Monday, October 11, 2010

Will the Courts Soon Drive Illegal Aliens Out of Our Public Colleges? | California Progress Report

Will the Courts Soon Drive Illegal Aliens Out of Our Public Colleges?

by christine

By Peter Schrag

It’s always risky to read judicial tea leaves, but judging from last week’s oral arguments before the California Supreme Court, a majority of the justices may uphold the state law granting illegal immigrant graduates of California high schools in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities. A decision is due within 90 days.

But it’s a shaky case, no matter how defensible the policy, and chances are that when it gets to the unfailingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court, the law will be overturned in a flash. That would be a sad outcome, not only for the hundreds of thousands of students involved, both in California and in the nine other states that have similar tuition policies, but for the economy and, more generally, for civil society at large.

Anti-gay Ads Launched Amid String of LGBT Youth Suicides

by christine

By Jorge Amaro
Equality California

In a desperate attempt to win the votes of the Latino community, on Friday the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the anti-gay extremist group fervently focused on denying same-sex couples the right to marry, released a Spanish television ad attacking U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer for supporting the right for same-sex couples to marry.

The ad falsely argues that Latinos oppose the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and that Senator Boxer opposes comprehensive immigration reform. These allegations, however, are complete lies. The truth is that a majority of California’s Latinos now support basic rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as well as the right to marry. Additionally, Senator Boxer, a leading champion of full equality for all, has long fought for comprehensive immigration reform.

Catholic Latinos Support Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Couples

California's Students Shortchanged in Final Budget Deal

by christine

By Robin Swanson
Education Coalition

On top of the astonishing $17 billion in cuts to schools imposed over the past two years, under the new budget agreement expected to be voted on by the legislature today, California’s students will receive $4.3 billion less than they are owed under Proposition 98, the minimum school funding guarantee. The budget agreement also fails to provide any new, stable revenue streams for schools.

Accountable Talk: Ed Deformers on Ice!

Ed Deformers on Ice!

When I posted that I thought the ed deform movement had jumped the shark, I heard some rumblings. Then I started telling my fellow teachers how I felt, and there was talk of breaking out the strait jacket for me. But I don't think I'm crazy--or at least not for believing that the deform movement has run out of steam.

Think about it. The deformers have had a major documentary released from an Oscar winning director. They had two Oprah shows humping their cause. They had a week dedicated to them by MSNBC. They have Mark Zuckerberg tossing out 100 million dollar door prizes to cities that will do his bidding. They are

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Joel Klein Writes A Manifesto For Our Time

Friday, October 8, 2010

Joel Klein Writes A Manifesto For Our Time

So Joel Klein knows how to write. Or at the very least knows how to have someone ghost write for him. At least that what it appears in the article in the Washington Post which is due out this Sunday. In fact to help the readers read this mess we here at SBSB have supplied some background music to play whilst reading it. Click here.

Not to leave any credit behind, the article was "co-written" with Michelle Rhee, Ron Huberman, and a bunch of other hacks.

So, the crack team read and reread the Manifesto to come up with a response. The first problem the crack team has is using "manifesto" in the title. Though there is a chance that the Post was decided to give it the title it did. The crack team does have an issue with "manifesto." Conjures up crackpots who think 9/11 was an inside job, or Fasci di

"Superman" Visits the White House | NBC Washington

"Superman" Visits the White House

Subjects, director Meet With Obama Today

By JOHN WIST

Updated 10:05 AM EDT, Mon, Oct 11, 2010

BUZZ UP!

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It’s a controversial look at the state of education in the nation, and now it’s garnering the attention of the president. The five students featured in the documentary "Waiting for Superman" -- as well as the film’s director, Davis Guggenheim -- will visit the White House today.

Progressives and teachers' unions have criticized the film for portraying the unions as contributing to the failures of American public school systems. But many in President Obama’s administration

Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education Letter to SCUSD Board of Education

Dear Board Members,

The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education (SCSPE) was created because of the community's anger and despair over the closure of Sacramento High School. At SCSPE's last meeting there was consensus that what is happening at Hiram Johnson doesn't sound accidental, it sounds familiar. Sacramento High School was sabotaged so that it could be turned into a charter. The principal at Sacramento High School was so disliked that students purposely did poorly on the standardized tests because they thought their failure would result in her removal. There wasn't a functioning School Site Council at Sacramento High School, or a functioning Shared Decision Making Committee. Our most cynical members believe that Hiram Johnson has been purposely set up to fail so that it can be turned into a charter school.

Last night I asked how the public can find out (read) the plan to move Hiram Johnson out of Program Improvement. Here are some additional questions:

How has the Hiram Johnson Shared Decision Making Committee been involved in "the plan"? Each school's Shared Decision Making Committee is supposed to be involved in any changes that impact campus climate and policy.

How does "the plan" align with the School Site Plan (Single Plan for Student Achievement)?

Finally, it is shameful that students at Hiram Johnson, one of the Superintendent's Priority Schools, have had their education negatively impacted by the actions of an autocratic administration. The student walk-out last Friday, the complaints of parents, the fights, and student and staff fears of retaliation paint a picture of a "reform plan" that has nothing to do with student achievement and appears to be completely "top down". If the students at Hiram Johnson are going to succeed this year, the situation needs to change now, not in a month or two or three.

