Sunday, March 28, 2010

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNewsToday

Students suffer as Smith profits from another charter

Many parents may not know that troubled Merrick Academy has served as a source of campaign funds and patronage for one of its high-profile board members - State Senate President Malcolm Smith.

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Brooklyn pol launches ads urging kids to pull up their pants

His message probably won't go viral like an "American Idol" audition, but one Brooklyn politician is urging young people to keep their pants up. ...

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LAUSD administrators union agrees to shorter school year

Local principals and administrators reached a tentative agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District to take 12 furlough days over the next two years - a move which could shorten the school year by one week, union officials announced Friday ...

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Helping students, one school and one teacher at a time

On an early February morning at Stedman Elementary School, the pressure was high. Two students vomited. A few cried at their desks. Another imagined goblins might get him if he failed. ...

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Parents fight larger class sizes

As area districts cuts teachers, educators say class size won't have a noticable impact on students. Parents disagree. ...

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Layoffs could top 20,000 in school districts statewide

3.28.10 - Illinois state education funding woes have triggered a tsunami of pink slips to thousands upon thousands of teachers and support staff in school districts statewide, with about 9,800 announced layoffs of teachers so far...

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Proper studying skills can pay off big for students

Students can miss the mark on report cards because of poor study habits. With the school year in the final stretch, many students may need a refresher on the best routine for studying and completing homework. ...

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The Boys Have Fallen Behind

3.28.10 - NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF - Around the globe, it’s mostly girls who lack educational opportunities. Even in the United States, many people still associate the educational “gender gap” with girls left behind in math....

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What makes a teacher great?

The YouTube video shows an anonymous first-grade teacher trying, and failing, to get her students to discuss a book. You see kids yammering away...

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5 S.F. school principals under fire

Five principals at the helm of struggling San Francisco schools will be forced within the next few weeks... ...

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Most year-round elementary schools to retain schedules

Declining enrollment in the Clark County School District is making it possible for 21 year-round elementary schools ...

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Baltimore County, city move to turn around failing schools

Seven of the worst-performing schools in Baltimore City and Baltimore County face overhauls in the next few months. But the two districts have chosen different strategies as they attack the perplexing problem of turning around schools that have failed for many years. ...

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DeKalb rejects school tax hike

The DeKalb County school board will vote on a budget for next year that balances the current projected deficit with at least 427 layoffs, seven teacher furlough days and at least four school closings -- but no tax hike. ...

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Raise $$$s must be binding

If, for some reason, the private foundations Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee says are lined up to fund at least a portion of teacher salary increases don't deliver, the District is on the hook....

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Fairfax schools to resort to more trailers

Though not ideal, limited funding often makes trailers the best option. ...

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Judge Blocks Closing of 19 New York City Schools

The judge found “significant violations” of the law governing mayoral control of city schools. judge on Friday blocked the closing of 19 schools for poor performance, finding the city engaged in “significant violations” of the new state law governing mayoral control of city schools. ...

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Education hypocrisy--Washington should tend own backyard

Reading really is fundamental to lifelong education, and it’s no accident that Massachusetts’ fourth-grade and eighth-grade students have once again led the nation in the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress exam in reading....

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Educators, parents to talk about low performing schools in San Bernardino school district

The San Bernardino City Unified School District on Monday will kick off the first of several forums designed to bring educators and parents together to discuss plans for 11 schools that recently made the state's list of lowest performing schools...

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At various forums, teens discuss flash mobs

Why are there violent "flash mobs" in Philadelphia? In different settings, different teenagers yesterday offered a variety of views on the furor over flash mobs, including the very term. ...

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Palm Beach County teachers' union threatens work slowdown, plans 'no confidence' vote on superintendent Johnson

The Palm Beach County teachers' union is urging a work slowdown and planning a vote of no confidence in schools Superintendent Art Johnson over a continued "lack of respect" for teachers....

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Schools Matter: "Whatever we do, they want to make it look like we are dumb morons. They're very effective, dadgummit."

