Blog U.: Deans and Free Speech - Confessions of a Community College Dean - Inside Higher Ed

Blog U.: Deans and Free Speech - Confessions of a Community College Dean - Inside Higher Ed

BlogU

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• Deans and Free Speech

  By Dean Dad October 11, 2010 9:40 pm EDT

  In a nutshell, this is why I write under a pseudonym. Apparently the University of Connecticut fired a dean who later claimed that his termination was due to his criticism of upper administration. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that even if the former dean’s account of the reasons for his termination were factually correct, the dean lacked first amendment protection and therefore lacked standing to challenge his termination. (To be fair, the Court did note that the dean couldn’t actually be jailed for his words, so at least there’s that.)

  Hmm.

  I file this one under “I know it sucks, but imagine the alternative.” Frustratingly, most of the

Pa. school settles 2 webcam spy lawsuits for $610K - Boston.com

Pa. school settles 2 webcam spy lawsuits for $610K - Boston.com

Pa. school settles 2 webcam spy lawsuits for $610K

By Maryclaire Dale

Associated Press Writer / October 11, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA—A Philadelphia-area school district agreed Monday to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops.

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The Lower Merion School District admitted it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins, then 15, charged in an explosive civil-rights lawsuit filed in February that the district used its remote tracking technology to spy on him inside his home. Later evidence unearthed in the case showed that he was photographed 400 times in a

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

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LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

• New Jersey school bus advertising bill advances (AP, 10:29 a.m.)
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• NEWTON Newton officials focus on easing school overcrowding (Boston Globe, 10/9/10)
• Suicide surge: Schools confront anti-gay bullying (AP, 10/9/10)
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LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

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• In Vt., politics gets more warlike, less truthful (AP, 10/10/10)

LBUSD joins other districts on education reform - Press-Telegram

LBUSD joins other districts on education reform - Press-Telegram

Funded by more than $3 million in support from foundations, the organization will focus on reforms that the Obama administration promoted as part of the federal "Race to the Top" program.

LBUSD joins other districts on education reform

By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/11/2010 05:05:54 PM PDT

Updated: 10/11/2010 05:36:11 PM PDT

Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Chris Steinhauser (Stephen Carr/Press-Telegram)

LOS ANGELES - Seven California school districts, including Long Beach, have formed a nonprofit organization to pursue education reforms promoted by the Obama administration.

District superintendents and high-level education officials on Monday announced the formation of the California Office of Education Reform, which will foster communication and collaboration among the seven districts.

"There has never been this type of collaboration among school districts," said Long Beach Unified Superintendent Chris Steinhauser. "It's never been done on this kind of scale."

Funded by more than $3 million in support from foundations, the organization will focus on reforms that the Obama administration promoted as part of the federal "Race to the Top" program.

States that agreed to pursue certain education reforms competed this year to claim a share of the $4.3 billion in funding available under the program. California applied, but it lost out to other states.

Sacramento Press / Oct. 18 deadline to register to vote

Sacramento Press / Oct. 18 deadline to register to vote

Oct. 18 deadline to register to vote

by Kathleen Haley, published on October 11, 2010 at 5:33PM

Storyline: November 2010 Election

Community Tags: 2010 general election november 2 politics sacramento city council sacramento county registrar of voters

Monday, Oct. 18, is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 2 general election.

Citizens can find the voter registration form here.

People who have moved, changed their names or selected a new political party must re-register to vote, according to the Sacramento County Register of Voters.

Photo by Suzanne Hurt.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

When Did Teachers Become Bums? | CommonDreams.org

When Did Teachers Become Bums? | CommonDreams.org

When Did Teachers Become Bums?

by Robert Freeman

When did teachers become bums? When did it become okay to vilify an entire occupation — three million college educated professionals working as hard as anyone to make the world a better place?

It wasn’t that long ago that teachers occupied a quasi-secular-sainthood. It was the underpaid, overworked teachers who guided, inspired, succored, and cajoled every one of us to find in ourselves that bigger person we all long to be.

But lately it’s become acceptable, even sport, to blame teachers for all of the ills of American education.

The new documentary, “Waiting for Superman” is just the most recent salvo in a broad-

Ravitch will discuss public education trends at Rice Oct. 14 Rice University | News & Media

Rice University | News & Media

Education leader to offer perspective on school reform
Ravitch will discuss public education trends at Rice Oct. 14

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

Diane Ravitch, one of the country's most respected scholars in education reform, will share her insight on school reform with the community and aspiring K-12 school leaders in the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Grand Hall of Rice Memorial Center. In her lecture, "Reflections on What I Have Learned About School Reform," Ravitch will discuss her career as an education historian and former assistant secretary of education and the trends in public education over the past 40 years.

	DIANE RAVITCH

In her critically acclaimed "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," Ravitch raises a dialogue on the purpose of education. Having recently reversed her long-standing support for accountability and charter schools, she questions the impact and motives behind education reform. Ravitch will answer questions posed by the audience and sign copies of her book after the lecture. Registration is required for the event, which is free and open to the public, and can be made at reep.rice.edu under "Upcoming Events."

