Monday, April 26, 2010

Striking teachers prepare for rally | teachers, school, students - News - The Orange County Register

Striking union calls trustees 'inconsistent'

By FERMIN LEAL and SCOTT MARTINDALE

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Capistrano Unified’s teachers union on Monday accused the school board of being “a roadblock to agreement” in a five-day-old strike standoff, a charge district trustees vehemently deny but which could explain why more than 23 hours of negotiations have yielded no settlement.

In a statement released Monday, union leaders criticized the district for its “shifting parameters and lack of consistent direction from the board” to explain why hundreds of teachers are walking the picket lines for a third day.

Teachers, students and parents march around the outside of district headquarters Monday during the third day of the Capistrano Unified teachers strike.

MIGUEL VASCONCELLOS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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“We are submitting a thorough and responsible proposal this morning,” Capistrano Unified Education Association Bargaining Chairwoman Sally White said in the statement. “Our team has gone as far as we can and now it’s up to at least four board members to do the right thing for students, teachers, and this community and end this strike.”

School board President Anna Bryson denied that trustees had been in any way inconsistent in their direction to the district’s negotiating team, stressing that talks were continuing and an agreement would be reached eventually.

“When we passed our resolution (to impose a 10.1 percent pay cut on teachers), we were consistent, and we continue to be consistent,” Bryson said. “In conversations, people can come to a point of agreement, and I feel certain that as we talk, there will be a moment when people will be comfortable with a point of resolution.”

District and union bargaining teams were meeting Monday for the fifth consecutive day – more than 23 hours of negotiations in all – even as teachers returned for their third day of picketing.

Capistrano's teachers union says the district – Orange County's second largest, with 2,200 teachers – has failed to make a "clear, unambiguous offer" to settle some final terms of a 10.1 percent pay cut imposed on teachers last month.

Capistrano's teachers union isn't fighting the imposed pay cut itself, but is demanding that it have an automatic expiration date and that it be restored if the district receives additional, "unforeseen" funding over the next 15 months, among other demands.

The school district has offered to discuss the demands, but argued it couldn't legally agree to them up front.

CITY MARCH

As the talks continued behind closed doors Monday, an estimated 500 Capistrano Unified teachers and supporters gathered at San Clemente’s North Beach for a march from the beach through town.

The line of marchers stretched nearly 10 blocks as they walked more than three miles toward downtown San Clemente along El Camino Real. Most of the marchers came from San Clemente’s schools. Marchers

Letters: Cut sports at Capo Unified to balance budget - Opinion - The Orange County Register

Letters: Update on Capo Unified: Cut sports to balance budget

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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So the teachers and the administrators of Capistrano Unified School District cannot agree on the cuts needed to balance their budget ["More CSUD picketing expected," Local, April 26]. I think a new option needs to be put on the table and openly discussed: After years of cuts to music and art programs, it's time the athletic teams are cut – entirely. Where in the mission and priorities of a public school district are the football, basketball, volleyball, etc. teams positioned? They certainly don't add to academic excellence, and may in fact lower scores when players miss classes for practice and away games.

If parents and players want to have a team, let them raise the money and fund it separately from the district. The time has come for schools to put education ahead of athletics.

About two dozen picketers gather in front of Arroyo Vista to protest Capistrano Unified's failure to make a "clear, unambiguous offer" to settle a pay cut dispute, according to the teachers union.

The Orange County Register

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Opher Banarie

Laguna Niguel

The 'abandonment' issue

Not everyone is supporting the teachers' decision to strike. Under normal circumstances, my children (ages 7 and 9) feel safe and secure at their school. The principal assured parents they would provide a "safe environment" during the strike. I don't doubt that my children would be physically safe, but rather am concerned about emotional safety. They may feel abandoned by their teachers who are standing at the entrance to the school, and uneasy at seeing the virtual ghost town that the interior of the school became last week.

My children have not attended school since April 22. I have sympathy for the parents who don't have the option of keeping their kids home. Parents who work outside the home and don't have babysitting available are being forced to put their kids in the middle of a bad situation. Daily routines that take place during a regular school day give young children a sense of security. Sending them to school during this time would not be a "positive learning experience" as the School Board suggested.

I understand that the teachers want a guarantee that pay cuts are not permanent. I hope that the Board concedes to put that verbiage in the contract.

But I hope the teachers keep in mind that nearly every hard-working citizen I know has taken a pay cut compared to previous years, and there are no guarantees for any of us that our earnings will be restored.

To the Teachers: I urge you to go back to work. The children need you in the classrooms. You are the only

Education Research Report: Multistate Review of Professional Teaching Standards

Multistate Review of Professional Teaching Standards

States update their teaching standards on an ongoing basis and can learn from other states' efforts. For example the "Updated multistate review of professional teaching standards" adds to their previous 2009 review of teaching standards by offering options for broad consideration that include — structure and target groups of teachers, as well as ways of addressing special populations and use of technology — from six of the largest states in the nation. This review of teaching standards in six states—California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas—focuses on the structure, target audience, and selected content of the standards.

