NJ gubernatorial candidates highlight differences | AP | 10/16/2009

NJ gubernatorial candidates highlight differences AP 10/16/2009:

"The three touched on issues from how to lower taxes (cut spending, encourage shared services, cap municipal spending) to whether to allow gay marriage. (Corzine and Daggett approve; Christie favors civil unions.) But the issue of education reform typified their respective lines of attack.

Christie accused the Corzine administration of failing urban children and promised reforms including more charter schools and school vouchers. Corzine defended himself, saying New Jersey schools are among the best-performing in the country and saying he would continue to push for universal pre-kindergarten. Daggett stressed his credentials , both he and his lieutenant governor candidate, Frank Esposito, have doctorates in education , and said he's got the most know-how of the three to achieve a major educational overhaul.

The debate also featured novel moments. Corzine acknowledged that his failed plan to fund highway projects through massive toll increases was 'too much, too fast.' And Christie responded to a Corzine ad that accuses him of 'throwing his weight around,' by saying, 'I think tonight would be a good night to let everyone in on a little secret. ... I'm slightly overweight.''"

1 in 8 female students at Chicago High School ‘pregnant’

1 in 8 female students at Chicago High School ‘pregnant’:

"Washington, Oct 17 (ANI): One in eight of Chicago High School’s female students are pregnant, it has been revealed.

CBS2Chicago.com has reported that out of the 800 female students at Paul Robeson High School in Chicago, Ill., 115 are expectant mothers.

Principal Gerald Morrow said that the staggering number can be attributed to various factors inside the home, not the school.

“It can be a lot of things that are happening in the home or not happening in the home, if you will,” Fox News quoted Morrow as telling the network.
Morrow said that ‘absentee fathers’ are another factor in the school’s high number of teen pregnancies.

According to a March 18 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, the birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 increased 5 percent from 2005 to 2007. (ANI)"

Dissident Voice : Code Words and Green Dot’s Pandering to Westside Racism

Dissident Voice : Code Words and Green Dot’s Pandering to Westside Racism:

"There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more COMPETITION couldn’t cure.
– Ann Coulter (racist reactionary right wing pundit)

It would force the district to learn how to run great schools by forcing them to COMPETE.
– Ben Austin (Executive Director LAPU/PR)

Several Emerson Middle School parents, activists, and teachers recently contacted me. They informed me LAPU/Parent (counter)Revolution has an “organizer” going door-to-door gathering signatures to privatize their school, this despite the fact Emerson isn’t on LAUSD Superintendent Cortines’ current privatization list. I asked them to describe the “organizer,” expecting LAPU/PR to have committed one of their most experienced employees, Shirley Ford or Mary Najara, to a project so ideologically important to chief privatizer Ben Austin."
The person gathering signatures they described, while initially unexpected, made complete sense in the context of the class character and demographics of where the canvassing is occurring. We’ll get back to this shortly.

Anyone over the age of 30 should recall phrases including “school choice” were the clarion call of segregationists and southern dixiecrats. It’s no small irony that one of Ben Austin’s Georgetown University Law School predecessors, Milton Korman, argued on the Jim Crow side of Brown vs. Board of Education. While the context of modern white flight isn’t directly comparable to that of the segregationists, its character and motivations are the same. Let’s look at the subtle, insidious racism that fuels the charter/voucher movement.

Maine voters asked to reverse K-12 school mergers - Fosters

Maine voters asked to reverse K-12 school mergers - Fosters:

"PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Dozens of school districts across the state have merged with the goal of cutting administrative costs under Maine's school district consolidation law. Voters will be asked to decide on Election Day whether to undo the whole thing.

Consolidation supporters say that scuttling the law would make a mess of things, not to mention eliminate millions of dollars in savings. Critics of the law, including House Speaker Hannah Pingree and Senate President Libby Mitchell, say it should be repealed.

'We're not against consolidation. We're against mandatory consolidation — especially if it doesn't make sense,' said Skip Greenlaw, whose Maine Coalition to Save Schools is leading the repeal effort.

School consolidation supporters point to an analysis by the Maine Legislature's Office of Fiscal and Program Review that says repealing the law would cost $37 million a year. But critics say there's no way to quantify those numbers and that the consolidation may be costly in the long run."