"Whatever we do, they want to make it look like we are dumb morons. They're very effective, dadgummit."

by Kenneth Libby

Anything involving Texas State Board of Education Chair Don McLeroy is bound to to be controversial-slash-hilarious-slash-horrifying. His most recent interview does not disappoint. From the Globe and Mail's John Allenmang:

‘They want to make it look like we are dumb morons'
The Texas Board of Education is adjusting its curriculum to reflect conservative values. How do they deal with backlash from those ‘dadgummit' leftists?

The Globe’s John Allemang interviews Don McLeroy, a board member (and dentist).
You've been the leader in the campaign to introduce conservative values into the Texas school curriculum. What's your goal?
We're just trying to remove bias and get accurate history.
Where's the bias?
Here's an example: At the kindergarten level, the standards committee talked about the kids becoming global citizens instead of United States citizens. The bias is their idea that, ‘Oh, we're just

Editorial - An Exceptional Nominee - NYTimes.com

An Exceptional Nominee

Published: March 27, 2010

The first major appeals-court nomination fight of the Obama presidency may be shaping up over Goodwin Liu, a highly qualified teacher and legal scholar. Mr. Liu, nominated to the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is raising hackles on the right because of some of his legal views, and because he is seen as a strong candidate for the Supreme Court in the near future. The White House and Senate Democrats should fight hard for the confirmation.

Mr. Liu was born in Augusta, Ga., where his parents, doctors from Taiwan, moved to practice medicine in an underserved area. He graduated from Stanford, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and then graduated from Yale Law School. After clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he became a highly regarded law professor at the University of California-Berkeley.

Mr. Liu, who is 39, has written extensively on the Constitution and education law, among other areas. His views are not uniformly liberal — he has written in support of school vouchers and charter schools, market-oriented policies that many liberals and labor unions strongly oppose. But Mr. Liu’s conservative critics are taking aim at his support for affirmative action, gay marriage rights, and national health care, and his endorsement of the view that the Constitution is a document that evolves over time.

His views fall within the mainstream of legal scholarship and American politics. Kenneth Starr, the conservative lawyer who investigated President Bill Clinton, and is now the dean

‘Pleasure' principals - SignOnSanDiego.com

‘Pleasure' principals

MCASD marks the 25th anniversary of a fundraising group that’s ‘changed the dynamic in the city’

If you want to know how an enduring group of patrons at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has contributed to the evolution of its collection, then all you need to do is look at the roof on the ocean side of its home in La Jolla. What you will see is a grand-scale construction made from castoff boats that creates a dynamic flourish, a kind of baroque exclamation point on the building. The sculpture: Nancy Rubins’ “Pleasure Point” (2006). The group of ambitious patrons who made it possible for the museum to own this piece: Contemporary Collectors.

It’s not coincidental that an exhibition marking the group’s 25th anniversary carries the title of Rubins’ piece as its name. It’s arguably the piece de resistance of the group’s efforts to expand the permanent collection.

A few others just might give it a measure of competition — say, Sol LeWitt’s wall painting “Isometric Pyramid” (1983) or Robert Therrien’s witty sculpture, “No Title (Blue Cloud)” from 1992. But it’s the sustained support of the group, embodied in the exhibition as a whole, that impresses most. We can all quibble about the quality of this or that individual work, but the cumulative quality of “Pleasure Point: Celebrating 25 Years of Contemporary Collectors” is what matters most.

When museum director Hugh Davies arrived here in 1983, funds for

Diploma mills keep churning out bogus degrees | Schools | News from Fort Worth, Dallas, ...

Diploma mills keep churning out bogus degrees

For only $963, anyone can get a high school diploma, an associate degree and a bachelor's degree based solely on "life experience."

The problem? All three degrees are fake.

With 53 diploma mills -- organizations that issue bogus degrees -- Texas ranks fifth in the United States, according to the British company Verifile, which tracks diploma mills. California tops the country with 134 companies, followed by Hawaii, Washington and Florida.

Some mills issue medical and other degrees that help individuals land jobs that could put people's lives at risk, according to a report co-written by Eyal Ben Cohen, Verifile's managing director.

Others worry that fake diplomas could provide terrorists an entryway into the United States.

Diploma mills tend to locate in areas with the least regulation, Cohen said. And they have become an international, $100 million-plus annual business, with the United States at the epicenter, he said

People only need to tap into online job networking sites to see the evidence.

"The threat is huge," Cohen said. "If you go to LinkedIn and do a search, you will find thousands of people who happily are boasting that they have an education from diploma mills."

