Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNewsToday

S.D. district won’t cut back on ‘minimum days’

San Diego schools will not cut back on “minimum days” to make up for the lost instruction time that will come with five furlough days during each of the next two years.
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'Math wars' over national standards may erupt again in California

3.31.10 - Hold on to your graphing calculators: The passionate, contentious debate over how California students should learn math is ready to erupt again...
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City Controller questions payments to charter-school accountant

An accountant was paid $700,561 over four years by three city charter schools and claimed to have worked more than 365 days in each year, City Controller Alan Butkovitz disclosed yesterday. ...
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This $550 exec seat cost kids millions in NY

The state failed to get a penny in education funds doled out by Washington this week after clueless bureaucrats were dopey enough to admit to the feds they would have blown more than $200,000 on expensive furniture for their offices. ...
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Durham parents oppose cutbacks for schools

Parents, teachers, principals and students asked, pled or almost demanded Tuesday night that Durham County commissioners cut no funding for Durham Public Schools next year. ...
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Teachers' union withholds support for furloughs proposal

Three of four Clark County School District employee unions have offered to take unpaid furloughs to prevent mass layoffs, but the teachers union, the largest bargaining group, is withholding its support for the proposal.... ...
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Critics say administration’s blueprint is too similar to NCLB

As the Obama administration seeks support for its plan to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), many education policy analysts worry that the new blueprint's guidelines are too reminiscent of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind... ...
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School staffing cuts loom

More than 160 teaching positions could be cut next school year in the Hinds County, Canton, Clinton and Rankin County districts ...
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CMS board rejects pay cuts, closings; seeks furloughs

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Tuesday pinned its 2010-11 budget-cutting hopes on the state legislature, hoping to get permission to furlough employees and tinker with the school calendar....
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Anger turns toward school staff in bullying case

Enraged by revelations that staff members at South Hadley High School knew that Phoebe Prince was the target of withering harassment long before her death, residents and public officials yesterday ...
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Deliberations stop in teacher trial

A former Southwest DeKalb High School teacher told jurors that he stopped a striptease and simulated sex acts in his classroom as soon as he saw it. ...
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House passes anti-bullying bill

Sparked by Jaheem Herrera's death, bill would require schools to tell parents when their child is victim or instigator. ...
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Jay Mathews: KIPP visitor's critique, KIPP leader's response

3.31.10 - suegjoyce: “Kids at KIPP are drilled and tested over and over again with scores posted in hallway for all to see. ALL scores, good or bad.” Shirey: We do have an interim testing program, and believe strongly in posting data, but this is only...
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Researchers take new look at teenage brain

It has become commonplace these days to hear that teens are victims of their own immature brains and raging hormones....
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Prep schools look abroad for students

When Dixi Wu finished middle school in Kunming, China, last year, she had a hard decision to make. The skilled violinist and top-ranked student tested into one of the most competitive high schools in her province...
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Enforcing School Standards, at Last

Only Delaware and Tennessee will receive first-round grants to support ambitious school reforms. The remaining states, including New York, need to retool their applications....
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School defibrillator proves lifesaver for one Pearland teen

The players panicked as they surrounded an unconscious Jonathan Moore on the football field outside Pearland's Glenda Dawson High School on March 3....
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Uproar Over School Cafeteria That Doubled as a Nightclub

School district officials in Philadelphia say a charter school’s cafeteria was used as a nightclub on weekends...
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Paterson Delays School Aid, Citing State’s Lack of Money

After another budget deal falls through, the governor said the state did not have enough cash to cover $2.1 billion in aid payments that districts were expecting this week. ...
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At Dropout Nation: A Considerable Legacy: Jaime Escalante

3.31.10 - Jaime Escalante exemplified what teaching should be and how any highly-effective teacher who cares about the lives of children can help kids succeed in school and life. His career showed how one man can make a difference, ...
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Schools Matter: Thank You, Professor McLeroy

Schools Matter: Thank You, Professor McLeroy


Everyone's favorite wingnut, outgoing Texas SBOE member Don McLeroy, has certainly left his mark on public education in the Lone Star state, but he's also left us with a digital record of his various wisdoms (particularly in the realm of history, geology, and education philosophy).

The video above is from a debate between the dentist and the eventual winner of the election, Thomas Ratliff. It's rather fitting that a large cross is in the background (fair to assume this debate was held in a church), and you can hear McLeroy ruminate over a story told on the Dennis Prager show.