PR-USA.net - Applebatch.com is Helping Teachers to Proactively Manage Their Careers

PR-USA.net - Applebatch.com is Helping Teachers to Proactively Manage Their Careers:

"Applebatch.com, a Chicago-based K-12 professional community, is teaching teachers how to network like business professionals. Applebatch connects over 3,400 teachers online and is hosting their first K-12 networking event on Oct. 22nd at Martini Park in downtown Chicago. The event, Ed Cocktail, will enable teachers to network with other teachers, principals and administrators.

“Teaching has been viewed as a job with no career path and many schools don’t utilize best practices from the business world to connect, mentor and retain their employees,” said George Hammer, CEO of Applebatch.com. “Therefore, teachers lack the support network to be successful in their current jobs and the career assistance to help them find new jobs.”

Over 75% of teachers change jobs at Chicago Public Schools in the first two years. And, 70% education majors graduated school in 2009 and are still looking for teaching jobs. Applebatch is hosting Ed Cocktail to help teachers find the job they want through tapping a diverse network. In fact, 80% of the best openings are never published until a principal already has a candidate to fill the role. Teachers need to learn how to network and get the inside track to finding a job."

2,100 volunteers to give H1N1 shots | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer

2,100 volunteers to give H1N1 shots Cincinnati.com The Cincinnati Enquirer:

"Volunteer nurses, doctors, pharmacists and regular folks will give a massive H1N1 flu vaccination campaign a shot in the arm."

The Tristate Medical Reserve Corps, which includes some 2,100 volunteers, has been called up to help get the vaccinations to everyone who wants one.

The volunteers will help health departments at large-scale vaccination clinics at schools and other sites.

If necessary, they will also staff alternate care sites set up to handle overflow from local hospitals or to help determine which patients need emergency medical care, said Jared Warner, regional director of the Tristate Medical Corps.

Some health departments just don't have enough qualified employees to quickly vaccinate the tens of thousands of people who might want the vaccine.

Television Has Less Effect On Climate Change Education Than Other Media - Science News - redOrbit

Television Has Less Effect On Climate Change Education Than Other Media - Science News - redOrbit:

"Worried about climate change and want to learn more? You probably aren't watching television then. A new study by George Mason University Communication Professor Xiaoquan Zhao suggests that watching television has no significant impact on viewers' knowledge about the issue of climate change. Reading newspapers and using the web, however, seem to contribute to people's knowledge about this issue.

The study, 'Media Use and Global Warming Perceptions: A Snapshot of the Reinforcing Spirals', looked at the relationship between media use and people's perceptions of global warming. The study asked participants how often they watch TV, surf the Web, and read newspapers. They were also asked about their concern and knowledge of global warming and specifically its impact on the polar regions."

Dallas Program Helps Kids With Jailed Parents - cbs11tv.com

Dallas Program Helps Kids With Jailed Parents - cbs11tv.com:

The term 'Amachi' is a Nigerian word meaning 'who knows what God has brought us through this child.' It's also the mantra and name of a newly adopted mentorship program by the Dallas Bar Association.

The program pairs Dallas attorneys with children whose parents are serving time in jail and aims to change young lives.

Eight year old Déjà and attorney Katie Bandy are strangers bounded by a newfound friendship."

"We go to the flight museum and to the restaurants," Déjà said of her mentor and the special connection they share.

"The best thing that we've done is getting to meet each other," Déjà said. Bandy is Déjà's mentor, friend and positive role model.

"It's just great to be able to expose someone else to a life I've really enjoyed," Bandy said.

It's the fundamental belief behind the Dallas Bar Association's involvement with Amachi. The program strives to support the needs of young children whose parents are absent, either serving time in jail or recently out of the system.

Amachi History

The word Amachi is a Nigerian word that means, “Who knows what God has brought us through this child?”

The Amachi program dates to 2001 and was the result of a collaborative think tank which included the University of Pennsylvania, Pew Charitable Trust, Public Private Ventures, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Then, as now, the mission was/is to break the intergenerational cycle of crime and incarceration and give a forgotten (invisible) group of children the chance to reach their highest potential.

Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., a former two-term mayor of Philadelphia, took the mission to heart and implemented it successfully in Philadelphia and across the country.

