Big Education Ape

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Penn Hills teachers to strike Thursday

Months of contract negotiations came to an abrupt halt Monday with the Penn Hills Education Association's announcement that its teachers will strike on Thursday.
The association, whose teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, notified Penn Hills superintendent Joseph W. Carroll of its intent to strike Monday morning. The district released a statement on its website later that day announcing school closings on Thursday and Friday and rebuking the association's contractual demands.
"The district is challenged with high, burdensome taxes and the need to substantially improve the quality of education. The education association has rejected any effort to make contract changes which would help the district to meet the financial and educational challenges," the letter said.
But Butch Santicola, speaking on behalf of PHEA, said the union made every effort to reach concessions with the district before deciding to strike.
"Our people studied and examined every area of this, and we feel there's no alternative," he said.
Mr. Santicola said contract discussions began in October 2008.
Board President Joe Bailey, who served on the negotiating team, said PHEA rejected three viable offers, including one that would have cost the district $10 million over

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10033/1032743-56.stm#ixzz0eOUyQbki

A harassment-free school opens in L.A. - latimes.com

Aiden Aizumi almost didn't graduate from high school.

Aizumi, now 21, is one of many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people who say they have suffered through school, enduring homophobic taunts and name-calling.

He completed his final semester of high school from home.

His mother, Marsha Aizumi, didn't want others to endure the same treatment, so she approached educators about a new school geared for such students.

The school, which serves grades seven through 12, is a collaboration between Opportunities for Learning, a charter school with 34 locations across Los Angeles and Orange counties, and Lifeworks, a mentoring program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth sponsored by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

The school opened for enrollment at the center in January, but it will host an open house from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at 1125 N. McCadden Place.

Currently the satellite campus employs one teacher. Three students will begin instruction in the upcoming weeks.

The school's independent study program is tailored to individual student needs.

Students meet with an instructor twice a week and are expected to complete between four and

At a Haiti school's reopening, a lesson in sharing - latimes.com

At a Haiti school's reopening, a lesson in sharing - latimes.com:

"The school's owner clashes with post-earthquake squatters who have no place to call home. Nearby, young students eagerly wait to regain one normal aspect of their lives."

Reporting from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti - David Saill is 10 years old, and he came to school Monday in a freshly ironed shirt and baggy black slacks to reclaim a piece of his lost life.

He couldn't have it all back. Not his home, which collapsed in the Jan. 12 earthquake. Not his very best friend, Laguer, who died when his own house fell on him. Not the sense of security he felt before he knew that the earth could shake apart his known universe.

But school -- that he could have back. Or so he was told.

Monday was the first day that schools in Haiti could reopen after the earthquake, which was centered near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The entire national school system -- already among the poorest in the world -- had been shut down, although schools in much of the country were not directly affected.

Most schools in Port-au-Prince are eyeing a March restart, at least those that can find a safe place to hold classes. An estimated 70% to 80% of the schools in the capital were damaged or destroyed, and

Education reform: Obama budget reboots No Child Left Behind / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

The Obama administration envisions big changes for No Child Left Behind.

Higher education faces greatest financial state of emergency in decades - Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun

Higher education faces greatest financial state of emergency in decades - Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun:

"For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Board of Regents today will consider declaring a financial emergency that could lead to pay reductions, furloughs and layoffs of faculty and staff.

The extent of budget cuts won’t be known until the Legislature’s special session, but the Nevada System of Higher Education is bracing for reductions of at least 20 percent, on top of the deep reductions that have already taken place.

Among options facing the regents: tapping student-generated funds for operating costs that had been set aside for capital improvements; adopting new surcharges for student tuition and fees; and reducing personnel costs through furloughs, pay reductions, hiring freezes, layoffs and terminations or restructuring of programs."

EducationNews.org - An Open Letter to Arne Duncan

EducationNews.org - An Open Letter to Arne Duncan

2.2.10 - Sandy Kress - Mr. Secretary, first, I want to congratulate you for a superb year. You pushed solid reforms intelligently and effectively. In doing so, you helped President Obama nobly carry the baton he received from Presidents Clinton and Bush

An Open Letter to Arne Duncan

Sandy Kress
National Journal
Former Senior Advisor on Education to President George W. Bush, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP

Mr. Secretary, first, I want to congratulate you for a superb year. You pushed solid reforms intelligently and effectively. In doing so, you helped President Obama nobly carry the baton he received from Presidents Clinton and Bush in the effort to improve education for all students, particularly the disdvantaged.

