move past ‘blaming the victim’ e.g., students, and start focusing on feasible solutions. What can we, as communities

The Educated Guess: L.A. teachers, parents vote early – and often

The Educated Guess

L.A. teachers, parents vote early – and often

On Saturday, parents, teachers, students, neighbors – truth is, anyone who feels like it – will have another chance to vote on who should take over 30 Los Angeles Unified schools.
If the balloting is anything like Tuesday’s fiasco at the polls, Superintendent Ramon Cortines should take all the votes and shred them. That chaotic exercise in democracy threatened to discredit the district’s bold experiment in school choice.
In a move that has drawn national attention, last fall the school board agreed to open up 12 failing schools and 18 new schools to bids from charter schools, community organizations and in-district groups of teachers and administrators. It’s the first round of a multi-year process that promises to transform the nation’s second largest district – and one of the nation’s most intransigent. (Read more and comment on this post)

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 5

Submitted by Erika Owens on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 10:04 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Can a Renaissance happen without the community?Notebook NEWSFLASH
The Renaissance Schools plan relies on community involvement, but at a recent school meeting, not many parents showed up.

School district looking for support-service applicantsDaily News
Support applicants for Renaissance Schools do not need to have experience running a school.

Telling it like it is South Philly Review
Report on last week's hearing on school violence.

See also: Tepid response to attacks against Asians is nothing newThe Notebook
The Other Way to Respond to School Violence Young Philly Politics blog

Breakfast at Meade - Inside a Renaissance Alert School The Notebook blog
Ron Whitehorne found that Meade is "not a failing school" in spite of being on the list of lowest-performers.

Schools Matter: Teacher Describes KIPP "Teacher Slave School"

Schools Matter: Teacher Describes KIPP "Teacher Slave School":

"KIPP Academies are teacher slave schools. They require teachers to work from 6:30-7:00 at night---and then have phones on till 10:00 at night for students/parent questions. They talk about the extra pay but really in the hours they work they are not getting any overtime are working so many extra hours that they are not even getting paid minimum wage. They profess their outstanding academics but"

SCUSD Observer: Strengthening our perimeters

Strengthening our perimeters

The recent case of Gary Tudesko, the Willows student who was expelled (then reinstated) for having hunting guns in his pickup truck (parked next to his high school campus) referenced the question of whether school officials have the authority to enforce what goes on beyond the school's sidewalk.

Today's protest by Westboro Baptist Church zealots on the edges of the McClatchy and Rosemont high school boundaries brings up the same question. Does the state's education code need

Latino groups urge US to hold Hub funds - The Boston Globe

Latino groups urge US to hold Hub funds - The Boston Globe:

"Several local and national Latino organizations are urging US Education Secretary Arne Duncan to withhold potentially millions of dollars in aid from Boston schools until the district complies with federal and state laws for programs that teach students who speak limited English."

In a letter sent Wednesday to Duncan, the organizations said Boston has done little over the last six years to remedy its lack of services and equal educational opportunities to thousands of the students.

“The problems to which we allude are longstanding,’’ wrote Roger L. Rice and Jane E. López, attorneys with Multicultural Education, Training & Advocacy, a national organization with offices in Somerville that works on behalf of multilinguistic children. “Boston has resisted facing up to its obligations and continues to do so.’’

The organizations are targeting money from the “Race to the Top’’ fund, a competitive program created by President Obama for states that pursue innovative educational improvements and overhauls of failing schools. Massachusetts, which submitted an application last month, is hoping to receive $250 million.

Education secretary says Robert Bobb is a 'breath of fresh air' | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Washington -- Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager overseeing a massive overhaul of Detroit Public Schools, got a major boost in his quest for academic control of the district as the nation's top education official said he supported Bobb's reform efforts.

"I think that'd be a big step in the right direction," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said during a roundtable with reporters on his department's plans for nationwide school reforms.

Duncan's comments come as state lawmakers consider changing Michigan's emergency financial manager law to expand Bobb's purview from fiscal matters to those of academics as well. Detroit's elected school board has fought against such a change, suing Bobb in court and testifying at education committee hearings in Lansing.