You can skip to the 5:22 mark to hear McLeroy's suggestion for improving inner city education. It's a piece of "wisdom" that is, unfortunately, common wisdom around the country.

And, for just a taste of how different things are down in Texas, the moderator asks the candidates what they'd do to "abolish public education in the state of Texas" (7:55 mark).

McLeroy, surprisingly, is not in favor of abolishing public education, but his a big fan of charters and competition.

voiceofsandiego.org | Pregnant Student Privacy Rules Approved

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

Pregnant Student Privacy Rules Approved
The San Diego Unified school board decided to change a controversial policy that had mandated that school staff contact parents if they discovered that a student was pregnant or considering an abortion, ending nearly three years of debate and uncertainty over the rules.
Planned Parenthood and other advocates for changing the rule said it brought the school district in line with state law. The new rules state that student pregnancy or other sensitive medical information is confidential. The revised policies also permit students to leave campus without notifying their parents if they need to obtain confidential medical services, which can range from alcohol counseling to abortion.
Though the revised rules were expected to be controversial, nobody publicly protested the

Sacramento Press / Mayor Johnson learns from trip to New York City

Sacramento Press / Mayor Johnson learns from trip to New York City

Mayor Johnson learns from trip to New York City



New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson advice on what makes other cities successful at a meeting in New York City.
Johnson also met with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren.
"You have to be responsive to the needs of your city," Johnson said that Bloomberg told him. "You have to not only prioritize, but you have to be able to implement, execute and actualize whatever those happen to be."
Johnson listed public safety, education, job creation and economic development as the city's top priorities. There are other issues that Johnson will be looking at.
"Then he said that (there are) things that aren't your priorities that you should be thinking about," Johnson said. "In Sacramento, we've been hit pretty hard by the foreclosure crisis. So, how are we as a city responding to the needs of people in Sacramento, who are losing their homes?"
When Johnson met with Lundgren, the Macy's CEO assured that he supports his store in the Westfield Downtown Plaza mall.
"We had a frank and very straightforward conversation," he said. "He's very committed on the vision we have for the Downtown Plaza. I let him know that

Famed "No Excuses" Teacher Dies At 79 This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Schedules: 120 Districts Already On Shortened Week

Quotes2"Nineteen states have at least one district on a four-day week...Some of the 120 U.S. districts on four-day weeks report improved student achievement." - Chicago Tribune editorial

News: Famed "No Excuses" Teacher Dies At 79

Teacher who inspired 'Stand and Deliver' film dies AP: "Jaime exposed one of the most dangerous myths of our time - that inner city students can't be expected to perform at the highest levels," Olmos said. "Because of him, that destructive idea has been shattered forever."...11111111111newsAnger turns toward staff in bullying case Boston Globe: Enraged by revelations that staff members at South Hadley High School knew that Phoebe Prince was the target of withering harassment long before her death, residents and public officials yesterday angrily accused the school system of neglecting vulnerable students and called on top administrators to resign... Windy City Cloud Shadows Duncan EdWeek: The political standing of the former chief executive officer of the Chicago public schools probably will not suffer unless it is determined that he or his office pressured school authorities to admit specific students during his tenure...New Civil Rights Rules Unveiled EdWeek: The U.S. Dept. of Ed. has announced that districts will have to collect data in several new categories that relate to students' civil rights...Wake County, N.C., Board Rejects Diversity-Based Assignment Plan EdWeek: Police removed protesters last week from a heated Wake County, N.C., school board meeting in which board members voted to abandon a student-assignment and diversity policy with roots dating back three decades... Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); ">School Cafeteria Doubled as Nightclub NYT: School district officials in Philadelphia say a charter school’s cafeteria was used as a nightclub on weekends.

Nation & World | Girl's suicide increases urgency to prevent teen bullying | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Girl's suicide increases urgency to prevent teen bullying | Seattle Times Newspaper

Girl's suicide increases urgency to prevent teen bullying

Phoebe Prince's suicide raises questions about Massachusetts schools' role in preventing harassment. Forty-one other states, including Washington, have anti-bullying laws of varying strength.

Phoebe Prince's family had moved recently to Massachusetts from a small town in Ireland. She entered high school last fall.

Prosecutors and classmates say the taunting started when the 15-year-old freshman had a brief relationship with a popular senior boy. Some students reportedly called her an "Irish slut," knocked books out of her hands and sent her threatening text messages, day after day.

