Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, April 16, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-16 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform


 Top Mid Day Posts 4-16 #edreform #soschat

solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-28 minutes agosolidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 201220120421 United Adult Students MeetingPosted byRobert D. Skeels * rdsatheneat01:23Labels:adult education,budget cuts,LAUSD,neoliberalism,resistance,social justice,UAS¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica ...more »

Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schools | Bucyrus Telegraph Forum | bucyrustelegraphforum.com

Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schools | Bucyrus Telegraph Forum | bucyrustelegraphforum.com: Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schoolsDAYTON (AP) -- More than $4.8 million in federal stimulus money went to Ohio charter schools that have closed, and millions more went to charter schools accused of mishandling hundreds of thousands of dollars, a newspaper reported Sunday.In Dayton, much of the more than $200,000 that went to two schools that were later shut down, New City ... more »

Shanker Blog » Becoming A 21st Century Learner

Shanker Blog » Becoming A 21st Century Learner: Becoming A 21st Century LearnerbyEsther QuinteroThink about something you have always wanted to learn or accomplish but never did, such as a speaking a foreign language or learning how to play an instrument. Now think about what stopped you. There’s probably a variety of factors but chances are those factors have little to do with technology.Electronic devices are becoming cheaper, easier to use, and more intuitive. Much of the world’s knowledge is ... more »

FCMAT » California Education Headlines

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team: Layoff uncertainties roil San Juan UnifiedMore than 200 San Juan Unified School District teachers, counselors and other certificated employees on Friday snacked, read books, drank coffee, and checked smartphones and iPads while they attended a hearing on their potential layoffs.Expert sees conflict in consultant's ties to Sacramento City superintendentAn ethics expert says Sacramento City Unified School District consultant Don Katzir's involvement in the evaluation of Superintendent Jonathan Raymond is a conflict of interest.Program ... more »

In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratings « EdVox

In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratings « EdVox: In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratingsbyedvoxnyHere on EdVox we’re excited to bring you the latest news about education issues and policies affecting our communities. It can be hard to keep up with all of the events ... more »

Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a Life « MomsRising Blog

Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a Life « MomsRising Blog: Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a LifebyLily Eskelsen You need to go to see the movieBully.You need to fill up the minivan, the truck, the car, the bus, walk, run, andjust go to see the movieBully.You need to take your kids and your grand-kids and your nieces and nephews. You need to take the church groups and the Little League team and the chess club and the Gay-Straight ... more »

Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District Schools | TheLedger.com

Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District Schools | TheLedger.com: Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District SchoolsBy JESSE L. JACKSONPublished: Monday, April 16, 2012 at 1:48 a.m.Last Modified: Monday, April 16, 2012 at 1:48 a.m.Part 3 of 3This final part in the series "Converting Schools" addresses several of the more contentious issues that exist between charter schools and public school districts.A common argument among many charter school opponents is that the schools take money away from regular public schools. A charter ... more »

Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers? | SouthCoastToday.com

Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers? | SouthCoastToday.com: Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers?Text Size:A|A|APrint this ArticleEmail this ArticleShareThisByPAULA PARNAGIANPaula Parnagian lives in Revere. She is past president of Citizens for Public Schools.April 16, 2012 12:00 AMPOPULAR TODAYStudent loans — The debt bomb that keeps on tickingWareham goes after derelict propertiesSusan G. Komen for the Cure still hobbling after political misstepOrpheum Theatre celebrates 100th birthdayTitanic survivor lived in Westport Point many years ... more »

Schools Matter: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and Naison

Schools Matter: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and Naison: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and NaisonbyJim Horncalifatheron livestream.com.Broadcast Live Free1:30 p.m. – Mark Naison and Ira Shor: The Occupy Movement and the Struggle to Save Public Education in the United StatesMark and Ira will discuss the intense attack on public education while connecting it to larger policy campaigns in a class war underway in America. Further discussion will focus on the banning of Paulo ...more »

