Memphis City Schools to sign pact for $90 million from Gates Foundation » The Commercial Appeal

Memphis City Schools to sign pact for $90 million from Gates Foundation » The Commercial Appeal:

"The city school board is expected to sign an agreement today with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will funnel more than $90 million to Memphis for a plan to change how teachers are hired, placed, evaluated and retained.

The Gates Foundation will confirm the winners of its education grants in a teleconference Thursday morning.

The Memphis school district is one of the school systems in four cities expecting approval.

Boards of education in Hillsborough County, Fla. (Tampa); Pittsburgh; and a consortium of charter schools in Los Angeles signed agreements with the foundation this week. The Memphis Board of Education has scheduled a meeting for 4:30 p.m. today to vote on a contract."

Union blocks teacher bonuses - BostonHerald.com

Union blocks teacher bonuses - BostonHerald.com:

"Grinchlike union bosses are blocking at least 200 of Boston’s best teachers from pocketing bonuses for their classroom heroics in a puzzling move that gets a failing grade from education experts.

The Boston Teachers Union staunchly opposes a performance bonus plan for top teachers - launched at the John D. O’Bryant School in 2008 and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates and Exxon Mobil foundations - insisting the dough be divvied up among all of a school’s teachers, good and bad.

“It’s insanity,” said Jim Stergios, executive director of the nonpartisan Pioneer Institute. “They’re less concerned about promoting the interest of individual members than maintaining control over their members.”"

City Council questions limits on charter school growth | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/18/2009

City Council questions limits on charter school growth Philadelphia Inquirer 11/18/2009:

"At a time when the state legislature is mulling placing more restrictions on charter schools, City Council held an unusual hearing last night to question whether the Philadelphia School District has too much oversight over charters.

'Charter school operators tell me that they must meet standards that the public schools don't,' said Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell, chairwoman of Council's Education Committee.
Other Council members expressed concerns that the district's efforts to limit charter growth were limiting educational options for Philadelphians.

The session focused on a proposed change in the way the district regulates when charters can increase their enrollment or change their grade configurations."

La Opinión - noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales desde Los Ángeles - impre.com - Intimidation of parents

La Opinión - noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales desde Los Ángeles - impre.com - Intimidation of parents:

"Intimidation of immigrants is a tactic used far too often, but that does not make it any less repugnant when it happens. All too frequently, conflicts end with threats of deportation as a way to force the undocumented to act against their own interests. It is outrageous that this is exactly what happened to Los Angeles parents concerned about their children’s education.

Last week, anonymous persons chose this strategy as a way to discourage undocumented parents of childen at Gratts Elementary School in the Pico-Union neighborhood from supporting charter schools. The missive warned them not to sign the petitions for charter schools because they could be deported."

It is appalling to find such threats occurring in the debate on educational reform taking place in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Poor academic performance has sparked a dramatic push for change, including exploring new alternatives for operating the schools. Charter schools are not a magical solution for education, but they are a valid option to consider among others. Yesterday was the deadline to submit bids to operate a group of public schools.

Those behind the threatening flyers oppose charter schools and are capable of stooping very low to prevent parents from having options for their children’s education. For these individuals, education has little to do with student learning and more with self-interest.

The threat of deportation is used to intimidate the undocumented and exploit their vulnerabilities. It is outrageous to use this tactic to pressure parents not to defend their children’s right to learn.

Indian students in US cross 100,000 mark - US - World - The Times of India

Indian students in US cross 100,000 mark - US - World - The Times of India:

"WASHINGTON: The number of students from India enrolled in US universities and colleges crossed 100,000 for the first time ever this year even as international enrollments in America registered the largest percentage increase since 1980, defying broad economic trends."

As the number of international students at colleges and universities in the US increased by 8% to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year, students from India made up 103,260 of the overall number, according to the Open Doors report, which is published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the US government.

The Indian numbers went up 9.2 per cent from 94,563 in 2007/2008 to cross 100,000 for the first time to retain its position as the top place of origin for international students in the United States. China remained in second place, although there was a sharp 21 per cent spike in students from China, going up from 81,127 last academic year to 98,235 this year. South Korea (69,000 to 75,000) remained in third place.

