U.S. campaign takes on anti-gay bullying in school

U.S. campaign takes on anti-gay bullying in school

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By Nick Anderson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 26, 2010; 12:10 AM

The Obama administration is launching a campaign to prevent anti-gay bullying and other harassment at school, advising educators that federal law protects students from many forms of discrimination.

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• U.S. campaign takes on anti-gay bullying in school
• 44: Obama: 'Things will get better'

The advisory from the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, to be made public Tuesday, does not break new legal ground, officials said. But the officials described it as the federal government's most comprehensive guidance to date on how civil rights law applies to the sort of campus situations that in some cases have led persecuted students to commit suicide. President Obama is expected tohelp promote the initiative.

"We've got to dispel this myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage," Obama said in a video posted last week on the White House Web site.

"Our goal here is to provide school districts, colleges and universities with details about

Joel Klein sends letter to city teachers, principals, defending controversial teacher ratings

Joel Klein sends letter to city teachers, principals, defending controversial teacher ratings

BY MEREDITH KOLODNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, October 26th 2010, 4:00 AM

Monaster/News

Joel Klein sent a letter to teachers and principals on Monday to defend the teacher ratings that the city may make public.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein reached out directly to teachers and principals on Monday to defend the controversial teacher ratings the city may make public.

In a letter to school staff, Klein acknowledged that the rating system doesn't tell the whole story about teacher performance.

But he said it gives parents information that they want and need.

"Parents have been left out of the equation, left to pray each year that the teacher greeting their children on the first day of school is truly great, but with no real knowledge of whether that is the case, and with no recourse if it's not," Klein wrote.

Critics have called the rating system inaccurate, in part because it is based on tests state officials have now said are unreliable indicators of student learning.

Klein said that it is hard "to discern definitive evidence from data alone" in the case of average teachers.

But he said the ratings give a clearer picture of the stars and the dunces in the school system. "(W)here teachers have performed consistently toward the top or the bottom, year after year, these data surely tell us something very important," he wrote.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/26/2010-10-26_dont_fear_teachers_ratings_pleads_klein.html?r=ny_local/education#ixzz13SxkJbj7

Lessons from high-performing districts | Thoughts on Public Education

Lessons from high-performing districts | Thoughts on Public Education

Lessons from high-performing districts

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They're good at working with data and with teachers

Posted on 10/26/10 • Categorized as Data, Teacher Development

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Impressive things are happening in little known districts like Sanger (10,000 students) and Hawthorne (9,000) as well as in bigger districts like Long Beach (the state’s third largest, with 88,000), Fresno (fourth largest), and Garden Grove (eleventh largest).

Significant numbers of English learners and minority students are becoming proficient on state tests in each of the districts. The progress has been consistent and impressive. And it’s been largely under the radar.

True, two of the districts have won the Broad Prize honoring the best in urban education (Long Beach in 2003 and Garden Grove in 2004), and three (Long Beach, Sanger, and

Whitman plan — school grades, charters, merit pay — is right for us

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Posted on 10/26/10 • Categorized as 2010 elections, Charters, Pay

By Jim Russell

Every four years, candidates for governor in California campaign on making our schools better. As a school principal, most recently at a Silicon Valley high school, I pay close attention to what they have to say. To be honest, I’m usually unimpressed by the politicians’ promises or don’t believe they have the independence to deliver on their promises.

This year I feel differently. Meg Whitman understands that there is no one-size-fits-all answer and has a multi-pronged plan that at its core holds all of us accountable – from elected officials to principals to classroom teachers to parents.

I recently retired as principal of Del Mar High School, which we turned from an underperforming school into a California Distinguished School. Meg Whitman believes, as I do, that all children can learn. She also believes that schools are for kids, not for status quo bureaucrats and teachers unions.

First, here are the facts. Despite spending half of our general fund on K-12 and higher 

Bullying Based on Sexual Orientation May Violate Civil Rights, Ed. Dept. Warns - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Bullying Based on Sexual Orientation May Violate Civil Rights, Ed. Dept. Warns - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Bullying Based on Sexual Orientation May Violate Civil Rights, Ed. Dept. Warns

by Alyson Klein

By guest blogger Christina A. Samuels

Certain types of harassment rooted in sexual orientation or religious differences may be a federal civil rights violation, even though members of those groups are not specifically protected in federal law, according to new guidance released today by the U.S. Department of Education's office of civil rights.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act already prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin; Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibit discrimination based on disability status. Many local districts and schools have anti-bullying and harassment policies that go beyond those protected groups, said Russlyn H. Ali, the department's assistant secretary for civil rights.

But even when local agencies do not have such policies, federal law imposes obligations on schools, she said.

