Thursday, July 1, 2010

The New Republic: Lessons From China And Singapore : NPR

The New Republic: Lessons From China And Singapore

by MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM

July 1, 2010

Martha C. Nussbaum is professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago. She is the author, most recently, of From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and the Constitution.

American leaders, impressed by the economic success of Singapore and China, frequently sound envious when talking about those countries' educational systems. President Obama, for example, invoked Singapore in a March 2009 speech, saying that educators there "are spending less time teaching things that don't matter, and more time teaching things that do. They are preparing their students not only for high school or college, but for a career. We are not." New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof regularly praises China, writing (on the eve of the Beijing Olympics) that "today, it's the athletic surge that dazzles us, but China will leave a similar outsize footprint in the arts, in business, in science, in education" — implying his strong approval of China's educational practices, even in an article in which he decries the Chinese government's ferocious opposition to political dissent. But Obama and Kristof and all the other U.S. proponents of Singapore and China's educational systems apparently aren't thinking very hard about the

Secretary Duncan to Address National Charter Schools Conference | U.S. Department of Education

Secretary Duncan to Address National Charter Schools Conference

Contact:

Jim Bradshaw, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

Event Date 1 : July 01, 2010

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will address the 10th Annual National Charter Schools Conference Thursday in Chicago, via teleconference. More than 4,000 are expected for the convention, sponsored by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In his remarks, Secretary Duncan will challenge America's charter school community to embrace accountability and improve student performance. The secretary believes that high-quality charter schools play a valuable role in the nation's education reform movement and that the charter school community should lead the way in closing or improving low-performing charter schools.

Event 1

Who :	U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
What :	Address to the 10th annual National Charter Schools Conference, via teleconference
When :	10:55 a.m. CDT Thursday, July 1, 2010
Where :	Arie Crown Theater, McCormick Place Convention Center, 2301 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago

Quick Takes: Democrats Would Add Pell Funds to War Spending Bill - Inside Higher Ed

Democrats Would Add Pell Funds to War Spending Bill

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives on Wednesday proposed folding money for Pell Grants into a Senate-passed spending bill aimed at providing emergency appropriations for military aid and disaster relief. The amendment by Rep. Dave Obey, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, would include $4.9 billion designed to close most of a $5.7 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant Program and another $10 billion to help states avoid layoffs of elementary and secondary school teachers. While the idea is likely to face opposition from Republicans and conservative Democrats opposed to adding funds for domestic priorities to legislation that is supposed to be limited to other purposes, House leaders have sought to blunt that criticism by offsetting the proposed new spending by redistributing money from elsewhere in the bill. College leaders are desperately hoping Congress finds some way to clear the Pell shortfall, since a failure to do so could result in a sizable cut (of as much as $800) in the size of the maximum Pell Grant next year.

Long Distance Mom: Abandoned Elizabeth Coffman

Democrats Would Add Pell Funds to War Spending Bill Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives on Wednesday proposed folding money for Pell Grants into a Senate-passed spending bill aimed at providing emergency appropriations for military aid and disaster relief. The amendment by Rep. Dave ...

Agreement on Vote for Adjunct Union at Central Michigan A union seeking to organize adjuncts has reached an agreement with Central Michigan University on an election that will decide on collective bargaining. The union, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, has been complaining that the ...

Does the Constitution protect invocations at Saddleback College? | California Watch

Does the Constitution protect invocations at Saddleback College?

by Erica Perez

Erica Perez

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the South Orange County Community College District last fall over official prayers at public ceremonies. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of some faculty members and students, contends that officials at Saddleback College routinely opened commencement ceremonies, scholarship events and convocation speeches with Christian invocations.
California Watch got wind of a YouTube video that shows Saddleback College President Donald Wagner opening a May 2008 scholarship ceremony with prayer – and a bit of mocking – after he had received pleas from some faculty to stop the invocations. The video has been posted on several blogs, including one written by Roy Bauer, a professor at Irvine Valley College and a plaintiff in the case.

Federal website aims to cut back on improper payments

by Agustin Armendariz

Agustin Armendariz

Last year, the federal government identified $110 billion in improper payments. The money went to the wrong person, was paid at the wrong time, wasn't the right amount or went to someone that wasn't entitled or eligible to receive the money.
PaymentAccuracy.gov shows "the rates and amounts of improper payments for each agency, the targets each agency has set for reducing and recovering improper payments, and the names of the designated accountable

Rule tightened for exam schools - The Boston Globe

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Changes to condom proposal promised

A week after Provincetown schools sparked a furor over a new condom policy, the superintendent has assured parents that school nurses would not dispense condoms to any student who asks, despite the open wording of the rule. (By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent)

Rule tightened for exam schools

The Boston School Committee tightened the residency policy last night for students applying to the city’s three exam schools to prevent out-of-towners from gaining admission. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

Arlington police investigate threats over pledge vote

Arlington police are investigating threatening messages sent to School Committee members yesterday in response to a controversy surrounding reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school. (By Brock Parker, Globe Correspondent)

School systems land new superintendents moving up, moving over from nearby districts

For Newburyport’s school system, today marks a changing of the guard, as Marc Kerble takes over as its new superintendent. (By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent)

Boston takes charter school nonprofit as a partner

School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson will tap a charter school management organization to run one of the district’s low-achieving middle schools, a first for the state, under a plan she will present tonight to the Boston School Committee. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

National Briefing - Washington - Funds for Race to the Top May Be Cut - NYTimes.com

Michael Kamber for The New York Times

France is prodding schools like Sciences Po in Paris to set a goal of increasing the percentage of scholarship students to 30 percent.

Top French Schools Are Pushed to Open Meritocracy

By STEVEN ERLANGER

France is seeking to diversify the elite universities that have produced French leaders in every walk of life.

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Chancellor’s Slip Benefits Tobacco Research

By DUFF WILSON

Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, the chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, gave $134,000 to the center after selling her shares in Altria.

Massachusetts: Psychiatrist Departs After Baby Einstein Controversy

By TAMAR LEWIN

Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint is leaving the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston and closing his Media Center, which for 16 years fought harmful media influences on children.

Funds for Race to the Top May Be Cut

By SAM DILLON

House Democrats have attached a provision to a war financing bill that would spend $10 billion to help school districts avoid teacher layoffs.

New Gifted Testing in New York May Begin at Age 3

By SHARON OTTERMAN

The current test is valid only for children 4 and older, but a new test could work for even younger children, allowing the city to speed up the admissions calendar.

Pete Malinowski, an aquaculture teacher at the New York Harbor School, unlocks Lima Pier on Governors Island.

At the New York Harbor School, Growing Oysters for Credit

By DAVID KAMP

On Governors Island, high school students form a relationship with the city’s marine environment.

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Today’s Oil Spill Links | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Today’s Oil Spill Links Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites To Learn About The Gulf Oil Spill: The CBBC Newsround has quite a few accessible articles on the oil spill. The comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon has just begun a series on the spill. Thanks to Kevin ...

Interview Of The Month: David Deubelbeiss From EFL Classroom 2.0 Each month I interview people in the education world about whom I want to learn more. You can see read those past interviews here. This month, I’m lucky enough to have David Deubelbeiss as my guest. David is the founder of EFL Classroom 2.0 which, in ...

Sacramento Press / Veteran teacher hosts Wake for Public Education

Veteran teacher hosts Wake for Public Education

by Jon Mortimer

Close to 60 people converged on a home in the River Park neighborhood of East Sacramento Tuesday evening to mourn the reductions in the public education budget in the Sacramento area and to discuss what can be done to prevent further cuts.
Educators, students, parents, political figures and concerned members of the public were all in attendance to listen to speakers, hear poetry and voice their concerns and opinions on the state of education in the community.
The wake was hosted by Jim Harper, a teacher of American government and history at Laguna Creek High School and an occasional instructor at California State University, Sacramento. Harper has been teaching for 23 years and was involved with education at the state level prior to that. He said he has seen the cuts in education firsthand and wanted to do something about it.
"I'm not just going to go home for the summer and be on vacation," Harper said of his idea to have the wake.
In an interview after the wake, Harper said he thinks there needs to be three elements to promise a better future

Principal recruits students for Hmong charter school in Sacramento - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Principal recruits students for Hmong charter school in Sacramento

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Published: Thursday, Jul. 1, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3B

Registration for the first charter school in California to focus on Hmong culture starts today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Nearly half of the target enrollment has already pre-registered at the Yav Pem Suab Academy, a K-4 elementary school.

"I've personally gone out and enrolled more than half of those students. I made home visits and if they were interested, I registered them on the spot," said principal Vince Xiong. The maximum enrollment will be 300.

In the next month, he'll hire 15 teachers and prepare for the Aug. 2 opening. School officials will be on hand to answer questions about the charter school after the 10 a.m. ceremony.

The idea for the school began five years ago, according to Dennis Mah, the president of the board of directors and former principal at Bowling Green charter school. The academy's charter was approved in March.

"It started with a group of Hmong parents talking about the quality of their children's education," he said. "Everyone assumed that Hmong are doing fine because they are Asian." It was far from

Steinberg's teachers bill survives its first test

Published: 12:00 am

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's bill to overhaul teacher layoffs and reassignments survived its first legislative test Wednesday despite the opposition of teacher unions.

Principal recruits students for Hmong charter school in Sacramento

By Deia de Brito - Published: 12:00 am

Registration for the first charter school in California to focus on Hmong culture starts today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Sac City Unified offers vaccinations for whooping cough, H1N1

By Melody Gutierrez - Published: Wednesday, June 30 2010 - 12:00 am

Sacramento City Unified School District Health Services is providing free whooping cough, H1N1 and other vaccinations to students, their parents and community members.

Chico nonprofit gives 400 Sacramento students free computers

By Melody Gutierrez - Published: Wednesday, June 30 2010 - 12:00 am

More than 400 needy students at Sacramento middle schools have received free computers as part of a study that is testing the educational benefits of having a computer at home.