This Week In Education: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad Policy

This Week In Education: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad Policy: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad PolicybyPaul BrunoThe controversydu jourin the Oakland Unified School District is a plan to replace all of the standard teaching positions at three struggling high schools with "teacher-on-special-assignment" (TSA) positions. Katy Murphyreports:Superintendent Tony Smith is requiring all teachers at those schools to apply for a new teacher-on-special assignment position if they want to remain on those campuses next year. In exchange for ... more »

solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012

solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 201220120421 United Adult Students MeetingPosted byRobert D. Skeels * rdsatheneat01:23Labels:adult education,budget cuts,LAUSD,neoliberalism,resistance,social justice,UAS¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica Garcia to keep her position...She is affecting the needs of our communities, our children and our families." ... more »

solidaridad: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!

solidaridad: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica Garcia to keep her position...She is affecting the needs of our communities, our children and our families." — Enoe Terra (Parent andAdult Student)PopoutLearn More and Get Involvedhttp://RecallMonicaGarcia.comtwitterfacebookUnited Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene20120421 ... more »

ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlin | Seattle Education

ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlin | Seattle Education: ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlinbyseattleducation2011So far Mars, Inc., the Arizona Public Service Company (Arizona’s largest electric utility), Kraft, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Intuit, and(almost) the Gates Foundationhave parted ways withALEC.Even a legislator in Missouri publicly cut ties with ALEC. To follow is his statement:The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is not the innocuous, bipartisan organization it ... more »

Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensions - Education - The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensions - Education - The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensionsShareByDiana Lambertand Phillip Reesedlambert@sacbee.comPublished: Monday, Apr. 16, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1ALast Modified: Monday, Apr. 16, 2012 - 12:23 amBlack students attending Folsom Cordova Unified schools were nearly five times as likely to be suspended as white students in the 2009-10 school year.Sacramento City Unified, Natomas Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and Elk Grove Unified all suspended black ... more »

NYC Educator: That Wacky Funster from New Jersey

NYC Educator: That Wacky Funster from New Jersey: That Wacky Funster from New JerseybyNYC EducatorGovernor Chris Christie, though not a teacher by trade, has real class. You can tell, because he's brought hisALEC-inspiredwar on teachersstraight to the classroom. It's one thing to attack teachers. That's pretty common, and has become pretty much as standard as no. 2 pencils. However, His Governorship has taken things a step further:"There’s a lot of really great teachers in the state," said Christie. "But their ... more »

Beware the Education–Industrial Complex | LA Progressive

Beware the Education–Industrial Complex | LA Progressive: Beware the Education–Industrial ComplexByAlan SingerSometimes we can learn lessons from history–if we are paying attention.In January 1961, as he completed his second and final term as President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhowergave a farewell address to the nation. It was a remarkable and prescient speech in many ways, especially given that Eisenhower was a West Point graduate, a retired five-star general, a military hero in command of all Allied troops in Western ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Our no-bid, win-win, Rahmadier

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Our no-bid, win-win, Rahmadier: Our no-bid, win-win, RahmadierbyMike KlonskyMarc Boucher, from left, Bombardier vice president of operations; CTA President Forrest Claypool; and Mayor Rahm Emanuel check out a new rail car in November. The cars were later taken out of service because of defects.(Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune/November8, 2011)When I was in D.C., an old Chicago friend asked me whatRahm Emanuelwas up to back in Chi-Town. It took

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. $300 million no-bid contracts. « Fred Klonsky

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. $300 million no-bid contracts. « Fred Klonsky: Life in Rahm’s Chicago. $300 million no-bid contracts.byFred KlonskyRahm takes us for a ride.A hint on what Chicago’s mayor has in mind with his grand infrastructure rebuilding scheme can be found today in aTribune story.Shortly after taking office Rahm had secret talks with a company called Bombardier Transportation.The talks over the public-private partnership continued for 10 months, “in

