Obama gets a flu shot, but not for swine flu | 44 | washingtonpost.com

Obama gets a flu shot, but not for swine flu 44 washingtonpost.com:
"President Obama received a seasonal flu shot Tuesday afternoon, a White House official said. A White House physician administered the shot while accompanying the president on a trip to New York, where he is attending fund-raisers for the Democratic Party and a House candidate.

The first lady and Obama girls had received their seasonal flu vaccines previously.

The seasonal flu shot does not vaccinate against the H1N1 swine flu virus, and Obama is not in one of the groups -- such as pregnant women, health-care workers and those under age 24 -- designated as high-priority for receiving the scarce H1N1 vaccine."

East Bay LGBTQ Welcoming & Inclusive School Forum

East Bay LGBTQ Welcoming & Inclusive School Forum


HELP GET MORE LGBTQ PARENTS AT YOUR SCHOOL AND MAKE IT MORE WELCOMING AND INCLUSIVE!

Parents, Teachers, Administrators and other School Staff Invited

Alameda Unified Experience Highlighted!

Our Family Coalition is pleased to invite you to participate in our annual East Bay Welcoming and Inclusive School Forums. This forum is designed to give school administrators, teachers and parents an introduction to some of the innovative and groundbreaking strategies to creating inclusive and welcoming environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) parents and their children which is needed now more than ever. There will also be an opportunity for incoming Kindergarten parents to get to talk with parents, teachers and administrators associated with schools in their district.

Register: Click here!

When: Thursday, November 5, 5:30pm-8:30pm

Where: Malcolm X Elementary School, 1731 Prince Street, Berkeley (map it)

Help us promote this important event!

We need your help to encourage your schools parents, teachers, and administrators to attend this important event. Please click on the flyers below to print.
East Bay School Forum
English flyer
Spanish flyer

Go to web site: http://www.ourfamily.org/

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... 'Bad to Catastrophic'

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... 'Bad to Catastrophic':

"San Diego Unified will have to cut between $119 million and $175 million from its 2010-2011 budget and shave another $16.6 million from its spending this school year after running up unbudgeted expenses, staff told the school board this morning.

Pinning down the exact amounts of the future cuts still involves some guessing: Depending on the economy and what the legislature decides, the state deficit could force between $3 billion and $6.4 billion in educational cuts statewide. That could translate into as much as $175 million, according to staff estimates."

San Diego Unified had earlier estimated its deficit for 2010-2011 at $64 million. The district was already trying to avoid unpopular cuts it had tentatively planned to reduce that sum, such as ending magnet programs and high school athletics, closing schools and eliminating librarians. It was able to avoid those cuts last year by shooing senior employees out with a golden handshake and using stimulus dollars.

UC Davis study of kids' blood mercury levels finds no autism link - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC Davis study of kids' blood mercury levels finds no autism link - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"In one of the largest studies yet, UC Davis researchers said Monday that they found no real difference in blood mercury levels of children with, and without, autism.

The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, measured blood mercury levels of 452 children, 249 of whom had autism. Those with autism had lower levels, but it was because they eat less fish. Once researchers took fish consumption into account, the difference disappeared."

George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science

George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science

Lights On! Open House: October 22

Greetings!
Please join us for Lights On! Open House. We will showcase an original dramatic production of sin and redemption called Metamorphosis. This world premiere is accompanied by an original student guitar and vocal composition. After the show you invited to visit the classrooms to experience the high school program. You will have a chance to meet the teachers, students, and learn more about Carver.We hope to see you at the high school Thursday night from 6-8 pm.

Allegra Alessandri, Principal
George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science

Lights on! Open House: October 22

World Premiere of an original student production:

Metamorphosis

Open House

Classroom visits
School Tour
Meet the faculty
High School Program Highlights
Everyone welcome of all ages.

10101Systems ParkwaySacramento, CA 95827

6:00 PM-8:00PM

Community Event:

Rosemont Neighborhood Parade

Please join us Friday, October 23 for the first annual neighborhood parade from 4-6.