Control over academics is unresolved, even as Bobb moves forward to implement sweeping academic reforms. Some of those efforts include new requirements for high-schoolers to take Advanced Placement courses that can help move them ahead with collegiate studies, pre-algebra curriculum for sixth-graders and a new program that would pair pre-kindergarten students with reading tutors to help them get an early jump on basic skills.

Many of those reforms fall in line with Duncan's nationwide reform efforts. Over the past year, the federal Department of Education has announced new funding efforts to offer schools districts incentives to devise innovative ways to educate students who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

Academic issues were highlighted by low scores by fourth- and eighth-graders on a national test. Most of Detroit students taking the test scored below basic on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Duncan called the scores a wake-up call.

"Detroit was so far behind everybody else, it was staggering," he said. "It was stunning."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100205/SCHOOLS/2050364/1409/METRO/Education-secretary-says-Robert-Bobb-is-a--breath-of-fresh-air-#ixzz0eg3Os3xb

Teachers resist increasing pressure to accept pay cuts - Friday, Feb. 5, 2010 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun

CARSON CITY — Teachers, long a popular and protected political constituency, face increasing pressure to accept pay cuts as lawmakers try to decide how to trim $881 million from the state’s budget.

Democratic lawmakers, a longtime ally of the teachers union, and school administrators are urging educators to renegotiate their contracts to avoid layoffs and cuts in the classroom.

Clark County Superintendent Walt Rulffes told the Interim Finance Committee on Thursday that he’s trying to minimize the effect on students and prevent layoffs. To do that, he said, “involves a small sacrifice by everyone.”

Absent that, achieving the required $150 million savings would involve laying off more than 2,300 teachers.

Legislators also heard from a defiant president of the Nevada State Education Association, who said teachers are not willing to reduce their salaries. Lynn Warne, association president, told legislators to show “leadership and courage” and look at raising taxes.

“The choices seem clear and stark,” she said. “You can lay off teachers, shorten the school year or raise revenue.”

State starts process to withhold millions in MPS funds - JSOnline

State starts process to withhold millions in MPS funds - JSOnline:

"Wisconsin's superintendent of public instruction took the first step Thursday toward withholding up to $175 million in federal funds from Milwaukee Public Schools because of the district's failure to meet yearly academic progress targets required under law.

Superintendent Tony Evers notified the district that he would eliminate all administrative funds and defer all programmatic funds that MPS receives to serve low-income children through the Title 1 program. But in an interview, he said the notice wasn't final and that it indicated only his intent to withhold funds if the district's compliance with its corrective action plan didn't improve.

'I'm looking at them in totality; I don't think appropriate progress has been made in benchmark areas,' Evers said. 'It's halfway through the school year, we've been working with the district, and clearly we feel there has to be more emphasis and a sense of urgency.'"

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education- Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Another tale of school bathrooms

Not too long ago I wrote about how some bathrooms at Montgomery Blair High School--one of the premier institutions in Montgomery County Public Schools, itself a leading school district--had to be closed during lunch because there wasn’t enough staff to keep them from being vandalized.

Now we find that the bathrooms at the county’s Whitman High School--as good as a high schools gets--are also, in the words of a young journalist at the school’s student newspaper, black&white, “downright disgraceful.”

Continue reading this post »

Readers question Challenge Index

After the release of every new Washington Post Challenge Index list, my rankings of local high schools based on college-level test participation, I get many questions, complaints and even an occasional compliment from readers. Here is a sample of this week's mail. There are some surprises.

Q: When you were compiling your list, I was developing my own, which I feel is equally important. I decided to look at the graduation rates for students with disabilities from the Virginia school report card. Last year Centreville High School had a graduation rate for students with disabilities of 63%. While it’s not the lowest in this category in Fairfax County – Edison and West Potomac have that esteemed title at 49%-- I still think that a rate where over one third of the students with disabilities do not graduate is a compelling statistic, and one that should be spotlighted. Here are the graduation rates for students with disabilities for the other high schools from your Challenge Index – Woodson 90%, McLean 72%, Langley 88%, Madison 81%, Herndon 52%, Oakton 84%, Lake Braddock 75%, Fairfax 61%, Marshall 61%, South Lakes 57%, Chantilly 71%, West Springfield 70%, South County 66%, Westfield 70%, Stuart 51%, Falls Church 55%, West Potomac 49%, Hayfield 61%, Lee 52%, Mt Vernon 61%.