Rick Scott and Gerard Robinson’s Transparent Attempt to Promote Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings

Rick Scott and Gerard Robinson’s Transparent Attempt to Promote Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings: Rick Scott and Gerard Robinson’s Transparent Attempt to Promote Charter SchoolsbyBob SikesJanuary’s news that school districtswould be ranked by FCAT datamakes sense now doesn’t it? Ricks Scott and Gerard Robinson knew they could skew the numbers to make their charter schools look good.From Robinson oflast week’srelease of data which purports to demonstrate thesuperiority of charter schools:“This report clearly demonstrates that charter schools are a viable ... more »

HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED... ONCE YOU'VE BEEN MARKED FOR ELIMINATION - Perdaily.com

HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED... ONCE YOU'VE BEEN MARKED FOR ELIMINATION by Mark Hemphill (¿Cómo se juega el juego ... Vez que haya sido marcados para la eliminación por Mark Hemphill) - Perdaily.com: HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED... ONCE YOU'VE BEEN MARKED FOR ELIMINATION by Mark Hemphill (¿Cómo se juega el juego ... Vez que haya sido marcados para la eliminación por Mark Hemphill)byLeonard Isenberg(Mensaje se repite en Español)(For a national view of public education reform see the end of ... more »

New York City’s Tutoring Industry Grows With Competition for Admissions - NYTimes.com

New York City’s Tutoring Industry Grows With Competition for Admissions - NYTimes.com: Fight for Middle School Spots Enriches Tutoring FirmsChang W. Lee/The New York TimesLeft to right, Chloe Luk, Nicholas Lui, the teacher Paola Higuera and Harry Swanson at a prep course at Bright Kids NYC.By ANNA M. PHILLIPSPublished: April 15, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINSIGN IN TO E-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREAs their parents sat anxiously in a waiting room, five children were sharpening their test-taking skills in a tutoring center in TriBeCa, underlining words that might ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 4-15 #soschat #EDReform

Exposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All Connected - Nancy Scola - Politics - The AtlanticBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-1 hour agoExposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All Connected - Nancy Scola - Politics - The Atlantic: Exposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All ConnectedAPR 14 2012, 8:00 AM ET110A shadowy organization uses corporate contributions to sell prepackaged conservative bills -- such as Florida's Stand Your Ground statute -- to legislatures across the country.ReutersThe recent ... more »

Student “Learning Styles” Theory Is Bunk (Daniel Willingham) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Student “Learning Styles” Theory Is Bunk (Daniel Willingham) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Student “Learning Styles” Theory Is Bunk (Daniel Willingham)bylarrycubanU-Va. cognitive scientistDaniel Willingham, author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?.” This post appeared September 14, 2009.Since the publication of HowardGardner‘Frames of Mindin the early 1980s in which he pointed out the many ways that children and adults learn, popularization of “multiple intelligences” in the early 1990s has fused multiple intelligences with teaching to different “learning ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Going Green in BEX IV

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Going Green in BEX IV: Going Green in BEX IVbyMelissa WestbrookThe needs for BEX IV are considerable and complex. But we have to hope that, moving forward, the district does give a thought and an ear to more green building and sustainable buildings. If we are spending so much on buildings, there should be thought to how to build more cheaply and create buildings that will have lower operating costs.This is going on in districts in ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Being Clear on the Real Issues around the Lowell Investigation

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Being Clear on the Real Issues around the Lowell Investigation: Being Clear on the Real Issues around the Lowell InvestigationbyMelissa WestbrookI just wanted to make a couple of things clear on this issue and then move on. I'm going to rely on the words from the Times'articleof March 23, 2012 by Brian Rosenthal to make several points abundantly clear.It is a very dangerous thing to have people in authority who have legal responsibilities then look away ... more »

Okay Michelle Rhee – So you are the CEO of StudentsFirst BUT a lobbyist for GNEPSA?