A native Houstonian and graduate of Houston public schools, Ravitch is a research professor of education at New York University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. From 1991 to 1993 she was assistant secretary of education in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. She was responsible for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. As assistant secretary, she led the federal

The Answer Sheet - Willingham: 'Manifesto' more like a job wish list

The Answer Sheet - Willingham: 'Manifesto' more like a job wish list

Willingham: 'Manifesto' more like a job wish list

My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”

By Daniel Willingham
Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee, and 14 other big-city school system heads have published a “manifesto” in The Washington Post.

The reforms suggested ought to surprise no one who follows these

The Answer Sheet - Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

The Answer Sheet - Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

President Obama is welcoming to the White House the five charming students who starred in the education film “Waiting for Superman.” Thank you, Mr. President, for helping Davis Guggenheim promote “Superman,” which presents an often misleading and sometimes dishonest look at the public education system. The $2 million grant that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave to market the movie worldwide apparently wasn’t enough to whip up publicity. The five students in the film are shown trying to escape their troubled traditional public schools by participating in lotteries for admittance to public charter schools. It is, for sure, emotional.

Thumbs Up Against Bullying. Honor Our Humanity

Thumbs Up Against Bullying.
_______________________________________

The First Step In Stopping Bullying Is To Educate Yourself On Its Prevention by
visiting:

BULLYING.ORG
BEATBULLYING.ORG
STOMPOUTBULLYING.ORG
STOPBULLYINGSPEAKUP.COM
____________________________________________________________

The only agendas of this video are:

1. Tolerance, defined as a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own. You don't have to agree with somebody else's mindset or lifestyle -- but you do, as a human being, have to exercise tolerance and honor each other's humanity by never inflicting physical, emotional, or mental harm on another human being.

2. Parental Accountability. Your child is first your own responsibility, and then secondly a ward of society. You have the first contact to shape your child's mind as you choose, and while your child may or may not grow up to carry on your perspectives, there is no excuse for allowing your child to inflict physical, emotional, or mental harm on another child or human being.

Bullying is not a part of growing up and it's bull to suggest that it is. It may be inevitable that your child will encounter criticism in their life and will have to learn to grow a "tough skin," but there is a distinct difference between a peer or an employer telling your child "I don't like what you created or how you performed professionally," and someone causing physical, emotional, and/or mental harm by beating up or slandering your child because that individual doesn't like who your child is as a person.

You don't have to like the kid, but you must act civilly and honor their humanity. Everyone has the right to be respected and the responsibility to respect others

Schools Matter: The Corrupt Collapse of Education Reform's Wall Street Model

Schools Matter: The Corrupt Collapse of Education Reform's Wall Street Model

The Corrupt Collapse of Education Reform's Wall Street Model

by Jim Horn

Uber capitalist, Michael Bloomberg, became the poster billionaire boy for corporate education reform when he was elected mayor and named Dictator of Schools in the City. The Bloomberg-Klein model of test-punish-shut down-charterize became the urban model for the nation, and Klein has even been wined and dined in Australia and elsewhere as a distinguished expert in all matters educational. Bloomberg was able to use his great educational success and $100 million to squeak out re-election against an unknown opponent in 2009.

Had the public known, as Bloomberg and Klein did, that the entire educational empire was built on the same kind of fraud that made Enron and AIG household names, he would not be mayor today.

Here's the beginning and end of Jennifer Medina's piece in the NYTimes on the whole sordid matter:

HechingerEd Blog | Seventy-five to a class — and proud of it!

HechingerEd Blog | Seventy-five to a class — and proud of it!

Seventy-five to a class — and proud of it!

by Sarah Butrymowicz

“Average class size” – most of the time, it’s a statistic that schools with small classes eagerly advertise and schools with large classes bemoan, using the number as evidence that a given school system needs more money.

One middle school in Houston is bucking the trend, though. Average class size there is 75 students. And principal Lannie Milon Jr. wouldn’t have it any other way.

But there’s a catch: The large classes at Thomas Middle School all have between five to nine teachers, meaning that the student-to-teacher ratio remains low. Still, the sheer number of kids in a single space resembles a college lecture hall more than a traditional K-12 classroom.

CALPADS Funding Veto Response - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

CALPADS Funding Veto Response - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Criticizes Governor's
Veto of Funding for State Educational Data System

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today strongly criticized Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of $7.9 million from the California Department of Education (CDE), preventing the continued implementation of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

"Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of funding for the ongoing development and support for CALPADS is shortsighted, ill-informed, and hypocritical," O'Connell said.