Why should I be excited about my son attending a school where in all likelihood he will not take an AP, IB or college level class, and where he has a 37% chance of not graduating? ---JoNell M. Doyle

Continue reading this post »

Industry Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Loans - NYTimes.com

ASHINGTON — Four months ago, it appeared all but certain that the White House and Democrats in Congress would succeed in overhauling the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders.
President Obama called the idea a “no-brainer” last fall, predicting it would take billions of dollars from the profits of private lenders and give it directly to students, and many colleges were already moving to get loans directly from the federal government in anticipation of the next move by Congress.
But an aggressive lobbying campaign by the nation’s biggest student lenders has now put one of the White House’s signature plans in peril, with lenders using sit-downs with lawmakers, town-hall-style meetings and petition drives to plead their case and stay in business.
House and Senate aides say that the administration’s plan faces a far tougher fight than it did last fall, when the House passed its version. The fierce attacks from the lending industry, the Massachusetts election that cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the fight over a health care bill have all damaged the

Schools Arts Program Range from Four Star to Nonexistent (Gotham Gazette, Feb 2010)

Schools Arts Program Range from Four Star to Nonexistent (Gotham Gazette, Feb 2010):

"Eighth graders at MS 223, the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology, in the Bronx, will soon learn about American history through an unusual lens, thanks to a grant the school just received from the Bronx Council of the Arts. Nicholas Thompson, a history teacher and musician, will teach students about how the guitar and its music migrated from the South to cities in the North after the Civil War.

This is just one of many art programs that the school's art coordinator, Rose Greco, and principal Ramon M. Gonzalez, have implemented to increase interest and skills in the arts and keep students engaged in their academic coursework. While MS 223 has taken advantage of resources for the arts, many schools have cut their art programs."

New Tools Introduced To Help Pinpoint "Racial" Achievement Gap | KPBS.org

New Tools Introduced To Help Pinpoint "Racial" Achievement Gap | KPBS.org:

"SAN DIEGO — State Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell visited San Diego High School today to unveil a new set of tools that he says will help California close its persistent achievement gap."

The tools come in the form of two surveys and a workbook for each school district in the state. The findings are designed to shine a light on how the educational system works against black, Latino, special education and migrant students.

The surveys do that by gauging teacher and student attitudes about how race affects classroom instruction, how campus culture affects student involvement, and what kind of social challenges students bring to school every day.

O'Connell says the workbook gives principals and teachers strategies to overcome problems.

“This new resource will help to close the achievement gap by improving both the culture and the climate of teaching and learning,” O’Connell said. “It will give our schools more information about the challenges they have and about the conditions of their schools.

Local: In Alameda : More on the Secretary of Education Resignation

Local: In Alameda : More on the Secretary of Education Resignation:

"I wasn't just being snotty yesterday when I noted that the Secretary of Education receives very little public mention -- and that hardly anyone knows who he is. A cabinet-level position is, of course, a big deal and I'm sure the job is a demanding one. And a number of people sent me comments, by email, saying that Mr. Thomas was an experienced, skilled, and valued educator in the state.

But the Secretary's activities (like those of most Secretaries, who really serve as advisors to governors) really are rarely covered (except for the appointments to and resignations from the office). And those appointments and resignations happen so often it's no wonder hardly anyone knows who the Secretary is in any given month. And this fact -- this ever-revolving door in the Secretary of Education office, that is -- made me dig a little deeper last night to learn more about the position."

Opinion: Holding the line on cuts to California universities isn't enough - San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: Holding the line on cuts to California universities isn't enough - San Jose Mercury News:

"My favorite day of every new year is the start of the spring semester, when students flood back to campus full of energy and high hopes, many of them with graduation right around the corner.