PR-CANADA.net - Experts Summarize State of the Science in Autism Disorders

PR-CANADA.net - Experts Summarize State of the Science in Autism Disorders:

"Some recurrent themes of the review are the expanding knowledge of early brain development, and the importance of early diagnosis of ASDs, accompanied by intensive early treatment. The researchers also recognize the important role of parent involvement in early recognition of ASDs and in reinforcing their child's behavioral treatments at home. They also endorse research on methods for supporting families to reduce parental stress.

As evidenced by a long history of family and twin studies, ASDs are the neuropsychiatric disorder most affected by genetic factors. The authors review recent studies performed with the help of sophisticated gene-analyzing tools, and cite the finding earlier this year that a significant percentage of ASD patients have DNA alterations in a genetic area that affects how neurons interconnect in the brain. Combined with other studies of brain anatomy and function, the authors say, 'genetic and neurobiological evidence point to a good causal model of this disorder--namely, genetically mediated abnormal findings of synaptic maturation and connectivity.'"

Flu cases rapidly rising in region - Redlands Daily Facts

Flu cases rapidly rising in region - Redlands Daily Facts:

"A national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of people hospitalized with H1N1 found the number of deaths was highest (39 percent) among people between 25 and 49.

'This week and last have been some the busiest days of the past four or five months,' said Dr. Rodney Borger, ER medical director at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.
Borger said that if someone is showing signs of the flu now, the odds are better than 80 percent that it is the H1N1 virus."

Union Leaders Press D.C. Council to Probe Rhee's Layoffs - washingtonpost.com

Union Leaders Press D.C. Council to Probe Rhee's Layoffs - washingtonpost.com:

"Union leaders asked the D.C. Council on Friday for an investigation into the layoffs of 266 teachers and staff members, including an independent audit of the school system's decision to hire 934 educators this spring and summer.

Officials of unions representing teachers, principals and other public school personnel assailed the Oct. 2 dismissals as an attempt by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to winnow veteran instructors from the system. They said the 934 hires were far in excess of what was necessary to fill job openings and were used to create a budget crisis to justify the firings."

s'COOL FOOD Initiative

Our Mission
The mission of the s’COOL FOOD Initiative is to create a community of healthy children across Santa Barbara County who make educated food choices throughout their lives.

Footage from Culinary Boot Camp 2009

Footage from Culinary Boot Camp 2009

Study Finds Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup

No Lunch Left Behind by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron

s'Cool Food Visits Santa Maria Farms and Friends

Listen to Chef Ann Cooper and Chef Kate Adamick's Latest Podcast

http://www.scoolfood.org/initiative/initiative.cfm?section=initiative

Daily Sound — School menus fill with local fare

Daily Sound — School menus fill with local fare:

"When students in the Goleta Union School District head through the lunch line next week, they’ll have the chance to snag a locally grown, organic apple as part of their meal.

While perhaps not spectacular on the surface, that fact is indicative of a dramatic shift taking place in school cafeterias along the South Coast — a move from highly processed and prepared foods to healthy, from-scratch cooking using local produce.

Spurred on by the Orfalea Fund s’Cool Food Initiative, local school nutrition directors have been tossing out the prepackaged menu items and swapping in freshly prepared meals that frequently include fruits and veggies grown nearby.

“We’re definitely moving in that direction in a major way,” said Sharon Baird, food service director for the Goleta school district."

Comprehensive immigration reform vital to U.S. interests | LoHud.com | The Journal News

Comprehensive immigration reform vital to U.S. interests LoHud.com The Journal News:

"Now is the time to take a stand for comprehensive immigration reform. There is a key window of opportunity to join in and lead our business communities, labor unions, universities, faith-based organizations, law enforcement agencies, civil rights groups and neighbors to speak out for positive solutions. It is time to stand up for the values of our nation and demand a humane, workable immigration system.

There is a growing bipartisan effort, supported by the majority of Americans, many members of Congress and President Barack Obama, mobilizing in favor of effective immigration reform. Indeed, this past Tuesday, thousands of people gathered in Washington and across the country, including at a community vigil in Carmel, to take part in a 'National Procession, Rally and Lobby Day' for comprehensive immigration reform. These actions coincided with U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., announcing principles for an upcoming reform bill."

Schools' zero tolerance policies short on common sense | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Columnist James Ragland | Dallas-Fort Worth News

Schools' zero tolerance policies short on common sense News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Columnist James Ragland Dallas-Fort Worth News:

"I've never been a fan of so-called zero tolerance policies in our nation's schools.

