The Badger Herald: News: Illegal immigrants offered tuition

The Badger Herald: News: Illegal immigrants offered tuition:

For the first time, tuition this fall is being offered and accepted by undocumented residents within the University of Wisconsin System after Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed into effect a change of law that allows undocumented residents to receive in-state tuition, making Wisconsin one of 11 states that support this.

The other 10 states that give illegal immigrants in-state tuition are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington."

Currently, the federal government has the right to punish states that provide in-state tuition to undocumented students by obligating those states to provide the same benefits as undocumented students to those who don’t live in the state, according to the terms of the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

However, the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act is currently before Congress, which would revoke that section of the law.

California Sales Tax Bonds May Yield Less Than 5% This Week - Bloomberg.com

California Sales Tax Bonds May Yield Less Than 5% This Week - Bloomberg.com:

"Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The state of California, returning to the bond market for the third time in a month, may pay yields of less than 5 percent this week to sell revenue bonds backed by sales taxes.

The most populous U.S. state, whose general pledge to repay debt carries the lowest credit rankings among its peers, is refinancing $3 billion in tax-exempt bonds issued in 2004 and 2008 to patch budget deficits. An 11 percent annual drop in sales-tax collections through June led to this deal, intended to smooth out repayment for the next 14 years.

California is facing resurgent fiscal strains brought on by the worst recession since World War II. Since February, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have cut $32 billion from spending, raised taxes by $12.5 billion and covered $6 billion more with accounting maneuvers. State officials predict a total of $38 billion in deficits in the next three fiscal years."

Daily 49er - Students must be involved speaking out for higher education

Daily 49er - Students must be involved speaking out for higher education:

"As students of the higher education system in California, we have rights and responsibilities, but we have given our silent consent to others. We are not taking the initiative to become active in determining our future.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard students say, “All I want is a C because C’s get degrees.” In my opinion, this is pathetic. This is an example of students not wanting to make an effort to distinguish themselves.

To parallel this argument, I want to connect the lack of effort and complacency with the financial crisis we’re experiencing. Many people think we can sit on our hands and allow others to make decisions for us because it’s easier to blame them for their misdeeds than it is to blame ourselves for not taking action.

I never imagined myself writing or saying anything like this in public; I am terrified of speaking out to the public for fear of rejection, but I find this problem worth the effort and criticism."

Investigating the U.S. President: Flash Back Video, Full Disclosure Network(R) Online | Reuters

Investigating the U.S. President: Flash Back Video, Full Disclosure Network(R) Online Reuters:

"WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Full Disclosure Network® is
re-releasing a nine minute Video preview, online, of 'The Prosecutor & The
Presidency' Series and Forum covering how America investigates the Presidency,
from Watergate to Whitewater. Available on The Full Disclosure Network®
website at http://www.fulldisclosure.net/flash/Special_Series.htm featuring
excerpts from a two-hour forum videotaped in Washington D.C. on March 6, 2000
and hour-long interviews with former U.S. Attorneys General and Special and
Independent Prosecutors.

The Interview Series entitled 'The Rule of Law and The Special Prosecutor
Process' covers the Presidential prosecutors and U.S. Attorneys General,
documenting the cataclysmic struggle among the most powerful American men and
women who shaped domestic political policy spanning the Administrations of
Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush,
and Bill Clinton."

Sunshine could help reassure special-needs community | greatfallstribune.com | Great Falls Tribune

Sunshine could help reassure special-needs community greatfallstribune.com Great Falls Tribune:

"There is no doubt that confidence in Great Falls Public Schools' special education programs has been shaken by the allegations of abuse leveled against a couple of special ed aides"

The two women have been charged in court with one felony and one misdemeanor assault charge apiece, and we'll have to wait to see how that turns out.

Agreement by the district to allow a reporter to visit special ed classrooms last Friday was a step in the direction that will best restore confidence in the program: shining light on all aspects of it. Those visits resulted in articles in Sunday's Tribune by reporter Eric Newhouse, and they still can be viewed at http://www.gftrib.com/.

Such sunlight was what state Rep. Bill Wilson's sought with his request of the state attorney general last week to take the lead in a criminal investigation of the case in which two aides allegedly put the head of a recalcitrant 13-year-old autistic student under the tap in the classroom sink.

"I believe the best disinfectant is sunlight," Wilson wrote to Attorney General Steve Bullock, "and quite frankly, it is sorely lacking here."
The Democratic representative was responding to the common perception, after charges were filed against the aides, that the investigation had been conducted in-house, by a school resource officer who is a policeman but who works full time in the schools.