Sincerely,

Heidi McLean, Chairperson

Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: HEAD OF TROUBLED CHARTER SCHOOL COMPANY RESIGNS: Mike Piscal, 44, who founded and ran ICEF Public Schools, steps down amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: HEAD OF TROUBLED CHARTER SCHOOL COMPANY RESIGNS: Mike Piscal, 44, who founded and ran ICEF Public Schools, steps down amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

HEAD OF TROUBLED CHARTER SCHOOL COMPANY RESIGNS: Mike Piscal, 44, who founded and ran ICEF Public Schools, steps down amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

BY HOWARD BLUME, LOS ANGELES TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/9JTSUF

October 9, 2010 - The founder of a troubled charter school company, one of the nation's largest, has resigned amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

The departure of Mike Piscal, 44, who started and ran ICEF Public Schools, was confirmed Thursday night at a meeting with more than 1,000 parents and staff. The austerity measures, which will include midyear layoffs of an undetermined number of teachers, are both fiscally necessary and required by benefactors who stepped forward last week to pledge help, said interim chief executive Caprice Young.

ICEF, which serves about 4,500 students, also wants help for its 15 campuses from the Los Angeles Unified School District, Young said. ICEF is seeking space at district schools to reduce leasing costs and wants the district's assistance in obtaining short-term loans at low interest.

Young, a former Los Angeles Board of Education president, was scheduled to meet Friday with L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines.

Start in remedial ed, end in remedial ed — Joanne Jacobs

Start in remedial ed, end in remedial ed On Community College Spotlight: Unprepared for the college placement test, high school graduates start — and often end — their community college education in remedial classes. Some 60 to 80 percent of students are told to take basic-skills classes. ...

Elite colleges pay off College pays off for graduates of top-ranked colleges and university, concludes a study analyzed by Gene Expression. In fact, a Harvard graduate can expect to earn $4,000 more a year at age 28 than a graduate of ninth-ranked Dartmouth and $18,000 ...

Monday’s Churn: Big week for “Superman”

by EdNews staff

What’s churning:

If you’re not already, by the end of this week you may be tired of hearing about “Waiting for Superman,”the school reform documentary opening Friday in Colorado. The film has received pre-release hype rivaling “Star Wars” or “Avatar,” thanks in large part not to the studio but a concerted push by advocacy groups. Advocates forObama-Arne Duncan (the U.S. education secretary)-style reforms hail the film as a powerful catalytic agent that will fuel outrage and spur a grassroots movement to push meaningful change to our system of public schools. Critics of the film say it oversimplifies complex issues and scapegoats teachers’ unions and traditional public schools, while treating charter schools as a panacea.

Various groups are holding private screenings of “Superman” tomorrow in Boulder, Centennial, Colorado Springs

Parental Involvement Is Equal To Spending $1,000 More Per Student? | Engaging Parents In School...

Parental Involvement Is Equal To Spending $1,000 More Per Student?

September 3rd, 2009 by Larry Ferlazzo

Last year researchers from the University of Hampshire concluded that:

“Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial. We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement.”

You can read the press release about the study here, and you can read the actual study, Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement.

Another View: Teachers union unfairly scapegoated in recent column | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Another View: Teachers union unfairly scapegoated in recent column

It's just not true, as Ron Bancroft wrote, that teachers are a 'major force' against reform.

By LARRY DYHRBERG

As a retired public school teacher and past member of the Maine Teachers Association, I feel it necessary to respond to the disparaging remarks about "the teachers union" in Ron Bancroft's column in the Press Herald ("Scorecard for candidates shows Cutler gets best grades," Oct. 5).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Dyhrberg is a retired teacher who lives in Falmouth.

His portrayal of the legitimate representation of professional educators as "a major force against any real reform in Maine's K-12 system" is symptomatic of attacks on both public school teachers and the very existence of organized labor currently in vogue by politicians and pundits alike.

Over the past decades, public school teachers have

Teens urge parental involvement at suicide summit: AP Alaska | adn.com

Teens urge parental involvement at suicide summit

By ALEX DEMARBAN / The Tundra Drums

Published: October 8th, 2010 11:09 PM
Last Modified: October 8th, 2010 11:09 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Distraught over the suicides of their friends, teens from Southwest Alaska fought back tears as they pleaded with parents to connect with children. They blamed the deaths on family abuse, bullying, alcoholism and other problems.

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Now is not the time to be quiet, they said Monday at a suicide roundtable convened in Bethel by Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

"I myself was thinking suicidal," said Anna Stone, a 15-year old from Hooper Bay. "But my friends, they were talking to me about if I was gone ... who's going to take your part in your family? And that really got me thinking."

Stone bit her lip and trembled during a long stretch of silence. She said keeping quiet will cost more lives.

"Talking to your kids would help a lot and building a relationship and having family meetings would help a lot," she said.

Excerpt from voices.washingtonpost.com/answersheet

Valerie Strauss

Monday, October 11, 2010

Twice in the same week, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had a chance to skewer the wacky world of education reform and blew their opportunities.