But, I must confess to being baffled by today's story in The New York Times about the direction you're headed. If it is inaccurate, I apologize in advance for assuming it to be true. If it is true, however, I am disappointed.

Braille illiteracy is a growing problem - JSOnline

Braille illiteracy is a growing problem - JSOnline:

"Ronnay Howard is 9 years old and legally blind with cornrows in her hair and a smile on her face.

She sits in front of a keyboard in the resource room for the visually impaired at Engleburg Elementary School, her small hands moving methodically over six large keys.

She is writing in Braille, spelling out a single word - furious.

'I know I'm really good at it,' she says.

This is how Braille is learned and how it is preserved, one student at a time, one word at a time.

Technology has been a great leveler, a blessing in this modern age for those with visual impairments. It has enabled tens of thousands of people to access written material quickly, to hear what they cannot see.

But there is an underside to the use of technology, to all the cassette tapes and digital recordings of everything from romance novels to textbooks to government forms.

It is called Braille illiteracy."

Source: City's Oldest Catholic Elementary School To Close - NY1.com

Source: City's Oldest Catholic Elementary School To Close - NY1.com:

"A battle is underway to save the city's oldest Catholic elementary school from closing.
An official announcement from the New York Archdiocese has not yet been made, but the Federation of Catholic Teachers says they've been informed of a plan to close Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral School in Little Italy.

Sources say letters will soon go out to parents and students soon.

'They have all kinds of after school programs and the kids are doing a lot better. So it would be really a big shame if they closed,' said one parent.

'I'm surprised. I really haven't heard anything about it. I'd be concerned because my younger son has been here for a while. But we'll see. It's a great school and my kids really enjoy it,' said another parent."

Four schools with speciality curriculums chosen to replace three Queens schools being phased out

The city has selected the four schools that are to replace the three Queens high schools being phased out - and each has its own outside-the-box curriculum.

"We want to draw people to these schools," said Debra Kurshan, director of the Education Department's Office of Portfolio Planning.

The Hillside Arts and Letters Academy and the High School for Community Leadership are to open their doors in the Jamaica High School building in the fall.

Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability will replace Beach Channel High School and the Cambria Heights Academy will take the place of the Business, Computer Applications and Entrepreneurship High School.

The Panel for Educational Policy voted last Tuesday to phase out the three schools one year at a time, despite community opposition.

A third school is slated for Jamaica and a second one is planned for Beach Channel the following year.

Hillside plans to focus on visual arts, music and writing. The Community Leadership

City announces broad outlines of a special education overhaul | GothamSchools

School officials outlined a plan to change the way city schools serve students with disabilities at a closed-door meeting this morning with special education advocates.

The plan’s first step: Telling schools they have to accept, and “embrace,” students with special needs.

“For too long, educating students with disabilities has meant separating them from their general education peers,” Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said in a statement. “Today we are building on the premise that every school must be able to educate the vast majority of these children.”

That premise represents a badly needed advance for the city schools, according to special education advocates.

“The principles in [the plan] are wonderful, but they’ve been law forever,” said Maggie Moroff, who coordinates the ARISE Coalition but was not speaking on the coalition’s behalf. “The overarching goals are exactly what they ought to be, it’s just that in my mind they’re not so novel.”

In a statement, Laura Rodriguez, the department’s first deputy chancellor in charge of special education, explained that under the plan, schools will get more flexibility to design new programs for students with special needs; will collaborate more with parents; and receive a toolkit to help them improve instruction. They’ll also be held accountable for meeting students’ special education needs, she said.

How any of this will happen is not yet clear. A PowerPoint presentation given this

Officials in process of gathering information on public school lunch ingredients for online list

Parents who want to know what's lurking in their kids' lunch soon will be able to find the information online.

School officials told the Daily News they are working to upload ingredient lists of foods served in public school cafeterias by summer.

"We are in the process now of collecting all the labels," said Department of Education nutritionist Herman McKie.

"We will probably have that by the end of the school year."

The Department of Education's Office of School Food posts menus and nutrition information online, but not ingredient lists.