Student Association Takes Yudof's Offer to March on Capitol - Daily Nexus

Student Association Takes Yudof's Offer to March on Capitol - Daily Nexus:

"There is an old adage that says, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” The Regents and the state legislature have been following this model for years, but reacting to budget cuts by raising fees has only brought more budget cuts. These fee increases have only been met with more state budget cuts and cannot be a solution for the problem of accelerated state divestment from higher education. Higher education is in a crisis, and if we keep trying old solutions we’ll stay stuck in this crisis with the same old problems."

In the last 20 years, the state has cut funding in half for the UC. In the last 10 years, the UC Regents have doubled student fees. Currently, we are facing a 30 percent fee increase that would put fee levels above $10,000. This will bar low- and middle-income students from the UC system from affording or even applying to the UC. The state has broken its promise to fund enrollment growth of 2.5 percent for the UC; it’s already overenrolled by 14,000 students. The state and the UC have abandoned the Master Plan and its commitment to provide a space for the top 12 percent of California’s graduating seniors.

To address the nearly $1 billion state divestment from higher education, the UC reduced faculty and staff salaries by implementing a furlough program. However, in the last decade, we have seen the number of administrators in the UC and their collective salaries double. We are seeing a serious lack of vision and priorities from UC officials and the state legislature.

Toby Boyd was elected as the new CTA Board member in the greater Sacramento Area

Toby Boyd

Kindergarten Teacher, Elk Grove Unified School District

Upon completing his studies at California State University - Sacramento, Toby started teaching in the Elk Grove Unified School District in 1994 at one of its Title One Schools. He currently teaches Kindergarten at Prairie Elementary.

During his career with Elk Grove, Toby has been involved with an educational program called MESA (Mathematic, Engineering, and Science Achievement) that assists under represented children in the fields of Math, Science and Engineering. Toby has held the positions of MESA advisor and Elementary Coordinator for Elk Grove Unified School District, which was the liaison person between the school district and the universities involved with the program. He has been accredited with being co-chair in the organizational process of several successful events such as MESA’s Elementary Math Competition and Elementary MESA Day.

Viewed as a strong site representative that has gained the respect of his peers and several site and district administrators, Toby was appointed as a bargaining member and serves as a California Teachers Association (CTA) State Representative. At State Council, Toby has served on the Early Child Education Committee (ECE) where he was appointed the Chair of the Kindergarten Subcommittee. Toby currently holds the position of Member/Minority at Large on the Association for a Better Citizenship Committee for CTA. Toby has also served as a delegate to the National Education Representative Assembly.

Toby has also been involved with Preschool California, an organization seeking the implementation of universal access to preschool for all California’s children. He has also been a spokesperson at several functions which includes speaking in support of the organization’s position on at least two State Legislative panels, as well as appearing in an article of one of Preschool California’s publications.

The Associated Press: Top foundations involved in education

The Associated Press: Top foundations involved in education:

"The top 10 foundations making grants for elementary and secondary education programs in 2007, the latest data available.

1. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $192,874,244

2. Walton Family Foundation, Inc.: $57,738,432

3. W. K. Kellogg Foundation: $40,473,023

4. Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation: $37,214,020

5. The HCA Foundation: $33,405,068

6. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation: $25,667,463

7. The Wallace Foundation: $23,920,000

8. The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation: $23,636,000

9. J. Bulow Campbell Foundation: $23,560,000

10. Peter R. & Cynthia K. Kellogg"

New Nevada laws needed to secure education grants - San Jose Mercury News

New Nevada laws needed to secure education grants - San Jose Mercury News:

"LAS VEGAS—Nevada could qualify for up to $200 million in federal education grants—but on if the Legislature is willing to quickly change state law.

At stake is money from the $4.5 billion 'Race to the Top' program, which provides funding for innovative school programming.

To get a shot at grant funds, states must allow the use of student test scores as part of teacher evaluations.

Nevada law bars the practice."

USA's New Enemy: Obama Fights US Banks | The CEO Game

USA's New Enemy: Obama Fights US Banks The CEO Game:

"The President of the US addressed all the banks that were helped during the ongoing financial crisis and requested them to return a favor. In his words, now it’s the time for the banks to do their part and chip in to help the financial recovery and give more credit to little businesses. He is practically saying, hey the US tax payer helped you bail out; now the time has come for you to give something back to the public."

