Monday, October 18, 2010

CENSORED IN 1994: THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE IN POVERTY | Dailycensored.com

CENSORED IN 1994: THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE IN POVERTY

Written by Carl JensenDaily Journal (Opinion), Deja VuOct 18, 2010

CENSORED IN 1994:

THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE IN POVERTY

Want to know what is the hottest new profit center for big blue-chip corporations like ITT, General Motors, American Express, and others? The acceptable term is “fringe banking,” the less acceptable, but more accurate, term is “loan sharking.”

Fringe banks are pawn shops and check cashing outlets–operations that serve low-income people, usually in urban ghettos, who don’t fit into the picture at mainstream banks.

Interest on pawn shop loans typically runs over 200 percent, and check cashers charge two to 10 percent of a check’s value for cashing it. These are just two examples of the ways some large U.S. corporations are profiting from the cycle of poverty, particularly in the South.

This story appeared in the Fall 1993 issue of Southern Exposure. It

Applause for Ackerman nationally, but locally rhetoric doesn't match reality | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Applause for Ackerman nationally, but locally rhetoric doesn't match reality

by Helen Gym

I want to be the first to applaud Superintendent Arlene Ackerman for her recent letter to the editor in theWashington Post, which distanced herself from a controversial op-ed fronted by NYC Chancellor Joel Klein and D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Ackerman’s letter was not only a thoughtful critique of the Klein/Rhee op-ed, but the first step on the national stage by a major superintendent to challenge the bad teacher/good charter stereotype now making the national media rounds.

The only drawback? I guess I’m disappointed how Ackerman’s rhetoric has not quite made it to reality here in Philadelphia.

Reading List: Best Edu-Candidate Name Ever - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Reading List: Best Edu-Candidate Name Ever

by Alyson Klein

The Friday Reading list is really best enjoyed on Monday afternoon.

Check out these good reads:

*So whatever happened to all that great, unprecedented technical support that states were supposed to get from the U.S. Department of Education for the $4 billion Race to the Top competition? Well, it looks like ICF Incorporated, a Virginia based firm, got more than $42 million in federal funding to help out with that. (Here's a department of education notice about one $38 million grant. Plus, ICF got an additional nearly $5 million on top of that, also for Race to the Top technical assistance.)

Over $40 million in technical assistance money is nothing to sneeze at, remember states winning an actual RTT

Gay activist Dan Savage to visit Pacific University | OregonLive.com

Gay activist Dan Savage to visit Pacific University

Published: Monday, October 18, 2010, 10:47 AM Updated: Monday, October 18, 2010, 11:17 AM

Kelly House, The Oregonian
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Gay activist and author Dan Savage will visit Pacific University on Nov. 4 to deliver his "Savage Love Live" presentation.

Savage, author of the nationally-syndicated Savage Love advice column, has attracted attention in recent weeks for his It Gets Better Project, which features video messages from gay individuals, discouraging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth from attempting suicide.

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Savage began the project in September, in response to the suicide of Indiana 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who was harassed for being gay. The project quickly gained national attention, following Rutgers University student Tyler Clemente's suicide. Clemente jumped from a bridge after two schoolmates secretly taped and streamed online a video of his sexual encounter with a man in his dorm room.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | So-Called Education Manifesto More Rhetoric Than Solution

So-Called Education Manifesto More Rhetoric Than Solution

by Mike Hall, Oct 18, 2010


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Last week, a group of big city school superintendents offered a so-called “manifesto” to fix the nation’s schools. AFT President Randi Weingarten says that although the manifesto’s goals are lofty, it offers few concrete solutions.

The manifesto, wrote Valerie Strauss, a Washington Post education reporter,

was long on rhetoric and short on substance…views charter schools as a big answer to urban school failure, bashes teachers unions and supports market-driven “fixes” to schools.

Weingarten says the manifesto’s only specific remedy to fix ailing school, “shifting sole responsibility to teachers” and offers a different approach.

Let’s come together—teachers, superintendents, principals, parents and community members–and develop a joint manifesto about how to best educate all of our kids. After all, superintendents have a responsibility not only to demand excellence and accountability from others, but also to ensure that teachers have the resources to help their students succeed.

She calls for more collaboration among teachers, superintendents, school districts and elected officials to share strategies that work for teacher development, mentoring and evaluation practices and achievement gains.