In my book, the practical translation of these theoretically pure postulations often leads to a much more intolerable reality – zero thinking.

Examples are easy to find, such as the recent case of the Delaware first-grader who took his camping knife to school.

Little Zachary, at the ripe age of 6, soon learned a hard and bitter lesson from zero-thinking school officials who initially subjected him to 45 days in an alternative school for troublemakers.

Innocently enough, Zachary was going to use the combo spoon/fork/knife camping tool to eat his lunch. Can't you just imagine how excited the fresh-faced Cub Scout must've been to show it off?"

United Teachers Los Angeles: Absent from reform -- latimes.com

United Teachers Los Angeles: Absent from reform -- latimes.com:

"It's easy to see why United Teachers Los Angeles doesn't like the new Public School Choice policy at L.A. Unified, which allows outside groups to apply to take over about 250 new or underperforming schools. Those groups are likely to include a large number of charter school operators that would hire their own teachers rather than sign a contract with the teachers union.

What's less understandable is why UTLA would minimize its chances of keeping some of the schools within the district, along with their union jobs. Yet that's what appears to be happening. A rift has developed within the union's leadership over whether to allow more so-called pilot schools, and if so, how many and under what conditions. Pilot schools are similar to charter schools, except that they remain within L.A. Unified, staffed by the district's union employees. The staff is given more independence to make instructional and budgeting decisions in exchange for greater accountability and 'thin contracts,' which contain fewer of the prescriptive work rules that can stultify progress."

Public forum on new Phila. charter policy Tuesday | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/17/2009

Public forum on new Phila. charter policy Tuesday Philadelphia Inquirer 10/17/2009:

"The Philadelphia School Reform Commission and Superintendent Arlene Ackerman will hold a public forum Tuesday evening to hear comments on a controversial proposed policy on charter school expansions.

The amendment drafted by the district would allow charter schools to apply to add grades and expand enrollment only when their operating charter is up for renewal - generally every five years.

Currently, the commission considers requests from charters on an ad hoc basis and has no policy for evaluating them. The commission has approved changes before a charter is up for renewal.

The district's proposal would require charter schools seeking expansion to demonstrate strong academic performance, successful management, and good financial track records. The charters would also have to show that their facilities could accommodate the requested changes.

The proposal has galvanized opposition from the city's charter community."

Education Professor Honored for Body of Work | UANews.org

Education Professor Honored for Body of Work UANews.org:

"Luis C. Moll, whose research contributions are credited with advancing the understanding of ways that Hispanic students learn, is being honored by the American Educational Research Association.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
October 16, 2009

For decades, Luis C. Moll has investigated the ways Hispanic families' social networks and household environments contribute to the education and success of their children.
Considered pivotal research, the work headed by Moll and his colleagues have challenged long-existing theoretical models that have indicated that people of color are inherently disadvantaged because of their social and cultural backgrounds.

'We learn and develop through our relationships with each other – that is fundamental to the development,' said Moll, a University of Arizona professor in the language, reading and culture department."

Harvard loses $1.8b in cash placed in high-risk investments - The Boston Globe

Harvard loses $1.8b in cash placed in high-risk investments - The Boston Globe:

"Harvard University, one of the world’s richest educational institutions, stumbled into its financial crisis in part by breaking one of the most basic rules of corporate or family finance:

Don’t gamble with the money you need to pay the daily bills."

The university disclosed yesterday that it had lost $1.8 billion in cash - money it relies on for the school’s everyday expenses - by investing it with its endowment fund, instead of keeping it in safe, bank-like accounts. The disclosure was made in the school’s annual report for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Typically, companies and big institutions manage their cash conservatively in order to have it readily available, by keeping the money in such low-risk investments as money-market mutual funds.

But Harvard placed a large portion of its cash with Harvard Management Co., the entity that runs the university’s endowment and invests in stocks, hedge funds, and other risky assets. It has been widely reported that Harvard Management’s endowment investments were battered in the market crash - down 27 percent in its last fiscal year. Not revealed until yesterday was that the school’s basic cash portfolio had also been caught in the undertow.

