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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Local farmers to bring food to Mass. schools - Boston.com

Local farmers to bring food to Mass. schools - Boston.com

Local farmers to bring food to Mass. schools

September 25, 2010
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BOSTON—School children from around the state will be dining on food from local farms this coming week.

"Massachusetts Harvest for Students" week runs Monday through Friday and promotes the consumption of locally-grown fruits and vegetables in public school cafeterias.

Farmers will be delivering local produce directly to schools. In some cases, students will shuck their own corn or pick their own

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Brown criticizes Harvard leader on ROTC policy

Senator Scott Brown chastised Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust yesterday for not allowing ROTC programs back on campus while she lobbies for illegal immigrants who want to attend college, saying Harvard and its leader have their priorities “upside down.’’ (By Matt Viser, Globe Staff)

College dropouts increase

There now are more collegiate rifle teams for women than there are for men. More schools offer women’s equestrian teams than men’s water polo teams. Quinnipiac has seven sports for men and 14 for women. UCLA has a swimming team for women but not for men.(By John Powers, Globe Staff)

At Williams, they trim expenses, not programs

When money got tight at Williams, as it has on virtually every campus from Lewiston to Los Angeles, the athletic department got out its pruning shears and began snipping away at the budget. (Boston Globe)

Ohio State places high value on variety

Unlike most major conferences, the Big Ten offers a hefty athletic plate for both men and women, holding championships in 19 sports. But Ohio State spreads a smorgasbord with three dozen offerings, including what have become rare dishes such as men’s gymnastics and wrestling and rifle and pistol for both genders as well as synchronized swimming. (Boston Globe)

Would-be school volunteers can be thwarted by their past

Wendy Cross wants to chaperone field trips and join other parents in supervising activities at her children’s school in Grand Rapids, Mich. But because of some bad checks she wrote a decade ago, that’s out of the question.(By Eric Tucker, Associated Press)

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Texas education board wants to limit mentions of Islam in world history textbooks - latimes.com

Texas education board wants to limit mentions of Islam in world history textbooks - latimes.com

Texas education board wants to limit mentions of Islam in world history textbooks

A resolution says the panel will reject 'prejudicial social studies submissions' that devote too much space to the religion and warns of a creeping Middle Eastern influence on publishing for schools.

Times Festival of Books will move to USC

The popular annual literary event was held at UCLA for 15 years. But talks between the newspaper and university foundered on cost and logistical issues.

Two L.A. nonprofits get $500,000 each in grants to create programs for low-income and minority students

The 'Promise Grants,' meant to help disadvantaged students from cradle to college, go to the Youth Policy Institute and Proyecto Pastoral.

Putting Newark Mayor Booker in charge of city schools will incite legal action, experts say | NJ.com

Putting Newark Mayor Booker in charge of city schools will incite legal action, experts say | NJ.com

Putting Newark Mayor Booker in charge of city schools will incite legal action, experts say

Published: Saturday, September 25, 2010, 8:00 AM
booker-cafe.JPGNewark Mayor Cory Booker's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show is displayed on a big screen inside a restaurant across the street from the set.

NEWARK — If Cory Booker even thinks of making a decision affecting Newark schools, he and Gov. Chris Christie will find themselves in a lawsuit faster than you can say Facebook, the head of the Education Law Center said yesterday.

David Sciarra, a veteran of numerous court battles involving public education, said it would be "improper and illegal" for Christie to formally offer Booker any authority to make decisions about the Newark Public Schools. Sciarra was lead counsel on the historic — and successful — Abbott suit filed in 1997 against the state to provide more funding for its neediest schools.

"I have no doubt appropriate legal action would be taken on behalf of the residents of Newark to


canadaeast.com - FBI serves warrants on anti-war activists, Chicago homes, looking for terrorist ties | Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada

canadaeast.com - FBI serves warrants on anti-war activists, Chicago homes, looking for terrorist ties | Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada

FBI serves warrants on anti-war activists, Chicago homes, looking for terrorist ties

Published Saturday September 25th, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS - The FBI said it searched eight locations in Minneapolis and Chicago as part of a terrorism investigation Friday. Warrants suggest agents were looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East.

Click to Enlarge
Supporters of anti-war activists whose homes were raided by FBI agents gathered, Friday, Sept. 24, 2010 in Minneapolis. The FBI searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago on Friday. Warrants suggest they're looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Jim Mone

FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told The Associated Press agents served six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago.

"These were search warrants only," Warfield said. "We're not anticipating any arrests at this time. They're seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism."

The homes of longtime Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly, Jess Sundin and Meredith Aby were among those searched, they said. All three were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago: Aby on Oct. 5, Sundin on Oct. 12 and Kelly on Oct. 19.

"The FBI is harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America," Kelly said before agents confiscated his cellphone.

Sundin said she believes the searches are connected with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee's opposition to U.S. military aid to Colombia and Israel, as well as its opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's kind of outrageous that citizens of the United States could be

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Zuckerberg

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg

This is what happens when public schools are turned into street beggars. 20-something billionaires become instant ed experts and decision makers

Booker Outclasses Winfrey on Education � InterACT

Booker Outclasses Winfrey on Education � InterACT

Booker Outclasses Winfrey on Education

I was on the cross-trainer at the gym when the Oprah Winfrey Show came on the air Friday afternoon. I’d been unsure whether I wanted to see the follow up to Monday’s show, which my colleague Anthony Cody called“Oprahpaganda”. Winfrey took shots all over the education blogosphere this week, and posts on Facebook and Twitter called her out for a fawning performance with Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, and Davis Guggenheim. But curiosity won out after I saw the opening of today’s show. Within a couple minutes, I had used my iPhone to remote start a recording on my home DVR. Winfrey disappointed, not as much as she might have, but Newark Mayor Corey Booker made the show much more palatable.

This show started off with a montage of people’s reactions to the Monday program, and a couple of statements stood out. First, there was the woman who earnestly opined, “Finally! Someone’s paying attention!” Was the “someone” the speaker herself, or Winfrey? Then there was a teacher whose experience with her union led her

Friday, September 24, 2010

Is the D.C. -> Sacto Connection about to become stronger? | Reflections on Teaching

Is the D.C. -> Sacto Connection about to become stronger? | Reflections on Teaching

Is the D.C. -> Sacto Connection about to become stronger?

September 19th, 2010 · 1 Comment · politics/policy

All we know for certain is that there will be a new mayor in Washington, D.C. Everything after that seems to be conjecture. Will the District’s schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, be out and return to Sacramento, and her fiancee, Mayor Kevin Johnson?

In fact, the only negative that I can see happening as a result of yesterday’s election in D.C. is that it dramatically increases the odds of Ms. Rhee coming here to Sacramento after she marries our Mayor, Kevin Johnson,