You can’t make this sh*t up. | Dailycensored.com

You can’t make this sh*t up. | Dailycensored.com

You can’t make this sh*t up.

Written by Ken_SayersDaily Journal (Opinion)Apr 11, 2011

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The First Amendment takes it in the shorts in Florida.

by Rick Flagg

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – There’s a new fashion statement in the halls of the state capitol. It’s a pink button that says “uterus.” It’s a protest against the flood of anti-abortions bills making their way through the legislature.

It all began when Rep. Scott Randolph ticked off republican leaders by using the word “uterus” on the house floor to make a point about hypocrisy.

“Given the Republican propensity to want to deregulate big Wall Street Corporations, perhaps the only way my wife could protect her rights was to incorporate her uteurus as a business,” Randolph said.

But the reaction to his statement was that he had spoken out

ThinkProgress » New ChamberLeaks Presentation Emerges, Details More Plans To Sabotage Liberals

ThinkProgress » New ChamberLeaks Presentation Emerges, Details More Plans To Sabotage Liberals

New ChamberLeaks Presentation Emerges, Details More Plans To Sabotage Liberals

In February, ThinkProgress broke a story revealing that attorneys for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had communicated with a set of military contractors — HBGary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies — to develop tactics for sabotaging and spying on the Chamber’s progressive critics. The Chamber attorneys and the security firms discussed targeting ChamberWatch, the SEIU, MoveOn, ThinkProgress, and other groups. The proposals details efforts to steal private computer information, spy on the families of the Chamber’s critics, and plant false documents within organizations opposed to the Chamber’s agenda.

ThinkProgress has uncovered yet another presentation from one of the private security firms describing plans for the Chamber. Because of a technical glitch, a few emails of the 75,000 emails leaked to the public from one of the defense firms did not process. One of the emails now processed correctly reveals yet another proposal,

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System | Truthout

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System | Truthout

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System

Monday 11 April 2011

by: Chris Hedges, Truthdig

(Photo: fling93)

A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and

A not-so-modest proposal - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

A not-so-modest proposal - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

A not-so-modest proposal

By Valerie Strauss

--

This was written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.

By Marion Brady

I have a proposal. Like my earlier ones to the U.S. Department of Education and members of the appropriate congressional committees, it will almost certainly be ignored. But when the “Save Our Schools: March and National Call to Action” brings thousands of people to Washington for three days at the end of July, the proposal may at least contribute to the dialogue.

FACT: We’re told that governments at all levels—federal, state, and local—are worse than broke, and that the services they provide,

Latin America Needs Investment in Teacher Training & Software - Hispanically Speaking News

Latin America Needs Investment in Teacher Training & Software - Hispanically Speaking News

STUDY: Latin America Needs Investment in Teacher Training & Education Software

Putting more computers in schools will do little to improve the quality of education in Latin America and the Caribbean unless countries invest in teacher training and educational software, according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In spite of a recent flurry of high-quality research on the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on education, significant uncertainty still remains about the effectiveness of these interventions in improving learning, especially in the case of very visible initiatives, such as providing

U.S. Education Secretary to Address Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress on the Importance of Family Engagement in Education | #parents

U.S. Education Secretary to Address Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress on the Importance of Family Engagement in Education | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Education Secretary to Address Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress on the Importance of Family Engagement in Education

Contact:

Jo Ann Webb, U.S. Department of Education, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

Catherine McManus, Parenting Magazine, (212) 779-5315 (office), (646) 245-0821 (cell) ,catherine.mcmanus@bonniercorp.com

Hannah Beck, Parenting Magazine, (212) 779-5313, (914) 714-8498 (cell) , hannah.beck@bonniercorp.com

Maggie Moore, Georgetown University, (202) 687-4328 , mem95@georgetown.edu

Event Date 1: April 12, 2011 08:00 am - 10:00 am

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will address the crucial role that parents play in their children’s education at Parenting Magazine’s second annual Mom Congress on Education and Learning conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He will give remarks at 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 12, before current mom delegates representing each state and Washington, D.C., as well as former mom delegates and attendees at the four-day conference April 10-13.

“If children are to succeed in school and in life, parents have to be committed and engaged in supporting their children’s education,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher—and no other job has such an enduring influence on children.”

The moms were chosen by Parenting magazine based on their accomplishments in improving local schools. The Mom Congress delegates each received an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., from Parenting to attend the event and will work with national leaders in education and advocacy, and faculty from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies throughout the four-day conference. For more information, visitwww.parenting.com/momcongress.

Parenting magazine launched the Mom Congress initiative in March 2009 to celebrate and connect mothers who were advocating for reform in their local school systems. One mother from every state and Washington, D.C., was selected, based on a review of applications, to participate in the congress as a delegate. The conference allows the 51 delegates to meet, discuss their concerns about the nation’s schools, and share success stories.

NOTE: Media interested in attending must RSVP to Maggie Moore at (202) 687-4328 ormem95@georgetown.edu. You must have valid media credentials at check-in.

Event 1

Who :	U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Ana Connery, editor-in-chief, Parenting magazine Robert Manuel, dean, Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies
What :	Remarks at Parenting magazine’s second annual Mom Congress
When :	8 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Where :	Georgetown University Copley Formal Lounge 37th and O Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C

This Week In Education: Teachers: Why's Chicago Such A Charter Unionization Hotbed?

This Week In Education: Teachers: Why's Chicago Such A Charter Unionization Hotbed?

Teachers: Why's Chicago Such A Charter Unionization Hotbed? [image: image from www.chicagonewscoop.org]Late last week the Chicago News Cooperative noted that 12 of Chicago's 85 charters are already unionized (or in process), and more may be on the way --probably the largest group of intentionally unionized ...

Media: A New Weekly Education Show From Bloomberg [image: ScreenHunter_06 Apr. 11 11.06] Careful readers of USA Today's recent test score scandal coverage might have noted mention of a Rhee interview with Bloomberg News. The mention was a reference to a new weekly radio show called Bloomberg EDU ...

Longtime Rhee champion calls for a federal investigation of Erasure Gate

Longtime Rhee champion calls for a federal investigation of Erasure Gate

Longtime Rhee champion calls for a federal investigation of Erasure Gate

by admin

This is a significant call from a longtime champion of Michelle Rhee, who now is calling for a federal investigation of the Erasure Gate cheating scandal.

This article was originally written by Jay Mathews, and was published on his Washington Post “Class Struggle” blog.

After briefly trying to brush off suggestions that recent test score gains are fraudulent, the D.C. public schools have adopted the right attitude about massive and mysterious wrong-to-right erasures of answers on the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System tests………Members of the DC State Board of Education want a deep

Charters: A Hotbed Of Unionization Efforts - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Charters: A Hotbed Of Unionization Efforts - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Charters: A Hotbed Of Unionization Efforts [image: image from www.chicagonewscoop.org]The Chicago News Cooperative notes that 12 of Chicago's 85 charters are already unionized (or in process), and more may be on the way --probably the largest group of unionized charters in the nation. What do ...

Food: Some Schools Ban Brown Bag Lunch [image: image from stratstars.pbworks.com]Seriously? Some principals do this? This is a big story? CPS ban on outside lunches raises questions Current: A Chicago Public Schools policy allowing principals to ban kids from bringing their own lunches is ...

AM News: No Cure For The Consolidation Blues [image: image from webmedia.newseum.org]Parents give CPS an earful about school consolidation proposals WBEZ: Chicago's Public school system is getting an earful from parents about its proposal to close some schools... Process of CPS changes brings ...

Are Wealthy Philanthropists Modern Janus? | Dissident Voice

Are Wealthy Philanthropists Modern Janus? | Dissident Voice

Are Wealthy Philanthropists Modern Janus?

by Kamalakar Duvvuru

In March 2011, American billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet visited India to persuade Indian billionaires to join The Giving Pledge, a campaign launched by the two in June 2010 to seek to get fellow billionaires to commit at least half of their wealth for philanthropy. Not surprisingly, there was a cold response from the Indians for the American tutorials on the “culture of giving”. The special visit of Gates and Buffet carries a condescending message. It implies somehow that Indian billionaires require the guidance of American billionaires to act responsibly and in the best interest of their society. What is deliberately ignored by the Americans is that philanthropy is neither a typical American concept nor an alien culture in India, although western media promote it otherwise. There is a rich tradition of giving in India that goes back centuries and still lives on. As Rahul Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Group, says, “India has a very old culture of giving, since the time of Buddha. The concept of philanthropy is not new to us.”

It is true that wealthy people throughout the world are in some way involved in philanthropic activities. Gates foundation, the richest charity in the world with an annual income equal to that of a small country, has undoubtedly been helping a lot of people around the world. However, philanthropy on the scale we see now can only exist in a fundamentally unequal society where a small minority of businessmen owns or controls large

The Tricky Business of Reauthorizing ESEA | The Forum for Education and Democracy

The Tricky Business of Reauthorizing ESEA | The Forum for Education and Democracy

The Tricky Business of Reauthorizing ESEA

by The Forum

If people agree on anything in Washington, they agree that the widely criticized No Child Left Behind needs to be changed.

But a chorus of civil rights, business and education groups is warning that a dramatic overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act could shortchange racial minorities, students with disabilities and other historically overlooked groups of students in the process.

The concerns underscore the tricky balance of making the law more flexible without losing accountability measures designed to shine a spotlight on the performance of students whose needs have been too often ignored.

Members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American Caucuses sent a letter in late March to lawmakers responsible for rewriting the law reminding them about the federal responsibility to require strong accountability for all schools and students.

read more

Education Research Report: Student Bullying and Victimization in Grades 3–8

Education Research Report: Student Bullying and Victimization in Grades 3–8

Student Bullying and Victimization in Grades 3–8

Ω

This REL Northwest study, Student-Reported Overt and Relational Aggression and Victimization in Grades 3–8, examined aggression, victimization, and approval of aggression among elementary and middle grades students in two Oregon counties. Data for the study were collected in 2005 through surveys; participation was voluntary. Students reported on beliefs about aggression, how frequently they were the victims or the perpetrators of either overt aggression (verbal and physically aggressive behavior intended to threaten or physically harm another student) or relational aggression (behaviors intended to harm another student’s relationships with others).

This study found that for students in grades 3-8, boys reported more overt victimization, overt aggression, and relational aggression than did girls; however, no significant differences were found in relational victimization reported by boys and girls. The study includes detailed summaries of students’ responses to specific questions about victimization and bullying.

Education Update – More, Many More, Emails to Come | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Education Update – More, Many More, Emails to Come | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington


By Anne Weismann

Education, For-Profit Education, Federal Agencies, Department of Education, Transparency

Recall that in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from CREW and then only after CREW filed a lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Education produced approximately 1900 pages of emails. These emails documented efforts by Wall Street investors to influence the outcome of Education’s regulation of the for-profit education industry, and the close ties between top Education officials and many in the non-profit education world.

Education claimed to had produced all its records. CREW disagreed, pointing out in a legal brief the myriad ways in which Education’s search clearly was deficient.

As Education now admits, CREW was right. Today, Education admitted to the court there are other documents. In fact, a new search uncovered approximately 10,000 new emails. Ten thousand – five times more than the agency’s initial (and far from complete) production. We can only wonder what this new stash of emails will reveal, but we will know soon enough. Education promises CREW will have them all in hand by April 22. Stay tuned.

One Day in March that Might Change the Way We Look at Testing | The Forum for Education and Democracy

One Day in March that Might Change the Way We Look at Testing | The Forum for Education and Democracy

One Day in March that Might Change the Way We Look at Testing

by The Forum

By daylight, USA Today had hit the streets. It didn’t take long for the story to be picked up by the blogosphere, on television and radio, and in other media outlets.

Michelle Rhee’s test-driven reforms in Washington, D.C., which supposedly resulted in higher test scores and the firing of hundreds of teachers, were tainted by allegations of widespread cheating, the newspaper reported.Did the culture of testing – bonuses to principals who raised scores, exile to those who didn’t – actually cause the cheating to occur, people began to ask.

read more

The Global Appreciation of Teachers | The Forum for Education and Democracy

The Global Appreciation of Teachers | The Forum for Education and Democracy

The Global Appreciation of Teachers

April 11, 2011 - Linda Darling-H...

The first ever International Summit on Teaching, convened last week in New York City, showed perhaps more clearly than ever that the United States has been pursuing an approach to teaching almost diametrically opposed to that pursued by the highest-achieving nations.

In a statement rarely heard these days in the United States, the Finnish Minister of Education launched the first session of last week’s with the words: “We are very proud of our teachers.” Her statement was so appreciative of teachers’ knowledge, skills, and commitment that one of the U.S. participants later confessed that he thought she was the teacher union president, who, it turned out, was sitting beside her agreeing with her

Don't Mourn, Organize

by Deborah Meier

(This was written before the events in Madison, Wisconsin, and my opportunity to join the rally for an afternoon--I will be posting my reaction to those events soon.)

Dear Readers,

read more

Mock, but verify. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Mock, but verify. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Mock, but verify.

by Fred Klonsky

The mockable Ben Velderman.

Blogger and Florida professor Sherman Dorn suggests that some folks have made too much of the Wisconsin GOP’s FOIA requests of University of Wisconsin historian William Cronon’s emails.

Dorn rejects the suggestion that this development is a form of McCarthyism.

If I get it right, Professor Dorn thinks we should make a distinction between McCarthyism, which he describes as a state-run affair, and the current situation, which he compares to the goofy anti-intellectualism of David

Guest Post: Prepare for the Day of Silence: Support Student-Activists « Feminist Teacher

Guest Post: Prepare for the Day of Silence: Support Student-Activists « Feminist Teacher

Guest Post: Prepare for the Day of Silence: Support Student-Activists

by feministteacher

Day of Silence, April 15, 2011

To help support educators sponsoring the Day of Silence in their schools, I asked Elizabeth J. Meyer to write a guest post providing advice for this Friday’s national event. Meyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She is the author of two books: Gender, bullying, and harassment: Strategies to end sexism and homophobia in schools (2009) and Gender and sexual diversity in schools (2010). She blogs regularly for Psychology Today and the Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy.

I was excited to get the invitation to write this guest post about the upcoming Day of Silence (DOS) on Friday, April 15, 2011. This is an important event that is taking place in high schools and universities across the country and I was asked to offer some suggestions for educators on how best to support students who have decided to