Comprehensive Teacher Induction Study Reveals No Impact on Teacher Retention, Mixed Findings on Student Achievement - Perdaily.com

Comprehensive Teacher Induction Study Reveals No Impact on Teacher Retention, Mixed Findings on Student Achievement - Perdaily.com

Comprehensive Teacher Induction Study Reveals No Impact on Teacher Retention, Mixed Findings on Student Achievement

by Leonard

(Mensaje se repite en Español) At the beginning of the Vietnam War Era I was going to school at UCLA where I had a professor named H. Arthur Steiner. He pointed out one day that although the United States had the greatest authorities on Southeast Asia, they were completely ignored in this country's formulation of policy and ultimately war in Southeast Asia. Because he had been a major in the Marine Corp with extensive experience in Asia, those in Washington thought he would tell them what they wanted to hear about the war they were getting into in Vietnam. When he explained that the Domino Theory as espoused by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and others was completely false, because it did not take into consideration the historic animosity between the Chinese and the Vietnamese, he was never called again.

The same form of intransigent militant ignorance is true with those who have power in public education reform in the United States. At perdaily, we have often quoted Diane Ravitch, Charles Kerschner, Lois Weiner, and others who have a clear understanding and historical perspective as to what it would take to truly turn around public education, but those in control of policy continue to ignore their rational approach to fixing our public education

Portland Superintendent Carole Smith gets glowing evaluation, three-year contract extension | OregonLive.com

Portland Superintendent Carole Smith gets glowing evaluation, three-year contract extension | OregonLive.com

Portland Superintendent Carole Smith gets glowing evaluation, three-year contract extension

Published: Monday, October 25, 2010, 7:17 PM Updated: Monday, October 25, 2010, 7:37 PM

Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
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Portland Superintendent Carole Smith got a glowing performance evaluation and a three-year contract extension tonight from the school board that hired her three years ago. They praised her as a thoughtful, respectful leader who empowers district employees, displays impeccable integrity, cares deeply about equity for students and is a good communicator.

Their evaluation, adopted on a 6-0 vote, made note of the fact that she failed to meet any of the three key student achievement targets she and the school board had agreed she should strive for, but emphasized that "the board is encouraged by results in individual schools."

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"We have, overall, a really, really strongsense of satisfaction with the superintendent's performance," board co-chairwoman Trudy Sargent said.

"Her personal and professional strength is everything for this district," echoed board member Ruth Adkins.

Even so, Smith won't get a raise -- because she preempted that by declaring she and all district employees who report directly to her would have their pay frozen this school year, even as most other employees got a 2 percent cost-of-living raise.

Smith earns $190,000 and has declined to accept a raise every year since she became

Isaac Newton, Pieces of Eight, and Project Win-Win

Isaac Newton, Pieces of Eight, and Project Win-Win

Isaac Newton, Pieces of Eight, and Project Win-Win

by Kevin Carey

There’s a vein of skepticism running through this Chronicle article on “Project Win-Win” that reveals a lot about the flaws in our system of higher education credentialing. The Project is designed to track down students who have earned enough (or almost enough) credits to merit a college degree but don’t have a degree and award them a degree.There are more people like this than you might think. But the author, Jennifer Gonzalez, questions the value of the effort:

Putting more degrees into people’s hands certainly contributes to the tally of Americans who hold them, although it does little to increase the nation’s educational capital.

I think this fundamentally misunderstands the nature of “educational capital.” That widely-used phrase has non-

Facebook | Consumer Groups Join Dave Jones at Mercury Insurance HQ to Protest Insurance Companies $5.7M to Buy Insurance Commissioner Race

Facebook | Consumer Groups Join Dave Jones at Mercury Insurance HQ to Protest Insurance Companies $5.7M to Buy Insurance Commissioner Race

Consumer Groups Join Dave Jones at Mercury Insurance HQ to Protest Insurance Companies $5.7M to Buy

Today two of California's most important consumer advocacy groups - The Consumer Federation of California and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (C.A.R.S.) - joined me to protest the $5.7 million that the insurance industry is spending to elect my opponent - an anti-consumer, pro-insurance industry candidate.

Thank you to the many consumers who joined us outside the headquarters of Mercury Insurance whose CEO has personally contributed $1 million to the negative attack ads designed to defeat my candidacy.

"Not since the days when Chuck Quackenbush was driven out of the Insurance Commissioner's office have we seen insurance companies spend this kind of money to dictate who our next Insurance Commissioner will be," said Richard Holober, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California.

So far, insurance companies have contributed $5.7 million to an "independent expenditure" committee sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce that is running a negative ad campaign against me throughout the state.

By laundering contributions through the California Chamber of Commerce, insurance companies are hiding from voters that it's the insurance industry paying for the attack ads.

"Voters have a right to know that insurance companies are funding the attack ads against Dave Jones, who has been a strong, pro-consumer champion," said Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (C.A.R.S.) "Mercury General and other insurers clearly think that Dave Jones' opponent will favor them, against consumers."