In the area of teacher development, Weingarten says AFT has worked with experts and

Angle to Hispanic children: "Some of you look a little more Asian to me" - Politics: Ralston's Flash - Las Vegas Sun

Angle to Hispanic children: “Some of you look a little more Asian to me”

By Jon Ralston · October 18, 2010 · 8:02 AM

RELATED FILES

See video of Angle with kids

As more of the video surfaces from GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle's meeting last week with Rancho High School's Hispanic kids, the more bizarre it gets. Elsewhere on this blog, I have posted the video of her claiming an infamous still she and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter used in an ad, an incendiary image of Hispanic thugs, may not have been an image of Hispanics. That was nutty enough. But at the same meeting, according to video I have obtained and taken by one of the Hispanic students, she said some of the kids looked more Asian.

Strange? You be the judge.

Video at right. Transcript is here:

"So that’s what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don’t know that. [Note: it's the Hispanic Student

California Governor, Schools Chief Square Off Over Data System - State EdWatch - Education Week

California Governor, Schools Chief Square Off Over Data System

by Sean Cavanagh

California finally has a state budget, even if many observers say the $87.5 billion spending plan will do little to solve the state's enduring financial woes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has since weighed in with a series of line-item vetoes, and one of them in particular—to the state's problem-plagued school data system—has drawn the wrath of state schools superintendent Jack O'Connell.

O'Connell called the veto "shortsighted, ill-informed, and hypocrticial," and says it will hinder the implementation of California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, known as CALPADS.

The schools chief says the veto would cut $6.8 million from CALPADS, which is designed to allow for an examination of student test scores, demographic data, teacher assignment by course and individual students'

Shanker Blog � Waiting for Methodology Man

WAITING FOR METHODOLOGY MAN

by Matthew Di Carlo

I finally saw the entire “Waiting for Superman” movie last weekend, in a mostly-empty Georgetown theatre. I went with my mother, not just because she’s a great public school teacher, but also because I needed someone to hold me while I watched.

We both had strong reactions to dozens of things about the film, and you almost have to admire the chutzpah. It is about education – with a primary focus on teachers – and includes sit-down interviews with superintendents, parents, students, businessmen, economists, and journalists, but not one teacher.

Given all the attention that has already been lavished on it, I’ll discuss just one other thing that struck me, one which I keep hearing elsewhere. There is exactly one sentence in the whole film in which director Davis Guggenheim addresses the research on charter school effects beyond the anecdotal evidence that dominates

Baltimore Contract Grants “Achievement Units” for Union Work | Intercepts

Baltimore Contract Grants “Achievement Units” for Union Work

by Mike Antonucci

Here’s a provision of the proposed Baltimore Teachers Union contract that escaped my notice but caught the eye of the editors of the Washington Post. The tentative agreement – voted down by the BTU rank-and-file – proposes a system by which teachers would be paid not strictly according to years and college credits, but by “achievement units” accumulated.

A teacher would receive 12 AUs for the highest grade on an evaluation and 1 AU for each college credit. But work your way to page 9 of the tentative agreement and you find a teacher is to be awarded 3 AUs annually for being a union building representative.

District and union officials have made it plain that

We Could Use a Good Myth �Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

We Could Use a Good Myth

by Dean Shareski

This story is posted over at the Huffington Post. Read it here but comment over there. Also, this is not a paid gig. As I told the editors when they invited me, I barely understand politics and I'm Canadian. Yet they still asked me to write. Go figure.

Full disclosure: I'm not an American. I'm Canadian — which isn't all that significant outside of the fact that most, if not all the discussions here on The Huffington Post Education's page are often centered around all that's wrong with American education; most recently around the controversial documentary Waiting for 'Superman' and all the hoopla that ensued.