We all know that 2009 was a very tough year for California's public universities. Now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has given students — and the state — a new reason for optimism with his vow to 'hold the line' on funding for education in next year's budget. I applaud the governor for his proposal to restore this year's $305 million cut to the California State University budget and to add $60 million in funding for CSU's enrollment growth. The legislature should decisively enact these measures.

But let's be clear: 'Holding the line' against further cuts isn't enough. Saving higher education in California will take a bold vision in Sacramento of increased funding for education over the long term. A consistent and predictable scaling up of higher education opportunities for California's high school graduates is the best path to economic recovery."

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - Deadlock on Einstein Academy

A day after Hart district board members deadlocked over whether to approve a Hebrew-language charter school, Rabbi Mark Blazer said he will take his proposal to the Los Angeles County Board of Education.

"The process has already begun," Blazer said Thursday. "The important part of what we do now is to do what we've been doing all along, which is creating a school that would be a great asset and treasure for our community."

The county board will vote on the charter within 60 days once a complete application is submitted.

William S. Hart Union High School District board members deadlocked late Wednesday over whether to approve a charter with the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences.

If approved, the school would remain in the Santa Clarita Valley and would be able to

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Sean James and Al Joyner respond to the Tebow Super Bowl ad

Former college and professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner respond to the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad, featuring Tim Tebow and his mother.

Education | Judge: Seattle schools' choice of math texts needs more review | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Judge: Seattle schools' choice of math texts needs more review | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"Judge: Seattle schools' choice of math texts needs more review
A ruling by a King County Superior Court judge could send Seattle Public Schools back to the drawing board with regard to its controversial new math curriculum.

By Seattle Times staff
A ruling by a King County Superior Court judge could send Seattle Public Schools back to the drawing board with regard to its controversial new math curriculum.

Calling the choice of the Discovering series 'arbitrary' and 'capricious,' Judge Julie Spector on Thursday ordered the district's board to further review the choice of its math curriculum.

A group of parents who object to the Discovering series had sued the school district, its board and Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson."

Closing the Achievement Gap Workbook - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

New Tool to Help Close the Achievement Gap
by Improving School Culture and Climate

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced the availability of a new resource to help close the achievement gap by improving the culture and climate of the teaching and learning environment at schools.

The Workbook for Improving School Climate & Closing the Achievement Gap is designed to give teachers and school leaders step-by-step guidance on how to interpret and respond to the results of their state-sponsored school climate surveys, in order to make changes that can help close the achievement gap between higher- and lower-performing groups of students.

"There are many factors that go into effective teaching and learning," said O'Connell. "If students feel disconnected from their teachers or unwelcome at school, these factors can interfere with learning and contribute to the achievement gap.

"To give schools more insight into conditions and issues related to race and the achievement gap, we expanded and improved the state's school climate surveys for students and staff. And, I am pleased to announce today that we have created a guide to help schools interpret these results and make beneficial changes. Our school climate Workbookcan help foster crucial conversations at schools and districts that can lead to changes that will help all students feel safe and supported in their schools and better engaged in learning."

O'Connell called for an intensive effort in 2007 to close the state's pernicious achievement gap that exists between higher-performing subgroups of white or Asian students and their lower-performing African American or Latino peers. He charged his California P-16 Council with providing recommendations on what the state can do differently to assist local educational agencies in closing the gap.

The P-16 Council identified several areas of concern, including one that focuses on school culture and climate. This is based on an understanding that a student's ability to learn and a teacher's ability to educate occurs within the context of the values, beliefs, and rituals of the school, community, and larger society.

The P-16 Council made 14 recommendations in its 2008 report on Closing the Achievement Gap. One recommendation was to conduct a climate survey that would assess the educational environment and overall school well-being. This recommendation was implemented by expanding the existing California Healthy Kids Survey for students and the California School Climate Survey for staff. These surveys are currently administered in 7,648 schools in 833 districts in the state, with the results publicly available on the survey. They constitute the largest effort in the nation to provide schools with their own data to guide efforts to create positive learning and teaching environments that promote achievement and well-being. Both surveys were augmented to provide schools with better data on issues relating to students' and staff's race, culture, school conditions, and supports that impact the achievement gap, as well as the needs of migrant education and special education programs.

