Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Bay Area Congressmen Support Alternative Deficit-Reduction Plan - The Bay Citizen

Bay Area Congressmen Support Alternative Deficit-Reduction Plan

Quickly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would result in larger and speedier deficit reductions than either of the plans offered by President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans, some members of the Bay Area Congressional delegation said Wednesday.

The Congressmen joined with other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus as it unveiled a plan it calls the "People's Budget."

The Progressive Caucus budget estimates eliminating all war funding starting next year would save $1.6 trillion over the next decade.

"The wars are bankrupting us morally and financially," Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Marin/Sonoma) said in an interview.

"More people say get out of there (Afghanistan) than cut social programs," she said.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Santa Clara) and Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) were among the Democratic lawmakers joining Woolsey at a capital hill press conference this morning.

Most observers expect the Progressive Caucus budget to have

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/12gCg)

Video: SCUSD Superintendent Raymond Gives an Update on the Fate of School Budgets - Rosemont, CA Patch

Video: Superintendent Raymond Gives an Update on the Fate of School Budgets - Rosemont, CA Patch

Video: Superintendent Raymond Gives an Update on the Fate of School Budgets

Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan Raymond explains the latest on the state budget crisis as it relates to public K-12 schools.

By Cody Kitaura | Email the author | 4:00pm

Mary Kay Henry, President SEIU on the President's Fiscal Policy Speech | The White House

Henry Statement on the President's Fiscal Policy Speech | The White House

Henry Statement on the President's Fiscal Policy Speech

$1 Trillion in Tax Breaks for Millionaires and Billionaires Is the Wrong Vision for America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After President Obama delivered a speech on deficit reduction this afternoon, Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement:

“A budget is a statement of our national values and priorities. That means any federal budget must protect working families from radical cuts to vital programs and help put Americans back to work.

“The President laid out a commonsense approach to restoring fairness to our tax system. The Bush-era tax giveaways to millionaires must come to an end. We simply cannot afford them – something the Republican budget completely ignores. All taxpayers must pay their fair share, but under the Bush tax giveaways the top 2 percent of Americans are not. Tax giveaways and deficit reduction are mutually exclusive.

“Corporate America must pay its fair share. Big corporations – some of which pay no federal taxes – earned record profits in 2010. They are doing better than ever, but are not asked to share their windfall to address the budget deficit. Without requiring corporations to pay their fair share, we cannot truly restore fairness to our tax system.

“We are encouraged by the President’s thoughtful approach to preserving and protecting Medicaid and Medicare

Multiple Administration Building Occupations Underway Now at CSU Campuses « Student Activism

Multiple Administration Building Occupations Underway Now at CSU Campuses

by Angus Johnston

Students are conducting administration building occupations in at least seven of the 22 campuses of the California State University system. The student activists are protesting budget cuts and demanding the resignation of the Cal State chancellor, Charles B. Reed.

Reports on Twitter show that occupations are currently underway at San Francisco State, Northridge, Sacramento, Monterey Bay, East Bay, Pomona, and San Jose. Activists are tweeting live from the scene of the

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is confident he'll have bipartisan support for reformed NCLB act this year | WBEZ

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is confident he'll have bipartisan support for reformed NCLB act this year

CityRoom and Eight-Forty Eight Apr. 13, 2011

(File/Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan returned to Chicago on Wednesday to support increased funding for early childhood education. While in town, Duncan, the former CEO of Chicago's Public Schools, spoke with Eight Forty-Eight host Alison Cuddy about the reform and reauthorizaiton of the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as standardized testing and the future of Chicago's schools under Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel. Here's an edited transcript of their conversation:

What's your vision for your hometown? We are still struggling with school reform in this city. Where do you think we should be headed?

Absolutely, Chicago like probably every other big city - New York and LA and everyone else - has a long way to go, but I’m really hopeful about where Chicago is going to go. I’ve worked obviously over the past two years with Rahm Emanuel, who is the upcoming mayor. He has a huge passion for this work. He is going to spend a tremendous amount of his time and political capital on

It can’t happen here? Hope Academy Charter School in Detroit raided by ICE and Robert Bobb flees from BAMN, parents, teachers and students | Dailycensored.com

It can’t happen here? Hope Academy Charter School in Detroit raided by ICE and Robert Bobb flees from BAMN, parents, teachers and students

Written by Danny WeilPoliticsApr 13, 2011

0digg

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Like an unreal scene from a science fiction movie, agents from the Detroit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, driving six large tinted-glass SUVs, surrounded the Hope of Detroit Academy elementary school

New York Public School Battles City Over Charter - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

New York Public School Battles City Over Charter

by E.D. Kain

This is a pretty revealing story about New York public elementary school P.S. 9. Parents at the school were concerned that their kids weren’t going to get as good of an education after fifth grade because the local middle schools were not as high quality as P.S. 9. There solution was to use some of the space freed up by the closure of a middle school which shared the building to expand P.S. 9 up to grade eight.

The only problem? The New York City School District had other plans:

But on Dec. 20, city officials unveiled a holiday surprise. The department said it planned to move a middle-grade charter school — Brooklyn East Collegiate, a member of the Uncommon Schools charter chain — into the space opening up at P.S. 9.
In the four months since, P.S. 9 parents have fought City Hall, scoring a few upset victories. But they have also learned a hard lesson: once the mayor’s people set their sights on a location, the

Has the IEA agreed to Stand for Children’s demand to end seniority in layoffs? « Fred Klonsky's blog

Has the IEA agreed to Stand for Children’s demand to end seniority in layoffs?

by Fred Klonsky

A report in the Springfield State Journal-Register seems to confirm our worst fears.