We meet the the corner of Southport and Keifer between 3:30 and 4:00.

After the parade we will meet back at the high school for a family pot luck and Haunted House.

Remeber to bring a dish to share and your own plates, utensils and cups.

Carver's Website
George Washington Carver (GWC) School of Arts and Science is a public Waldorf-Methods High School.
Our school is located within the Sacramento City Unified School District near the city of Rancho Cordova and Mather Air Force Base.
Our school is located on a brand new 13.5-acre campus.

Applebatch: Are books needed in schools?

Applebatch: Are books needed in schools?:

"James Tracy, the headmaster of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Connecticut, told the Boston Globe that “the last thing a school library needs these days is books. What it really needs is a good cappuccino machine.” This, as you could imagine, is stirring up a lot of controversy among parents of the New England prep school."

Administrators at the prep school have given away many of the library’s collection of classic novels, popular poetry books, and several reference books. They are trashing the books and purchasing a $500,000 digital learning center. The digital learning center will include flat screen TV’s, cubbies for laptops and a small coffee shop with a $12,000 cappuccino machine. For those of you that don’t know what a digital learning center is, it is over 10,000 novels in a 5 pound lap top form folder. The librarian who has been at the prep school for over 17 years told the Globe she will miss the books that have been a part of her life for over the past decade. She says “there’s a sensual side to them - - the smell, feel. The physicality of a book is something really special.”

Are states following stimulus plan rules for schools? - CNN.com

Are states following stimulus plan rules for schools? - CNN.com:

"Creating and saving jobs while boosting investment in the future are among the top goals of the Obama administration's $787 billion economic stimulus plan."

And according to a preliminary report on stimulus funding for schools by the Department of Education and the Domestic Policy Council, the stimulus plan has created jobs.
State governments have created and saved at least 250,000 education jobs -- and restored nearly all their projected education budget shortfalls for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 -- according to preliminary findings released Monday by the White House.

But some states that used the funds to fill existing budget gaps could face a crisis when the money runs out after 2010. And the Department of Education has chastised certain states for their stimulus funding programs and warned them that they risk their chances at getting other DOE grants down the road.

The stimulus funds appropriated $48.6 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to help keep and create jobs and advance education reforms over a period of two years, the report said. The program dedicates $39.8 billion for public elementary, secondary and higher education and other services. Another $8.8 billion will go for other activities such as public safety or government services.

"To date, $35.5 billion of the SFSF allotment has been obligated and $13.2 [billion] is forthcoming," the report added.

Open Doors, Lots of Them - PTOToday.com

Open Doors, Lots of Them - PTOToday.com

It's important to make it as easy as possible for parents to get involved. Are you doing all you can?
Written by Tim Sullivan

The dawning of a new school year is the perfect time to set goals and commit to making change for your group. In that spirit, I have a simple question for you: Is it easy for parents to get involved at your school?

Before you answer, take some time to think. We parent group leader types always think that the answer is yes. But we have to put ourselves in others’ shoes. For most of the parent groups I work with, it’s really easy to get involved if meetings on the second Tuesday of the month are good for you. It’s really easy if Teacher Appreciation Week is up your alley. It’s really easy if you have an outgoing, joiner personality.

In other words, it’s really easy for people to get involved if their skills, interests, and schedules are just like ours.
But what about all those parents who have very different schedules? What about those parents with amazing talents who don’t fit into your current involvement offerings or those parents less comfortable in big social settings?

In this coming school year, how can you create opportunities for these folks to get involved? Maybe it’s a weekend morning event. Or perhaps it’s a "share your passion" night or international night, when parents can show off their hobbies or cultures (you’ll be amazed at the variety of unique experts in even a small sampling of families). Can you create opportunities for people to help from home? Give folks the chance to get involved on their own terms and you’ll broaden your connections.
And what about those parents, especially dads, who’d prefer to do anything over attending a traditional PTO meeting?

