Sunday, October 10, 2010

All Opinions Are Local - Keeping the D.C. schools on track

Keeping the D.C. schools on track

By Victor Reinoso
Washington

In the wake of the District’s contentious mayoral primary, education advocates, journalists and interest groups are cheering or fearing the end of education reform in this city. It is too soon for either. Presumptive mayor Vincent Gray has pledged to continue reform but not yet provided details of his plans or the key players on his team.

Given the challenges facing our schools, it’s vital that the progress made over the past three years continue. Here are a few areas that can serve as a barometer of whether the city remains on track or is slowing down.

· Teacher professional development and evaluation. Under Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, spending on professional development more than quadrupled, and it shifted from centralized teacher training to targeted school-based and job-

Governor's veto ax falls heavily on welfare, child care and special education programs - Los Angeles Times

Governor's veto ax falls heavily on welfare, child care and special education programs

Schwarzenegger vetoes nearly $1 billion for social programs before signing the budget bill lawmakers had passed about eight hours earlier. Advocates for the poor say the cuts are too deep.

October 09, 2010|By Jack Dolan and Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday vetoed nearly $1 billion in spending on welfare, child care, special education and other programs before signing the budget bill that lawmakers had passed about eight hours earlier after a marathon overnight session.

The governor slashed 23 line items from the $87.5-billion general fund budget, including $256 million from a program for school-age children of families moving off welfare, $133 million from mental health services for special education students and nearly $60 million from AIDS treatment and prevention programs.

Schwarzenegger did not explain his actions, but a report issued by his finance department said the savings from his vetoes would "create a prudent reserve for economic uncertainties." The state's reserve for emergencies such as

Happy Birthday John Lennon! A Gift From Yoko Ono, the "Wish Tree." (VIDEO) - Frequencies - The Bay Citizen

Happy Birthday John Lennon! A Gift From Yoko Ono, the "Wish Tree." (VIDEO)

By QUEENA KIM, TANYA JO MILLER |October 9, 2010 5:34 p.m. |In FREQUENCIES

With John Lennon in the news this weekend, I remembered a present Yoko Ono gave him a few years ago. It was called "Wish Tree" and it's a really simple idea: write a wish on a piece of paper and tie it to a tree.

The grand plan was to collect all the wishes and bury them under the “Imagine Peace Tower” in Iceland, where Ono celebrated Lennon’s 70^th birthday.

VIDEO:

I did a story about the “Wish Tree” that Ono gave to Pasadena in 2008. She placed a

Ruling Limits State’s Power in School Suspensions - NYTimes.com

Ruling Limits State’s Power in School Suspensions

By ERIK ECKHOLM

Published: October 8, 2010

REPRINTS

In a ruling that puts new restraints on get-tough “zero tolerance” discipline, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday that schools must provide strong reasons for denying alternative schooling or tutoring to students after they are suspended for misbehavior.

The case was brought on behalf of two girls who were suspended for five months in 2008 after a brief fistfight at their high school in Beaufort County that involved no weapons or injuries. The suit did not question the district’s right to suspend them, but protested the

t r u t h o u t | The State, Public Pedagogy and Learning

The State, Public Pedagogy and Learning

Friday 08 October 2010

by: Peter Mayo, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Yuba College Public Space,superkimbo in BKK)

Neoliberalism has wrought havoc in different areas of social life, not the least of which in health and education. One of the greatest myths promoted by neoliberals is that the nation state is not and should no longer be the main force in those domains - that everything should be left to the market. Health care education; infrastructure (financial and legal, as well as physical); the environment are no longer public goods in this worldview, but rather commodities to be bought and sold. Deregulation has been used to expedite this process and, yet, the credit crunch revealed the hypocrisy and impossibility of such a strategy when

Home Page - Privatization - WorldBank Group

Privatization Database

All regions This site provides information on privatization transactions of at least US$1 million in developing countries from 2000 to 2008. The site was created in response to growing demand for updated and consolidated information on privatization transactions in developing countries. Prior to this effort the most comprehensive information could be found in the World Bank’s Privatization Transactions database, which covered the years 1990 through 1999.

This data represents the best efforts of the research team, and should not be seen as a fully comprehensive resource. Some transactions have inevitably been missed. For more information on how the data was compiled, the sources that were used, and methodological issues please see the methodology page.

The data on this site will be periodically updated. If you would like to contribute to the site or have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

No Child Left Behind…Including Those with Autism | Manila Bulletin

No Child Left Behind…Including Those with Autism

By DANG U. KOE

October 10, 2010, 12:38pm

MANILA, Philippines – "Education for all, no child is left behind…this includes children with autism and other special needs,” said Ranil Sorongon.

Ranil is the ASP executive director and chairman of the Education Committee of the National Anti-Poverty Commission’s Persons with Disability Sector (NA PC-PWD).

UN ESCO ’s Education for All (EFA) aims to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015.

This includes expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Angel Talker Lei-lani David contributes this report from the Chapter Leaders

Head of troubled charter school company resigns - latimes.com

Head of troubled charter school company resigns

Mike Piscal, 44, who founded and ran ICEF Public Schools, steps down amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

October 9, 2010

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The founder of a troubled charter school company, one of the nation's largest, has resigned amid an ongoing financial crisis that will result in slashing the organization's payroll by about 25%.

The departure of Mike Piscal, 44, who started and ran ICEF Public Schools, was confirmed Thursday night at a meeting with more than 1,000 parents and staff. The austerity measures, which will include midyear layoffs of an undetermined number of teachers, are both fiscally necessary and required by benefactors who stepped forward last week to pledge help, said interim chief executive Caprice Young.

ICEF, which serves about 4,500 students, also wants help for its 15 campuses from the Los Angeles Unified School District, Young said. ICEF is seeking space at district schools to reduce leasing costs

The Answer Sheet - The bankrupt 'school reform manifesto' of Rhee, Klein, etc.

The bankrupt 'school reform manifesto' of Rhee, Klein, etc.

There are so many things wrong with the new “school reform manifesto” signed by 16 school district chiefs -- including New York’s Joel Klein and Washington’s Michelle Rhee -- and published in The Washington Postthat it is hard to know where to start.

There’s the intellectual dishonesty and scapegoating: It starts by saying that everybody is responsible for improving schools but then proceeds to bash teachers, and doesn’t say a single thing about the responsibility of superintendents.

After eight years as the czar of New York City’s public schools, Klein

Newark kids use Facebook to protest rats, guns — Joanne Jacobs

Newark kids use Facebook to protest rats, guns

by Joanne

Two weeks after Facebook’s founder promised $100 million to improve Newark schools, students used Facebook to organize a protest against their high school’s inability to control gangsta, rodent and insect infestations.

On Thursday, students at Barringer High School in Newark walked out of class in protest, saying their school is unsafe and unsanitary.
Students tell The Star-Ledger of Newark there are rats, mice, cockroaches, spiders, guns and

School system to get Muslim holiday - The Boston Globe

School system to get Muslim holiday

Cambridge to start observance in 2011-12

By Brock Parker

Globe Correspondent / October 10, 2010

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As a Muslim and a high school senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 17-year-old Dunia Kassay faces a tough choice every year on Islamic holy days: go to school or stay home to be with family and friends.

If she stays home, Kassay says, she will be forced to play catch-up and make up her school assignments. But if she goes to school, she will be neglecting what she feels is her religious obligation on holidays such as Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

“It’s really conflicting,’’ Kassay said. “Instead of fasting for a month and enjoying

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