O3b Networks : Mission

O3b Networks : Mission:

"Mission

At O3b Networks, our mission is to make the Internet accessible and affordable to everyone on the planet. We will enrich lives and ensure equal and fair access to information through ubiquitous, high-speed connectivity to the world’s content and applications.

We will accomplish this mission by reducing core transmission costs through innovative solutions for fixed and mobile operators and Internet service providers, enabling them to profitably offer better, faster, and more affordable connectivity to their customers.

The Internet has become the world’s information exchange and everyone should have the opportunity to participate."

“Most economic growth in the developed regions of Europe, North America and the Far East is driven by information and communications technology (ICT). What is less widely understood is that all economies are information economies. The free flow of information lowers the barriers to economic activity and stimulates growth and productivity, even economies that we do not normally regard as fully 'developed.' ... Connectivity is the key enabler of the information flow that defines modern economies. It is also the key enabler of an ongoing economic transformation in many Latin American, Asian and African countries."

-The Connectivity Scorecard

Teacher Incentive Plan a Bust

Teacher Incentive Plan a Bust

Teacher Incentive Plan a Bust
Who needs incentives?

Since when is it necessary to provide teachers with incentives to teach?

I’ve had experience in the two worlds of business and education. In business, I was director of information services in government and the private sector. As a retired teacher, school administrator and university professor, I am insulted by the attempt at the national and state levels to “bribe” professional educators to teach our children “better.”

In fact, all teachers should be insulted and outraged by this latest legislative absurdity. Texas legislators and business leaders determined that teachers should be paid incentives to improve student performance, thereby achieving success in school. It was doomed for failure.

Teaching is NOT an industrial assembly line position in which the more pieces you finish, the more you earn. The whole honorable point of becoming a teacher is that you want to plant a positive educational foundation and a love for learning into each student you teach and then to increase each child’s knowledge in ongoing increments so he or she may move toward a successful future with a positive work ethic.

Furthermore, if the state would provide professional teachers with a professional salary, there would be no need to complement the salary with incentives for additional teacher income.
Follow that up with a more intelligent and productive methodology for improving learning outcomes than the current “pass-the-state-exam” mentality.

Another priority for successful teaching and improving learning outcome must be smaller teacher to student classroom ratios.

The whole idea of incentives for teachers is ludicrous.

Legislators, business leaders and educational administrators had better review their priorities and educational reality before giving teachers an incentive program. Maybe these folks are NOT the ones who should decide how to improve public education, since for the past decade they have been unsuccessful in doing so.

An incentive plan for teachers is irresponsible and inappropriate thinking, and it sends a negative message about the honorable field of teaching.

If we want to start an incentive program, perhaps we should start one by giving legislators incentives for each intelligent proposal they come up with.

###

Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood.

BofA suspending federal student loan program - Yahoo! News

BofA suspending federal student loan program - Yahoo! News:

"CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp will suspend its federally-backed student loan program by December 5, the company said in a letter to colleges and universities on Friday, as the U.S. gets ready to end the program entirely.

A number of becomes banks have said they would exit the Federal Family Education Loan Program, this year.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 would replace the FFELP program with direct government loans. It has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is awaiting a Senate vote, but it strongly supported by President Obama and widely expected to become law."

Supersized classes found in city schools

Supersized classes found in city schools:

"Last year at Aden Bowman Collegiate, 41 kids were in one Grade 10 history class.

In the city's northeast, Centennial Collegiate had 40 kids in a Science 10 class, and across the river at Bishop James Mahoney, one Physics 30 class had 40 students.

Class size is just one of many variables in education, such as the programs a school offers, or the abilities of the teacher."

But within the friendly-looking, class-average sizes in the mid-20s lurk some supersized classes -- and often, those classes are in core subjects such as English, math, social studies and sciences.

The StarPhoenix obtained stacks of class size data from Saskatoon's public and Catholic school divisions that show many high school classes, especially in core subjects, have 30 or more kids in front of one teacher.

'Be There' Campaign Promotes Parental Involvement | Firstcoastnews.com | Local News

'Be There' Campaign Promotes Parental Involvement Firstcoastnews.com Local News:

"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A campaign is under way on the First Coast to remind parents they are an important link in their child's education.

'Be There,' an initiative that promotes child/parent communication, has the backing of Duval, Clay and St. Johns county schools.

'As I often say, if there is nobody home to sort of put the report card on the refrigerator, why bother? You got to have someone involved to make that connection...,' said Joseph Joyner, St. Johns County school superintendent.