Pushed Out | Teaching Tolerance

Pushed Out Teaching Tolerance


Pushed Out
Number 36: Fall 2009
Eight year-old “Jenny” was suspended from her third-grade class for two days for bringing a pair of cuticle scissors to open the wrapper on her school breakfast. Under the school’s zero tolerance policy, Jenny’s teacher believed she had no choice but to report Jenny to the principal. Humiliated and traumatized, Jenny missed two days of school, and now has a suspension on her permanent school record.

“Joseph” was 13 when the bullying against him started. Under his school’s strict discipline rules, all students involved in a fight received the same punishment, regardless of who started it. After several fights that resulted in repeated, multi-day, out-of-school suspensions, Joseph fell further and further behind, failed the seventh grade, and became increasingly alienated from his school. He eventually dropped out.

These stories are all too typical of what is happening in schools across America. Significant numbers of students are being pushed out of school as a result of “zero tolerance” school discipline policies. While nobody questions the need to keep our schools safe, teachers, students, and parents are questioning the methods we are using in pursuit of that goal.

Initially enacted to counter violent behavior and drug use, zero tolerance school disciplinary policies have expanded to cover more minor misbehavior. As a result, the U.S. has experienced dramatic increases in the number of students suspended, expelled and referred to law enforcement for school-based incidents.
These practices are paving the way for higher dropout rates and involvement in the criminal justice system, a pathway often referred to as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Likewise, these practices have been shown to worsen the climates of our schools, leading to teacher burnout.

Zero tolerance is a failed approach. Zero tolerance policies — policies that mandate predetermined consequences for rule infractions, regardless of the circumstances — were initially aimed at making schools safe. The best way to prevent serious violence at school, the theory went, was to ban any and all weapons or threats of violence, and to accept no excuses.

Over the past decade, however, many school districts have enacted harsh disciplinary consequences — suspensions, expulsions, alternative schools and referrals to law enforcement — for a broad array of student actions. These “one-size-fits-all” policies often apply not only to possession of weapons, drugs and alcohol, but also to possession of medications legitimately possessed by students, school supplies and common objects such as nail clippers and scissors. Zero tolerance policies have also been applied to behaviors like truancy, tardiness and vague catch-all categories such as “insubordination” and “disrespect.”

State Campaigns - Skills2Compete

State Campaigns - Skills2Compete:

"The Skills2Compete-California campaign seeks to raise awareness of the need to train California residents for middle-skill jobs, which require more than high school but less than a four-year degree. These jobs make up the largest portion of California’s labor market. Prior to the recession, California was already experiencing shortages of middle-skill workers in crucial industries. With high unemployment throughout the nation, this is precisely the time to ensure California is training the middle-skill workforce that will be critical to economic recovery and long-term success."

For more information go to:
http://21stcenturyapprenticeship.workforce3one.org/view/2000929242073528346/info
http://www.skills2compete.org/site/c.fhLIKYPLLuF/b.5540699/k.9C1B/State_Campaigns.htm
http://www.californiaedgecampaign.org/

Better training could help fill technical jobs

Better training could help fill technical jobs:

"California must improve adult education and community college programs to help laid-off workers retrain for technical positions that will open up in the next several years due mainly to retirements, according to a report issued Monday."

The study, titled "California's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs," uses federal data to look at current and projected employment in the state.

It divides jobs into three categories: 25 percent that can be done with a high-school diploma, 35 percent that require a bachelor's degree or higher, and 40 percent that require a post-high-school certificate or two-year degree.

Issued by a coalition including labor and business interests, the report looks at what it will take to retrain adults already in the workforce for that 40 percent of middle-skills occupations such as licensed vocational nursing, heating and air-conditioning installation, and paralegal work.