Prince hanged herself from a stairwell at her home in January, leading to charges Monday against nine teenagers, including two boys charged with statutory rape and a clique of girls charged with stalking, criminal harassment and violating Prince's civil rights.

The charges are an unusually sharp legal response to the problem of adolescent bullying, which increasingly is conducted in cyberspace as well as in the schoolyard and has raised questions about educators' role in prevention.

South Hadley High School officials won't be charged, even though the district attorney determined the girl's

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What ever happened to pay-for-grades schemes in N.Y & Chicago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What ever happened to pay-for-grades schemes in N.Y & Chicago

What ever happened to pay-for-grades schemes in N.Y & Chicago

Disappearing Act

2008 was the year of pay-for-grades. Remember? It was the hottest idea, heavily touted by the Ownership Society entrupreneurial crowd and headline news in the mass media. Joel Klein spent $40 million on his market worshiping scheme in N.Y. schools. But a new study shows the program was a flopand is quietly being dropped. Accountability? Never with these guys. Exxon-Mobile pushed the program in Arkansas, Alabama,

New Study Shows That Paying Students For Higher Test Scores Doesn’t Work | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

New Study Shows That Paying Students For Higher Test Scores Doesn’t Work | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

New Study Shows That Paying Students For Higher Test Scores Doesn’t Work

Filed under school reform
Last September, I wrote a post titled Conditional Cash Transfers, Parents, And Schools in my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. It talked about a new program that was becoming fashionable called conditional cash transfers. These are payments made to families to encourage them to do things like go to doctor appointments, and to children for increased school attendance and higher standardized test scores.
In my post, I shared that, though I thought these funds could be used more effectively to fight poverty in other ways, I really couldn’t complain about putting a few more bucks in the hands of poor families — for non-school related efforts. I wrote about how I thought it was damaging to children and schools when it was connected to education benchmarks, and my post connected to studies that showed that. In another post, I wrote more specifically about my objections to paying students for increased test scores.
New York City had started a heralded, and expensive, conditional cash transfer program heavily focused on school-related objectives. The program just announced the results of an evaluation of the program and

Two new programs to help cut Philadelphia truancy | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/30/2010

Two new programs to help cut Philadelphia truancy | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/30/2010

Two new programs to help cut Philadelphia truancy

Every day, about 12,000 Philadelphia students are out of school with no excuse.

Every year, the Philadelphia School District, city courts, and the Department of Human Services spend $15 million on truancy-prevention programs.

Historically, a lack of coordination among the three means that many students still slip through the cracks - leading not just to truants, but also to dropouts. There are about 95,000 children under DHS care in city schools and in out-of-school programs.

"When you try to get two really large institutions to work together at a kid level, it's really difficult," said Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's chief education officer.

To try to fix that, two new, privately funded initiatives will focus on supporting at-risk students in school. They will be announced today by the Department of Human Services.

A new Education Support Center will track the educational progress of students in DHS's care, watching for early warning signs and helping smooth communications between the city agency and the district. The center will be funded by a $600,000, two-year grant from the William Penn

Phila. charter school doubles as after-school-hours club

The cochair of the state Senate Education Committee yesterday called on the Philadelphia School District to immediately close a West Philadelphia charter school and relocate its students following news reports that a nightclub operates in the building after school hours.

Specter calls for stronger federal privacy laws

The alleged use of cameras in school-issued laptops for surveillance shows a need to extend the type of privacy protections found in federal wiretap laws to images, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) said here yesterday.

Camden schools eligible for federal funds

Nine Camden schools could get a share of nearly $66.7 million in federal funds awarded to New Jersey to help turn around the state's lowest-performing schools.

Teachers and Coaches: An NBA Analogy � InterACT

Teachers and Coaches: An NBA Analogy � InterACT

Teachers and Coaches: An NBA Analogy


Controversy erupted recently in the world of educational reform when a school decided to fire all of its teachers due to the low academic performance of their students. The Central Falls High School firings laid direct blame on the teachers for perpetrating a culture of underachievement. Many nouveaux ed-reformers applauded this action, calling it bold and brave, with even the President stating “if a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn’t show any sign of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability…and that’s what happened in Rhode Island.” In other words, I approve and support this action.

