Oregon congressional candidates differ on federal education policies | OregonLive.com

Oregon congressional candidates differ on federal education policies | OregonLive.com:

Oregon congressional candidates differ on federal education policies

Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 5:42 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 7:18 PM

By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian
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BEAVERTON -- The four leading candidates in Oregon's special congressional election have major differences about the future of two major federal education programs: the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind law and the Obama administration's "Race to the Top."

Democrat Brad Avakian and Republican Rob Cornilles both said Tuesday that they want to abolish those programs and give local school districts much more freedom in how they spend school money.

Democrats Brad Witt and Suzanne Bonamici both said they also want more local flexibility. But Witt said he supports "Race to the Top," which encouraged the states to compete for more than $3 billion in federal grants by adopting educational practices.

The federal role in education came up during a candidate's forum held by the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce, and it's one issue that a new member of Congress might soon have to tackle. Congress is already late in taking up reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the act that

L.A. school board opposes mayor in battle over redevelopment funds - latimes.com

L.A. school board opposes mayor in battle over redevelopment funds - latimes.com:

L.A. school board opposes mayor in battle over redevelopment funds

The Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to join opponents of local redevelopment agencies in the legal battle over who should control funds that are held by these agencies.

The school board’s decision puts it at odds with L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has backed keeping funds with redevelopment agencies, including the one controlled by the city of Los Angeles.

Billions of dollars are at stake statewide. Locally, the issue is whether these dollars should reside with the city—to help it spur development projects—or with counties and school districts.

Until now, a school-board majority closely allied with the mayor has been officially silent on the issue, even

NYC Public School Parents: Outrageous class sizes !

NYC Public School Parents: Outrageous class sizes !:

Outrageous class sizes !

by Leonie Haimson

Check out Lindsey Christ's great reporting on 2nd grade classes at 36 children at PS 236 in Brooklyn -- which is more than the room can hold and violates the building code. The kids say they have to go into the hallway to work because it is quieter! In this case, pictures are really worth 1000 words.
Today I heard of a 3rd grade class at 36 in D6 in Manhattan.

Please send me your info at www.bit.ly/class-size-survey today!


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Missouri Education Watchdog: AWESOME! It's Common Core Standards Bingo at Missouri DESE for Teachers!

Missouri Education Watchdog: AWESOME! It's Common Core Standards Bingo at Missouri DESE for Teachers!:

AWESOME! It's Common Core Standards Bingo at Missouri DESE for Teachers!

by stlgretchen

Cool! The Missouri Department of Education and Secondary Education is making the implementation of Common Core standards FUN FUN FUN for the teachers. It's come up with.... Common Core State Standards Bingo! Yippee! DESE is even giving away prizes to the lucky individuals who get a completed row in the card!

To ready the teachers for common core implementation, here are the directions for playing CSS Bingo from DESE:

CCSS BINGO
Your mission: Find enough individuals to sign your card until you get 5 in a row to form BINGO. Each individual can only sign one box on your board!

And to entice the teachers to play the game, the form states: Fill in the

“I’d rather be smart than pretty any day” and Other Tidbits of Wisdom from My Granny « EducationCEO's Blog

“I’d rather be smart than pretty any day” and Other Tidbits of Wisdom from My Granny « EducationCEO's Blog:

“I’d rather be smart than pretty any day” and Other Tidbits of Wisdom from My Granny

by educationceo

As kids, we often heard little sayings from older people, like ‘A hard head makes a soft a$$’ or ‘I can show you better than I can tell you’ or ‘You don’t believe fat meat’s greasy!’ More often than not, we didn’t even understand them but we knew that we had done something wrong and were on [...]

Blog U.: On Being a Feminist Role Model in the Classroom - University of Venus - Inside Higher Ed #UCDavis

Blog U.: On Being a Feminist Role Model in the Classroom - University of Venus - Inside Higher Ed:

On Being a Feminist Role Model in the Classroom

By Lee Skallerup Bessette September 20, 2011 8:30 pm EDT

“Is it always like this?”

This question came from one of the three male students in my 50+ person literature class, almost ten years ago. I was a new, young PhD student and I was teaching an introductory literature course. The class, in the four years that I had taught it, never reached double-digits for male students in the class. So, yes, I answered, it was always like this.