Wait, What?: Okay Michelle Rhee – So you are the CEO of StudentsFirst BUT a lobbyist for GNEPSA?jonpeltoEducation,Ethics,Malloy,Michelle Rhee,StudentsFirstEducation Reform,Malloy,Michelle Rhee,StudentsFirst7 CommentsPerhaps in Michelle Rhee’s world our Connecticut laws are “more of what you call guidelines than actual rules.”Wait, What? readers now know that despite the plethora of Connecticut laws requiring honest and public disclosure when it comes to lobbying state officials, Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst organization failed to file any of the appropriate Connecticut forms or rep... more »

Sneaky Michelle Rhee What’s a GNESPA? More Bait N Switch - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News

What’s a GNESPA? - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News: Jonathan KantrowitzPolitical activist, health nutAbout Jonathan KantrowitzWhat’s a GNESPA?April 15, 2012 at 4:17 pm byJonathan KantrowitzAs Jon Pelto details,here,it is a registered lobbyist in Connecticut.But if it legally exists at all, it is clearly a cover front for Michelle Rhee’s StudentFirst.In fact if you go to GNESPA’s website:www.GNEPSA.orgthe fiction is so transparent that you find yourself transported immediately to StudentFirst’s Connecticut website.and on that website you will find the following TV ... more »

Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public Education « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public Education « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:


Democrats Running for Governor Need to Fully Support Public Education

Removing the Walker regime is within the grasp of Wisconsin voters. Walker’s policies, if allowed to continue, will make pain and suffering the order of the day for many people, while corporations and the wealthy will flourish.
As an advocate of public education, working for over 80,000 Milwaukee students, my goal is to steer education policy and funding away from privatization, and toward teaching all students with equity in funding and resources.
The past two years have seen education used as a political football to advance schemes that have nothing to do with improving the lives of all Wisconsin’s children. There was an attempt to take over Milwaukee Public Schools. With the new legislature coming to office in 2011, private school vouchers have been expanded, along with a move toward universal vouchers. The charter movement is working to flood the Milwaukee education market with so-called “miracle” schools.
Democrats should support public education at all levels because –
  1. An educated population is the cornerstone of democracy. This nation’s well-being depends on the decisions of its educated, informed cit

Stop the War on Mothers by Ellen Bravo

(View Ellen Bravo taking a stand against the “big boys” of the right-wing on the Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC:
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47049605 )
By Ellen Bravo
I love the image of conservatives hiding behind the flag of motherhood to protect themselves against charges of gender insensitivity. It’s like kids who move the couch to cover up a stain and hope no one will notice.
By all means, let’s talk about the importance of motherhood.
We can start with the right to stay home after giving birth. Rush Limbaugh recently ranted that women have much more flexibility at work than men.
Unlike Rush, I like to begin with the facts.
The United States is one of only four countries in the world that doesn’t ensure new mothers can afford to stay home even for the briefest of times after they have a baby. Not surprisingly, millions of American mothers who’ve given birth go back to work before the six weeks needed just for healing. The majority of new mothers return before 12 weeks.
Why? For many, because they’ll lose their job otherwise. We have two laws protecting new mothers. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act says an employer can’t fire someone for being pregnant but doesn’t have to hold 

Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying | The New York World

Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying | The New York World:


Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying

The schools group chaired by former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein was last year's fourth-biggest Albany lobbyist. Photo: Gotham Schools
With this story, The New York World launches The Lobbies at the Top, a guide to spending on political influence in New York State. The first edition takes a look at the power players of 2011, who won gay marriage, teacher concessions, a Medicaid deal and more.