Although the report comes at a time when high unemployment has created a glut of workers, it anticipates that when the economy recovers in a few years, employers could be hobbled by a shortage of skilled technicians.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/20/BUFF1A6FAI.DTL#ixzz0UUbHCSOn

For more information go to:

http://21stcenturyapprenticeship.workforce3one.org/view/2000929242073528346/info

http://www.skills2compete.org/site/c.fhLIKYPLLuF/b.5540699/k.9C1B/State_Campaigns.htm

http://www.californiaedgecampaign.org/

L.A. Unified takes anti-truancy effort door-to-door -- latimes.com

L.A. Unified takes anti-truancy effort door-to-door -- latimes.com:

"Los Angeles' top education official went door to door Monday to urge teens to return to school, netting about a dozen students with the effort and drawing attention to a growing problem.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines was among 150 staffers and school board members who joined campus employees in the first-time, broad-based initiative, which targeted 10 truancy-plagued middle and high schools. This school year, about 20,000 of the district's 680,000 students have failed to show up as expected, officials said.

Cortines and others who took part in Monday's friendly sweep emphasized that their main goal was to help students, but said another reason was this month's deadline for districts to provide final enrollment figures to the state."

Report: Students need more veggies, fewer calories - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Report: Students need more veggies, fewer calories - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"WASHINGTON -- School lunches need more fruits, veggies and whole grains and a limit on calories, says a report urging an update of the nation's 14-year-old standards for cafeteria fare.

But the changes won't come cheaply.

Schools can't put just anything on a kid's lunch tray. They must follow federal standards, because the government's school lunch program subsidizes lunch and breakfast for needy kids in nearly every public school and many private ones.

Yet those standards are lacking, according to an Institute of Medicine report released Tuesday. They don't restrict the number of calories kids are offered, even though childhood obesity keeps climbing."

Sikh Coalition mislead Sikhs in America? | Global Sikh News

Sikh Coalition mislead Sikhs in America? Global Sikh News:

"Sacramento, California: Sikh Coalition’s press release’s on the so called “First Bill on Kirpan” are misleading and sweeping in thin air, by saying this again and again, that, this is a kirpan bill, without clarifying that this is only an education bill …for the kirpan, has resulted in a mockery of the Sikhs, not only in California but worldwide. The Indian media has made statements, stating that the Sikhs in California will not be able to wear a kirpan any longer based on their chain of mis-informing press releases.

The community should issue a strong and a serious warning to the Sikh Coalition to stop issuing misleading spin stories, in order to gain attention.Spread this message around. Put this out on various forums to inform the sangat of the truth, regarding the mis-quoted Kirpan Bill and what it really stood for."

Sacramento Press / Committee to recommend council/manager system

Sacramento Press / Committee to recommend council/manager system:

"The Sacramento Charter Review Committee decided Monday to adopt its draft recommendation that the city continue to use its council/manager system of government. This means that the 11-member committee’s final recommendation to the City Council will oppose a “strong mayor” form of government.

The committee will deliver its final recommendations to the City Council on Nov. 3.

An initiative to create a strong mayor system that would give the mayor many new powers will go before voters in June. Mayor Kevin Johnson backs the initiative, which was led by Sacramentans for Accountable Government.

The committee also suggested that the city change its system for hiring the city manager. Currently, the City Council appoints the city manager. The committee recommended that the mayor appoint the city manager. The mayor’s choice for city manager would need to be approved by a majority of the council."

Contact City Council to Stop Nestlé Raid on Sacramento Water : Indybay

Contact City Council to Stop Nestlé Raid on Sacramento Water : Indybay:

"Save Our Water, the coalition of Grassroots community activists mobilizing against the Nestlé Corporation's plan to build a new bottling plant in south Sacramento, is asking the Sacramento City Council to quickly adopt an urgency ordinance requiring a special permit for water bottling facilities in the city in order to stop the internationally boycotted corporate giant from coming to the Capital City.

Councilmember Kevin McCarty at last Tuesday's city council meeting asked for the issue to be agendized for a future city council meeting so that an 'urgency ordinance' can be passed. This would require this type of project to come before the city council and be subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

'We are excited about this development, but concerned about the timeline,' said Evan Tucker, an activist with Save Our Water. 'If the council does not agendize this issue soon, it could be too late for the new law to affect Nestle. We want to make sure the ordinance would affect Nestle, not just bottling plants in the future.'