ED.gov Blog Early Learning Tour Kicks Off in Washington, DC

ED.gov Blog

Early Learning Tour Kicks Off in Washington, DC

On Friday, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) held the first Listening and Learning about Early Learning meeting at ED’s Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Senior Advisor for Early Learning Jacqueline Jones (ED) and Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development Joan Lombardi (HHS) hosted a panel of experts from diverse segments of the educational community. While Dr. Jones reiterated the two departments’ focus on birth through third grade, the goal of this session was to better understand preschool through grade three (P-3) structures. The audience was made up of members of the public, federal staff, early learning stakeholders, and two hundred webinar participants.
President of the Foundation for Child Development Ruby Takanishi shared her foundation’s role in the conceptualization of district P-3 systems and their use as a successful strategy in school reform models to close the achievement gap. Dr. Takanishi cited the Montgomery County Public Schools as an example of a system that has successfully built bridges from prekindergarten through third grade by aligning standards, curricula, instruction, and assessments both within and across the early grades.
Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry Weast, documented the effectiveness of high-quality preschool through third grade programs in leading to better outcomes for children through grade 12.
Metropolitan State College of Denver Professor of Psychology Deborah Leong described a curriculum method that focuses on enhancing executive functioning in which preschool and Kindergarten children master self-regulation skills as well as early learning standards.
Gail Connelly, Executive Director of National Association of Elementary School Principals, described her organization’s interest in high quality P-3 programs. She noted, as had other panelists, that key components of successful P-3 models include joint professional development and articulation between

Elk Grove schools honored for fighting asthma - Sacramento Living - Sacramento Food and Wine, Home, Health | Sacramento Bee

Elk Grove schools honored for fighting asthma

by nlofing@sacbee.com (Niesha Lofing)

Two Elk Grove schools are being honored today by the state Department of Public Health for their efforts to reduce student asthma attacks on their campuses.
Elliot Ranch Elementary and David Reese Elementary are among 15 schools receiving Achievements in Respiratory Health Awards.
Schools had to institute air quality improvement plans addressing asthma-causing cleaning supplies, classroom pets, pesticide use and maintenance problems to be eligible for the award, a public health department news release states.
Schools also had to show that they were enforcing state regulations to reduce bus idling near campuses and smoking bans on school grounds.
"Each and every student deserves a healthy and safe environment in which to learn," Dr. Mark Horton, director of the state department, stated in the news release.
David Reese Elementary, along with Hamilton and Washington elementary schools in the Hanford Elementary School District, received the highest ratings and a "distinguished achievement" award.

NCSE's Scott receives Public Welfare Medal | NCSE

NCSE's Scott receives Public Welfare Medal

April 26th, 2010

NCSE
2010

NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott received the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in a ceremony on April 25, 2010, in Washington DC. According to a January 11, 2010, press release, "the medal is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good"; Scott was chosen "for championing the teaching of evolution in the United States and for providing leadership to the National Center for Science Education."

Accepting the medal, Scott said, "That an organization comprised of the finest scientists in the nation would bestow this award on a small, underfunded, understaffed, nonprofit laboring to defend the teaching of evolution is both humbling and inspiring. On behalf of all the people who have worked at NCSE over the last 22 years to make it an effective organization, I thank you from the bottom of my heart." (A transcript of her remarks follows.)

Previous recipients include Neal Lane, Norman Borlaug, Maxine F. Singer, C. Everett Koop, and Carl Sagan. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter

South Philly High: The District's alternate reality | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

South Philly High: The District's alternate reality

by Helen Gym on Apr 26 2010

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A few weeks back I wrote a post about Lin De Liu, a 16-year-old boy who enrolled at South Philadelphia High School post-December 3 and who was assaulted last month in a bathroom stall.

Monday’s Inquirer story gives an update on Lin De’s condition:

The incident lasted only seconds, but for Liu, a 16-year-old immigrant from China, the consequences have been profound.

His vision frequently turns blurry, to where he can't count fingers held in front of his face. He forgets conversations that occurred moments earlier, and sometimes struggles to identify everyday objects, like the chicken on his dinner plate. He gets sudden nose bleeds. . .

Liu was examined at Chinatown Medical Services on March 25, where the doctor wrote he had blurred vision and should be seen at a hospital. The next day, Liu underwent a CT scan of the head. A week later, a sudden loss of vision sent him to the emergency room for a second CT scan. More tests are pending.

Liu worries that his condition is permanent - and that he could be hurt even worse at school.

"I have this great fear that someone will attack me again," he said.

The family has amassed thousands of dollars in medical bills but that pales in comparison to the family’s stress.

"I'm so upset," Liu's mother, Hui Qin Chen, said through a translator as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I don't know what to do."

The medical records and at least one eyewitness statement make clear what happened: a kid kicked in a bathroom stall door that smacked Lin De’s head against the wall.

But for the School District an entirely different story has cropped up a month after the attack – and delivered only to the media. No one from the School District, for the record, has formally contacted the family to explain what they found, clarify discrepancies, or even reach out and help the family deal with their son’s injuries.

According to the District:

The incident was apparently a "careless" accident, not an assault. Funny though that kicking in doors isn’t exactly a passive act, and an eyewitness’ account that the boys were cracking up at Lin De’s pain doesn’t exactly indicate insouciance. The District bases this assessment on apparently no

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