I was proud of my classes. I taught at an R1 institution, one of the top in the country. That women were over-represented seemed like a nice problem to have. I knew there were plenty of men on campus, mostly in engineering and hard sciences. Most men simply weren’t interested in this course. I was young, naïve, and an admitted over-achiever. My role, I thought,

Warning to Michigan parents and teachers about John Covington « Parents Across America

Warning to Michigan parents and teachers about John Covington « Parents Across America:

Warning to Michigan parents and teachers about John Covington

by leoniehaimson

An open message from a Kansas City teacher to the parents and teachers of Michigan about John Covington’s reign of terror when he was superintendent of her district’s schools. Covington drastically increased the class sizes of certain KC teachers following a model suggested by Bill Gates; this experiment ended, thankfully, when he left the district.

Covington was recently appointed the head of Michigan’s new Education Achievement Authority to run that state’s struggling schools, with the power to cancel union contracts and override duly elected school board members.

Covington is personable, charming, and a bully. He made our principals work 80 hours a week and allowed no vacation time, not even in the summer. They were expected to be in

'Irvine 11' case goes to the jury - latimes.com

'Irvine 11' case goes to the jury - latimes.com:

'Irvine 11' case goes to the jury

After two full days of closing statements from six defense attorneys and the prosecution, the fate of the so-called Irvine 11 is now in the hands of the jury.

Deliberations are set to begin Wednesday morning. Defense attorneys said the seven UC Irvine and three UC Riverside students were defenders of the Constitution when they shouted in protest as israeli Ambassador Michael Oren tried to give a prepared speech on U.S.-Israeli relations.

The students are being tried on misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and disrupting a public meeting. They face up to six months in jail if convicted.

On Monday, prosecutor Dan Wagner argued that the "right to free speech is not absolute."

He said the students, by interrupting Oren's speech in the manner they did, violated the 1st Amendment by

Report: No open-meeting violations in Capistrano school district

A report released Tuesday by the Orange County district attorney's office has concluded that the Capistrano Unified School District did not violate state open-meeting laws.

The district attorney's office had received complaints, including one from an attorney for two district board members alleging violations of the Brown Act, which governs open meeting and agenda requirements for public agencies.

The alleged violations occurred at three meetings between Dec. 13, 2010, and March 16, 2011, the report said.

An initial inquiry by the district attorney's office resulted in

Innocent Man Walking #TooMuchDoubt | The Jose Vilson

Innocent Man Walking #TooMuchDoubt | The Jose Vilson:

nnocent Man Walking #TooMuchDoubt

by Jose

Red Liberation Army recently posted a letter from the “innocent man walking” Troy Davis. I spoke about him before, but, with only a day or so left before his execution, I’d like to share a piece of him with those of you who wouldn’t normally dabble in politics (whatever that means). Read:

Remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so

Robert Reich (The Republican's Latest Ploy to Keep the Economy Lousy through Election Day)

Robert Reich (The Republican's Latest Ploy to Keep the Economy Lousy through Election Day):

The Republican's Latest Ploy to Keep the Economy Lousy through Election Day

Whatever shred of doubt you may have harbored about the determination of congressional Republicans to keep the economy in the dumps through Election Day should now be gone.

Today, in advance of a key Fed meeting to decide what to do about the continuing awful economy and high unemployment, top Republicans wrote a letter to Fed Chief Ben Bernanke — stating in no uncertain terms the Fed should take no further action to lower long-term interest rates and juice the economy.

“We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Federal Reserve could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy,” they wrote.

They didn’t threaten to “treat him pretty ugly,” as Governor Rick Perry told his supporters last month how he’d

Ralph Nader Cornel West Unveil Proposal to Challenge Obama in Primaries « Single Payer Action

Ralph Nader Cornel West Unveil Proposal to Challenge Obama in Primaries « Single Payer Action:

RALPH NADER CORNEL WEST UNVEIL PROPOSAL TO CHALLENGE OBAMA IN PRIMARIES

Progressive leaders led by Ralph Nader and Cornel West – unveiled a proposal today to challenge President Obama in the Democratic Party’s presidential primaries in 2012.