The future of the fight over public schools has a fresh, highly visible face, and it’s called StudentsFirstNY.
But the new school-reform supergroup, founded by former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and ex-D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee, is in fact not that new at all. It builds directly one of the biggest lobbying forces in New York State, called Education Reform Now.
In the last two years, Education Reform Now and the associated Education Reform Now Advocacy have spent more than $10 million to influence state law on hiring and firing of teachers, as a counterforce to the state’s two major teachers’ unions. Those funds helped force a change in teacher 

Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA Support | Scathing Purple Musings

Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA Support | Scathing Purple Musings:


Hilary Rosen, Michelle Rhee and Barack Obama’s AFT – NEA Support

While the American Left rose to the defense of Hilary Rosen’s smear of Ann Romney, the lobbying firm who pays Rosen’s salary was cashing in on her contacts with the Obama White House. According to Lee Fang of The Nation, among Rosen’s clients is Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst:
SKDKnickerbocker represents consulting for Students First, a lobbying group aimed at destroying collective bargaining, and replacing public education with a mix of charters, private schools, and online learning companies. According to documents revealed the blog At The Chalk Face, Students First helped craft bills in Michigan to break teachers unions by severely limiting collective bargaining. 
Fang writes why Rosen’s access to the White House will prove troubling to Rhee’s detractors whom are 

- Wait, What? You just can’t make this stuff up… by jonpelto

- Wait, What?:

You just can’t make this stuff up…
by 


SES WHAT A MESS: More on Dallas ISD & the federal tutoring program | Dallas ISD Blog | dallasnews.com

More on Dallas ISD & the federal tutoring program | Dallas ISD Blog | dallasnews.com:


More on Dallas ISD & the federal tutoring program

Matthew Haag & I wrote Sunday about DISD's frustrations with a tutoring program required under the No Child Left Behind law. Twenty-six DISD schools must offer the tutoring, also called Supplemental Educational Services, to poor kids. DISD said they've found evidence of fraudulent billing by at least two SES providers. Beyond that, district officials say, they see little evidence that the tutoring actually helps, given all the money spent on it. Here's what Patricia Burch, a researcher at the University of Southern California, had to say:
The SES program is a good idea in principle. It is a good idea to use Title I funds to provide more instruction as needed to kids whose families might not be able to afford private tutors. But much of the design of the policy is all wrong. There's not enough teeth in it to make sure it lives up to its promises — by that I mean quality after school tutoring.
Burch, along with UT-Austin researcher Carolyn Heinrich, is leading a four-year study of the tutoring program, focusing on Dallas ISD, Austin ISD, and three other urban school systems outside Texas. You can learn more about their work and prior research here. Texas Education Agency officials say they're looking at ways to improve their oversight of the tutoring program. Steve Pines of the national Education Industry Association holds up Florida as a promising model. Florida doesn't just look at scores on its big state test. It uses other tests to 

Coordinated and Collaborative Responses to Diverse Student Needs — Whole Child Education

Coordinated and Collaborative Responses to Diverse Student Needs — Whole Child Education:


Coordinated and Collaborative Responses to Diverse Student Needs

Download Podcast Now [Right-Click to Save]
We know we have to cultivate lifelong learners who are thoughtful, creative, culturally competent, intellectually curious, and civically engaged. Preparing our kids for their future college, career, and citizenship success is our common purpose and responsibility as adults, not just educators.
Essential to student success is access to personalized learning and support from qualified, caring adults—whether those be teachers, principals, counselors, cafeteria staff, custodians, family members, coaches, ministers ... the list goes on and on. Students as learners are also students as people with social-emotional, physical, and mental health needs. Supportive education communities are places where school staff, community-based service providers, families, and all the adult stakeholders work together to identify and address kids' needs and provide a coordinated, whole child approach to their education and development.
On this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, we have the cream of the crop in terms of supportive education communities. Our very special guests will discuss envisioning, building, and sustaining a supportive education 

Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diverse « Parents Across America

Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diverse « Parents Across America:


Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diverse

2012 SFSP Sponsor Training - Summer Food Service (CA Dept of Education)

2012 SFSP Sponsor Training - Summer Food Service (CA Dept of Education):


2012 SFSP Sponsor Training




The California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is pleased to announce the annual mandatory training for all new and returning Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors. All sponsors must complete this mandatory program training before the NSD will approve your SFSP application to participate.
During training, participants will learn all of the requirements to properly administer the SFSP. Topics include but are not limited to:
  • Purpose of the program
  • Site types and determining eligibility
  • Vended meal contracts
  • Menu records for the self-preparation sponsor
  • How reimbursement works
  • Administrative reviews
  • Nondiscrimination compliance
School Food Authorities that plan to operate the Seamless Summer Feeding Option are not required to participate in these training Webinars. Training is available in three formats:
  1. Webinars—A Web based seminar format that allows participants to log-in online to view a presentation by SFSP staff.
Webinar Training Dates and Times
DateTime
Wednesday, March 14, 20128 a.m.-4 p.m.
Thursday, April 12, 20128 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tuesday, May 15, 20128 a.m.-4 p.m.
  1. Workshops—In person training provided by a team of CDE staff, including SFSP specialists and Child Nutrition Consultants (Field Services).
Workshop Training Locations and Dates
DateLocation
Tuesday, March 20, 2012Sacramento, CA
Tuesday, April 3, 2012Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, April 24, 2012San Diego, CA
Tuesday, May 8, 2012Oakland, CA
  1. Online Training—FOR RETURNING SPONSORS ONLY! Returning sponsors in good standing (i.e., not deemed seriously deficient, problematic, or having systematic errors during the 2010-11 administrative review) may choose to complete their training online.

    The training is available on the California Professional Nutrition Education and Training (Cal-Pro-NET) Center (Outside Source) Web site. Please be advised that you must complete the training by Friday, May 25, 2012.
Registration Information
To register for a training session complete the SFSP 2012 Sponsor Training Registration form (DOC; 40KB; 1p.). Complete one form per participant. You may fax or e-mail the form to Mary Thomas at 800-333-5775 or mthomas@cde.ca.gov.
You will receive a confirmation e-mail, which will provide you with all necessary information pertaining to the session you have selected.
Questions:  Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

ALEC EXPOSED IN MISSOURI: WHO IS WRITING OUR LAWS?

Progress Missouri:



ALEC EXPOSED IN MISSOURI: WHO IS WRITING OUR LAWS?


The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate bill mill that is exerting extraordinary and secretive influence in the Missouri legislature and in other states. Through ALEC, corporations hand Missouri legislators wish lists in the form of "model" legislation that often directly benefit their bottom line at the expense of Missouri families. Numerous ALEC model bills are crafted behind closed doors by corporations, for corporations. Elected officials who are members of ALEC bring ALEC legislation back to Missouri as their own ideas and important public policy innovations, without disclosing that corporations crafted and pre-voted on the bills at closed-door meetings with legislators who are part of ALEC.
ALEC provides legislators with a means to appear highly active in the legislative process by secretly outsourcing their role in drafting legislation to corporate special interests. "It is funded and dominated by free-market and corporate interests," writes the Kansas City Star, "who work with like-minded legislators to shield corporations from legal actionlimit the rights of workersdisenfranchise
ALEC Exposed in Missouri - 2012-04-16

RheeFirst! » Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?

RheeFirst! » Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?:


Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?

Written by Jon Pelto for his blog. Read the entire post here.
No explanation or reference about why GNEPSA is the fake front name for StudentsFirst.
So much for public disclosure.
If you want to know what Michelle Rhee and her group are spending in Connecticut you have to know they are attempting to “fulfill the provisions of the law” by filing under a different name.
Oh, and it turns out that over the last 8 – 9 weeks, Michelle Rhee has spent $355,861.
$252,000 of that is for her television ads and for raising money and $10,000 or so related to the March 14th rally and getting their operation up and running in Connecticut. Spending that much money on the rally, in turn, is yet another legal violation since the sponsors of the rally weren’t even registered to lobby.
They’ve also hired the former chairman of the Republican State Party to be one of their lobbyists for another $48,000 for the 3 month legislative session.
It will be interesting to see what the Ethics Commission does with an organization that openly violates the spirit of Connecticut’s law by purposely misleading and preventing people from tracking down the reports that lobbyists must file.”

