Rep. Weiner's Big Photo Scandal

Rep. Weiner's Big Photo Scandal

Modern School: Cruel and Unusual: California’s Educational/Justice System

Modern School: Cruel and Unusual: California’s Educational/Justice System

UTLA Sells Out Members Again, Bad Lesson for Labor Leaders of United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) have agreed to accept four more furlough days to help LAUSD close a $408-million budget gap. Teachers have already accepted furloughs for the past two years, which amount to de facto pay cuts. ...

Cruel and Unusual: California’s Educational/Justice System Overcrowded California Prison California already has an adult illiteracy rate of 23%, a figure that is likely to grow as adult-education classes are slashed in the desperate scramble to close California’s remaining $15.4 billion budget gap. This ...

California already has an adult illiteracy rate of 23%, a figure that is likely to grow as adult-education classes are slashed in the desperate scramble to close California’s remaining $15.4 billion budget gap. This will exacerbate a trend that began ...

Schools Matter: A T-Shirt for Arne Duncan

Schools Matter: A T-Shirt for Arne Duncan

A T-Shirt for Arne Duncan

by skrashen

A T-Shirt for Arne Duncan

Sent to the NY Daily News, May 30, 2011

The Daily News mentioned that school officials at the East New York Middle School are requiring children to wear a T-shirt saying "Not Yet" for children considered unprepared for regular classes ("Parents say administrators are siccing ACS on them to retaliate for complaints," May 30).

I would like to order a "Not Yet" T-shirt to be sent to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose total lack of real

Are Books Obsolete? An analysis of data from Titles in Print

by skrashen

Are Books Obsolete? An Analysis of Data from Titles Printed

Stephen Krashen

A common view is that books are obsolete, and for two reasons: People just aren't interested in reading these days, and for those who are, ebook readers, such as the Kindle, are taking over.

Not according to at least one indication. The number of new book titles printed each year continues to increase, and the increase over the last decade is dramatic. Bowker, an information service company, reported that 215,138 book titles were published in 2002. This increased to 302,410 in 2009, and the projected total (based on preliminary data) for 2010 was 316,480.

The increase in titles published holds even when we consider the increase in the population of the US. The population in 2002 was estimated to be about 288,600,000. In 2010 it was estimated to be about 318,750,00

Blog U.: Student Conduct: Conceal and Carry - Student Affairs and Technology - Inside Higher Ed

Blog U.: Student Conduct: Conceal and Carry - Student Affairs and Technology - Inside Higher Ed

Student Conduct: Conceal and Carry

By Eric Stoller May 30, 2011 4:00 pm EDT

When I was a kid growing up in Iowa, my Uncle John and my dad taught me how to shoot. I fired rifles, shotguns, and pistols. The first time I fired my dad's twelve gauge shotgun, it felt like my shoulder had run into a car. The recoil was tremendous. While I never went hunting, I did do a fair amount of target shooting. Guns were present throughout my formative years. I've always been fascinated with the mechanics of firearms. Why am I bringing this up? I think it's important for folks to know a little about my history with guns if I'm going to write about anissue that is all about guns and student affairs. I'm not anti-gun, I'm anti-conceal-and-carry-on-campus.

The prohibition of conceal and carry on college campuses is once more in the news. Recently, a conceal and carry bill passed in the Nevada State Senate. The bill would "authorize a person who holds a permit to carry a concealed firearm to carry a concealed firearm while on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education unless the person is attending an event held at a sporting venue with a seating capacity of 1,000 or more." The current law states that conceal and carry permit holders can only carry their firearm on

We have to stay afterschool - NorthJersey.com

We have to stay afterschool - NorthJersey.com

We have to stay afterschool

MONDAY, MAY 30, 2011 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY MAY 30, 2011, 3:04 PM

By SAM PASSOW
COLUMNIST

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If Governor Christie is sincere about wanting to improve New Jersey's education system for everyone then supporting successful afterschool programs has to be part of the solution. Yet after cutting its original funding from $10 million to $3 million for the current school year, the state's proposed budget fails to include any money at all for a popular and successful educational initiative.

New Jersey After 3, a statewide non-profit, uses public and private resources to fund afterschool programs. Some of the activities kids get at these centers include help with homework, health and safety lessons, arts, recreation, chess, community service projects and learning studying skills. The cuts in funding means that among other local programs, the Bergen Family Center's afterschool center inEnglewood is in jeopardy of being eliminated.

We've all heard the Governor's standard "there's no money for anything, share the sacrifice, etc, etc, etc." Yet the state announced that it collected at least an additional $500 million in tax revenue. The surplus could actually be hundred of millions higher than that estimate.