Vice Mayor Lauren Hammond also said she was concerned about water bottling in this city and wanted this issue addressed by the council, noted Tucker. However, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson supports the proposal by Nestlé to open up the plant, claiming it would bring 'jobs' to Sacramento."

Education: The best evidence shows that class size matters | The Stump - - OregonLive.com

Education: The best evidence shows that class size matters The Stump - - OregonLive.com:

"The Oregonian reported last week that Oregon ranks almost at the bottom among states in terms of class size in public K-12 education. This raises the question, should Oregonians be concerned about large sized classes? The answer is yes.

The effect of class size on student achievement is the subject of intense debate among economists and education researchers. The reason has much to do with the difficulty of isolating the effect of class size when examining average achievement differences across classes, schools, districts and states.

The fact that the students and teachers do not end up in smaller classes by chance will render the findings of these studies unreliable. For example, if wealthier districts have both smaller classrooms and higher achievement scores we would not be able to reliably say that the achievement differential is due to class size, socioeconomic background of the students, teacher ability, etc. Fortunately there is one study that represents the gold standard in social science research, a randomized experiment. In 1985 the state of Tennessee undertook a study of class size effects that gave participating districts funds for the reduction of class sizes as long as they maintained both large and small classes and randomly assigned students and teachers to both types of classes."

Yale Daily News - NYMag.com: 'Where the News Comes From'

Yale Daily News - NYMag.com: 'Where the News Comes From':

"In the latest addition to the nationwide newspapers-versus-new-media debate, New York magazine published an unconventional report Sunday that analyzes how different media outlets report, and misreport, the news of the day. One of their case studies: coverage of the Annie Le murder.

From New York magazine: 'We took a random Monday— September 21, 2009—and gathered all the news that was reported that day from 84 news sources across the spectrum, including sixteen major papers; thirteen magazines; many prominent network, cable, and radio news shows; and eighteen news-focused websites. Then we chose seven stories and set out to determine who was responsible for the individual pieces of original reporting that advanced each one.'"

College enrollments reflect class stratification | Oregon Education - OregonLive.com

College enrollments reflect class stratification Oregon Education - OregonLive.com:

"Our higher education system is becoming increasingly stratified along social class lines, with a growing share of low-income high school graduates choosing two-year community colleges over four-year universities, a recent report shows.

Thomas Mortenson, a higher education policy analyst who runs an organization called Postsecondary Education Opportunity, recently documented the trend by looking at where high school graduates receiving Pell Grants choose to attend college. Federal Pell Grants are awarded to students from lower-income families on the basis of economic need.

Mortenson found the share of Pell Grant recipients nationwide enrolled in public or private four-year colleges dropped from 60 percent in the 1970s to a record low of 44 percent in 2007-08, though rates vary widely among states. About 52 percent of Oregon Pell Grant recipients attended a public or private four-year college in 2007-08.

The trend, writes Mortenson in a report released last month, is the result not only of recession but also of states shifting more of the burden for higher education to student tuition, and of financial aid for needy students failing to kept pace with tuition increases."

Surprise! Obama shows up at Sasha’s parent-teacher conference | csmonitor.com

Surprise! Obama shows up at Sasha’s parent-teacher conference csmonitor.com:

"Behind the scenes Monday, presidential advisers focused on US policy in Afghanistan and efforts to meld multiple healthcare reform bills into a single version for each chamber. But President Obama was making two surprise visits to Maryland schools, chatting about his daughter and playing book critic with grade-schoolers.

Mr. Obama’s day began with an early morning motorcade to the private Sidwell Friends School in nearby Bethesda, Md., for a parent-teacher conference for daughter Sasha. The school had been told Michelle Obama would be on hand, but the president’s presence was a surprise, the White House press office said. The half hour trip was not accompanied by the usual sirens and blocked intersections, with the first family stopping at red lights along the route."