Joyner joined Ed Pratt-Dannals, who leads Duval County Schools, and Ben Wortham, Clay County school superintendent, in a news conference Friday to promote the campaign."

For more information on "Be There," CLICK HERE.

Editorial: A new course for charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/07/2009

Editorial: A new course for charters Philadelphia Inquirer 11/07/2009:

"Gee, it only took a federal criminal investigation of at least six charter schools and the jailing of one charter official before the state finally moved to improve financial oversight.

Some of the proposed measures are clearly worthy and long overdue. At the same time, the reforms seem so basic that they should have been in the state charter law when it was written 12 years ago.

For example, the reform legislation aims to limit the hiring of relatives. This seems like a no-brainer concept, except in patronage-laden Pennsylvania, where government work has become a family business for many.

Another measure would give school parents the right to ask the court to remove school board members who fail to follow the law. This is another good idea, considering it shouldn't be too much to ask board members to follow the law."

Blowing up bad Chicago schools did not work for Arne the Duncan

Blowing up bad Chicago schools did not work for Arne the Duncan:

"U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan shut down 61 schools in which students failed to perform at a basic academic level and opened 75 new schools while serving as Chicago’s school superintendent for seven years. The University of Chicago has released a study saying most students who moved to other schools following school shutdowns showed no change in performance. Duncan countered by saying, ‘The reason was that the students moved to a similar level of schools, and students who moved to better schools saw their performances improve.’ All right Mr. Duncan, since you seem to understand this problem, why didn’t you prevent it? Were you just the superintendent for the better schools?"

There are 662 schools in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. Duncan claims he led a successful school reform initiative by shutting down ten percent of its schools and tossing those kids into other schools that probably should have been closed as well. He closed Carver High in Altgeld Gardens and send the refugees to Fenger. Fine. Nothing in Chicago government works as it should; everything is either broken, like our pothole-laden streets, or costs us more than it does other Americans, like our gasoline. So it is incredible that anyone would expect our schools to be anything other than what they are, abysmal. Fine. There is no crime in being Chicago inept and Cook County obtuse, indeed that is what the body politic here expects. But spreading our convoluted and ineffective methodology to other municipalities makes Duncan the sociological equivalent of Typhoid Mary.

Betraying the California dream | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA

Betraying the California dream PressDemocrat.com The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, CA:

"For nearly six years, I have served on the Board of Trustees of the California State University system — the last two as its chairman.

This experience has been more than just professional; it has been a deeply personal one. With my term ending soon, I need to share my concern — and personal pain — that California is on the verge of destroying the very system that once made this state great.

I came to California because of the education system. I grew up in Connecticut and attended college back East on partial scholarships and financial aid. I also worked part time, but by my first year of grad school, I’d maxed out my financial aid and was relying on loans that charged 14 percent interest. Being a lawyer had been my dream, but my wife and I could not afford for me to go to any law schools back East."

City Brights: Zennie Abraham : California's education and economic problem; Chevron's aide

City Brights: Zennie Abraham : California's education and economic problem; Chevron's aide:

Aside from jobs, education funding is the most important problem in California. I was surprised to learn that Chevron Oil Company - the company commonly associated for bad things and unfairly so in my view - was behind a $7 million initiative to fund education non-profit organizations in Northern California.

It's called The California Partnership and was developed to help those organizations that were focusing on, and making a difference in, disadvantages neighborhoods, primarily in Northern California.
I was invited to join other media at the San Francisco City Club and frankly learned something shocking. I learned that while other media outlets were invited, at least one organization said they only covered a story involving non-profits if their was something negative, like a staff member stealing funds, for example.

Think about that the next time you see a bad story on a non-profit in the media.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail??blogid=95&entry_id=51194#ixzz0WBZq8JSt

Students, teachers block traffic over cuts

Students, teachers block traffic over cuts:

"The school system in California was once considered a global model for what a public higher education system should look like. Now it is quickly being dismantled by a political system that values repression over education, prisons over schools. The statewide protests that started last spring, following the passage of severe cuts in the California state education budget, are continuing and growing.

The latest pro-education action in San Diego was called by local affiliates of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, the San Diego/Imperial County Labor Council, and local community and student groups. On Oct. 29 several hundred angry activists rallied in Balboa Park, marched downtown to the State Office Building and sat down in the street outside the building, blocking traffic. They demanded a hearing from a representative of the governor."

School superintendent steps down - Folsom Telegraph

School superintendent steps down - Folsom Telegraph:

"After 36 years as an educator, Patrick Godwin, superintendent of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD), will retire at the conclusion of the current academic year.
Serving as superintendent for the last five years, Godwin’s retirement will be effective on June 30, 2010.