Education cuts slice through tightknit community - SignOnSanDiego.com

Education cuts slice through tightknit community - SignOnSanDiego.com:

"ALPINE — From secretaries to school board members, folks in the small Alpine Union School District talk proudly of how everyone knows each other and tries to work like family. Many of the district's employees live in the community off Interstate 8 in the foothills near the Cleveland National Forest. They bump into each other in the grocery store. Their children play sports together after school. “It's very tightknit,” said Superintendent Greg Ryan. When the 2,000-student district was facing a budget crunch last spring, all of its employees, including school board members and administrators, agreed to take 2 percent pay cuts. Teachers also agreed to trim two days from their calendar and nonteaching employees four days to further reduce salaries."

10.16.2009 - Stephen Barnett, California Supreme Court expert, dies at 73

10.16.2009 - Stephen Barnett, California Supreme Court expert, dies at 73:

"BERKELEY — Stephen Barnett, professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, died of complications resulting from cardiac arrest on Tuesday, Oct. 13. He was 73.

Stephen Barnett (Jim Block photo)Barnett was a prominent expert on intellectual property law; the news media; the legal institutions of California, principally the California Supreme Court; and First Amendment issues.

'In his scholarship, Steve was a devastating critic of the practices of the California Supreme Court and the California State Bar Association,' said Berkeley Law professor Melvin Eisenberg. 'He did a lot of acute, penetrating research that no one else has done regarding judicial transparency and legitimacy.'

Berkeley Law Associate Dean and professor Stephen Sugarman said Barnett 'was probably California's leading analyst and critic of the way the California Supreme Court goes about its business – how promptly it delivers its decisions, when the judges prepare their opinions, the Court's control over the briefs of parties and the role of oral argument, and the role of unpublished opinions and de-published opinions of lower California courts.'"

Education Technology News: Pearson to Advance Learning Systems in Six California Schools

Education Technology News: Pearson to Advance Learning Systems in Six California Schools:

"Pearson, an education and technology services company, will now be offering six California schools dubbed the “Model Innovation Schools” an innovation strategy for maximizing and improving technological education services.

Partnering with the six model schools – Valadez Middle School Academy, VanderMolen Fundamental Elementary, Rosebud Academy Charter School, Ecademy, Woodridge Elementary and Rio Terra Junior High School – Pearson will work with the six educational facilities to have an e-learning system where students can have an alternative route to learning."

Educator sees the value in 'value-added' approach to evaluating teachers -- latimes.com

Educator sees the value in 'value-added' approach to evaluating teachers -- latimes.com:

"When Terry Grier was hired to run San Diego Unified School District in January 2008, he hoped to bring with him a revolutionary tool that had never been tried in a large California school system.

Its name -- 'value-added' -- sounded innocuous enough. But this number-crunching approach threatened to upend many traditional notions of what worked and what didn't in the nation's classrooms.

It was novel because rather than using tests to take a snapshot of overall student achievement, it used scores to track each pupil's academic progress from year to year. What made it incendiary, however, was its potential to single out the best and worst teachers in a nation that currently gives virtually all teachers a passing grade."

Nurses wanting to unionize face unlikely foe: Feinstein - BostonHerald.com

Nurses wanting to unionize face unlikely foe: Feinstein - BostonHerald.com:

"WASHINGTON — The nation’s nurses have an idea for how to improve health care: Allow more of them to unionize.

As they press Congress to approve a bill that would make it easier to organize, however, nurses and other unions have identified a big obstacle in Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

While President Barack Obama and a majority of Senate Democrats are behind the Employee Free Choice Act, Feinstein isn’t. After she scored a perfect 100 rating from the AFL-CIO last year, many union activists are scratching their heads, wondering why Feinstein has parted ways with them on their signature issue."

Studies Show Furloughs Not Saving State - California Progress Report

Studies Show Furloughs Not Saving State - California Progress Report:

"Earlier this week, the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released a report that concluded that the furlough savings was illusory at 24.7 facilities, specifically at state hospitals, prisons, and other 24/7 facilities that are under state operation. This finding by itself carries a considerable consequence, but amazingly it is not the only finding of its kind.

But another study done by UC Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education released on Thursday found that:

"Much of the savings from California state workers' three-day-a-month mandatory furlough will be offset by reduced revenue and increased costs to the state general fund in future years."

The Berkeley study analyzes the impact of furloughing state employees for three days a month, the equivalent loss of seven weeks of pay. The study concludes that the furlough will save the general fund only 12 cents for every dollar cut in wages.