"CALPADS has been online for one year. Despite some initial operational challenges, the system is working and important student-level information is being collected in California. CALPADS currently tracks all K-12 students in the state using statewide identifiers which have been assigned to all students, and maintains data of students longitudinally. More than 90 percent of districts and charter schools have successfully submitted data through CALPADS. With one more year of data, California, for the first time, will be able to provide a four-year graduation rate based on student level data. This is significant progress, particularly when you consider that California's public education system has been underfunded by more than $17 billion over the last two years, and the fact that the Governor has repeatedly vetoed a modest investment of $5 per pupil to support local educational agencies' data quality efforts.

"The outlandish claim by the Governor that California has spent $150 million on CALPADS is flat out wrong. The Governor's own Office of the Chief Information Officer reports that California has spent $23 million on CALPADS between Fiscal Year 2005-2006 and the 2010-11 budget year. The Governor also fails to acknowledge that he has invested very few state dollars in the development of CALPADS, relying almost entirely on federal funds for this project and has now taken those away as well.

"A statewide education data system is critical to help guide education policy, inform professional development for educators, and improve teaching and learning. Disrupting the implementation of CALPADS at this juncture will delay California's long-anticipated efforts to implement a longitudinal education data system, and set us further behind other states that already have education data systems in place. Rather than maintaining California's course toward meeting its education data goals of helping all students reach their full potential, the Governor's veto of CALPADS funding just sent California racing to the bottom of the heap."

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Issues Statement
on Governor's Veto of Child Care for Working Families

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement about Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of all funding for child care services for working families who have been off welfare for 24 months, known as the CalWORKS Stage 3 Child Care Program.

"The Governor's veto of funding for the CalWORKS Stage 3 Child Care Program is an attack on working families with children. This 12-year-old program has played a significant role in helping California families leave welfare and become financially independent.

"The Stage 3 program provided child care services to more than 81,000 children and some 60,000 families during Fiscal Year 2008-2009, allowing parents to work. This veto will terminate needed child care services for all these families who have worked so hard to leave welfare and maintain employment for at least two years or more. It will undermine the efforts of these working families, who are primarily single parents with one or two children, to become and remain self-sufficient.

"At a time when California is experiencing an unemployment rate of over 12 percent, it is unconscionable that this administration would deliberately eliminate the child care service necessary for working parents to maintain their jobs, and put them at risk of returning to the welfare rolls."

# # # #

The Answer Sheet - Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

The Answer Sheet - Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

President Obama is welcoming to the White House the five charming students who starred in the education film “Waiting for Superman.”

Thank you, Mr. President, for helping Davis Guggenheim promote “Superman,” which presents an often misleading and sometimes dishonest look at the public education system. The $2 million grant that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave to market the movie worldwide apparently wasn’t enough to whip up publicity.

The five students in the film are shown trying to escape their troubled traditional public schools by participating in lotteries for admittance to public charter schools. It is, for sure, emotional.

Northwest News: Debunking candidate claims with fiery pants; Investigation into off-campus Central Washington University party that sent 12 to hospital | OregonLive.com

Northwest News: Debunking candidate claims with fiery pants; Investigation into off-campus Central Washington University party that sent 12 to hospital | OregonLive.com

Northwest News: Debunking candidate claims with fiery pants; Investigation into off-campus Central Washington University party that sent 12 to hospital

Published: Monday, October 11, 2010, 9:30 AM Updated: Monday, October 11, 2010, 9:53 AM

Kimberly A.C. Wilson, The Oregonian
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It's Monday, the sun is shining on Portland and we've got headlines you're gonna want to read. Doesn't get much better, right?

Welcome to the ten-eleven-ten edition of Pacific Northwest News.

But before we get to the news links of the day, we reckon it bears repeating how things work here. First, we scour papers, television networks and Web sites around the Pacific NW for articles you might enjoy. Then we collect snippets of articles (below in italics) from our fellow reporters for you to enjoy. Finally, we invite you to A., click the links to read the full stories for yourself and 2., click back to leave your comments and feedback. So click through, read up and then come back and share your thoughts with your community here on OregonLive. It's really simple. Final thing: Keep your comments clean.

Confession time: we love The Oregonian's recent efforts to PolitiFact Oregon candidates for public office. And when the lies are big, the ratings pull no punches. Case in point, today's offering by politics writer, Janie Har on House Democrats' claim that Matt Wand, a candidate for state House, cut police when he was on the Troutdale City Council and created a slush fund.

Not so fast, says Har:

So, it’s inaccurate to say that Wand cut the police force when he didn’t. It’s inaccurate to say that he selfishly created a "slush fund" for his own expenses, when he didn’t. This attack on Wand’s character -- remember, he is pictured next to a slogan that reads "to protect and serve ... himself" -- shows a reckless disregard for the truth. Even in political advertising.

This mailer is not only false, it’s ridiculous. We rate this Pants on Fire.

Neener, neener.

Central Washington Universityofficials are investigating an off-campus party that left a dozen students hospitalized after apparently being drugged by drinking a spiked beverage during an off-campus party Friday night.

The incident took place at a summer home in Roslyn, 30 miles from CWU's Ellensburg campus, according to the Yakima Herald-Republic:

P