Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates | OregonLive.com

Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates

By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 9:15PM

Kids in Oregon -- unlike those in 49 other states -- are getting leaner, a new study suggests.

Problem is, experts can't explain why Oregon has veered from the extreme weight-gain trend that continues at an alarming rate elsewhere.

The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, and it doubled among girls in two states: Arizona and Kansas. But Oregon's youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007, researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week.

"It seems quite substantial," said Gopal Singh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. "We don't know precisely the reasons for it."

Singh and others tracked obesity using the National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of parents. The researchers used height and weight to calculate whether children were overweight or obese.

More than 16 percent of U.S. children qualified as obese, having a body

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Willamette University art student just one standout among 2010 grads

By Bill Graves, The Oregonian

April 30, 2010, 5:26PM

Alisa Alexander strolls wistfully through Willamette University's Hallie Ford Museum of Art where she's cultivated her passion over the last four years and staked out a future brimming with promise. Full story »

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Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates

By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 9:15PM

The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, but Oregon's youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007. Full story »

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Students from Lake Oswego and Florence among nation's top youth volunteers

By Phil Manzano, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 12:50PM

Amy Carlton, 18, of Lake Oswego, and Taylor Graham, 12, of Florence, met with former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Washington D.C. Monday where they received national awards for their efforts fighting hunger in the state. Full story »

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Teacher Appreciation Week: share your stories of favorite teachers

By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 12:17PM

Share your stories of favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-7 Full story »

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Presidential scholars: Oregon scores three

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 11:56AM

Students from Portland, Corvallis and Eugene are named among the top scholars and leaders in the nation's class of 2010 Full story »

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Recession ravaging region's adult education classes - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Panel postpones vote on Crocker children's art program

By Marjie Lundstrom - Published: 12:00 am

Second thoughts and personal anguish among First 5 Sacramento commissioners delayed a decision Monday over a controversial public spending proposal involving the Crocker Art Museum.

Recession ravaging region's adult education classes

By Melody Gutierrez - Updated: 12:15 am

Many Sacramento school districts are severely cutting adult education classes, while others are eliminating entire programs, leaving thousands of adult students wondering what classes will remain this fall.

Commission delays vote on child art funding proposal

By Marjie Lundstrom - Published: 5:05 pm

Second thoughts and personal anguish among First 5 Sacramento commissioners delayed a decision Monday over a controversial public spending proposal involving the Crocker Art Museum.

Genealogy class uses maps to visit lives of ancestors

By Hudson Sangree - Updated: 8:51 am

A genealogy instructor took her students on a 19th-century journey Sunday to the brothels of Truckee, North Bloomfield's Chinatown, and a brewery in Mokelumne Hill.

Sacramento area high schools OK with same-sex prom companions

By Ed Fletcher - Updated: 8:15 am

A high school prom is a rite of passage that should be a source of joy, not worry, anxiety or fear, regardless of the student's relationship status or sexual orientation, say local school administrators.

U.S. probe widens to 18 city charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/03/2010

U.S. probe widens to 18 city charters

Details are sought on the use of public money.

By Martha Woodall

Inquirer Staff Writer

What began as a federal probe of a single charter school in Northeast Philadelphia two years ago has spread to at least 18 schools and may be the largest federal charter investigation in the country, experts say.
"I can't think of a similar situation" anywhere else, said Nelson Smith, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington.
"There has not been any other state or city that has had this kind of charge made against so many [charters] in a confined period of time," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, also in Washington.
In recent weeks, a flurry of federal subpoenas has been served on schools across the city seeking five years' worth of financial records to show how the charters have spent taxpayer money.
Documents from one school provided to The Inquirer offer a glimpse into the broad scope of the federal inquiry. At New Foundations Charter in the Northeast, investigators sought a wide range of print and electronic records, including those showing how the school spent public money. The school received $5 million in the last academic year.
The federal probe was launched in May 2008, shortly after The Inquirer reported allegations of financial mismanagement, nepotism, and conflicts of interest at Philadelphia Academy Charter School in the Northeast. Two former officials are in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
The probe widened as The Inquirer disclosed problems at other charters and now includes all 13 schools that City Controller Alan Butkovitz highlighted in his recent charter investigation.
Butkovitz found compliant charter boards, apparent conflicts of interest, unusual salary arrangements for chief executives, and complex real estate deals in which charters leased facilities from related organizations. He said the schools were chosen because documents indicated they had many of the same problems The Inquirer uncovered at Philadelphia Academy.
Smith said he was not surprised the probe had grown.
Given the controller's allegations, "the U.S. attorney is probably obligated to talk to people and ask for records," he

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Chris Christie: Vouchers offer a 'final solution' for school system

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie: Vouchers offer a 'final solution' for school system

Monday, May 3, 2010
LAST UPDATED: MONDAY MAY 3, 2010, 9:20 PM

BY HERB JACKSON

THE RECORD

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

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A voucher system that lets any child in New Jersey go to any school, public or private, is the "final solution" to an overly expensive system that continues to fail too many children, Governor Christie said Monday.

ANDREW MILLS/THE STAR-LEDGER

Christie tolld the group New Jersey could be a national bellwether.

Christie told an enthusiastic school choice advocacy group in Washington that he will expand the number of public charter schools and supports a bipartisan bill to provide thousands of public scholarships so children in failing districts may attend private or parochial schools.
"They are trapped by a self-interested, greedy schoolteachers union that cares more about putting money in their own pockets and pockets of members than they care about educating the most vulnerable and needy children," Christie said.
But Christie said he was committed to going further. He said he saw families in Newark agonize over children losing a lottery to get into a successful charter school, while his income gave him the ability to choose to send his children to Catholic school.
"A single mother in Newark working two jobs to keep a roof over her child’s head should have no less ability to make that choice than my wife and I had," he said.
Christie was the keynote speaker at the two-day "national policy summit" in the Omni Shoreham hotel organized by the American Federation for Children, a Washington-based group that advocates for vouchers, charter schools and tax credits for corporations that fund scholarships.
"Gov Christie is taking on the education status quo like no other governor today," said Betsy Devos, the federation chairwoman,
Christie said the climate is right for passage of a scholarship bill that some advocates say could serve as

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