The insurance companies funding the California Chamber of Commerce's negative campaign are:

Allstate: $1.15 million

George Joseph , CEO, Mercury Insurance: $1 million

Liberty Mutual: $640,000

Progressive: $390,000

Farmers: $225,000

Anthem Blue Cross: $150,000

Health Net: $100,000

American Insurance Association IE PAC: $52,000

Personal Insurance Federation of CA: $25,000

In addition to the attack ads funded by the insurance contributions listed above, the California Chamber of Commerce ran a $2 million issue ad campaign for my opponent, once again hiding the source of the funds.

This brings the total amount spent to $5.7 million to elect an Insurance Commissioner who will favor the insurance industry over consumers.

"Insurance Companies have a lot at stake since the next Insurance Commissioner will be responsible for implementing national health care reform," said Laurel Kaufer, an Anthem Blue Cross customer whose rates were almost increased by 34% this year. "Dave Jones supports national health care reform. His opponent does not."

I am proud to be on the side of California's consumers. We may not have the millions of dollars that the insurance industry has, but I know that voters will see through their deceptive campaign.

There's no doubt that we have a tough fight ahead of us in the next 7 days. Please contact everyone you know and tell them about the insurance industry's deceptive campaign, and ask them to vote for me on Election Day!

It's time we had an Insurance Commissioner who is on the side of California's consumers and not the insurance industry.

Thanks for your continued support,

DAVE JONES
Candidate for Insurance Commissioner

P.S. Please send an email to everyone you know today and ask them to vote for Dave Jones for Insurance Commissioner!

Student Learning Expectations Gap Can Be Twice the Size of National Black-White Achievement Gap, New Report Details | American Institutes for Research

Student Learning Expectations Gap Can Be Twice the Size of National Black-White Achievement Gap, New Report Details | American Institutes for Research

Student Learning Expectations Gap Can Be Twice the Size of National Black-White Achievement Gap, New Report Details

Monday, October 25, 2010

• Report: International Benchmarking: State Education Performance Standards
• File: Chart: 2007 State Assessments of 4th Grade Student Proficiency in Mathematics (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – The gap in what students are expected to know in each state varies so greatly that the difference in student expectations between the states with the most rigorous assessments and those with the least stringent is twice the size of the national black-white achievement gap, according to a new report by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

For comparison, while black students are falling nearly two grade levels behind their white peers in knowledge and achievement, what students are expected to know in one state may be up to four grade levels behind the expectations set in another state.

At a time when student assessments are increasingly being used to judge how well students are learning, teachers are teaching and schools are performing – and the stakes involved are growing to include hiring and firing decisions, funding allocation and whether or not a school even remains open –

Bullying Speaker Tony Bartoli--STAND!, Stop BULLYING!

If You've ever been there YOU KNOW what it's like. It affects thousands of teenagers, Kids, students EVERY day in Schools all across America. And not only in schools. It affects the BULLIED students and yes, it affects the Bullies. Bullying affects adults. Tony Bartoli teaches across the country on key ways to handle BULLYING. Watch the Vid and consider Tony!

600,000 local government salaries posted online | California Watch

600,000 local government salaries posted online | California Watch

600,000 local government salaries posted online

by Chase Davis

Chase Davis

State Controller John Chiang today made good on a promise to post an online database of salary and benefits for hundreds of thousands of local government employees around the state.

So far, the database includes salary and benefit information for nearly 600,000 employees in more than 400 cities and about 40 counties statewide. The famous six-figure Bell salaries are included, although data from the city of Vernon, whose employees' big paydays are also under investigation, has not yet been collected.

Dozens of cities and counties have not yet filed reports and could face penalties for not doing so.

"The absence of transparency and accountability invites corruption, self-dealing and the abuse of public funds,"

Klein: ratings are useful for the worst and best teachers | GothamSchools

Klein: ratings are useful for the worst and best teachers | GothamSchools

Klein: ratings are useful for the worst and best teachers

by Anna Phillips

For parents of students in the “average” city teacher’s class, learning the teacher’s rating may not tell them very much, Chancellor Joel Klein wrote in a letter to principals today.

In his email, Klein explained the city’s decision to release release teachers’ effectiveness ratings and the teachers union’s move to block this from happening. He noted that the ratings, which measure teachers against estimations of how much their students’ test scores ought to rise, would be most useful in identifying very high and low performing teachers. He wrote:

One indication will never tell the whole story, and sometimes it is hard to discern definitive

Onus Shmonus. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Onus Shmonus. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Onus Shmonus.

OCTOBER 25, 2010

tags: collective bargaining

by Fred Klonsky

Union hater Mike Antonucci claims that since states with collective bargaining laws pay their teachers more than right-to-work non-union states the “onus,” as he puts it, is on unions to show they are worth what he calculates as the extra 20% that unionized teachers get paid.

Of course, Alexander Russo repeats this nonsense on his blog.

But Antonucci’s hatred for unions blinds him. He at once admits that teacher salaries and students scores are not to be correlated and then he proceeds to correlate them.

But collective bargaining is what it says it is: An agreement between the board of education, which usually is elected and represents the community’s financial interest, and the teachers union, which represents their members on issues of working conditions and wages. The