This is the eighth consecutive year that India has remained in the top spot. In course of a preview of the forthcoming visit to Washington of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week,

Indian officials said on Monday that Indian student inflow contributed nearly $ 3 billion to the US economy last year. Overall, international students contribute $17.8 billion to the US economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Golden Gate [X]press : AB 540, dreaming for a higher education

Golden Gate [X]press : AB 540, dreaming for a higher education:

"The dream: Access to higher education for undocumented students.

The goal: to inform students that it's possible to achieve that dream.

That's what Improvement Dreams, Equity, Access and Success, a new student organization at SF State is all about.

Founded in fall 2008 and currently with over 20 members, the organization has been devoted to organizing events that provide information ranging from how to apply to a university to information on scholarships and other resources available on and off campus for undocumented AB 540 students.

AB 540 is a California law, passed in 2001, that allows students, including undocumented students to pay in-state tuition in public universities and community colleges if they have gone to high school for three years and have graduated. These students are excluded from applying to federal or state financial aid like FAFSA."

Stand in Solidarity with UPTE Workers, Students and Faculty at UC | www.socialism.com

Stand in Solidarity with UPTE Workers, Students and Faculty at UC www.socialism.com:

"Bravo to the University of California staff, faculty, students and community members who are picketing, rallying and demonstrating at UC Berkeley and UCLA to oppose the devastating cuts being levied by UC administrators. The University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE CWA 9119) strike, which is in solidarity with the UCLA protests against the UC Regents’ vote on the 32% fee hikes, shows the depths of the anger at UC President Yudof who is hell-bent on union busting and privatizing the premier public education institution in the country.

Public education is a right, not a privilege

With a recession brought on by the chaotic boom-bust cycles of capitalism, affordable and accessible public universities for all are needed more than ever. College is a lifeline for low-income, women, immigrant, people of color and those needing job skills. Yet never-ending tuition increases, partnered with escalating rent, medical and childcare expenses, equals increasing student debt and more families who can’t afford to send their children to college."

Why Are We Destroying Public Education? University of California Students and Staff Prepare for System-Wide Strike to Protest Cuts

Why Are We Destroying Public Education? University of California Students and Staff Prepare for System-Wide Strike to Protest Cuts:

"The governing body of the University of California system, the Board of Regents, is preparing to vote on a major tuition hike for both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate tuition would rise an average 32 percent, while some graduate schools would begin charging thousands of dollars for programs that are currently tuition-free. The Regents are meeting Thursday at UCLA, where students from across the state are converging for what organizers have dubbed a “Crisis Fest,” including mass protests, civil disobedience and teach-ins."

Federal sick-leave bills aim to slow H1N1 spread | LoHud.com | The Journal News

Federal sick-leave bills aim to slow H1N1 spread LoHud.com The Journal News:

"A House of Representatives panel wrestled Tuesday with the pros and cons of requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to help slow the spread of swine flu."

An estimated 98,000 Americans have been hospitalized with the H1N1 virus, Assistant Surgeon General Anne Schuchat told the House Education and Labor Committee. The virus has spread to 46 states and sickened 22 million Americans.

The Emergency Influenza Containment Act, proposed by Reps. George Miller and Lynn Woolsey, both California Democrats, would require employers to provide at least five paid sick days to workers who are sent home from work ill or told to stay home.

A second bill, unveiled Tuesday by two Connecticut Democrats, Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, would require seven days paid sick leave and would include parents who stay home with sick children. Both bills would expire after two years.

Texans, Co-Ops and Socialists - The Daily Californian

Texans, Co-Ops and Socialists - The Daily Californian:

"Crushing entitlements, sweetheart deals for co-ops and unsolicited political advice: all on the menu at Chez Roman this Wednesday. Make sure to fill yourself up before you go on the big hunger strike this week to protest Mark Yudof eating puppies. Or something.

The Roots of Our Ills

We like to make fun of Texas here. The people there speak funny. And Dubya was from Texas. What is there to like?"

Well, a lot, it seems, at least judging by the fact that Texas is one of the states that people are moving to, in the aggregate, while they're moving out of California. The California dream is dying under the weight of its own short sightedness. Despite having similar demographics to the Golden State, and thus similar challenges, Texas's public services have improved tremendously in the last fifteen or twenty years. It would be wishful thinking to suggest the same about California.

Texas has an unemployment rate 4 percent below ours, showing its low-tax, low-regulation, limited-government aid agenda works. California's schools and roads are falling apart, and our state's credit rating has gone out the window. (All the whining aside, the UC system, with its autonomy and strong ability to attract private funding, does a lot better than many other public services which lack similar capacity.) In these rainiest of days, the Texas Senate unanimously passed a budget that actually sets aside money into a rainy-day fund. Let's not even mention what happens in Sacramento with the budget. The Economist has done a good job covering this dichotomy between these states.