Two education reform groups unveiled a landmark package of education reforms Wednesday that would end the practice of using seniority to determine which teachers are the first to be laid off in tough budget times.
The package, the language of which is still being drafted, also would tighten the circumstances under which teachers could strike. It would require teachers’

Momma first, everything else second: Why I Do What I Do « EducationCEO's Blog

Momma first, everything else second: Why I Do What I Do Leave a comment

I was just reading through my Gmail inbox (trying not to let things pile-up again) and I opened this message from Rosetta Thurman (who I also follow onTwitter) about Blogging for Branding. Honestly, I am in one of those moods where I don’t want to do anything because I don’t know what to do. It’s quiet in the office because the quarter just started at the college, so there is very little traffic the first 2 weeks of the term. Sometimes I get restless during quiet times…I don’t have enough to keep me (and my mind) busy so I start thinking about what I should be doing and where I am supposed to be. Much like I did inthis previous post. Well, I recently started an online certificate program, where I will learn how to develop and teach online classes. I thought that would be enough to keep me going for a while, but you know how it goes when life happens, right? I admit that my writing (frequency) has been lackluster recently and I really don’t know what to write about on most days because I feel like I am saying the same things over and over again….kinda like deja vu a la Groundhog Day. Once I read Rosetta’s suggestions on blog topics about PASSION (no, not that kind of passion), the lightbulb started flickering…

As you all may/may not know, I homeschooled Boy Wonder for a couple of years because of bullying and threats; the folks who

oversee
run Gwinnett County Schools failed to abide by their own code of conduct. It all became too much for both of us so I decided to try the homeschool option. It worked well for us: No stress of ~~elbowing~~ finding his way to class, trying to concentrate while other kids disrupt class, or dealing with the threats/taunting/bullying. And it worked for 3 years. But then I decided it was time for him to go back to school and be around other kids and I wanted to start looking for work again. So off to school he goes….

Things were moving along pretty well initially, then someone (not me) dropped the ball. The first snafu happened when they forgot to include my son on the list of students taking the PSAT, even after I initiated the conversation (in writing). I was

FRANK SNEPP WINS THE 1ST ANNUAL JOSEPH GOEBBELS MEDIA MANIPULATION AWARD(Snepp FRANK GANA EL 1ER PREMIO ANUAL Joseph Goebbels manipulación del News) - Perdaily.com

FRANK SNEPP WINS THE 1ST ANNUAL JOSEPH GOEBBELS MEDIA MANIPULATION AWARD(Snepp FRANK GANA EL 1ER PREMIO ANUAL Joseph Goebbels manipulación del News)

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

OUR WINNER

EX-CIA AGENT FRANK SNEPP is who determines what gets on the air at KNBC is our choice for the Joseph Goebbels 2011 Media Manipulation Awards.

Snepp worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1968 until 1976.He started as an intelligence

Tell the President: What’s good for their schools is good for public schools! :: Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

Tell the President: What’s good for their schools is good for public schools!

by TeacherSabrina

April 5th, 2011

[Translate]

Last week, President Obama reminded us all why his election gave many of us so much hope. In plain language, he spoke of how he wanted his daughters, Sasha and Malia, to have their learning assessed. He described a low-stakes, low pressure environment, with the results used not to punish them, their teachers or their school, but simply to find out what their strengths are, and where they might need extra support. He spoke of the need to avoid teaching to the test, and the value of engaging projects that would make students excited about learning. President Obama has made sure his daughters can learn this way. If only Department of

More on Springfield ed reform agreement. Senate Bill 7. « Fred Klonsky's blog

More on Springfield ed reform agreement. Senate Bill 7.

by Fred Klonsky

Here’s more on the Springfield agreement.

Last night, IEA, IFT and CTU, along with the other parties in the process, came to an agreement on the ed reform bill, SB 7.
The unions unanimously agreed to the package as did the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, Stand for Children, Advance Illinois and the groups they represent. The labor issues have been resolved in the following way:
· All teacher unions keep the right to strike.
In Chicago, there will be a 90-day fact finding period, with a 30-day post-fact finding public posting period before a strike, and 75 percent of eligible voting members must approve a strike.
Downstate (any district outside of Chicago Public Schools) will have a process that involves

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bobb flees his own Town Hall meeting

Bobb flees his own Town Hall meeting

by Mike Klonsky

"These schools mean the world to us."

During a contentious meeting interrupted by chants and catcalls Tuesday, students, parents and teachers lambasted a plan to close 14 Detroit schools and convert 45 others to charter schools.-- Detroit News

According to a report I got today from community activists in BAMN, "angry parents, students, teachers, and

Schools Matter: The wrong way to evaluate teachers

The wrong way to evaluate teachers

by skrashen

Sent to the Los Angeles Daily News, April 13

LAUSD stubbornly insists on evaluating teachers on gains students make on standardized tests, called "value-added" scores ("LAUSD unveils plan to evaluate teachers, principals," April 12). This is a bad idea.

Different tests produce different value-added scores, and teachers' value-added ratings can vary from year to year, sometimes quite a bit.

Also, using value-added scores for evaluation encourages gaming the system, trying produce increases in

Wednesday, April 13, 2011