This led to the Workbook that is a collaboration between the national nonprofit research and service agency, WestEd, and the California Department of Education. The goal is to produce a valuable and user-friend document that recognizes the importance of creating a positive school environment to support students and teachers.

Schools may use the Workbook to gain a deeper understanding of the data collected in their Surveys to assess what is working and build on those strengths in the classroom, school, and district. The Surveys may also help identify aspects of the school climate that need improvement. Then the Workbook offers strategies to address those needs, helping them link data to practice and policy.

There are three sections of the Workbook focusing on various aspects of the achievement gap:

(1.) closing the racial achievement gap, (2.) closing the achievement gap between special education students and others, and (3.) the gap that often leaves students in migrant education programs behind. The Workbook is available online at Working for Improving School Climate & Closing the Achievement Gap (Outside Source; PDF; 20MB; 152pp.). Survey reports are available at CHKS: Home (Outside Source) and CSCS | Welcome to California School Climate Survey -- For Staff(Outside Source).

For more information on O'Connell's Closing the Achievement Gap initiative,

please visit State of Education Address, February 6, 2007 - State of Education.

For the P-16 Council, please visit P-16 Council - Initiatives, Projects, & Programs.

For WestEd, please visit WestEd: Home (Outside Source).

Schools Matter: Congressman Miller: Will You Now Sponsor a Bill to Protect Children from Testing Abuse

The Honorable Congressman touts his work on stopping abuse and seclusion of children:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Education and Labor Committee today passed bipartisan legislation to make classrooms safer for students and school staff by preventing the misuse of restraint and seclusion. The Committee passed the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4227) by a vote of 34 to 10.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last spring exposed hundreds of cases of schoolchildren being abused as a result of inappropriate uses of restraint and seclusion, often involving untrained staff. In some cases, children died. A disproportionate number of these victims were students with disabilities. In some of the cases GAO investigated, ropes, duct tape, chairs with straps and bungee cords were used to restrain or isolate young children.
“This bill makes clear that there is no place in our schools for abuse and torture,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The egregious abuse of a child should not be considered less

SN&R > Editorial > Strong mayor, RIP > 02.04.10

SN&R: Editorial Strong mayor, RIP 02.04.10:

"SN&R has published both news pieces and commentary about Mayor Kevin Johnson’s crusade for city charter reform to include a “strong mayor.” It was one of the issues he campaigned on. But there’s been much to consider on the subject in the 15 months since Johnson was elected.

First, there was Johnson’s quick move for an initiative to put the “strong mayor” plan on the ballot, with very little public discussion beforehand. He attempted, as we noted in these pages, to do an end run around the more reasoned (and, we might add, collaborative) approach that the other city leaders were willing to take.

Roughly a year ago, though, Johnson stopped the petition circulating for his strong-mayor initiative, citing it as a distraction from more pressing issues facing the city—specifically, the budget crisis and looming layoffs of city workers. We applauded the mayor for doing so. Next, the city council established the Sacramento Charter Review Committee, a body commissioned to examine the city charter and offer suggestions for its improvement, including a possible switch to a strong-mayor form."

UC System Provost talks budget with UCSC staff, students - Santa Cruz Sentinel

UC System Provost talks budget with UCSC staff, students - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"SANTA CRUZ -- Quality of education, access to that education and affordability were the common threads a top University of California official heard after meeting with students and faculty at administration at UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday.

In Kerr Hall, under high security after the December student occupation that damaged the building, interim UC Provost Dr. Lawrence Pitts met with various groups to discuss what budget cuts might mean for a university system with a soaring number of applicants for next year, but with fewer spots to put them in.

'If the University of California loses quality in some demonstrable way, the entire university will sag. If we don't do everything in our power to preserve quality, it will change the face of the university, and it will be hard to recapture or regain in any short amount of time,' he said to a group of UCSC student reporters."

Latest News and Comment from Education