Ms Gillard goes to Washington

Ms Gillard goes to Washington:

"But accents aside, Ms Gillard sees much common ground between Australia and the US, particularly when it comes to the challenges they face in reforming their education systems to bridge the gap between black and white, rich and poor.

'We are so much on the same page as the leading thinkers in America about the nature of our school reform agenda,' she says. This may sound ominous for teachers' unions, which are resisting Ms Gillard's moves to publish school performance data, and who fear the impact of an aggressive American-style approach to teacher accountability.

Ms Gillard cites common ground on the need for transparency to drive school improvement, a focus on literacy and numeracy, and a push to lift teacher quality and school leadership."

CONGRESSMAN HONDA & CHIVUKULA & NJ ASIAN AMERICAN LEADERS CAMPAIGN TO STRENGTHEN SUPPORT FOR CORZINE/WEINBERG & DEMOCRATS | Politicker NJ

CONGRESSMAN HONDA & CHIVUKULA & NJ ASIAN AMERICAN LEADERS CAMPAIGN TO STRENGTHEN SUPPORT FOR CORZINE/WEINBERG & DEMOCRATS Politicker NJ:

"(EDISON) -- U.S. Representative Michael Honda (CA-15), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, today joined Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Union) and Asian American leaders from across New Jersey at several cultural celebrations across the state of New Jersey to campaign for Governor Jon S. Corzine, Senator Loretta Weinberg and New Jersey Democrats running for office at all levels to solidify support among New Jersey’s Asian American voters.

“I am honored to have Congressman Honda in New Jersey today,” said Corzine. “He is a national leader and a prominent member of the Asian American community and his efforts today will ensure that even more Asian Americans who call New Jersey home will recognize the hard work of New Jersey Democrats who are dedicated to working for the issues that matter most to all New Jersey families. I am proud of the support I receive from the Asian American community, which is one of the fastest growing segments of our population, and the Democratic Party, in our state.”"

THE CANALIS REPORT: Maria Shriver's `Village' event also star-filled

"California first lady Maria Shriver's annual Women's Conference sold out faster than a Stones concert.

The gathering of marquee speakers from the worlds of business, politics, education, human rights advocacy, the arts, publishing and other fields, is arguably Long Beach's most engaging annual event.

The only problem, as Shriver explained to me earlier this year, is that not enough women are able to attend the program at the Long Beach Convention Center and Arena because demand outstrips capacity.

To address the problem, Shriver expanded an auxiliary event, the Oct. 26 Night at the Village, to accommodate more women and feature more big-name guests. She is billing the Village as a place to network, shop, hear speakers, meet chefs and talk books with authors. It all adds up to a one-evening respite from work and familial responsibilities.

'Night at The Village is a celebration of women and all the things we love,' Shriver said Friday. 'From the very beginning, the vision for this event was to enrich a woman's mind, body and spirit by connecting them to important information, products, services, professional networking and volunteer opportunities, as well as to other women who will empower them to be architects of change in their lives, within their communities and around the world.'"

Green Dot’s toughest test | INDenverTimes

Green Dot’s toughest test INDenverTimes:

"Green Dot Public Schools is perhaps best known for running a dozen small charter high schools, in some of LA’s toughest neighborhoods, that outperform traditional schools in graduation rates and other indicators.

But in July 2008, the network founded by Steve Barr with a stated goal of transforming public education in the nation’s second largest school district, took on a whole different assignment.

With a 51 percent vote of the staff, Green Dot took over Locke High School in Watts, a school where only 22 of every 100 freshmen graduated four years later – and only 12 of those 22 graduated meeting the requirements to apply to California’s university system."

Patrick Welsh -- To Explain the Achievement Gap, Examine the Parenting Gap - washingtonpost.com

Patrick Welsh -- To Explain the Achievement Gap, Examine the Parenting Gap - washingtonpost.com:

"'Why don't you guys study like the kids from Africa?'

In a moment of exasperation last spring, I asked that question to a virtually all-black class of 12th-graders who had done horribly on a test I had just given. A kid who seldom came to class -- and was constantly distracting other students when he did -- shot back: 'It's because they have fathers who kick their butts and make them study.'

Another student angrily challenged me: 'You ask the class, just ask how many of us have our fathers living with us.' When I did, not one hand went up."