Price list

Verifile defines diploma mills as mostly online companies that offer degrees without the legal authority to grant them. Prices range from $100 to thousands of dollars. Some will grant a "degree" based on a résumé detailing life experience and let applicants choose t

Latino education conference set for Cal State San Bernardino | Local News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

Latino education conference set for Cal State San Bernardino


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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010

By DAVID OLSON
The Press-Enterprise

As editor of the Journal of Latinos and Education, Enrique Murillo has a deep knowledge of the challenges facing Latino students and of proposed strategies to improve their educational performance.

But the Cal State San Bernardino professor realizes that much of what he and other academics discuss never makes it past the ivory tower.

That's how what was initially planned as a small event to launch the new Handbook of Latinos and Education -- of which Murillo is editor-in-chief -- morphed into a major conference at Cal State San Bernardino on Monday that will be webcast to 69 college campuses nationwide and to four Latin American countries. The event is geared toward a broad audience.

"This summit is a way to create a public forum....," Murillo said. "So many institutions and people are hungry for information on Latino education, especially because of the dire crisis we're in."

Latinos lag behind their white and Asian counterparts on achievement tests, have higher dropout rates and attend college in smaller numbers. The free conference will include discussions of the roots of the problem and how to close the achievement gap.

Art Delgado, superintendent of San Bernardino Unified School District, which is nearly 70 percent Latino, said he will attend the conference in part to learn the strategies that others are pursuing to improve Latino students' educational attainment.

"Nothing gets done unless you begin to talk about the needs of any group of students," Delgado said.

Among the speakers are the director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans; Dolores Huerta, co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers union, and Sylvia Mendez, a

Race to the Top funding brings hundreds to San Bernardino education summit - San Bernardino County Sun

Race to the Top funding brings hundreds to San Bernardino education summit

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer

Posted: 03/26/2010 04:27:29 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - Officials from the frequently colliding worlds of politics and education shared thoughts on Race to the Top funding at an education summit Friday at Cal State San Bernardino.

The university's dining room was packed with educators and local school district administrators, still reeling from recent announcements of reforms they must take to turnaround their lowest performing schools, at the event held by Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino.

"We are here today to look at Race to the Top and what it means for students in the Inland Empire and come up with reforms that give our schools the flexibility to succeed," said Baca.

In November, President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced eligibility for states to compete for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top funding, the largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in this country's history.

California lost out in the first round of allocation of the funding.

The state is now waiting for feedback to come back from the federal government in April that will describe the improvements needed to be made, said Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

Recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and several other governors sent a letter to Duncan requesting the U.S. Department of Education accelerate the timeline for release of comments from Phase One or extend the deadline for the Phase 2 application from June 1 to July 1.

Meanwhile, on Friday, panelists including heads of teachers unions and local politicians and board members spoke out on what needs to be done.

Barbara Flores, a Cal State San Bernardino professor and San Bernardino City Unified School District board member, discussed

Don't sweat munis - NYPOST.com

Don't sweat munis

State, city bonds not facing defaults

I was talking to a well-known billionaire magazine publisher about municipal bond defaults and I mentioned I wasn't sweating them.

He asked me, jokingly, if I thought Washington was going to bail out California. I said that California has zero issues and he walked away chuckling to himself.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does have a worse disapproval rating than any of his predecessors and faces a Democratic legislature that can't say no to a spending bill or tax cut.

But despite "The Governator" having to run this gauntlet, there are bankruptcy laws for cities but not for states. When a state can't pay its bondholders, it has only two choices: sell assets or increase taxes. It has no other options. Let's take my friend's example of California as a case study.

SPLASH NEWS

SCHWARZENEGGER Not his default

The California constitution mandates that education costs be paid first out of any revenues coming in. California has about $90 billion in revenues. About 40 percent of that goes to education. After that, as per the California constitution, all debt payments have to be made. After that, California can spend on whatever it wants: police, landscaping, random buildings, etc.

Debt service payments come to about $5.5 billion per year. In other words, each year California makes its debt payments, with an extra $50 billion to spare.

This is why it has no problems refinancing and why municipal bond yields are at record lows. Most states have similar clauses in their state constitutions: that debt service payments come before anything else.