As is to be expected, the Lone Star State's public services do lag behind California's in many areas. But it spends a significantly larger portion of its budget on items that serve society at large--transportation and education being prime examples--not special interests. What do they spend less on?

OC schools can't sustain more cuts, educators say | state, schools, budget - News - The Orange County Register

OC schools can't sustain more cuts, educators say state, schools, budget - News - The Orange County Register:

"COSTA MESA Orange County's k-12 schools, community colleges and universities can't sustain another round of massive state budget cuts and continue to deliver a quality education to students.

That was the message today during a news conference by a coalition of teachers, school board members, union representatives, and other educators from schools throughout the county who gathered to raise awareness of the potential impacts of further cuts to schools."

"The game being played with our schools is not fair," said Kimberly Claytor, president of the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers. "In order to reverse this trend, we're going to need to fix the state budget through tax reform."

The group said state-level tax reforms could help avert billions in cuts to schools expected over the next year. Reforms include reinstating the full vehicle license fee, returning the top tax bracket to the 10 percent and 11 percent rate, reassessing commercial properties, enacting a severance tax on oil produced in the state, and repealing loopholes that favoring big businesses from last year's state budget deal.

The group also supported repealing the two-thirds majority requirement for passing a state budget by lawmakers. Public schools receive up to 80 percent of all revenue from the state budget. In the past two budget years, state spending for education has been slashed by a total of about $15 billion.

"The rules as they stand now don't favor schools," Claytor said.

Community Journalism at it's Best Sacramento Press Workshop

Community Journalism at its Best

Facebook workshop

As mentioned, we have a Facebook workshop scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Jeff Marmins, who is the creator of Social Media Path and a social networker extraordinaire.

He's given talks on Twitter and LinkedIn and is very active in all forms of social media.

We will serve food at 6:30 and get the workshop started around 6:45 p.m.

We plan on ending at 8 p.m. but if there are lots of questions, it may run longer.

Marmins will go over how to use Facebook and keep your work and personal lives separate while still enjoying the benefits of social networking.

Please bring your laptop if you have one; we have wi-fi so you can follow along on your computer.If you have specific questions that you want covered, you can send them along with your RSVP, so we can go over them for the group.We are limiting attendance to 30 people for space reasons.

RSVP by clicking on the RSVP below.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks. If you are facing Starbucks, go around the building to the left and you'll see our Sac Press sign out front.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $1.50 per half hour and we cannot cover the cost of parking.

If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

If you have any trouble finding our office, you can give us a call at (916) 443-5403.Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

RSVP

Join us at:
Sacramento Press
431 I Street, Suite 107
Sacramento, CA

Google Map & Directions >

Sacramento Press Web Site

The Pulitzer Center — Relevant Learning, Authentic Engagement | Ecology of Education

The Pulitzer Center — Relevant Learning, Authentic Engagement Ecology of Education:

"Where do you point your students for news?

Fox? NBC? NPR? NY Times? CNN?


When you want something a bit different, something less corporate, where do you look?

Media Matters? The Daily Show? Indy Media? Rush? Huffington? Crooks and Liars?"

What if you want ground-breaking, objective, mixed media journalism with a global perspective, that creates connections and collaborations between professional journalists and students, and embodies the integrity of one of the most respected awards in writing? Uh . . . Um . . .

Enter, The Pulitzer Center and the student-friendly Pulitzer Gateway, stage right, providing students (of all ages) with access to stories out of the mainstream, but apposite to challenges both home and abroad.

This is no small feat. Consider that in today’s media there is often a compartmentalization between the subject, the writer, and the reader (at times even by design). Unfortunately, as a result, stories about Darfur, China, or polar bears, come across as distant, abstract, and personally irrelevant to students. Without personal connections to the material there is little for them to engage with, intellectually or emotionally.

Claude Levi-Strauss, the legendary French Anthropologist, studied primitive cultures around the world through the lens of structuralism, seeking to find universal patterns of thought. His overall contribution to the collective knowledge of the world is not just that he chronicled indigenous peoples, but that he made that knowledge relevant and connectible to the everyman by examining approaches to shared needs (even if his rendering of such knowledge was far too abstract for the casual reader). He’s remembered now as the father of modern anthropology because of how he looked at food gathering/preparations, rituals, and dwellings — basic needs we can all relate to.