Will Schwarzenegger save his legacy before judgment day? - The Daily Breeze

Will Schwarzenegger save his legacy before judgment day? - The Daily Breeze:

"Just a little over one year from today, Californians will elect a successor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. How will they remember him after that successor takes over?

Will he seem a blustery buffoon who caused far more problems than he resolved, a governator who could not govern? Will he look like a hypocrite who preached against accepting special interest campaign donations, then set records for doing so?

Will the verdict on his appeals for 'post-partisanship' be that they were mere nostrums doing little or nothing to prevent the state Legislature from sliding into its most divisive era ever?

Will he be remembered as the spark behind efforts to reform taxation, budget and water policies in California? Will he leave behind a sharp reduction for the California dream of unfettered opportunity for those brave and visionary enough to settle here?

All these questions remain open, and Schwarzenegger will get ample opportunities over the next year to fix things that have gone wrong and clean up messes made on his watch."

Teachers' unions uneasy with Obama

Fredericksburg.com - Web:

"A skirmish between powerful teachers’ unions and President Barack Obama over nearly $5 billion in education spending is shaping up as a preview of the battle to come over No Child Left Behind in Congress early next year.

But the tables are turned: now the unions are worried that Obama, a Democratic ally, is going to be just as tough on them as President George W. Bush, a longtime foe.

The dispute adds teachers’ unions to a growing list of key Democratic constituencies that have been frustrated by Obama’s lunges toward the political middle, along with gay-rights activists upset Obama won’t lift the ban on gays in the military, and Latino officials who say Obama is slow-walking immigration reform."

Al Jazeera English - Focus - California 'first failed US state'?

Al Jazeera English - Focus - California 'first failed US state'?:

"In July, the state legislature haggled for weeks over how to close a $26bn budget gap. Instead of increasing taxes for corporations or the wealthy, the budget deal that emerged to be signed by Arnold Schwartzenegger, the state's Republican governor, ordered deep spending cuts, laying off tens of thousands of state workers.

Reduced funding for education, coupled with big tuition increases, sparked a student and faculty strike at California's public Universities. Programmes for ex-prison inmates and parolees have been slashed.

And the social safety net of healthcare and services for the poor, children and elderly - the least powerful and least vocal members of society - has been systematically shredded.
'The people that are going to be effected first and foremost will be the poor, those who are in great need,' Williams says sadly. 'They are not considered to be human beings.'"

Bold, rigorous action needed to make schools top-notch | Delawareonline.com | The News Journal

Bold, rigorous action needed to make schools top-notch Delawareonline.com The News Journal:

"Our students compete not only with their peers in Maryland and Pennsylvania or even California and Florida, they compete with young people from Japan and India and Great Britain and Norway and a host of other countries where learning is highly prized and students work hard and succeed in making themselves competitive in the modern world.Can we afford to continue to take small, incremental steps in our efforts to make the schools all that they must be? I don't think we can. We must take bold, rigorous action."

Mood of the voters - all outrage, no action

Mood of the voters - all outrage, no action:

"Californians are convinced that the state is on the wrong track, and they're mad as hell at the dysfunction in Sacramento. But they're not willing to do much about it."


Those were the depressing findings of research released by the respected Field Poll last week. Unfortunately, the surveys should give pause to advocates of a constitutional convention to restructure state government to smooth out the budget process and to buffer the state from wild fluctuations in revenue.

A solid majority of Californians say they favor "fundamental change" to the Constitution. Yet on point after point, when asked about a specific constitutional change, Californians say "no way."

Perhaps the most ominous number for the prospect of reform was the 57 percent of Californians who believe the state can provide about the same level of services by simply eliminating waste and inefficiencies. Only 37 percent disagreed with that notion. This was the perception that candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger advanced in the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/18/INS719K3D7.DTL#ixzz0UIUouBTW

Superintendent spreads the gospel of 'value-added' teacher evaluations -- latimes.com

Superintendent spreads the gospel of 'value-added' teacher evaluations -- latimes.com:

"After nearly two years of grinding battles with the union and school board on this and other issues, Grier recently left for Houston, where the district uses value-added results as a basis for teacher bonuses.

The opposition in San Diego, Grier said mildly, was 'more entrenched than I thought it would be.'

His fight there offers a preview of a debate that is about to engulf the nation's schools.