The News reported Monday that despite promises by the Bloomberg administration to overhaul school lunches, many cafeterias stock highly processed foods that are loaded with preservatives and other chemicals.

A spot check of ingredient lists obtained by The News found that staples such as ketchup, bread and breakfast cereals still contain high fructose corn syrup, even though school officials have said they are eliminating it.

Possible $1B funding for schools cause dispute between UFT and education officials

Education department and union officials praised President Obama's proposed changes to the way the feds fund education Monday - but each said the other could weaken New York's chances.

Obama wants to make an additional $1 billion available for school improvement if Congress passes sweeping changes to the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

The proposal has not been spelled out in detail, but states likely would have to compete for the additional cash. Schools would be rewarded for the progress students make on exams, not simply for the number of children who pass.

States that have merit pay for high-performing teachers may be eligible for more money. There would also be cash for schools that improve performance of the poorest students.

Education Department officials and the union squabbled over whether the city will be in the running for the extra money. Merit pay has been a hot-button issue with the union, and contract talks have ground to a halt.

"We'll do anything we can to win more money," said Education Department

Ohio School District Seeks New Tax Levy - WSJ.com

Ohio School District Seeks New Tax Levy - WSJ.com:

"MORROW, Ohio—The housing boom has left the sprawling school district based in this former rail town on the Little Miami River with gleaming new buildings and a dilemma over how to keep them funded.

Three times in the past 15 months, voters have rejected levies that would have kept the Little Miami School District in the black. Each time, the district fell further behind and had to ask for more. On Tuesday, voters will face the biggest request yet—a new real-estate tax that amounts to $519 per $100,000 of assessed value, nearly twice the rate rejected in November.

Backers say the levy, combined with already deep cuts, is the only way to prevent a fiscal emergency that would force a state takeover of the schools. 'It's the downturn of an entire community. People are going to start looking at moving and your property value is going to go through the floor,' said Julie Salmons Perelman, a 44-year-old part-time veterinary technician with three children in the schools, who sat stuffing bags filled with campaign literature one morning last week."

Editorial : The Game Was Right: The Education System Is a Booby Trap (And More)

“Kicked out of Brooklyn Tech, focusing on looking fresh/

Bright kid accepted to the schools that only took the best/

Bounce like a check, yes, without no hesitation/

I went to college, then I left—that's when I got my education/”

—Talib Kweli, “Over the Counter,” Liberation, 2007.

Sometimes it takes the stinging critique of Hip-Hop artists to wake society up from its slumber; and it is in line with this tradition that I hope the comments made by The Game one week ago would travel further down into offices of government and school boards. On his Twitter page last Monday, Game questioned the sincerity of the education system in educating young people toward a future of self-governance. He asked, “After you learned how to read & do addition, what else did we need school for that we use in everyday life as an adult?” Game was especially concerned about the teach-to-test formula currently in use in most public schools nationwide (NCLB), and whether parents aren’t willingly—albeit unknowingly—handing their kids over to a system set up to preserve the status quo, rather than empower them to change it: “up at 7, out at 3pm five days a week. caught in the matrix but as a parent, I just dropped my kids off @ school & [I get a] break from em’.”

Game pondered if “school was a government's plot to keep track of us & program our lives,” and, like educator John Gatto suggested two decades ago (Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling), concluded many parents aren’t equipped emotionally to challenge the pedagogical models used to educate kids because “school is a babysitter.” Don’t wanna upset her!

For this, Game has been chastised by bloggers and fans, accused of encouraging kids to drop out. That 7,000 students already quit school every day—and only 70% graduate with High School diplomas—is less a concern to his critics. That in the 50 largest cities only 53% graduate on time is another ignored reality. It’s easier, you see, to blame rappers for their “anti-intellectual” comments and content, than to confront the truth.

The education system today is not only a sham, but also, as Game alluded, a booby

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - Hart district Hebrew school is a good idea

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - Hart district Hebrew school is a good idea:

"Regarding 'Hebrew school put on hold' (The Signal, Jan. 21):

The William S. Hart Union High School District board should not have postponed the vote on a new Hebrew-language charter school because of claims that the school would teach religion.

I don't know why former board member Dennis King is convinced it is a religious school - the academy's Web site clearly states it will be non-sectarian in its admissions, programs, employment and all other operations.