The Associated Press: College students find support in campus 'posses'

The Associated Press: College students find support in campus 'posses':

"BRYN MAWR, Pa. — When Sharhea Wade arrived at Bryn Mawr College from a big-city high school, it seemed as if every other student on the quiet, leafy campus had graduated from an exclusive private school.

'I felt intimidated by them,' recalled Wade. 'Bryn Mawr is a different world.'

Yet whenever she felt like a fish out of water, Wade could turn to her 'posse' — nine other girls who, like her, had been recruited from struggling Boston-area school districts and sent on full merit scholarship to the elite women's college."

Wade's posse is one of dozens sent to top-tier universities each year by the New York-based Posse Foundation. The combination of monetary and social support is a model that experts say could help move the U.S. toward President Barack Obama's goal of having America lead the world in the percentage of college graduates by 2020. Next fall, the program hits the Ivy League when it debuts at Penn.

So far, Obama's focus has been on increasing access to higher education — especially for minority and low-income students — through expanded Pell grants and simplified financial aid applications.

But paying for college is only part of the battle. Keeping students in school by supporting their psychological and academic needs is equally important, said Laura Perna, an associate professor in the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.

Posse founder Deborah Bial started the organization in 1989 after a once-promising inner-city student told her, "I never would have dropped out of college if I had my posse with me."
Since then, Posse has sent more than 2,600 students to its partner campuses, including Vanderbilt University, Colby College and the University of California at Berkeley.

WA Open Educational Resources: Webinar: Nov 18 @ 3:00pm (Pacific): Perspectives on Open Textbooks from Two WA Faculty Authors

http://blog.oer.sbctc.edu/2009/11/webinar-nov-18-300pm-pacific.html:

"Webinar: Perspectives on Open Textbooks from Two WA Faculty Authors

Date: 11-18-09 (Wednesday)

Time: 3:00pm

Location: Elluminate:
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008170&password=M.0DEEEB8B6C0EAFD7993367D2D9948A

Registration: None – just show up. Cost: $0"

Part 1: “Open Textbooks from an Author's Perspective” (30 min)

Abstract: What motivates someone to write an open textbook? How much of the editorial and production process is within reach of an individual? How is the experience different from writing a traditional textbook? What is different about teaching from an open textbook? I will answer these questions with examples from my experiences writing and publishing a mathematics textbook, "A First Course in Linear Algebra."

Bio: Robert Beezer is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. He joined the faculty there in 1984 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Besides advocating for open textbooks, he is also a developer for Sage, a comprehensive open-source program for mathematics.


Part 2: “Another Perspective on Authoring an Open Textbook” (30 min)

Abstract: I'll discuss my journey of writing an open textbook "Math in Society," including my motivation, how existing open textbooks guided my decisions, using my students as guinea pigs, and my experience with the bookstore. I'll share some general thoughts on openness and collaboration in textbooks that need consistency and accuracy, and some thoughts about license selection.

Bio: David Lippman is a professor of mathematics at Pierce College Ft Steilacoom, a community college in Lakewood, WA, where he has been teaching since 2000. He is best known in the Washington community college math circle as the guy who created WAMAP.org (aka IMathAS), a free, open-source online course management and math assessment system.

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Please join us and share this invitation with anyone who might be interested. All are welcome.
Cable

News 21 | The Charter Explosion

News 21 The Charter Explosion

Reporting Education -- Through the Charter Lens

Since early 2009, the Columbia News21 team took notebooks, cameras and curiosities to places such as New Orleans, the Twin Cities, Newark, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., to explore the new marketplace of hybrid, public-private schools.

The result is this web site -- a deeply reported, richly multimedia and interactive web site, produced by a dozen Columbia journalism fellows, their editors and a group of new media producers.

Travel History with Our Interactive Timelines
Learn how Catholic school education and American Indian school programs have developed since the country's founding, in our clickable multimedia timelines.

Reshaping Communities

Tapestry of Schools

Unchartered Territory

New Orleans In Depth

Ex-Gates director looks to open a charter school in New York | GothamSchools

Ex-Gates director looks to open a charter school in New York GothamSchools:

"Former Gates Foundation education director Tom Vander Ark is behind one charter school’s application to open in New York City next year.

