Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Court Sides With Charter Schools in Wage Dispute Courthouse News Service

Court Sides With Charter Schools in Wage Dispute

By JEFF D. GORMAN
ShareThis

(CN) - New York's prevailing wage laws do not apply to all charter school construction projects, the New York Court of Appeals ruled.
In 2007 the New York Department of Labor informed the Charter Schools Institute and the state Department of Education that it would start enforcing prevailing wage laws on charter school projects.
This was a change from the labor department's position, which it articulated in 2000, that charter schools were exempt from such laws because they were not public entities.
The New York Charter School Association took the matter to court, joined

Leaders criticize ‘one-size-fits-all’ testing - Pekin, IL - Pekin Daily Times

Leaders criticize ‘one-size-fits-all’ testing

Find whatever you're looking for
with Totally Local Yellow Pages

Search provided by local.com

Featured Business »

By Ken Harris

Pekin Daily Times

Posted Oct 26, 2010 @ 08:00 AM

PEKIN, Ill. —

Pekin School District 303 leaders made their frustration over the standards set by No Child Left Behind evident Monday as the superintendent presented the school’s ’09-’10 report card and announced the district again failed to meet the standard for academic progress, which she said is not consistent with the community’s identity.

Pekin Community High School — along with 83 of the 95 statewide high schools of similar size — failed to meet the standard of Academic Yearly Progress, which is based on how many students do well on a statewide efficiency test called the Prairie State Achievement Examination. The test is given to all second-semester juniors.

The problem, according to Superintendent Paula Davis, is that the test assumes all students intend to go to college, which many in Pekin do not intend to do, opting instead to pursue careers in more blue-collar trades and taking classes to prepare them for that path.

“My point is the system — which is one-size-fits-all — doesn’t fit,” Davis said. “We know you’re not going to outsource

Clout St: Emanuel sitting down with city education leaders as he plots schools policy

Emanuel sitting down with city education leaders as he plots schools policy

Share|

Posted by John Chase at 4:46 p.m.

Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel is sitting down with some top local education leaders to fine-tune his platform on Chicago Public Schools, which he has said will be a major part of his campaign.

The former congressman and White house chief of staff met with nine local education organizers, including Penny Pritzker, who also served as President Barack Obama’s national finance chair in the 2008 campaign, an Emanuel campaign official said today.

Last week, Emanuel trickled out some details about his education platform to the Tribune, saying he would like to see a local, privately funded version of the federal education competition called Race to the Top, the signature Obama administration plan that rewarded states vowing to reform public schools. He also talked about increasing parental involvement.

Among those Emanuel met with included Ellen Alberding, president and a board member of the Joyce Foundation, which helped work on Illinois’ losing Race to the Top application; former

Rand Paul and his pal who likes to stomp his boot on the head of a woman. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Rand Paul and his pal who likes to stomp his boot on the head of a woman.

by Fred Klonsky

Here’s Rand Paul with Tim Profitt, the Paul campaign’s (now former) Bourbon County coordinator, in happier

Bully-free school is a civil right — Joanne Jacobs

Bully-free school is a civil right

by Joanne

After a wave of student suicides, the Obama administration is launching an anti-bullying campaign, warning educators that students’ civil rights may be violated by bullying and harassment. Punishing bullies may not be enough, wrote Russlyn Ali, assistant Education secretary for civil rights, in an advisory letter.

As an example, Ali noted in the advisory that a gay student might withdraw from school activities after being subjected to anti-gay slurs and other intimidation. If the school reprimands the perpetrators to stop the bullying, her advisory said, that would not necessarily be enough to ensure that students are free from harassment based on gender stereotypes.
“The school had an obligation to take immediate and effective action to eliminate the hostile

This Week In Education: Thompson: Parents Can Refuse (Some) Standardized Testing

Thompson: Parents Can Refuse (Some) Standardized Testing

by john thompson

Kudos to Teacher Magazine's Anthony Cody for introducing us to Shahila Changebringer, who protests "reform" by refusing permission for schools to impose standardized tests on her child. I personally would not deter a student from taking A.P., SAT, or graduation tests. Neither would I impose a cookie-cutter morality standard on all parents, grandparents, or teens old enough to make their own decisions. But if this bubble-in

Research: Adults Ignoring Sleep Deprivation Research

by Alexander Russo

Kids just want/need to sleep in a little later in the mornings (A Day in the Life of a Sleepy Student) but the adults are having none of i

Teaching guide for 'Most Dangerous Man' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Teaching guide for 'Most Dangerous Man'

by Helen Gym

The Zinn Education Project, a collaboration of Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, just released a free teaching resource.

On the occasion of the WikiLeaks release of close to 400,000 documents on the war in Iraq, with Daniel Ellsberg at the press conference, the Zinn Education Project released a 94-page teaching guide on the film "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers."

Judge awards legal fees in Miss. lesbian prom case - Boston.com

Judge awards legal fees in Miss. lesbian prom case

October 26, 2010

Text size – +

JACKSON, Miss.—A federal judge has ordered a Mississippi school district to pay about $81,000 in legal fees and expenses in a lawsuit filed by a lesbian student whose prom was canceled because she wanted to bring her girlfriend.

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson signed the order on Monday.

Constance McMillen and the American Civil Liberties Union had sued the Itawamba County School District in a challenge of the ban on same-sex prom dates.

In response, the school canceled its April 2 prom. Parents sponsored another

Christie accuses Legislature of not addressing N.J. pension, benefits, education reforms | NJ.com

Christie accuses Legislature of not addressing N.J. pension, benefits, education reforms

Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 4:45 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 4:45 PM

MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger
Follow

Story tools

29 Comments

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Gov. Chris Christie this afternoon took swipes at the vacationing state Legislature who he said has refused to tackle reforms of public employees’ health benefits, pensions and education.

At the ninth town hall meeting on his reform agenda, Christie told an audience in South Brunswick the Legislature has called hearings on bills addressing the neutering pets and notification of dental patients, but not on matters needed for his "tool kit" to help curb state spending.

"They say I’m impatient because they haven’t acted yet," he told a crowd of more than 200 at the Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department. "I

Latest News and Comment from Education