The Obama administration has made value-added a pillar of its school-reform efforts, including the $4.35-billion federal grant program known as Race to the Top, which requires states to link student scores to teachers"

Editorial: Take big steps for big school changes - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Editorial: Take big steps for big school changes - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:


"It took the push of money, but President Barack Obama's new 'Race to the Top' competitive grants are getting California's political and educational leaders to act with some urgency on areas long-identified for change.

If testimony at a state Senate education committee hearing last Tuesday is any indication, consensus is building among these leaders that California can leap ahead in the national competition if it demonstrates a sharp focus on turning around the state's chronically underperforming schools."

Tell Harry Reid: Don't let the Baucus bill kill the public option

Tell Harry Reid: Don't let the Baucus bill kill the public option:

"On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Senator Max Baucus, passed a health care reform bill without provisions for a public health insurance option.

This opens the door to procedural shenanigans that could prevent the public option from ever being considered on the floor of the Senate, which would make it much harder for the public option to be included in the final bill that lands on the president's desk."

We can't sit back and let the public option die. Tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure a public option is included in the health care reform bill that goes to the floor of the Senate.

As the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid will lead a process to merge the Baucus bill with another health care reform bill passed by the Senate HELP Committee, which does include a public option. The product of this merger will go to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Besides President Obama, there is nobody in a position to effectively oppose Senator Reid's decision should he choose to include provisions for a public option. But if Senator Reid does not include a public option in the merged bill, it will be difficult to insert the public option at a later stage of the process.

We have the votes to pass a public option in health care reform. We have to make sure the public option is not abandoned before a full Senate vote even takes place.

Join us in asking Senator Reid to keep the public option alive by including it in the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate.

Education News & Comment

Education News & Comment:

"First District Advisory Committee (DAC) General meeting

October 20, 2009

For complete Meeting Information go to:
DAC Chair Update & News A Message from Wanda

Special Guests to include:
Mr. Jonathan Raymond, New SCUSD Superintendent
Dr. Geni Boyer, the Director of Cambridge Academies/California Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC)"

Recovery.gov

Recovery.gov:

"Recovery.gov is the U.S. government’s official website providing easy access to data
related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse."


On February 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Four days later, the President signed the legislation into law. The Recovery Act’s three main goals are to:

Create and save jobs

Spur economic activity and invest in long-term economic growth

Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

This $787 billion Recovery plan includes federal tax cuts and incentives, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and other spending on social entitlement programs. In addition, federal agencies are using Recovery funds to award contracts, grants, and loans around the country.

The Recovery Act’s longer-term economic investment goals include:

Initiating a process to computerize health records to reduce medical errors and save on health care costs

Investing in the domestic renewable energy industry

Weatherizing 75 percent of federal buildings and more than one million homes

Increasing college affordability for seven million students by funding the shortfall in Pell Grants, raising the maximum grant level by $500, and providing a higher education tax cut to nearly four million students

Cutting taxes for 129 million working households by providing an $800 Making Work Pay tax credit

Expanding the Child Tax Credit

The Recovery Act was intended to jumpstart the economy but many of the projects funded by Recovery money, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.

To view the full bill, click here.

NJ gubernatorial candidates highlight differences | AP | 10/16/2009

NJ gubernatorial candidates highlight differences AP 10/16/2009:

"The three touched on issues from how to lower taxes (cut spending, encourage shared services, cap municipal spending) to whether to allow gay marriage. (Corzine and Daggett approve; Christie favors civil unions.) But the issue of education reform typified their respective lines of attack.

Christie accused the Corzine administration of failing urban children and promised reforms including more charter schools and school vouchers. Corzine defended himself, saying New Jersey schools are among the best-performing in the country and saying he would continue to push for universal pre-kindergarten. Daggett stressed his credentials , both he and his lieutenant governor candidate, Frank Esposito, have doctorates in education , and said he's got the most know-how of the three to achieve a major educational overhaul.

The debate also featured novel moments. Corzine acknowledged that his failed plan to fund highway projects through massive toll increases was 'too much, too fast.' And Christie responded to a Corzine ad that accuses him of 'throwing his weight around,' by saying, 'I think tonight would be a good night to let everyone in on a little secret. ... I'm slightly overweight.''"