For years, Vander Ark shaped the educational giving for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, overseeing grants the organization gave to cities that agreed to build small high schools. Now a partner at an education public affairs firm in California, Vander Ark has supported such causes as lifting New York State’s charter cap and bringing more and better technology into classrooms.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education confirmed that Vander Ark is behind the application for Bedford Preparatory Charter School, a small high school school that, if approved, would open in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn next school year."

Say "NO" to pesticide applications near Kern County's schools

Say "NO" to pesticide applications near Kern County's schools

"I know that pesticides are very dangerous for my son. Not only to his health, but they can also can affect my son’s capacity to learn. In Kern county we have a lot of schools near agricultural operations. That's why I'm asking for your support to get the proposed buffer zones approved. We need to ensure our children are in safe schools in which their health is protected and they are not affected by pesticides. That way my son and other children can have a clean environment in which they can learn and have a really healthy and successful future." --Hector Garcia, Parent

The Kern County Agricultural Commissioner is currently organizing hearings on pesticide buffer zones near schools. These proposed buffer zones are a vital first step in protecting children’s health. Please help.

Approximately 90% of pesticides used in California drift away from their intended targets. Instead they can easily reach nearby homes, schools and businesses. Long-term exposure to pesticides can also cause cancer, reproductive harm and respiratory or nervous system damage. In addition, pesticide exposure can cause immediate poisonings to people close by.

Children are more at risk of adverse health effects from pesticide exposure because their bodies and brains are still developing. Studies have linked pesticide exposure in children with learning disabilities, behavioral issues, lower IQs and other problems.

Current buffer zone rules in Kern County are not adequate. They are set at 1/4 mile for aerial applications of restricted use pesticides around residential areas, occupied labor camps, schools in session and other areas designated by the Agricultural Commissioner. Kern County ranks 2nd in pesticide use in CA. There are no current standard restrictions for ground applications of pesticides--yet they constitute the majority of pesticide applications.

The proposed regulations before the Kern County Agricultural Commissioner would include all agricultural pesticide applications (including ground applications) around schools in session and during school-sponsored activities when children are present.

This is an absolutely vital first step to protecting California's children from pesticide exposure. Schools must be a safe place for kids to play and learn.

This is a good start, but it is not enough. The UFW and a coalition of community groups firmly believe these buffer zones should be larger, and include residences, hospitals, nursing homes and other sensitive sites. However, these regulations are a key first step towards the safety of children in Kern County. They will also set an important precedent for other farm worker counties throughout CA.

Please send your e-mail to the Kern County Ag Commissioner, Ruben J. Arroyo today and tell him to move forward with these proposed regulations as soon as possible.

http://www.ufwaction.org/ct/j7zCz291cQL9/takeaction

Region's mayors brainstorm together today - Latest News - sacbee.com

Region's mayors brainstorm together today - Latest News - sacbee.com:

"Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson convenes another gathering of local mayors with a brain-storming breakfast session today.

The second annual Regional Mayor's Breakfast brings mayors from five counties together at 8 a.m. at the Sterling Hotel. The city leaders will discuss their municipal triumphs this year and how they can come together to solve regional challenges."

Teacher broke law by posting top test scores | StarTribune.com

Teacher broke law by posting top test scores StarTribune.com:

"A Northfield teacher who posted the names and grades of students with the best test scores thought it was a good way to praise his high fliers and motivate the rest.Turns out it was against the law, according to state officials."

A Northfield High School teacher who posted the names and grades of students with the best test scores thought it was a good way to praise his high fliers and motivate the rest.

Turns out it was against the law, according to state officials.

In an advisory opinion, the Minnesota Department of Administration agreed with a parent who complained that posting her son's test results in class for all to see was a violation of state law protecting student data.

The Northfield case illustrates how fine the line can seem between celebrating the work of bright students and violating their privacy. According to experts in education law, it's generally OK for schools to announce who makes the honor roll or graduates with the highest class rank. But revealing a student's grade on a class test in math or history -- without written permission -- is a no-no.

The state's advice raised some eyebrows, including those of Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. The advisory opinion seems like an extreme interpretation of law that "would change a lot of common practices," he said.

"To be able to show students ... the best work in a class seems to be a good thing from my perspective," Kyte said.

Family Educational Rights andPrivacy Act Regulations FERPA : http://www.docstoc.com/docs/16633007/Family-Educational-Rights-andPrivacy-Act-Regulations-FERPA