Well, what about cities? Cities can go bankrupt, can't they? Yes, cities can file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. But even then, cities are different from corporations. Cities don't get liquidated. They still have to figure out how to pay off their debts (so they can borrow again in the future) and raise revenues.

Migrant program escapes budget cuts - Imperial Valley Press Online - Local News

Migrant program escapes budget cuts

The Imperial County Office of Education oversees migrant education programs in 13 county school districts, which include about 9,400 migrant students.

Sandra Kofford, ICOE migrant education program senior director, said most migrants are from California but some move from state to state. She said most are American citizens.

“These are our children, and we need to support their academic needs because they are part of the future of this country,” Kofford said.

Among the several programs offered to migrant students are the summer English immersion program, student leadership conferences, university campus excursions and the Migrant Education Even Start program, which helps young migrant children and their parents prepare for school and literacy.

The main goal, she said, is to help students graduate, though they also encourage students to pursue secondary education, as well.

Will Christie's proposed 2.5% annual cap on property taxes help? | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

Will Christie's proposed 2.5% annual cap on property taxes help?

Local officials grappling with the immediate impact of cuts in state aid haven't spent much time yet contemplating the bigger-picture change on their horizon — a lower, harder cap on property taxes.

A 2.5 percent annual limit on growth in property taxes, eliminating many of the exceptions now permitted under a 4 percent cap, is the signature item in a so-called "tool kit" that Gov. Chris Christie wants put in place this year by the Legislature and then considered by the state's voters as a constitutional amendment in November.

And that has lawmakers and their staffers poring through the experiences in other states with similar caps, such as California, Colorado and Massachusetts.

Republicans say they're eager to impose the cap, and Democrats acknowledge the prospect sounds appealing. But the idea has pitfalls, such as creating an economic disparity between wealthy towns where voters would approve proposals to exceed the cap and struggling cities where voters wouldn't. Democrats — who hold the majority in the Legislature — say they're interested but want to take it slowly.

Christie compares his plan to Proposition 2 1/2, which since being approved by voters in Massachusetts in 1980 reduced the state's property tax bill from the nation's third highest to its 33rd highest. It would restrict growth in property taxes to 2.5 percent and stop putting certain costs, such as pension contributions, outside of that limit. State officials would no longer be allowed to grant waivers allowing growth above the cap, although local voters could do so in a referendum.

"It can be done," Christie said. "We have to impose discipline."

The difference between the current 4 percent cap and the proposed cap would be significant, even setting aside the impact of the exceptions now allowed. Compounded over the course of a decade, $100 would

College Students Celebrate Reconcilliation Bill - a boost for SF/Bay Area college enrollment numbers

College Students Celebrate Reconcilliation Bill - a boost for SF/Bay Area college enrollment numbers

The passage of HR 4872 signaled an historic day for all Americans. None are more thrilled than the nation's college students and potential students, who depend on federal financial aid to help guarantee their goal of access to higher education. Student Aid and Health Care Reform were the big issues these past months, as students from across the country advocated for federal investment in higher education. In addition, the healthcare reform bill will enable young people, especially transient college students, to benefit from more flexibility and durability in their healthcare coverage. Healthcare accessibility is often a major worry for young college students, so healthcare reform has been greatly needed.

The student aid reform legislation saves the Pell grant from the feared funding reductions that would force millions of low-income students out of school or into multiple jobs to pay for their education. The bill's passage invests millions of dollars in community colleges and other institutions serving low-income students. This good news is particularly welcomed at colleges

Textbook cases - latimes.com

Textbook cases

As Texas shows, school book content must not be left to interest groups. California, take note.

Oh, those disingenuous Texans. Pretending to bring ideological balance to history textbooks when what they're really doing is weighting the books so heavily with conservative mores, you'd expect the state's backpack-laden school children to list to the right.

If the revisions proposed by the conservative faction of the Texas Board of Education are adopted in May, the state's textbooks will raise the study of the inaugural speech of Confederate President Jefferson Davis to the same level as that of Abraham Lincoln. They will downplay the role of Thomas Jefferson, in part because he coined the phrase "separation of church and state," and will imply that the Founding Fathers were Christian even though historians have found evidence that not all of them held Christian beliefs. The internment of a relatively small number of people of German and Italian heritage during World War II would be emphasized to make it appear as though there wasn't a racial component to interning more than 100,000 Japanese Americans. This amounts to just plain disinformation.

