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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Democrats put monkey wrench in Chris Christie's tool kit; Gov picks up a hammer | NJ.com

Democrats put monkey wrench in Chris Christie's tool kit; Gov picks up a hammer | NJ.com

Democrats put monkey wrench in Chris Christie's tool kit; Gov picks up a hammer

Published: Wednesday, November 03, 2010, 6:00 AM

With Republicans poised to retake control of Congress, New Jersey governor Chris Christie is no doubt hoping for a similar outcome for his own mid-term election November 2011: a return of control of the state legislature to the GOP.

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And he may already have the key issue to do just that. It's the resistance by the Democrat-controlled legislature to pass the package of bills he calls the property tax tool kit.

Please Tell Me Where the Tipping Point Is. � Chalkdust101

Please Tell Me Where the Tipping Point Is. � Chalkdust101

Please Tell Me Where the Tipping Point Is.

In late October, I was fortunate enough to participate in TechLearning Magazine’s Northeast TechForum in Tarrytown, NY. This marked the fourth year that I’ve been associated with the conference either as an attendee or a presenter. Each year tells me a dynamically different story about what is happening in our schools here in the Northeast. Each year someone new comes into the conference and turns it on its ear in some capacity.

My presentation, Admin 2.0, was in the afternoon, which gave me all morning to catch up with friends and peek in on some of the sessions that were going on. In each of the sessions, there was a recurrent theme among the crowd: their computers were really small, and a good percentage of the machines lacked full keyboards. The proliferation of eReaders, smartphones, and iPads especially astounded me. Later in the day, as I entered the

News: No Curveballs for Higher Ed - Inside Higher Ed

News: No Curveballs for Higher Ed - Inside Higher Ed

No Curveballs for Higher Ed

Congressional races shake out much as expected, with Republicans winning House majority and a handful of Democrats on education panel hanging on in the Senate.

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Arizona Bans Affirmative Action

While the outcome was the same as in California and Michigan, the impact may differ.

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Fiscal Victories in Anti-Tax Year

Despite voter backlash against government spending, several states reject proposals that colleges feared would have limited appropriations, and some colleges win facilities bond measures.

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Shift in the Statehouses

Republican gains among governors could heighten budgetary challenges for public colleges and their students; Ohio's reforms threatened.

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New Jersey proposes caps on school leaders' salaries | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/02/2010

New Jersey proposes caps on school leaders' salaries | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/02/2010

Local News | Teach for America seeks foothold in Seattle area | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Teach for America seeks foothold in Seattle area | Seattle Times Newspaper

Teach for America seeks foothold in Seattle area

Teach for America is working to bring its corps of young college graduates here to teach in Seattle-area schools next fall.

Seattle Times education reporter

Teach for America, the high-profile organization that steers recent college graduates into teaching, hopes to place 50 of its recruits into Puget Sound schools next fall — the organization's first foray into Washington state since the mid-1990s.

The Federal Way School District has agreed to hire four to 10 Teach for America corps members — typically non-education majors who go into the classroom after five weeks of summer training. Seattle Public Schools is considering placing 20 to 25 more.

If Teach for America succeeds in getting a total of 50 placements in the next few months and raises a little more money, it will open operations here in September, and the Seattle area would become its 40th site across the nation.

The organization, which has grown tremendously since its beginnings 20 years ago, is in the middle of a

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: WONDERLAND AVENUE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DONALD S. WILSONWEIGHS IN ON “WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’”

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: WONDERLAND AVENUE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DONALD S. WILSONWEIGHS IN ON “WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’”

WONDERLAND AVENUE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DONALD S. WILSONWEIGHS IN ON “WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’”

Zorianna Kit

ZORIANNA KIT IN THE HUFFINGTON POST | HTTP://HUFF.TO/AXF9IT

November 2, 2010 01:25 PM - Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim's documentary feature Waiting for Superman has been generating much talk for its portrayal of the public education system in the United States.

I sat down with Donald S. Wilson, Principal of Wonderland Ave. Elementary in Los Angeles, CA, to discuss his thoughts on the film and the public education crisis.

Wilson, who has 17 years of teaching experience, came to Wonderland in 2009. The public school, located in Laurel Canyon, is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. It runs from Kindergarten through to 5th grade and also has a gifted/high ability magnet program.

With consistently high test scores year after year, Wonderland is ranked as the number #2 among all LAUSD elementary schools.

What was your initial reaction to the film?
Donald S. Wilson: The factual information that was put forth was very compelling. It's a great place to not 'start' the conversation, but to take the conversation up to

Teachers union's choices pace Sac City races - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

Teachers union's choices pace Sac City races - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

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Capitol and California - Elections

Teachers union's choices pace Sac City races

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 - 1:43 am | Page 13A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 - 2:25 am

The Sacramento City Teachers Association was the victor Tuesday night in the Sacramento City Unified school board race as all three union-backed candidates gained the most votes.

The race was close in District 2. With all precincts reporting, union-backed Jeff Cuneo held 40 percent of the vote and Andie Corso had 35 percent.

Darrel Woo, who has the support of the district's teachers union, gained a large advantage in District 6 with 49 percent of the vote, while Shane Singh had 28 percent.

In District 1, union favorite Ellyne Bell captured 50 percent of the vote and Paige Powell had 32



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/03/3155001/teachers-union-picks-lead-in-sac.html#ixzz14Djlkzn1

The Answer Sheet - Education policy: What will happen now

The Answer Sheet - Education policy: What will happen now

Education policy: What will happen now

My colleague Jay Mathews, in this column on his Class Struggle blog, asked what would happen to federal education policy if the Republicans take back control of Congress, and then said: “The answer seems to be not much, other than slowing down even further what has been a sluggish effort to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law into something that better fits what we have learned about federal involvement in local schools.” I don’t like to disagree with my inimitable colleague, but Republicans, who retook control of the House in Tuesday's elections, have had an extraordinary taste for federal intervention in local school decisions in the past decade. It was Republican president George W. Bush who championed the No Child Left Behind law, which changed the daily life of millions of schoolchildren.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Despite election defeats for California corporate reformers...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Despite election defeats for California corporate reformers...

Despite election defeats for California corporate reformers...

L.A. sell-off of public schools continues

L.A. will turn over operations of 43 more public schools to outside management companies, officials announced yesterday. The announcement came on the eve of election defeats for corporate billionaires