Government agencies across the state have imposed furloughs as a means to reduce operating costs during the hardship. They range from cities to counties to the higher educational system. It is unclear just how much these findings are generalizable to other situations, but it seems these impacts ought to be examined.

As rehab programs are cut, prisons do less to keep inmates from returning -- latimes.com

As rehab programs are cut, prisons do less to keep inmates from returning -- latimes.com:

"Reporting from Sacramento - Gina Tatum spends her days in a compound surrounded by electrified fence in the sun-baked heart of the Central Valley, hoping to change her life.

She will soon turn 50, and after two decades in and out of prison, she says she is tired of victimizing others, tired of stealing, tired of doing drugs.

'I can't afford any more years up here -- I've lost too many,' said Tatum, who is serving a four-year stint for forgery at the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. 'I'm trying to learn things to change my thinking, change everything about me, so I can go home. It's so easy to get caught up here and never leave. I don't want to die in prison.'"

SN&R > Columns > Cut&Paste > City Hall gives no thought to freethought > 10.15.09

SN&R > Columns > Cut&Paste > City Hall gives no thought to freethought > 10.15.09:

"The Kevin Johnson administration is “not comfortable” with a longstanding City Hall tradition of recognizing Freethought Day, an annual celebration of the separation of church and state.

Freethought Day commemorates the day in October of 1692, when Massachusetts Gov. William Phips declared that “spectral evidence” was no longer allowed in court proceedings. That pretty much ended the Salem witch trials, and helped lay the groundwork for the separation of church and state.

And that’s why local atheists, freethinkers and humanists celebrated Freethought Day on Sunday, October 11, at Cesar Chavez Plaza, across from City Hall. Similar celebrations were held around the country on the same day."

Walk To Defeat ALS(TM) Sacramento Chapter:

Walk To Defeat ALS(TM) Sacramento Chapter::

"Hello Specktacular Speck Supporters!

The ALS Association (ALSA) is having a nationwide fundraising walk, The Walk to Defeat ALS, and the Sacramento Chapter is hosting a walk on October 17th at William Land Park in Sacramento.

This online fundraising team was created to walk/donate in support of Cathy Speck and her family. The team is called The Specktaculars. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the ALS Association."

Chicago charter schools are failing on state tests but not facing turnaround or other sanctions - Substance News

Chicago charter schools are failing on state tests but not facing turnaround or other sanctions - Substance News

Charter school report shows scores of Chicago charters are 'failing' as measured by Illinois tests

Scores of Chicago public schools are being closed for performing poorly on the state tests and replaced by charter schools.

But what if those charter schools that replaced the ‘failing’ public schools are also performing poorly? Should not they be placed on probation, ridiculed and then closed as well?

That question needs to be asked after the Illinois State Board of Education issued the Illinois Charter School Annual Report in January 2009.

According to the Charter School Performance data, there are 12 Chicago charter schools — almost half of the total charters in Chicago — that did not make the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) on the state’s ISAT and PSAE tests during the 2007-2008 school year.

Tea Time

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/10/16/is-michelle-obama-right-about-teachers/

Is Michelle Obama Right about Teachers?

First Lady Michelle Obama wrote yesterday in US News and World Report that we face a teacher shortage. She laments that up to a third of current teachers could retire in the next four years. The solution, she says, is to embark on an aggressive and multifaceted teacher recruitment campaign.

But here’s an interesting thought: What if a million teachers really did retire in the next four years, and we only replaced half of them?

City Brights: Joe D'Alessandro : Take nothing for granted

City Brights: Joe D'Alessandro : Take nothing for granted:

"Even with all that City Hall and the many non-profits around town are doing, we hear complaints from our visitors about dirty streets, aggressive panhandling and public drug dealing.

Sacramento's celebrity Mayor Kevin Johnson had his bag stolen while helping someone into a cab right on Union Square last week. Street safety should be a priority for all of us.

These issues are important not just because they disturb our visitors and residents. The fact is that people are struggling and suffering. If we are truly 'the cool grey city of love,' we can't ignore that.

And we need to do everything we can to preserve the city's quirky 'Only in San Francisco' personality. Other cities may have beautiful hills, bridges and coastlines but only this city is '49 square miles surrounded by reality.'"

Inside School Research: Study Suggests Dyslexia Varies Around the Globe

Inside School Research: Study Suggests Dyslexia Varies Around the Globe:

"Dyslexia looks distinctly different in Chinese speakers than it does in American children, a new study says."