Before Californians look down their noses, though, they should consider the rules governing this state's textbooks. The state regulates the portrayal of genders, minority groups, the elderly and the disabled by requiring proportional representation that also cannot show any group in a negative light. Thus, as education expert Diane Ravitch writes, the elderly must be portrayed as fit and lively even if reality tells us that some cope with illness and disability. Publishers have been discouraged from

PR-USA.net - National Federation of the Blind and Blackboard to Demonstrate New Accessibility Features at CSUN

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for equal education for blind students, and Blackboard Inc., will present and demonstrate the new accessibility features of the Blackboard Learn(TM) platform at the California State University, Northridge, (CSUN) 25th annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities conference, held in San Diego, CA, March 22-27. The presentation of Blackboard's improved and more accessible experience will be held on March 25 at 4:20 p.m. Pacific Time.

Blackboard Learn, an online learning platform, is used by thousands of institutions to provide online education, course materials, discussion boards, assignment submissions, electronic grading, and numerous other components intended to enhance the learning experience or to provide distance education. Previously, blind students encountered a number of accessibility barriers when using the Blackboard platform with nonvisual screen access technology. Blackboard Learn, Release 9, showed great improvement over prior releases, and during the past year, Blackboard has invested further in a range of enhancements to Blackboard Learn that represent significant improvements to the usability of Blackboard for blind users.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "We are pleased to help Blackboard present the accessibility features of the Blackboard Learn platform to the influential audience at CSUN. These features will ensure that blind students are not at a disadvantage in classes utilizing Blackboard and can access course materials online just as their sighted peers do. We commend Blackboard for their hard work in this area."

The accessibility improvements to Blackboard Learn include faster navigation and improved form interaction, allowing blind users to submit assignments, participate in discussion forums, send and receive e-mail, take tests and quizzes, and participate in polls. Blind instructors can also submit content with the improved accessible forms.

For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, please visit www.nfb.org.

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.

Source: National Federation of the Blind

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Nation & World | Student loans get a boost in health care law | Seattle Times Newspaper

Student loans get a boost in health care law

Students and their families should find the student loan process simpler, and lower-income students should find more financial ...

By David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Students and their families should find the student-loan process simpler and lower-income students should find more financial help under changes tucked into the health-care legislation that Congress passed last week.

The measure, aimed at taking banks and other private lenders out of the lucrative federal subsidized student-loan market, also would lessen the burden for some graduates as they pay back their loans.

Currently, certain students with low incomes and large loan balances don't have to pay more than 15 percent of their incomes each month on the loans. The new law will lower that to 10 percent.

The changes, which are projected to save the government $61 billion over 10 years, also will forgive the loans after 20 years of repayment, down from 25 currently.

Until now, there have been two federal-loan programs. Under one, the government makes loans directly to students; that program will be expanded. The other is the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Under it, banks and lenders make loans that the federal government guarantees or insures. It will end July 1.

The new law still will permit private lending institutions to make private loans, but the federal government won't subsidize them.

"This is a big deal. We've known for decades that subsidies are unnecessary and expensive, and special-interest lobbying has kept these provisions on the books," said Pedro de la Torre, advocacy senior associate

Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, March 28, 2010

EducationNewsToday

‘They want to make it look like we are dumb morons'

An Exceptional Nominee

‘Pleasure' principals

MCASD marks the 25th anniversary of a fundraising group that’s ‘changed the dynamic in the city’

Diploma mills keep churning out bogus degrees

Latino education conference set for Cal State San Bernardino

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010

Race to the Top funding brings hundreds to San Bernardino education summit

Migrant program escapes budget cuts

The Imperial County Office of Education oversees migrant education programs in 13 county school districts, which include about 9,400 migrant students.

Will Christie's proposed 2.5% annual cap on property taxes help?

RELATED

College Students Celebrate Reconcilliation Bill - a boost for SF/Bay Area college enrollment numbers

Textbook cases

As Texas shows, school book content must not be left to interest groups. California, take note.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Student loans get a boost in health care law