I've spent enough time reading and interacting with my colleagues to the south to know and sometimes share their deep discontent when it comes to education. The educators I know are passionate, caring people — a few of whom are writing for The Huffington Post. The issue of reform isn't exclusively a U.S. issue by any means. Yet there is a certain angst and polarizing nature to the conversation as Americans seek to figure out what their

This Week In Education: Testing: Don't Blame NCLB For IL Testing Hijinks

This Week In Education: Testing: Don't Bl

Testing: Don't Blame NCLB For IL Testing Hijinks
by Alexander Russo
For years the Illinois tests (ISAT and PSAE) just seem to have been getting easier and easier. Fewer questions, lower cut scores, etc. It seemed that had come to and end but the Tribune finds that it keeps on happening -- and the state is claiming that it's just a statistical equating process (New ISAT lets kids pass with more wrong answers). Others disagree: "It absolutely

Voter Registration Deadline Today - Elections & Voter Information - California Secretary of State

Voter Registration - Elections & Voter Information - California Secretary of State

Voter Registration

Frequently Asked Questions

This webpage contains information about registering to vote in California. If you have a question that you do not see answered here, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Are You Already Registered to Vote?

To find out if you are currently registered to vote, visit the Secretary of State's Check Status of Your Voter Registration web page. If you are not registered to vote, you can follow the simple steps below.

Registering to Vote

You may register to vote in California if:

You are a United States citizen
You are a resident of California
You are at least 18 years of age (or will be by the date of the next election)
You are not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction. For more information on the rights of people who have been incarcerated, please see the Secretary of State's Voting Guide for Currently or Formerly Incarcerated Californians.
You have not been judged by a court to be mentally incompetent

California Registration Deadlines

California Voter Registration
Deadlines for Upcoming Elections
Election Date	Your registration must be postmarked no later than:
November 2, 2010 (General Election)	October 18, 2010
November 2, 2010 (Primary, Senate District 1)	October 18, 2010
January 4, 2011 (General, Senate District 1)	December 20, 2010

How You Can Register to Vote

Fill Out A Voter Registration Form Now

Simply step through the screens and fill in the information requested on the form. Then print it, sign it, and mail it directly to the county elections office address that is pre-printed on the form. If you have any questions, you may contact the Elections Division atelections@sos.ca.gov or (800) 345-8683.

Multilingual Voter Assistance

For a voter registration form in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, visit the Secretary of State'sMultilingual Voter Services web page.

Pick Up A Voter Registration Form

You can pick up a voter registration form at your county elections office, library, or U.S. Post Office. It is important that your voter registration form be filled out completely and be postmarked or hand-delivered to your county elections office at least 15 days before the election.

If you are enrolled in California's Confidential Address Program, Safe At Home, please do not attempt to register to vote using this site. To register to vote, contact the Safe At Home program toll free at (877) 322-5227 or by email at safeathome@sos.ca.gov.

Military and Overseas Voter Information

Includes United States Citizens who are members of the Uniformed Services (on active duty) and their eligible dependents, members of the Merchant Marine and their eligible dependents, Commissioner Corps of the Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or United States citizens residing outside the United States.

When to Re-Register to Vote

You will need to re-register to vote when:

You move to a new permanent residence
You change your name
You change your political party choice

As a California voter, you should be aware that in some areas, local elections are held on dates that do not coincide with statewide election dates. The 15-day close of registration deadline for these local elections varies depending on the actual date of the election. If you need to know a deadline for a local election, contact your county elections office.

Voter Registration Deadlines

In California, the deadline to register to vote for an election is 15 days before each local and statewide Election Day, so please register early!

Voter Registration Drives

Anyone distributing voter registration cards in California should be familiar with the rules and regulations for conducting voter registration drives. For information, please read the Secretary of State's Guide to Voter Registration Drives.

Statement of Distribution Form for Voter Registration Cards

Anyone requesting 50 or more voter registration cards from the Secretary of State must complete and submit a Statement of Distribution Form and a plan of distribution to the Secretary of State.

The statement and plan of distribution can be mailed or faxed to:

California Secretary of State

Elections Division

1500 11th Street, 5th Floor

Sacramento, CA 95814

Fax: (916) 653-3214

The Secretary of State's Elections Division will process the request within 48 hours of receiving it. For additional assistance, please contact the Secretary of State's Elections Division at (916) 657-2166.

Report of Registration

The Secretary of State is responsible for producing a statistical report detailing voter registration numbers in California several times per year. To view these reports, please go to Report of Registration.

Additional Assistance

For additional assistance with voter registration, please contact the Secretary of State's office at the following toll-free numbers:

English: (800) 345-8683
Chinese: (800) 339-2857
Japanese: (800) 339-2865
Korean: (866) 575-1558
Spanish: (800) 232-8682
Tagalog: (800) 339-2957
Vietnamese: (800) 339-8163

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