The proposal, which has been endorsed by over 45 distinguished leaders seeks to have a slate of six candidates run against President Obama, each representing a field in which Obama has never clearly staked a progressive claim or where he has drifted toward the corporatist right.

[FULL STORY]

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Advanced Learning

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Advanced Learning:

Advanced Learning

by Melissa Westbrook

This is likely to be one of my last posts on Advanced Learning. Oh, not because I'm not interested or don't care. But frankly, I'm tired of caring. I'm tired of waiting for this district to at least have a program that is coherent and easy to understand. So I'm done on advocating on this topic in any big way.

This comes on the heels of having a small discussion with Dr. Enfield about Spectrum and then a longer meeting with Dr. Vaughn (the head of Advanced Learning) and Roger Daniels, consulting teacher. These were good conversations and I did feel like they were listening. But I don't think they really care that the program makes sense to parents.


I asked Dr. Enfield about the issues around the changes made at Spectrum programs at Wedgwood and Lawton AFTER open enrollment had ended. (Noel Treat was at this meeting and listened quite attentively - poor guy, I don't think Susan and I gave him much of a chance to speak.) I told them that it seemed like a bait-and-switch

Del Monte Cash for Teachers $25 Coupon Fruit & Veg Giveaway:

Del Monte Cash for Teachers $25 Coupon Fruit & Veg Giveaway

by ADMIN on SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Win $25 in gift certificates for Del Monte fresh fruit!

K12NN is participating in Del Monte’s free giveaway of fresh fruit! Thanks to Del Monte, I’ll be giving away 3 sets of $25 gift certificates to parents and teachers all through September and into October as well.

The 50th commenter to this post will get a $25 in gift certificates to purchase Del Monte whole fresh fruit at the supermarket. The deadline for this giveaway is Monday, September 26, 2011, midnight Pacific Time or until 50 comments are reached. You may leave more than one comment but they cannot be added consecutively (i.e., 2 – 50 comments in a row). Spam comments will be disqualified. Provide your name and a valid email address with your comment.

Good luck! And follow after the jump to see about a contest where classes can win cash, the whole school could win fresh fruit and salad bars for the day, or school supplies. Teachers — sign up with Del Monte now! Moms, let

Arne Duncan: Interview on HBCU Graduation Rates and Black Teachers

Arne Duncan: Interview on HBCU Graduation Rates and Black Teachers:

4 Questions With Obama's Education Secretary

September 20, 2011 at 5:38 PM

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Arne Duncan

In case you missed it, it's National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week. In a presidential proclamation observing the occasion, President Obama remarked:

HBCUs continue a proud tradition as vibrant centers of intellectual inquiry and engines of scientific discovery and innovation. New waves of students, faculty, and alumni are building on their rich legacies and helping America achieve our goal of once again leading the world in having the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. This week, as we celebrate the vast contributions HBCUs have made to our Nation, we are reminded of their role in fulfilling a great American truth -- that equal access to a quality education can open doors for all our people.

On Monday the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities commenced a two-day conference for nearly all of

Missouri district formerly run by new Michigan school czar loses accreditation | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Missouri district formerly run by new Michigan school czar loses accreditation | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:

Missouri district formerly run by new Michigan school czar loses accreditation

1:53 PM, Sep. 20, 2011 |

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John Covington, newly appointed chancellor of Michigan's Education Achievement Authority, looks on while meeting with the Free Press editorial board in Detroit, on Friday, Sept., 9, 2011. / ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press

BY CHRIS BLANK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

• FILED UNDER
• Local News
• Michigan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri education officials revoked the accreditation of the Kansas City School District today after it failed for several years to meet most of the state's academic performance standards, an embarrassing blow to the beleaguered district that is again trying to find a superintendent.

The loss of accreditation comes less than a month after John Covington abruptly resigned as Kansas City superintendent to take a job as Michigan's first chancellor for a statewide school system for the lowest-performing schools.

While in Kansas City, Covington oversaw the closure of nearly half the district's schools.

Covington's four-year contract in Michigan states he can earn more than $1.5 million