“It has been a pleasure being a part of the FCUSD family, and I will continue to relish the opportunity to work with you for the remainder of this school year. We have many challenges ahead, but we also have the caring, courage, creativity, and intelligence to meet them. However, after 36 years in education, I am ready to take on different challenges and to take time to explore other aspects of life,” said Godwin in a statement."

NEWS FROM BARBARA BOXER, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA

Dear Friend:

As you probably know, Congress passed legislation this week to extend unemployment insurance for nearly 2 million Americans who would have otherwise lost their benefits by the end of the year.

H.R.3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, will extend benefits by 14 weeks for jobless workers across the entire country and by 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5 percent -- including California, where the unemployment rate is 12.2 percent. The bill also includes a provision to extend homebuyer tax credits and a tax provision to ease the burden of the economic downturn on struggling businesses.

This bill comes at a critical time, when millions of Americans and at least 170,000 Californians are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits. Extending benefits will not only help laid-off workers support their families while they look for jobs, it will also provide a boost to our economy.

Extending unemployment insurance is crucial now because more than one in three jobless workers have been out of work for at least six months, and every day 7,000 Americans lose their unemployment benefits.

Extending unemployment insurance also will help stimulate the economy. Every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in new economic demand. The legislation is also fiscally responsible, with the Congressional Budget Office concluding that the benefits extension will be fully offset.

H.R.3548 includes a homebuyer tax credit provision that extends the $8,000 tax credit for first-ime homebuyers until April 30, 2010. The bill also gives a $6,500 credit to homebuyers who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more. The homebuyer credit also includes tax relief for military personnel and members of the Foreign Service and intelligence community, and anti-fraud language to prevent abuse of the tax credits.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

To respond to this message, please click here. This link will take you to a webpage where you can reply to messages that you receive from Senator Boxer’s office.

Education Week: Bill Would Replace Key Federal Literacy Programs

Education Week: Bill Would Replace Key Federal Literacy Programs:

"Long-awaited legislation to replace three federal reading programs—Early Reading First, Reading First, and Striving Readers—was introduced last week by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and would authorize $2.35 billion in funding to improve reading and writing in kindergarten to 12th grade.

As of press time, a similar literacy bill was to be introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., and Jared Polis, D-Colo.
The Senate’s comprehensive-literacy bill, if passed and fully funded, would represent a huge boost in federal aid for adolescent literacy."

All We Can Eat - The freakonomics of school lunch

All We Can Eat - The freakonomics of school lunch:

"The easy answer to why it’s hard to improve school lunch is money. The hard answer is, of course, much more complicated.

Yes, schools need more money to buy more fruits and vegetables and to pay staff to replace processed foods with meals made from scratch. But they also need students to want to eat more healthful foods. After all, if a school invests in fresh foods and the kids all head to McDonald's, nobody wins. (Well, except McDonald's.)

A new paper published in Choices Magazine, a publication of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, demonstrates how a close study of behavioral economics could improve what students eat. Better, it won’t cost most school districts a penny."

Education

Education

Top Features

Secret Recipes RevealedRaegen Miller provides some clarity to the formulas used in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and how they could be improved.

Stimulating ExcellenceReport from CAP, AEI, Public Impact, and New Profit explores how state and federal policy can encourage innovation in education.

The Fiscal Costs of Expanded Learning TimeReport provides a framework for policymakers and practitioners to identify the key cost components involved in expanding the school day.

College-Ready Students, Student-Ready CollegesReport from Louis Soares and Christopher Mazzeo offers solutions for raising degree completion rates through student empowerment and systems change.

Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Public EducationReport addresses ways in which local school district funding practices hurt disadvantaged students and what federal policy can do about it.

Other Education Features

November 4, 2009
The Impact of Community SchoolsSaba Bireda explains how community schools help low-income minority students in their extracurricular activities. By Saba Bireda
November 2, 2009
Schools for the Whole CommunityPrime Minister Tony Blair, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Rep. Steny Hoyer visit CAP to talk about community schools.
October 30, 2009
Weekly Round Up: October 26 - October 30This week CAP offered insight on community schools, released a report on green-collar jobs, and profiled Afghan power brokers.
October 28, 2009
A Look at Community SchoolsReport from Saba Bireda explains how community schools can alleviate obstacles outside the classroom that hinder student achievement, particularly for those living in poverty. By Saba Bireda
October 28, 2009
Interactive Map: Profiles of Community SchoolsA look at some community school projects across the nation that provide on-site social services, after hours learning opportunities, and a variety of other supports. By Saba Bireda
October 28, 2009
Ask the Expert: A Primer on Community SchoolsSaba Bireda explains what community schools are, how they improve student achievement, and how we can implement them. By Saba Bireda

Support HR 3962! Call Congress TODAY at (877) 235-2465

With just 24 hours left until the big health care reform vote in the U.S. House, we need everyone to call your representative today at (877) 235-2465, and urge them to support HR 3962!

http://www.house.gov/

NBCDI

NBCDI:

"The Sacramento affiliate focuses on the emotional development of young girls, community health awareness, and elementary and secondary education.