Firing entire faculties may or may not be a step forward in improving educational communities. But it does bring a key issue to mind: to what extent are teachers responsible for their students’ accomplishments? If teachers refuse to accept 100% of the responsibility, is it because they are against our nation’s capitalistic values of work and competition, and want lifetime employment without ever bearing the blame for the faulty products they are alleged to produce? This avenue of thought led me to think about other professions and situations where leaders or mentors were

Haas Newsroom - Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley

Haas Newsroom - Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Rejoins The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management to Foster Diversity

03/30/2010


Consortium logo



The Consortium, an alliance of leading American business schools and corporations aimed at fostering diversity among graduate business students and corporate leaders, has made changes to its mission that have allowed the Haas School to become a member once again after a seven-year hiatus.

Being part of The Consortium is another way to show that UC Berkeley and the Haas School of Business are welcoming of all forms of diversity,” says Dean Lyons. “We want to reflect the diversity of business today at our school.”

iversity is a key goal of the Haas School of Business. Participation in The Consortium is one of several ongoing Haas School efforts in this area, including an annual diversity conference, diversity workshops for prospective students, and the Women in Leadership club and conference, among others.

he Haas School of Business originally joined The Consortium in 1993, but withdrew in 2003 as a consequence of Proposition 209, which prohibits public institutions from participating in programs that give preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. At that time, The Consortium awarded fellowships to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. But it expanded its mission in 2005 to include all US citizens and permanent residents who demonstrate

California CIO Teri Takai Named U.S. Defense Department IT Chief

California CIO Teri Takai Named U.S. Defense Department IT Chief

California CIO Teri Takai Named U.S. Defense Department IT Chief

Teri Takai, CIO, California/Photo by Gerry McIntyre

Mar 29, 2010, By Matt Williams, Associate Editor

California CIO Teri Takai, one of the highest-profile leaders in state and local government IT, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to become CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), according to a White House statementMonday, March 29.

Takai's expertise on IT consolidations -- she led statewide efforts in California and Michigan -- appears to be a good fit for her new role at the DoD, which has several consolidation initiatives planned, including the deployment of a single e-mail system and network for the U.S. Army. Takai's official title at the Defense Department will be Assistant Secretary for Networks and Information Integration.

Over the past few months, Takai's future plans had become an open question. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in his final year in office because of term limits. Takai, serving as a gubernatorial appointee, could've been replaced in early 2011 by a new administration.

Steve Fletcher, the CIO of Utah and president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, applauded

Radical Teacher Jaime Escalante Dies | VivirLatino

Radical Teacher Jaime Escalante Dies | VivirLatino

Radical Teacher Jaime Escalante Dies

7:16 PM BY BIANCALAUREANO · UNCATEGORIZED

30Mar2010

At the age of 79, the man who inspired Latino youth in California to reach their full potential through mathematics and science, has died. Radical teacher and educator, Escalante was first introduced to many of us in the 1988 film Stand and Deliver.

An immigrant from La Paz, Boliva his first stop was Puerto Rico before settling in California. He died in Reno, Nevada after batteling cancer. Please take the time toread about Escalante’s life and efforts to encourage and support Latino youth and their/our education.

In the spirit of radical and revolutionary teachers, I encourage each of us to take some time and remember a teacher/educator/tutor who has shaped our identity

To fix schools, adults need to grow up - Home - The Orange County Register

To fix schools, adults need to grow up - Home - The Orange County Register

To fix schools, adults need to grow up


If only life were like the elementary school on the "South Park" cartoon.

On the TV show, the wacky adults mess up, only to have life bounce back with the magic of animation.

Article Tab : education-anaheim-associa
Educators and their supporters from Anaheim Elementary Education Association and Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association protest cuts to the education budget earlier this month.
ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

But fixing education for children in Orange County and the rest of California is far more challenging. It's time for adults to get real.

Some 1,500 teaching positions were eliminated last year in Orange County. In March, an additional 2,219 layoff notices went out to local teachers and other educators in an effort to meet a combined $365.3 million projected deficit for the 2010-11 school year.

It's as if we expect life to somehow just get better in the next episode.

If you doubt we may be heading into a crisis consider California had the second highest student-teacher ratio (20.8 to 1) in the nation in 2007, the latest report by the federal National Center for Education Statistics. And that was before the layoffs.

We're also seeing cuts in music, art, PE and vocational education. Even our legislators agree we've cut to the bone.

Looking for solutions – or at least some hope – I'm visiting with teachers, legislators, school boards and parents. Today, we're hearing from teachers. Why are teachers first? Because they're in the trenches. Legislators are next.

In past years, unions claimed they had solutions. This year is different.

To be sure, the educators had a few suggestions. Take money out of cash reserves, for one. But they admitted the sum wasn't much when compared with what is needed to restore education to what it was just