My children received an excellent education in the Hart district, with the exception of its foreign language program which, like most California public schools, offers only Spanish and French."

Farr: Obama's budget invests heavily in California | thecalifornian.com | The Salinas Californian

Farr: Obama's budget invests heavily in California | thecalifornian.com | The Salinas Californian:

"U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, released the following statement regarding today’s release of the president’s budget:

The president’s budget invests in a wide range of programs to spur job creation and help families who are suffering through this recession. I’m pleased that the president’s budget invests heavily in California. Our state may be suffering now, but it will be our businesses that drive the recovery. This budget points us in the right direction.

proposed budget extends tax cuts that were enacted last year, putting much-needed dollars back into Central Coast wallets. The budget also calls for $4 billion for housing assistance, $6 billion for California schools, $6 billion for infrastructure modernization and $4 billion for higher education grants."

KCBS - California Could Face Teacher Shortage

For the first time in many years, California has a surplus of teachers but an expert on education says the state will be facing another teacher shortage in the next few years.

KCBS' Bob Butler reports
Former state schools chief Delaine Eastin says many teachers are retiring and finding their replacements will be hard.
"Right now the real challenge is that the University of California and CSU have gotten so expensive and the privates are out of this world," she said. "There are people looking around saying, 'I can't afford to borrow $120,000 to be a teacher."
Eastin says some districts may have to lower their standards in order to staff the schools.

THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News

THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News:

"(Editor's Note: Charles Miller, the Houston businessman who once headed the University of Texas board of regents, put out an email last week to a list of contacts around the nation about the effort by the Obama administration and numerous governors to create a common core of national standards for schools. The Education Front received his comments, which we are posting today. The email provoked an exchange among some of the nation's leading education experts.)

Recent events have put a spotlight on a national debate and movement about setting curriculum standards for our K-12 public schools, that is, determining what it is we want our children to learn and who should decide that. Historically that has been a state function but recently there has been more than a lot of chatter about 'national curriculum standards'. An Obama administration challenge grant program---Race to The Top--- has elevated the issue and the Texas position has been especially noticeable and unique."

Distance education for parents of children with autism found effective

Distance education for parents of children with autism found effective

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (February 1, 2010) — Through the use of instructional DVDs, parents of children with autism can learn how to teach their child to communicate and improve their behavior, according to research published in the January 2010 issue of The Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions (published by the Hammill Institute on Disabilities and SAGE).

Family members play a central role in the education and treatment of children with autism. However, training parents in appropriate techniques can provide unique challenges.

Often, mothers and fathers are not available at the same time to participate in training. Contemporary work schedules no longer conform to a traditional 9 to 5 schedule, further complicating efforts to help parents with their child. And, many families are simply too far away from training opportunities to participate on a regular basis. Providing family members with the type of flexibility they need to participate in training is often beyond the capability of most of these programs.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Nicolette Nefdt, Robert Koegel, George Singer and Michael Gerber) explored whether providing training to parents through DVDs could help bridge this gap. The good news is that parents did improve their skills through watching the training videos, and there were improvements in child behavior as well.
"Many parents of children with ASD are motivated and able to implement evidenced based intervention with minimal support," said researcher Nicolette Nefdt. "Once provided with a rationale, step by step instructions and video examples, parents were able to change their behavior and begin teaching their child to communicate. Parents who completed the program commented mostly on the ease and flexibility of use of a program such as this one, the value of the video examples and the enjoyment of working with their child".

"This is very exciting to us, as we are now able to help many more people more quickly than we could otherwise," said co-author Robert Koegel.

Indian-Americans rising in political clout - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com

Indian-Americans rising in political clout - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com:

"WASHINGTON — There are no Indian-Americans in Congress, but Ami Bera hopes to change that.

Bera, a 44-year-old physician from suburban Sacramento, Calif., is one of six Indian-Americans who are running for Congress this year, a record high. Hauling in half of his contributions from Indian-Americans, Bera has raised $871,000, even more than Republican Rep. Dan Lungren, the eight-term incumbent he's trying to replace in California's 3rd Congressional District.

While Bera's parents and many other Indian-Americans of their generation focused mainly on getting good jobs and a good education for their children, today's generation is working its way into politics and public service.

'Politics is the natural transition,' Bera said. 'We actually have a chance to give back to the county that benefited us.'"

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