In the U.S., children who are dyslexic have trouble detecting or manipulating the sound structure of oral language, according to a report on the study posted this week in the "Science Daily" blog, and that, in turn, leads to problems mapping speech sounds onto letters.

In China, though, dyslexia is both a phonological problem and a visuospatial disorder, says this group of researchers from the University of Hong Kong. That's due in part to structural differences in the languages. They write:

"Written Chinese maps graphic forms—i.e., characters—onto meanings. Chinese characters possess a number of intricate strokes packed into a square configuration, and their pronounciation must be memorized by rote."

That means the Chinese readers must rely more heavily on visuospatial processing than do readers of English. To test that idea, the researchers asked normal and dyslexic Chinese readers to judge the size of visual stimuli. In keeping with their theory, they found that nondisabled readers excelled at that task.

Five myths about paying good teachers more | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Five myths about paying good teachers more detnews.com The Detroit News:

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan says paying public school teachers based on their performance is his 'highest priority,' and he plans to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars to states and school systems that embrace the idea. In the District of Columbia, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has made such reform a cornerstone of her agenda -- and a backdrop to her recent move to lay off 229 teachers in response to budget cuts. But school reformers have been trying unsuccessfully to introduce performance pay in public education for decades. If today's reformers want to break the deadlock, they're going to have to let go of several myths hanging over the debate:"

1. Merit pay has a strong track record.

2. Teachers unions are the biggest barrier to merit pay.

3. Principals are good judges of teacher talent.

4. Student test scores offer a simple solution to the evaluation problem.

5. Teachers are most motivated by money.

Welcome to the University of iTunes - CNN.com

Welcome to the University of iTunes - CNN.com:

"LONDON, England (CNN) -- The wisdom of business professors, once only available to MBAs and business students, can now be accessed by anybody with an Internet connection.

At HEC Paris, MBA students are given an iPod Touch so they can download podcasts of lectures.

Hundreds of universities, and a growing number of business schools, are making recordings of lectures, seminars and conferences available to the general public via Web sites such as iTunes and YouTube.

Leading business schools including University of Cambridge Judge Business School, Fuqua School of Business, and Yale School of Management make course content available for download through iTunes University (iTunes U), part of the of the iTunes online store.

That means those whose budget won't stretch to a two-year MBA can simulate the experience at home -- or at work, in the gym or anywhere else they choose. And even better for money-conscious learners, the iTunes U content can all be downloaded free of charge."

Police: Washing mouth out with soap a crime | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY

Police: Washing mouth out with soap a crime floridatoday.com FLORIDA TODAY:

"It was a Wednesday evening along Shenandoah Road when the 8-year-old girl said a bad word, Palm Bay Police said."

According to investigative reports, the girl's mother, 32-year-old Adriyanna Herdener, deferred punishment to her live-in boyfriend, 41-year-old Wilfredo Rivera. After all, he was the father of their 18-month-old daughter and, as Herdener told police, "the head of the household."

What happened next went from simple punishment to what police call a crime and saw both adults lose custody of their children.

Herdener told police that Rivera went into the home's bathroom, grabbed a bar of Irish Spring soap sitting in a dish and told the girl not just to wash her mouth out with it, but to eat it.

It is a ramped-up version of an old-fashioned punishment many of today's adults endured as children -- and one experts say just doesn't work anymore, if it ever did.

Gov. Granholm named National Education Policy Leader of the Year | Bay City News - - MLive.com

Gov. Granholm named National Education Policy Leader of the Year Bay City News - - MLive.com:

"Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm has been named Policy Leader of the Year by the National Association of State Boards of Education.

The association is a nonprofit that represents state and territorial boards of education.

“Jennifer Granholm has recognized that in difficult economic times, the future health and prosperity of her state’s children and of Michigan as a whole is inexorably linked to a strong and vital public education,” Association Executive Director Brenda Welburn said in a news release issued by Granholm's office.