So there is apparently some money somewhere. And part of it should be invested in improving the state's education system by funding afterschool programs. If the original $10 million can't be restored then at

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Christie, GOP want to eliminate Supreme Court's power to rule on school funding

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Christie, GOP want to eliminate Supreme Court's power to rule on school funding

Christie, GOP want to eliminate Supreme Court's power to rule on school funding

by Mike Klonsky

Gov. Christie toasts Arne Duncan.

New Jersey has become the model for national corporate reform assaults on teachers and public education in general. It's the state where the T-Party types like Gov. Christie, Obama Democrats, including Arne Duncan, andBillionaire Boys Club members like Mark Zuckerberg, have joined hands to support the right-wing agenda.

Now look where Christie's "reform" agenda is heading. Christie and state Republicans are hatching a plot to take away the power of the Supreme Court over matters of school funding.

A Republican strategy memo laid out Friday in an e-mail from Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. to his caucus asked fellow GOP senators for feedback on a three-pronged education plan after Tuesday's Supreme Court order requiring the state to invest $500

Ty Fahner, head of the corporate Civic Committee, signs pension statement with Cross and Madigan. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Ty Fahner, head of the corporate Civic Committee, signs pension statement with Cross and Madigan. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Ty Fahner, head of the corporate Civic Committee, signs pension statement with Cross and Madigan.

by Fred Klonsky

Make no mistake about what was going on here.

When GOP House Leader Tom Cross and House Speaker Michael Madigan issued their statement saying they were pulling the pension killer bill off the floor, Ty Fahner, head of the corporate union-hating Civic Committee, signed it as well.

May 30, 2011

STATEMENT REGARDING PENSION REFORM

We are absolutely committed to reforming Illinois’ public pension system for current employees. It must be done to stabilize our systems and address long term financial issues for both the public employee pension systems and state government.

We believe passage of legislation addressing this issue is essential to the state’s well being.

It was made very clear during the May 26th hearing in the Personnel and Pensions Committee that both those who support pension reform and those who are opposed to Senate Bill 512 acknowledge we have a problem and something must be done.

Our goal is to enact reforms to our pension systems that provide a long term solution for both those who are members of the pension systems and those who fund them.

We will convene meetings over the summer to address the issues and concerns that have been raised and work toward a solution in this year’s Fall Veto Session. [Emphasis added]

-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan
-Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross
-Tyrone Fahner, President, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago

Charter schools: Charter school leader Vielka McFarlane brings personal history, passion to education - latimes.com

Charter schools: Charter school leader Vielka McFarlane brings personal history, passion to education - latimes.com

Charter school leader Vielka McFarlane brings personal history, passion to education

Vielka McFarlane, after winning a fight with Los Angeles County schools officials over California's 'parent trigger' law, plans to open a new charter school in Compton.

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Vielka McFarlane, whose upbringing in Panama taught her the value of education, is passionate about charter schools. Her newest is set to open in Compton after a battle with Los Angeles County schools officials.. (Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times / May 26, 2011)

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times

May 30, 2011

Three decades after leaving her native Panama, Vielka McFarlane hasn't forgotten how a first-class education can transform a poor kid with a hard-knocks life.

The Los Angeles charter school operator remembers leaner days and long hours helping her struggling family sell empanadas from a street cart. Her eyes mist when she speaks of her hardworking parents, who sacrificed to send her to the best schools in Panama, despite discrimination from that society's upper-class, and then to Los Angeles in 1982.

So when the Compton school board rejected her petition this year to start a charter school in a city with some of the state's worst standardized test scores,

Education Policy Should Honor the Obvious - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Education Policy Should Honor the Obvious - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Education Policy Should Honor the Obvious

by Anthony Cody

I offer here a short list of five things that have become obvious, from my position as a teacher. If only our education policies might be constrained by the requirement that they honor the obvious!

1. Children do not learn well when they are under stress. This single fact is enough to explain so many things. If we were to design an ideal learning environment, there would be great attention paid to relieving all involved of unnecessary tension. A recent study found that first grade students in classrooms affected by budget cuts suffer because of the stress their teacher experiences in trying to meet their needs. Children who live in poverty experience stress at home due to insecurity around food, housing, and violence in their neighborhoods and homes. The very least we should do to address their needs is to make their schools a refuge from stress.

2. Tests, and high stakes attached to them, are very poor levers for increasing learning. We have exit exams that have reduced graduation rates, especially for minority students, but failed to increase real learning.

This study from the National Academy of Sciences found that when there are high stakes attached to tests, the

Massive retreat by Madigan and Cross. Pension killer pulled off the floor. No vote this session. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Massive retreat by Madigan and Cross. Pension killer pulled off the floor. No vote this session. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Massive retreat by Madigan and Cross. Pension killer pulled off the floor. No vote this session.

by Fred Klonsky

This just in at 2PM.

