Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Yale fraternity under fire for alleged misogyny - Boston.com

Yale fraternity under fire for alleged misogyny

By Stephanie Reitz

Associated Press Writer / October 19, 2010

Text size – +

HARTFORD, Conn.—Members of a Yale fraternity that counts both Bush presidents among its famous alumni and whose pledges were ordered to chant obscenities against women are getting a visit from concerned officials of the national organization.

Delta Kappa Epsilon, which was founded at Yale in 1855, has been under fire since amateur video appeared online of pledges marching through the New Haven campus on Oct. 13, chanting about women in the context of necrophilia and a specific sexual act.

Some students and members of the Yale Women's Center board complained, and Delta Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity ordered the chapter to stop all pledge activities until further notice.

Although chapter leaders have apologized, the national organization said in a written statement that it is sending its director to New Haven this weekend to

HechingerEd Blog | Gwinnett County, a model for the nation to follow?

Gwinnett County, a model for the nation to follow?

by Sarah Garland

Georgia, as a second-round winner in President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top competition, was already getting some attention for its ideas on education reform. For one thing, it’s among the few states that participated in the competition that plans to use some of its funding to pay for early education initiatives.

Today, the state is getting more attention with the announcement that Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta, has won the $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, which funds college scholarships for high school students. The county has outperformed similar districts in the state and also has one of the smallest achievement gaps. It was a finalist for the prize last year.

This year’s four finalists, each of which will receive $250,000 for college scholarships, are the Charlotte-

Schools Matter: No Child Left Unfed

No Child Left Unfed

Sent to the Washington Post, October 19, 2010

There is overwhelming evidence that poverty is indeed the problem in education: Studies show that middle-class American children attending well-funded schools are among the highest achievers in the world. The best way to raise school achievement is to protect children from the disadvantages of poverty, through health care, nutrition, and access to books.

The D.C. schools dinner program (October 19) is a strong step in this direction: "Food insecurity" is related to lower reading ability, slower language development, behavior problems, and missing school. Improving nutrition and preventing childhood hunger will

Legend of the Fall: Snapshots of What’s Wrong in the Education Debate | Dailycensored.com

Legend of the Fall: Snapshots of What’s Wrong in the Education Debate

by Paul Thomas

Bill Maher presents viewers of his HBO series, Real Time, with a mix of satire and serious considerations of topics and ideas often ignored in our wider public discourse. During his 15 October 2010 episode—with panelists John Legend, Markos Moulitsas, Dana Loesch, and Dan Neil—Maher shifted the discussion to education after identifying the documentary Waiting for Superman a great film.

After praising the documentary, which has received unmatched media support including a week-long focus on education by NBC and an episode of Oprah dedicated to the film, Maher offered facts he had learned from the film. While Maher at first appeared to have accepted the film uncritically, he did turn on the basic argument of the documentary—that the teaching profession is bloated with bad teachers who need to be weeded out in order to save our schools and those children trapped in bad schools—and raised the possibility that educational

Obama signs order aimed to improve achievement among Hispanic students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Obama signs order aimed to improve achievement among Hispanic students

by Gustavo Martínez

When President Barack Obama renewed the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanicstoday, he did it having in mind that many of those students are undocumented immigrants who find obstacles when trying to attend college, education officials said.

Image:

Gov. Christie invites former Washington D.C. schools chief to consider N.J. education commissioner job | NJ.com

Gov. Christie invites former Washington D.C. schools chief to consider N.J. education commissioner job

Published: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 1:57 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 2:33 PM

Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
Follow

Story tools

Alex Wong/Getty ImagesDistrict of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee speaks during a news conference October 13, 2010 at Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

10Share

14 Comments

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has courted Michelle Rhee to become the state’s next education commissioner, but the job’s distance from her family may prove an insurmountable stumbling block, two officials familiar with the negotiations said.

When state officials initially approached Rhee, the former chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools, she quickly turned back the overture, thinking the governor wanted her to make a lateral move and run the Newark Public Schools. Even Oprah Winfrey endorsed the possibility of Rhee becoming Newark’s next superintendent.

In fact, the Christie administration wanted Rhee to consider the vacant state education commissioner’s post, a more attractive offer to her because it signified a step up on the ladder of national education reform influence, according to sources who sought anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential matters. But the state could not get Rhee “past the gate” because of frustration that a move to New Jersey would take her away from her family.

Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor, would not comment on the state's search for a new education commissioner.

Speaking on CNN earlier today, Rhee would not confirm

2010 Broad Prize Finalists - The Broad Prize for Urban Education

2010 Broad Prize Finalists

The 2010 Broad Prize winner is:

Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta

The 2010 Broad Prize finalist school districts are:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.

Montgomery County Public Schools, Md.

Socorro Independent School District, El Paso, Texas

Ysleta Independent School District, El Paso, Texas

Click on the finalist districts on the map below to download additional information.

Rahm meets with the Trib. Rahm speaks jibberish. Trib understands. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Rahm meets with the Trib. Rahm speaks jibberish. Trib understands.

by preaprez

Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel met with the Trib as part of his pre-campaign listening tour. Rahm hasn’t formally announced that he’s running yet.

In his discussions with the Trip editors he took a common approach used by Chicago pols: speak jibberish.

Focusing on education, Rahm said he thought it would be good to take Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top idea and

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Jumping the shark?

Jumping the shark?

by Mike Klonsky

The phrase "jump the shark" refers to the climactic scene in Happy Days in September 1977. In this story, the central characters visit Los Angeles, where Fonzie (Henry Winkler), wearing swimming trunks and his leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark on water skis, [Winkler--not the shark. m.k.] answering a challenge to demonstrate his bravery. --Wikipedia

Russo tweets that I jumped over the shark when I compared Michelle Rhee with Sarah Palin. Did I really do

Charter school applicants hope to boost number of charter schools in N.J. cities | NJ.com

Charter school applicants hope to boost number of charter schools in N.J. cities

Published: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 1:18 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 1:18 PM

Rohan Mascarenhas/The Star-Ledger
Follow

Story tools

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerBernard Strickland, 10, and Jasmine Nazaire, 10, draw the bones of the hand during an art class at Discovery Charter School in Newark. Ten charter school operators have applied to open up a school in Newark.

1 Comments

TRENTON — New Jersey's urban education sector could see a shakeup in the coming years, as more charter school operators continue to look to open schools in the state's cities.

Most of the 50 charter school applications received by the state Department of Education ask to open schools in urban areas, particularly Camden, Newark and Jersey City.

The list, released by the department today, shows Newark has attracted the most interest, with ten operators hoping to open charter schools there.

A small percentage of the applications also hope to open schools in suburban areas, including Montclair. The full list can be viewed here.

Currently, 73 charter schools serve 26,000 students in New Jersey, a group that accounts for 1.4 percent of the state's

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, October 19, 2010