One of the affiliate's programs includes the annual DIVA Conference where African American young women in grades 8th - 12th are invited to learn about their physical, mental and emotional selves. The conference introduces young women to health and self-esteem related issues such as the value of physical fitness, positive self images, and the importance of setting goals. If you would like more information on this affiliate, please contact the chapter president."


DETERMlNED, INTELLIGENT, VALUED AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG LADY

2009 DIVIA CONFERENCE Calling all young ladies and their friends ages 12-18 ... it's time for the 17th Annual 2009 D.I.V.A. Conference!

Come prepared to be motivated, encouraged and informed on topics important to you and your future.

Please complete the registration form below and invite your parents to attend our parent workshops.

"It's Time/or Change"

WHEN: FRIDAY, Nov 20,2009 (6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.) & SATURDAY, NOV 21, 2009 (7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.)

WHERE:COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE (THEATER ARTS BUILDING) 8401 CENTER PARK WAY, SACRAMENTO, CA

COST: Pre-Registration $20 per person before 11/6/09 (Includes continental breakfast and lunch)

Registration $25 per person after 11/6/09 (Includes continental breakfast and lunch)

*Please contact Barbara Curry at 916-344-4453 or Jo Watts at 916- 646-1763 for information*

Ford Foundation gives $100 million to reform urban high schools -- latimes.com

Ford Foundation gives $100 million to reform urban high schools -- latimes.com:

"The Ford Foundation pledged $100 million Wednesday to 'transform' urban high schools in the United States, focusing on seven cities, including Los Angeles.

The seven-year initiative is among the largest philanthropic efforts aimed at improving education in the United States and, as described, could both complement and challenge aspects of the Obama administration's education reform efforts. It will fund research and reform in four areas: teacher quality, student assessment, a longer school day and year, and school funding.

The initiative is being led by Jeannie Oakes, who until recently was head of the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at UCLA, where she was a strong advocate for reform aimed at helping disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Besides Los Angeles, the Ford Foundation effort will focus on schools in New York, Newark, N.J., Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and Denver."

California school boards group snubs state legislators | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

California school boards group snubs state legislators L.A. NOW Los Angeles Times:

"And the winner is ... no one.

That’s right. Nobody won this year’s Legislator of the Year Award from the California School Boards Assn. because schools suffered so much from funding cuts approved by the state Legislature that the group didn't want to single out any lawmaker for praise.

“Sure, there are some legislators who have done good things for education, and others that we admire for their efforts,” Frank Pugh, the group’s president-elect and a board member for Santa Rosa city schools, said in a release. “But for crying out loud, schools have been cut by $2,100 per student. We’d be nuts to present this award to anybody in a year when the cuts are going to have detrimental effects on an entire generation of students. We just have to draw the line somewhere.”"

California might miss swine flu inoculation goal because of vaccine shortage | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

California might miss swine flu inoculation goal because of vaccine shortage L.A. NOW Los Angeles Times:

"If H1N1 flu vaccine shortages persist, California may not be able to vaccinate those most at risk by the end of December, public health officials said today.

Health officials have said that at least 25 city and county health agencies have received less than 45% of the vaccine doses they ordered. The state's goal had been to have all 'high-risk' patients vaccinated by Dec. 31 -- but the shortage of vaccine is putting that goal in jeopardy.

“We may not be able to meet the target if the vaccine does not get here,' said Dr. Gil Chavez, epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health.

Chavez said state officials are monitoring the problem and plan to deliver more vaccine within two weeks to the agencies with significant shortfalls. “As we move forward, we are actually able to tell who has received vaccine, who has not, and try to bring people to parity,” he said.

“We believe, by and large, that the vaccine is being given to those who should receive it,” he added.

Vaccinations for the so-called swine flue are supposed to be directed to five priority groups: pregnant women, people ages 2-24, healthcare workers, caregivers of babies under 6 months old, and people ages 25-64 with chronic health conditions that put them at increased risk of complications from the flu."