Obama made this statement at his “weekly address” which is broadcasted live via the radio and the internet. In his speech, he commented that many business owners in America are having a hard time to get credit from the banks, even though the government had done a lot to improve the financial situation of the banks after the economic collapse in September 2008, which afterwards the banks stopped handing out loans for small and medium businesses.“These are the very taxpayers who stood by America’s banks in a crisis, and now it’s time for our banks to stand by credit worthy small businesses and make the loans they need to open their doors, grow their operations and create new jobs” Obama said. He pointed out the White House is willing to take the steps needed to encourage the banks to give credit, but he didn’t mention what steps will be taken if at all. “It’s time for those banks to fulfill their responsibility to help ensure a wider recovery, a more secure system and more broadly shared prosperity” he added.

Sacramento Press / Is the Sacramento Press Fostering Civil Debate -- Or Encouraging Hate Speech?

Sacramento Press / Is the Sacramento Press Fostering Civil Debate -- Or Encouraging Hate Speech?:

"Since the Sacramento Press made its splash on our city's media scene, I've contributed a dozen or so articles and made somewhere in the neighborhood of 125+ comments. I've written about the best burger in town, the arts, and, of course, politics. I've worn my Sacpress.com T-shirt proudly (thanks guys!) and patronized advertisers. But you won't see my contributions here for awhile because of the Sacramento Press' 'terms of use' policy regarding comments. Let me explain.

The Sacramento Press allows comments to be made by the site's visitors with screen names, not their real names (though some, like me, use their real names)."

E-learning keeps potential failures from dropping out | Julia Steiny | projo.com | The Providence Journal

E-learning keeps potential failures from dropping out Julia Steiny projo.com The Providence Journal:

"Sixteen-year-old Danny drops into a chair at Woonsocket High’s E-Learning Academy like he’s a bag of loose parts. The adults ask him to tell me his story, but with a goofy smile, he mumbles that he doesn’t know anything. A sky-blue hoodie matches his sleepy blue eyes, emphasizing his sweet, baby-faced youth, even as a sparkly stud in one ear tries to be punk and tough.

Last fall Danny started his ninth-grade year at E-Learning, because he’d failed several classes in the eighth grade and needed an accelerated program to catch up to his class. He was not alone. Eighth-graders in his predicament are only one category of kids who come to the academy because they’ve fallen behind academically."

Solution for dropouts - The Boston Globe

Solution for dropouts - The Boston Globe:

"EVERETT - Usually, big social problems are so complicated that it’s hard to imagine ever fixing them. And, daunted, we don’t."

But sometimes, solutions are closer than you think.

A state report released Wednesday painted a grim picture of dropouts in Massachusetts: Ten thousand kids quit our schools every year, joining the ranks of those most likely to be poorly paid, unemployed, on welfare, or in jail.

The numbers haven’t budged for over a decade. A lot of kids drop out because of a mass of intractable social ills. But for about a quarter of dropouts, it’s a little simpler: They leave school because they’re having children.

“I don’t know of a single group more tied to the dropout issue than pregnant and parenting teens,’’ said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. She estimates that there are currently 10,000 pregnant or parenting girls in this state, and 4,000 parenting boys. Keeping them in school, and lowering teen pregnancy rates, would put a huge dent in the dropout rate, she said.

Lawsuit over state's school funding as inadequate far-reaching - The Denver Post

Lawsuit over state's school funding as inadequate far-reaching - The Denver Post:

"With a court ruling last week, Colorado is set to enter the battlefield of 'adequacy' in school funding, a place dozens of other states have been before with mixed results.

But the case against the state's school funding system ultimately could be about more than money for education, attorneys say.

It could wind up as a direct challenge to the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in the state constitution. TABOR limits government spending and requires that tax increases go to voters.
School finance lawsuits are not new to Colorado or indeed almost every other state. Over three decades, Colorado has faced several legal challenges to its school-funding system."

THE INFLUENCE GAME: Bill Gates sways govt dollars - Today in History | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

THE INFLUENCE GAME: Bill Gates sways govt dollars - Today in History Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news:

"The real secretary of education, the joke goes, is Bill Gates.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been the biggest player by far in the school reform movement, spending around $200 million a year on grants to elementary and secondary education.

Now the foundation is taking unprecedented steps to influence education policy, spending millions to influence how the federal government distributes $5 billion in grants to overhaul public schools.