NYC Public School Parents: Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't know

NYC Public School Parents: Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't know:


Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't know


The Kindergarten waiting lists were released, and they are nearly as long as last year.  See map below and chart to the right. (You can also compare to last year's maps, though they are not directly comparable; more on this below.)

According to DOE, there are  2406 zoned Kindergarten children wait-listed for their zoned neighborhood school this year, compared to 2588 last year.  (The reason last year's figure differs slightly from the one reported in the media is because I removed the double-counting of PS 3 and PS 41 wait lists,which they share; the DOE double-counted them last year but not this.)

Here is a brief summary: 21 districts have wait lists for Kindergarten.   The districts with the longest waiting lists are D24 in Queens (454); D2 in Manhattan (330); D15 in Brooklyn (270); and D25 (175); D30 (152); and D28 (151), all in Queens.

As usual,  Queens is the most overcrowded borough , with the total number of wait-listed zoned children larger than last year, as in Brooklyn and the Bronx.  The schools with the longest wait lists are in Brooklyn and Queens, and these schools are all more overcrowded than last year as well.


Now for what we don't know:

  • This year, the DOE refused to tell us how many siblings were on wait lists, though they did this the last two 

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street:


SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street

Interview courtesy Democracy Now! on April 13, 2012.
We [Democracy Now!] speak[s] with Tom Hayden, principal author of the Port Huron Statement 50 years ago, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The Statement advocated for participatory democracy and helped launch the student movement of the 1960s. Tens of thousands of copies of the 25,000-word document were printed in booklet form. "It must have been something in the air, something blowing in the wind, and we wanted to write an agenda for our generation," Hayden says. The youth-led movement changed the very language of politics, and its impact is still being felt today. "The logic of an occupation, I think, is if you feel voiceless about a burning issue of great, great importance, and the institutions have failed you, the only way to get leverage for your voice is to occupy their space in order to get 

The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark? « Fred Klonsky

The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark? « Fred Klonsky:


The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark?


Governor Quinn’s panel on pensions was scheduled to issue its recommendations tomorrow.
Not going to happen.
And the state’s public employee unions are complaining that, although there have been plenty of leaks about what will be in the recommendations, they have been kept in the dark.
Further, it appears that whatever comes out of the panel, it would not be in the form of a bill, but rather as s list of 

Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership style » Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership style:


Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership style

Interesting post by Rachel Barnhart on her Rochesterian blog. She compares the district’s current interim superintendent with their former, unlamented Supt J C Brizard:
“This time last year, former Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard proposed cutting 900 jobs and gutting art, music and physical education. Tonight, Interim Superintendent Bolgen Vargas proposedadding 54 classroom teachers, primarily in the elective subjects decimated by his predecessor. Brizard’s budget, under the guise of “equitable funding,” raised class sizes, left some kids with only one period of gym a week and

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get It

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get It:


Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get It

The Washington State PTA holds its annual convention on May 4,5, and 6th in SeaTac.   I've attended a couple in the past and, as a former PTA Board member, I found them energizing (if not overwhelming).  You kind of get the sense that there are major players holding the cards and you are just there to watch.

Your unit has to send a delegate to vote at the Convention.  The Convention costs $190 per delegate.  The Legislative Session in October is $140.  (You can request a scholarship or work as a volunteer to waive this fee.)  That's a lot of money for a PTA to give up and yet decisions are being made in the name of PTA and that name carries a lot of weight with legislators.

Region 6 that includes Seattle as well as Shoreline, Northshore, and Vashon Island has a large WSPTA membership (about 75 PTAs) and yet typically only 20-30 attend.

What this means is that it is possible for the Convention to be controlled by one small group.

There are some good planks like supporting Arts Education, Alignment of Sleep Requirements for Optimum