Michael Madigan and Tom Cross, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Illinois House, have pulled their teacher pension killer bill off the floor.

They promise to bring it back for the Fall Veto Session.

But they cannot hide the fact that a massive, grass-roots effort of teachers, bloggers, activists, retired teachers and the state’s public employee unions beat them bad. At least for the time being.

Never in Illinois history has there been such a mobilization around a piece of legislation.

Over 100,000 emails and 100,000 phone calls to legislators were delivered by teachers, both retired and active.

We’ll have more analysis in the days ahead.

Enjoy the victory.

Light the grill!

Dispatch from the Corporate Egalitarian Team Trenches | Lefty Parent

Dispatch from the Corporate Egalitarian Team Trenches | Lefty Parent

Dispatch from the Corporate Egalitarian Team Trenches

by Cooper Zale

One of the key themes woven through my writing is our societal transition from hierarchical to more egalitarian institutions. I’m talking about the transition from leaders giving explicit marching orders to subordinates in an obvious “pecking order”, to something more akin to a “circle of equals”, where all members of the team are expected to make important decisions, and their managers play much more of a facilitative (how can I help you be successful) than directive role.

I have witnessed this sort of transition in family life (among the other families I interact with) and religious life (in the Unitarian-Universalist religious organizations I participate in). But what I have been most focused on lately is this transition in the work world, particularly my own place of work. I work as a business analyst for a large corporation in the insurance industry, not what you might think as the leading edge of social change. But I am pleased to report that in my team of some 20 people (and other internal teams that are our “customers”) the

Daily Kos: Why I am going to Netroots Nation

Daily Kos: Why I am going to Netroots Nation

Why I am going to Netroots Nation

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

besides the fact that I won a DFA scholarship to help pay my way, and a member of this community generously has paid for my transportation, etc.

Please note that last - a member of this community, because s/he thought I needed to be there.

I was given similar offers for Pittsburgh in 2009, with people offering to pay my expenses, or let me stay in their homes, even though they only knew me from my writing here.

This is about community. This is about connections. This is about more than that.

But let me back up. In 2006 and 2007 the event was called Yearly Kos. We can thank Pastor Dan Schultz for coming up with the idea originally, and the likes of Gina, and Nolan, and others for making it happen.

I want to explore my own participation in the past, before I explain why I am going this year.

Let me back up to the planning for Las Vegas in 2006 . . .

On my Bookshelf: Three Recommended Readings on Schooling, Creativity, and Dignity. | The Classroom Sooth

On my Bookshelf: Three Recommended Readings on Schooling, Creativity, and Dignity. | The Classroom Sooth

On my Bookshelf: Three Recommended Readings on Schooling, Creativity, and Dignity.

by classroomsooth

Happy unofficial beginning to summer 2011 from steamy Chicago! I think I have read more in this past school year, than in any of my previous years as a teacher. But with summer, comes new opportunities for rejuvenation through literature, and I hope to get some recommendations in the comments below. In turn, I recommend the following three books for summer reading:

For a better education system: The Death and Life fo the Great American School: How Testing a Choice are Undermining America (Diane Ravitch)

For a better understanding of ourselves: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D)

For a better, stronger, community: Dynamics of Organizing: Building Power by Developing the Human Spirit(Shel Trapp)

If the above titles are any indication, I am not much for fiction reading, yet all three authors are vivid story-tellers in their own right and keep the readers attention as they intertwine personal story with global relevance. While I leave the praise and scorn to the paid literary critics, but provide a little taste below as to why each of these

Enhanced Austerity Techniques | Dailycensored.com

Enhanced Austerity Techniques | Dailycensored.com

Enhanced Austerity Techniques

Written by Adam BessieBusiness, PoliticsMay 30, 2011

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Last year, socialism lost to austerity in the polls – that is, in Merriam-Webster’s Top Ten Words of the Year.

“Austerity clearly resonates with many people,” Merriam-Webster’s Editor at Large Peter Sokolowski observed, noting that it was the most-searched word of 2010 on their web site. This was no spontaneous grassroots effort for the public to brush up on long-forgotten SAT words to impress mom, but rather, austerity was dragged from its dusty, forgotten linguistic closet and into the limelight by the unrelenting conservative messaging machine(which, incidentally, revived socialism to McCarthy-esque stature).Austerity blanketed the corporate airwaves like a thick, intellectual-sounding fog, cloaking every major public discussion on our serious budget problems in a haze of severe-sounding vagaries, thus shielding pundits and politicians from detailing in any specific way what services or benefits the American public would lose.

The problem with austerity, however, is that it requires a trip to the