The federal dollars are unprecedented, too.

President Barack Obama persuaded Congress to give him the money as part of the economic stimulus so he could try new ideas to fix an education system that most agree is failing. The foundation is offering $250,000 apiece to help states apply, so long as they agree with the foundation's approach."

"Obama Promised Change.Was Native Education Included ?" by haskellnews / LJWorld.com

"Obama Promised Change.Was Native Education Included ?" by haskellnews / LJWorld.com:

"What type of changes have the Obama administration given to Native American Education ?

To Haskell Indian Nations University they gave Stephanie Birdwell-Bighorn.

A forty some year old with a master's degree in social work and no experience in education or the running of any schools as far as that goes. So what to do ? Put her in charge of all federal Native schools.

Obama administration don't worry about supporting the Presidents of Haskell and Sipi, after all they both hold doctorates and have the required experience to run those two schools."

EDITORIAL: Teachers pact sets national standard- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

EDITORIAL: Teachers pact sets national standard- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut:

"It is difficult to overstate the importance of the new three-year teachers’ contract in New Haven. The New Haven Federation of Teachers, the mayor and school officials have done what has proven impossible in other cities. It is why, the day after the contract was signed, Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, was on the telephone making congratulatory calls to New Haven. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who participated in the New Haven negotiations, has described the contract as “a template” for contracts in other school districts."

In return for wage increases and no givebacks in health benefits, teachers are gaining both a greater voice as well as greater responsibility in the classroom.They have agreed to a number of steps that have would have been unthinkable here before or in other school districts.While top performing schools may gain more autonomy from central office supervision, the staff at the schools with the poorest student achievement may find themselves replaced and a third party brought in to operate the school. The agreement sets the stage for New Haven to operate local charter schools, the first in the state. Teachers at these schools would be eligible for merit pay and would likely work a longer day.

Passionate principal gets results - Latest News - Kentucky.com

Passionate principal gets results - Latest News - Kentucky.com:

"Outside the yellowish five-story, castle-like school building on the west side of Chicago, violence, drugs and prostitution are nearly as prevalent as pollen. The school was on lock-down twice this month because of the violence occurring nearby.

Inside that building, however, enveloped in strict discipline, demanding rules and hard work, every student who has graduated in the past 30 years has gone on to a four-year college. Every one.

The school is Providence St. Mel, once controlled by the Archdiocese of Chicago, but now a private school founded by Paul J. Adams III, the principal when the Catholic Church wanted to close it down in 1978."

Let teachers vote again - Hawaii Editorials - Starbulletin.com

Let teachers vote again - Hawaii Editorials - Starbulletin.com:

"Hawaii's school system has been boxed in by a teachers labor contract with potentially catastrophic legal, learning and political ramifications. Teacher furloughs instead of ordinary pay reductions to meet state constitutional budget requirements have produced outrage. Teachers should be allowed to vote to amend the contract to meet education needs."

The contract calls for 17 furloughs, all but three on days of instruction to children, for the current school year and 17 for the next. Teachers retain their current hourly pay, but their reduction of 34 workdays results in a wage reduction of 8 percent.

We urged earlier this year that the Lingle administration give priority to education in determining which areas of government should be most spared by the current budget crisis. The administration instead subjected all areas of state government to the same budgetary goals. The implications of the furloughs for teachers were not fully appreciated when the contract was ratified.

Attorneys for parents challenging the furloughs in court express justifiable concern that children are being deprived of adequate education because of the days off. They point to a survey by the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finding that all teacher furloughs initiated in 25 states are on non-instructional days.

Costs driving school reform; Michigan school districts struggle to adapt as revenues continue to fall | Kalamazoo News - - MLive.com

Costs driving school reform; Michigan school districts struggle to adapt as revenues continue to fall Kalamazoo News - - MLive.com:

"KALAMAZOO — School parents, brace yourself for larger class sizes — maybe even college-size lectures at the high school level.

Figure you’ll pick up much more of the tab for sports and other extracurricular activities, assuming they aren’t cut.

Small districts, the pressure to consolidate is going to be intense.

The reason: With state revenues in free fall, Michigan school districts could see their operating revenues drop 10 percent or more by fall 2010.

To put that reduction in perspective: A district could eliminate its athletic program and bus service and still need to find more savings.

“Fifty kids in a physics class. No sports. That’s what we’re headed to,” said Ron Fuller, superintendent of the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency."