Sunday, June 5, 2011

Maria Shriver on Alzheimer’s and Women: Hope Over Fear | BlogHer

Maria Shriver on Alzheimer’s and Women: Hope Over Fear

October 20, 2010 9:32 am by Maria Shriver in Life

BLOGHER ORIGINAL POST

Try to remember what you were doing a minute ago. Got it? Now wrap your brains around this: In the past minute, another American developed a fatal disease that will slowly erase the personality and a lifetime of memories. That person will either die with that disease or from it, because there is no cure. That disease is Alzheimer’s, and it’s a growing national epidemic.

Right now, Alzheimer’s disease is like an earthquake rumbling deep in the core of our society, and women are at its epicenter. Women are fully two-thirds of the people with Alzheimer’s. They are also 60 percent of the unpaid caregivers of loved ones who have it. In every way, Alzheimer’s is a mind-blowing disease -- not just for the people who get it, but for everyone around them.

Believe me, I know. When my father, Sargent Shriver, was diagnosed back in 2003, my mother, four brothers and I all felt we were entering a world that was

The birth of the CIO | SocialistWorker.org

The birth of the CIO

Bill Roberts explains how the deep setbacks for the U.S. labor movement in the 1920s were only the prelude for the mass unionization struggles of the 1930s.

June 3, 2011

Pennsylvania members of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee in front of their office Pennsylvania members of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee in front of their office

THE BIRTH of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) ushered in a period of labor militancy that transformed the American labor movement.

For a 10-year period, between 1936 and 1946, the struggles of U.S. workers were among the most dynamic of any industrially advanced countries.

The explosive nature of this growth in labor action can be seen in the number of strikes. Between 1923-32, there were 9,658 strikes involving 3,952,000 workers. Between 1936-45, there were 35,519 strikes involving 15,856,000 strikers.

Prior to this dramatic turnaround, the U.S. labor movement was on the skids. Not only were the craft unions of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) losing members at the rate of 7,00

AFT - A Union of Professionals - TEACH 2011

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TEACH 2011

July 11-13, 2011, Washington, D.C.

This summer, the American Federation of Teachers invites you to our TEACH (Together Educating America’s Children) conference. Educators are facing extraordinary demands—and we’re putting together an extraordinary gathering to provide you with the practical tools, professional knowledge, and inspiration to meet them.

With the theme of “Making a Difference Every Day,” TEACH will showcase the groundbreaking work taking place throughout the AFT. Learn how union members are tackling the toughest issues in our field, and making breakthrough changes that will improve education for students across America.

To be sure, the conference will provide the high-quality workshops for which its predecessor, QuEST, was known. But TEACH will also bring you overviews of innovative work in our field that educators need to know about, exciting demonstrations of the latest educational technology, thought-provoking keynote speakers and much more.

For more details as plans for AFT's TEACH conference take shape, watch this Web page, or:

NEA - Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA)

2011 NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA)

NEA Standing Strong:
for our Students, our Schools, and America

Chicago, Illinois — June 30 - July 5, 2011

HIGHLIGHTS

NEA's next Annual Meeting will be held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Key Events

NCUEA Summer Conference (June 26-29)
Joint Conference on the Concerns of Minorities and Women (June 27-29)
NEA-Retired 2011 Annual Meeting (June 28-29)

1st Annual Day of Learning (July 1, 10:00 am - 4:30 pm)

Pre-conference learning opportunities at the 2011 NEA Annual Meeting for RA Delegates and other NEA Members only. Learn more.

Friendship Night (July 2, 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm)

For this year's Friendship Night ( PDF, 782 KB, 1 pg.), NEA is pleased to host a live performance of NPR's popular radio show "From The Top." This program showcases exceptional student musicians from around the country. Purchase tickets by June 20th to receive early bird discount.

5 reasons parents should oppose evaluating teachers on test scores - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

5 reasons parents should oppose evaluating teachers on test scores

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Carol C. Burris and Kevin Welner. Burris is the principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Welner is a professor of education policy and program evaluation in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and director of theNational Education Policy Center. He can be reached at welner@colorado.edu.

By Carol Burris and Kevin Welner

The 1988 film “Stand and Deliver” portrayed Jaime Escalante’sinspirational teaching of AP Calculus to his East Los Angeles students. Escalante instilled ganas, the desire to succeed, in high school students, many of whom had never before known academic success. Viewers witnessed Escalante and his students teaming up against the test; it was important to them to show the world what they had done together.

Now imagine that Mr. Escalante’s appeal to his students had been, “I need you to get at least a ‘3’ on this exam because I don’t want to lose my job.” Would his students have responded with such dedication if they knew that Escalante’s motives were personal rather than selfless?

Not Insulted « InterACT

Not Insulted

by Martha Infante

As my school year is coming to a close, I try to stay connected to the developments in national education reform, but it is the developments here in South Central Los Angeles that have barely allowed my to keep my head above water. Let’s just say that as a classroom teacher, I have a close and personal relationship with education reform policies, and can speak to them from experience.

miracle

So it was with curiosity that I noticed my twitter feed trending on the topic of Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch, and

Analysis Compares Districts' Spending, Academic Performance - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego

Analysis Compares Districts' Spending, Academic Performance

POSTED: 1:46 pm PDT June 3, 2011

UPDATED: 1:47 pm PDT June 3, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- California's enormously complicated, and notoriously opaque, school financing system often defies understanding and analysis in ways that are accessible to ordinary Californians.

Despite decades of efforts to equalize spending in California schools, wide gaps still remain, both among districts, and among schools within those districts. To review differences among districts, California Watch closely examined California Department of Education figures for the current expense of education. The data accounts for each student in attendance in the state's nearly 1,000 school districts in the 2009-10 school year.

As the Department of Education notes, there are a variety of ways to calculate per-pupil spending. "Each has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the intended use of the data," the department's website states. "For example, one measure might be useful for comparisons between states, while another measure might be more useful in state budget discussions."

California Watch relied on the current expense of education figures to compare actual spending by districts. The figures cover annual salaries,

Is Michelle Rhee Looking to Veer Left by Hiring DNC's Hari Sevugan? | Sunshine State News

Is Michelle Rhee Looking to Veer Left by Hiring DNC's Hari Sevugan?

NANCY SMITH'S BLOG | POSTED: JUNE 5, 2011 11:03 AM

Hari Sevugan, national spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, has accepted a top position at Students First, Michelle Rhee's Washington, D.C.-based, high-profile education advocacy group. Washington insiders say Sevugan is making the move to strengthen his credentials on education policy.

Six months ago, then Gov.-elect Rick Scott hired Rhee to serve as a key player on his 18-member education transition team. Rhee was a prominent national advocate for the school reform agenda involving closing failing schools, linking teacher pay to student standardized test scores and other measures.

Sevugan, 36, is a lawyer and veteran political operative who also taught for two years in an Upper

ISTEP breaches spur closer look at testing | 2011-06-05 | Indianapolis Business Journal | IBJ.com

ISTEP breaches spur closer look at testing

Rising concerns about cheating on Indiana's standardized tests have prompted the state Department of Education to keep closer tabs on how the test is administered, including evaluating the number of erased answers for clues about whether the results may have been manipulated by teachers.

The number of investigations into testing irregularities increased to 19 this year, according to The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne. Those include the biggest breach ever of the ISTEP+ test in March, when an eighth-grade essay question was posted on Facebook. More than 80,000 students around the state had their results on that item tossed in a case that involved teachers in three districts.

In other cases, teachers allegedly used live test items to practice with students, created practice problems that matched test questions, taught lessons specifically geared to test questions or told students to change their answers.

Educators say the rising suspicions may reflect a heightened importance for the test scores, which now affect teacher pay,

Senator Dick Durbin’s Message to DREAMer and DREAM Act Supporters - Hispanically Speaking News

Senator Dick Durbin’s Message to DREAMers and DREAM Act Supporters

Help send the word out to other DREAM Act supporters to sign up to support the new DREAM Act bill in the Senate. Here are some words from the co-author of the new DREAM Act Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois:

Over the past two weeks, more than 22,000 people from all walks of life and all 50 states have signed on as citizen co-sponsors of the DREAM Act at DickDurbin.com.
It’s a great start — but I need your help, right now, to build even more public support for this important bill.
These young people have been raised in America. They have sat in the classrooms of our schools and stood up every morning to give the Pledge of Allegiance to the only flag they’ve ever known. They have worked hard and played by the rules.
They deserve a chance to be legal, contributing members of our society—and it’s up to you and

Jonathan Alter Kicks the Hornet's Nest - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Jonathan Alter Kicks the Hornet's Nest

by Anthony Cody

It has happened again. An "education reformer" has used the pages of corporate media to go on the attack against a leading critic, Diane Ravitch. And lived to regret it. Jonathan Alter, an MSNBC commentator and former Newsweek columnist, penned an op-ed two days ago in the Bloomberg website. Titled, "Don't Believe Critics, Education Reform Works," the piece was long on ad hominem attacks and short on substance.

I wrote a response and posted it on the site - and was soon joined by scores of others, almost all scathing. Then came the next round of responses, on the blogs of educators around the country.

Alter has been given a shellacking he will not soon forget. And the paragraph that perhaps inspired the most heat was the one where he quoted Arne Duncan, who said,

"Diane Ravitch is in denial and she is insulting all of the hardworking teachers, principals and students all across the country who are proving her wrong every day."

I don't know about principals and students, but teachers have put Arne Duncan on notice that he does not speak

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

Mayor Bloomberg (right) and Jonathan Alter.

If you’re on Facebook, don’t forget to sign up to be a member of the Orange Sweater Caucus, so named in honor of the day at the 2010 IEA Representative Assembly when the now very lame duck Ken Swanson claimed he couldn’t see me at the microphone. The next day I put on the ugliest orange sweater I could find. Apparently you have to be seen to be heard. Our Caucus demands that before the IEA leadership sits down at table this summer with Ty Fahner and the Civic Committee that they commit to the promise that giving away members’ future and present pensions is not what is on the menu. No reduction in benefits. No increase in

The Wall.

by Fred Klonsky

Sunday, June 5, 2011