1 in 8 female students at Chicago High School ‘pregnant’

1 in 8 female students at Chicago High School ‘pregnant’:

"Washington, Oct 17 (ANI): One in eight of Chicago High School’s female students are pregnant, it has been revealed.

CBS2Chicago.com has reported that out of the 800 female students at Paul Robeson High School in Chicago, Ill., 115 are expectant mothers.

Principal Gerald Morrow said that the staggering number can be attributed to various factors inside the home, not the school.

“It can be a lot of things that are happening in the home or not happening in the home, if you will,” Fox News quoted Morrow as telling the network.
Morrow said that ‘absentee fathers’ are another factor in the school’s high number of teen pregnancies.

According to a March 18 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, the birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 increased 5 percent from 2005 to 2007. (ANI)"

Dissident Voice : Code Words and Green Dot’s Pandering to Westside Racism

Dissident Voice : Code Words and Green Dot’s Pandering to Westside Racism:

"There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more COMPETITION couldn’t cure.
– Ann Coulter (racist reactionary right wing pundit)

It would force the district to learn how to run great schools by forcing them to COMPETE.
– Ben Austin (Executive Director LAPU/PR)

Several Emerson Middle School parents, activists, and teachers recently contacted me. They informed me LAPU/Parent (counter)Revolution has an “organizer” going door-to-door gathering signatures to privatize their school, this despite the fact Emerson isn’t on LAUSD Superintendent Cortines’ current privatization list. I asked them to describe the “organizer,” expecting LAPU/PR to have committed one of their most experienced employees, Shirley Ford or Mary Najara, to a project so ideologically important to chief privatizer Ben Austin."
The person gathering signatures they described, while initially unexpected, made complete sense in the context of the class character and demographics of where the canvassing is occurring. We’ll get back to this shortly.

Anyone over the age of 30 should recall phrases including “school choice” were the clarion call of segregationists and southern dixiecrats. It’s no small irony that one of Ben Austin’s Georgetown University Law School predecessors, Milton Korman, argued on the Jim Crow side of Brown vs. Board of Education. While the context of modern white flight isn’t directly comparable to that of the segregationists, its character and motivations are the same. Let’s look at the subtle, insidious racism that fuels the charter/voucher movement.

Maine voters asked to reverse K-12 school mergers - Fosters

Maine voters asked to reverse K-12 school mergers - Fosters:

"PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Dozens of school districts across the state have merged with the goal of cutting administrative costs under Maine's school district consolidation law. Voters will be asked to decide on Election Day whether to undo the whole thing.

Consolidation supporters say that scuttling the law would make a mess of things, not to mention eliminate millions of dollars in savings. Critics of the law, including House Speaker Hannah Pingree and Senate President Libby Mitchell, say it should be repealed.

'We're not against consolidation. We're against mandatory consolidation — especially if it doesn't make sense,' said Skip Greenlaw, whose Maine Coalition to Save Schools is leading the repeal effort.

School consolidation supporters point to an analysis by the Maine Legislature's Office of Fiscal and Program Review that says repealing the law would cost $37 million a year. But critics say there's no way to quantify those numbers and that the consolidation may be costly in the long run."

PR-USA.net - Applebatch.com is Helping Teachers to Proactively Manage Their Careers

PR-USA.net - Applebatch.com is Helping Teachers to Proactively Manage Their Careers:

"Applebatch.com, a Chicago-based K-12 professional community, is teaching teachers how to network like business professionals. Applebatch connects over 3,400 teachers online and is hosting their first K-12 networking event on Oct. 22nd at Martini Park in downtown Chicago. The event, Ed Cocktail, will enable teachers to network with other teachers, principals and administrators.

“Teaching has been viewed as a job with no career path and many schools don’t utilize best practices from the business world to connect, mentor and retain their employees,” said George Hammer, CEO of Applebatch.com. “Therefore, teachers lack the support network to be successful in their current jobs and the career assistance to help them find new jobs.”

Over 75% of teachers change jobs at Chicago Public Schools in the first two years. And, 70% education majors graduated school in 2009 and are still looking for teaching jobs. Applebatch is hosting Ed Cocktail to help teachers find the job they want through tapping a diverse network. In fact, 80% of the best openings are never published until a principal already has a candidate to fill the role. Teachers need to learn how to network and get the inside track to finding a job."