Both Lewis Black's piece on "the public school crisis" that aired on Stewart's "The Daily Show" last Tuesday and Colbert's Thursday night interview with "Waiting for 'Superman' " director Davis Guggenheim left me wondering why education reform hasn't been more of a high-value target for these two funny men.

The reform world is dripping with hilarious promise.

There are characters to lampoon: School superintendents who are education's fundamentalists, believing that only they know the way to reform heaven.

There are issues to rip open: The standardized testing obsession; the charter school obsession; the insistence of first the Bush administration, and now the Obama

“Unusual — And Important — Parent Engagement Study Validated” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Unusual — And Important — Parent Engagement Study Validated” Unusual — And Important — Parent Engagement Study Validated is the title of my latest post at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. I think it’s pretty intriguing. You might want to check it out.

“Chilean miners arguing about who comes up last” Chilean miners arguing about who comes up last is the headline of an article in the Telegraph. The article includes links to multimedia features. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Trapped Miners In Chile.

“Technology Tools to Get Teachers Started” Technology Tools to Get Teachers Started is nice post over at Edutopia. I’m adding it to My Best Posts For Tech Novices (Plus A Few From Other People).

The Best Examples Of “Unusual” Art These links are great both for English Language Learners and for my IB Theory of Knowledge students. The ELL’s can describe what they see, and both they and the TOK students can use them to debate if they are art, and if so, why. Here are my ...

Introducing…the Corporate Reform Action Pack! � Failing Schools

Introducing…the Corporate Reform Action Pack!

OCTOBER 11, 2010

by Sabrina

You know, the first time I read the manifesto by Klein, Rhee & company, I was pretty disgusted. It seemed like just another bit of heavy-handed propaganda from more or less the same people who are always hamming it up for the cameras to promote their ideologically driven vision for America’s schools.

But then I read it again. This time, I was inspired to join the McGraw family and everyone elsecashing in on America’s anxiety about public schooling tidal wave of pro-reform energy

Texting in class has become widespread �“ more than 40 percent of teens say they do it despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools ban cell phone use, according to a recent survey. - NorthJersey.com

Texting in class has become widespread �“ more than 40 percent of teens say they do it despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools ban cell phone use, according to a recent survey. - NorthJersey.com

Texting in class has become widespread €“ more than 40 percent of teens say they do it despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools ban cell phone use, according to a recent survey.

Monday, October 11, 2010

BY PATRICIA ALEX

THE RECORD

STAFF WRITER

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They text in their pockets, they text the person sitting next to them and they even text their parents.

"It’s addictive," said Joshua Ortiz, a senior at Clifton High School. "During class and in between classes and even when there’s a teacher around."

Texting in class has become widespread — more than 40 percent of teens say they do it despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools ban cellphone use, according to a recent survey.

Anecdotally, local teens say the percentage may be higher still, and educators concede that the phenomenon may be here to stay.

Arne Duncan and the Chicago Success Story: Myth or Reality? | Seattle Education 2010

Arne Duncan and the Chicago Success Story: Myth or Reality?

by seattleducation2010

Illustration: Michael Duffy

Posted in Spring 2009, Rethinking Schools

By Jitu Brown, Eric (Rico) Gutstein, and Pauline Lipman

When ex-President Bush was elected in 2000, he brought with him former Houston Superintendent of Education Rod Paige to be Secretary of Education. He also brought the “Texas miracle” who supposedly increased test scores attributed to Texas’ strict accountability system. All eyes smiled on Texas as those measures quickly became part of No Child Left Behind, passed into law in 2001 by both political parties. Before the end of Bush’s first term, Paige would leave in disgrace, thanks to revelations of cooked scores, forced-out students, and other

LAUSD Snooker OR Sustainable Public Education (LAUSD Snooker O Educaci�n P�blica Sostenible) - Perdaily.com

LAUSD Snooker OR Sustainable Public Education (LAUSD Snooker O Educación Pública Sostenible)

by Leonard

(en español después) If you have ever watched a professional snooker tournament, you come to a realization about those who are best at the game know how to play shape. While they are capable of making the impressive difficult shot, they only do so when a prior miscalculation has left them in a an impossible position. No great pool player would ever put themselves in a position where they had to make a difficult shot every time. They play shape, so that they can make it look relatively easy as they rack up points and victory.

In public education our formidable opponent is ignorance and it behooves us to also play shape, so that we can best use our limited resources in a manner that gets the best return on our investment. Sadly, what we have done up until now is set up a system of public education that makes it even more difficult, if not impossible, for

Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, October 11, 2010

Friday, October 8, 2010

"Superman" Visits the White House

Subjects, director Meet With Obama Today

By JOHN WIST

Updated 10:05 AM EDT, Mon, Oct 11, 2010

BY HOWARD BLUME, LOS ANGELES TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/9JTSUF

What’s churning:

It's just not true, as Ron Bancroft wrote, that teachers are a 'major force' against reform.

Teens urge parental involvement at suicide summit

Excerpt from voices.washingtonpost.com/answersheet

Introducing…the Corporate Reform Action Pack!