Granholm says she has strengthened Michigan’s education system in numerous ways, including:"

expanding preschool programs and creating a public-private partnership, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, to improve early childhood care and education;

adopting some of the most rigorous K-8 content standards and high school graduation requirements in the nation;

creating the Michigan Promise scholarship – the first universal college scholarship – which sets the expectation that students will continue their education beyond high school;

establishing Promise Zones, new public-private partnerships in 10 Michigan communities with high poverty rates, that will guarantee all children the financial support to obtain a college degree;

developing the Michigan College Access Network, another public-private partnership, linking Michigan communities together to help more students not only attend college but also to succeed in earning degrees and other credentials;

launching the No Worker Left Behind job-training program in 2007 that provides qualifying participants two years of free tuition up to $10,000 at any Michigan community college, university or other approved training program. This month, enrollment in the program topped 100,000.

Online Education Investor Makes More Than $1 Million in Scholarships Available to Those in Need | Reuters

Online Education Investor Makes More Than $1 Million in Scholarships Available to Those in Need Reuters:

"SOLANA BEACH, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Dr. Michael Clifford, the principal of SignificantFederation (www.sigfed.com), a
company that has invested or has a financial stake in more than a dozen online
colleges and universities around the country, has decided it is time to give
back.

Clifford announced today that SignificantFederation plans to make $1 million in
scholarships available to smart students, who can no longer afford to pay the
skyrocketing tuition that most schools are seeking.

'SignificantFederation has done extremely well in recent years by investing in
colleges that already have, or would like to have, an online education
component,' said Clifford, who was an early investor in both Grand Canyon
University and Bridgepoint Education, two highly successful online education
companies that have gone public in the last 12 months.

'We believe the time has come to reach out to the smartest and poorest students
in America and give them a chance to expand their horizons,' he added.

Prospective students, including adults, are encouraged to visit
http://www.significantfederation.com/scholarships/ to fill out a simple form and
receive a scholarship application."

53 House Republicans Seek Removal of Obama Schools Official - NYTimes.com

53 House Republicans Seek Removal of Obama Schools Official - NYTimes.com:

"WASHINGTON — Fifty-three House Republicans have signed a letter to the Obama administration asking for the ouster of Kevin Jennings, an official charged with promoting school safety, because of his career as an advocate of teaching tolerance of homosexuality."

“As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools — an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children,” the lawmakers write.

They cite as evidence the foreword Mr. Jennings wrote for a book titled “Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue About Sexualities and Schooling” (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999).

The outcry from conservative commentators and activists began not long after the resignation in September of another Obama appointee, Van Jones, who had the task of promoting energy-efficient jobs. Mr. Jones had signed some far-left petitions, including one suggesting that the Bush administration may have allowed the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext for invading Iraq.

Yale Daily News - Brill: Booker and the Brick City

Yale Daily News - Brill: Booker and the Brick City:

"It’s time for Cory Booker to step up. I write that not in spite of the Newark mayor’s spectacular accomplishments in his first two years in office, but because of them. The Brick City — resilient, reborn under new leadership — is on the mend. But one project looms untouched, without which urban revitalization cannot be close to complete: mayoral control and reform of Newark’s public schools.

It’s hard to understate the miserable condition of New Jersey’s largest school system. For decades, Newark public schools were severely underfunded, resulting in crumbling schools and underpaid teachers. In 1990, however, funding advocates won a landmark lawsuit in the New Jersey Supreme Court which won billions in new school money. Today, per-pupil spending is $18,000, among the highest of urban school districts."

Charter School Battle Reignites

Charter School Battle Reignites:

"Several groups are seeking to make Maine the 40th state to allow charter schools. The groups, including the Maine Association of Charter Schools, Democrats for Education Reform, and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, will meet this Wednesday the 14th in Augusta. The groups seek to inform Mainers about the benefits of charter schools in combating dropout rates, the subject of a recent forum in Orono, low achievement, and more. Matthew Stone reported that the forum comes as another battle over allowing charter schools in Maine is about to heat up.

Advocates of charter schools see the institutions as a way to diversify the learning environment and bring more advantages to Maine students. “We’re just not competitive if we’re not giving students and parents and educators the option for charter schools,” said Roger Brainerd, executive director of the MACS. “It’s not the answer to everything. It’s just another tool.” Charter schools have also been cite many times as a key component to receiving Federal “Race to the Top” funding."

DETNEWS | Weblogs | Daniel Howes' Blog

DETNEWS Weblogs Daniel Howes' Blog:

"In a town desperate for good news, word that Robert Bobb is negotiating to extend his stay as emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools is about as good it gets. They need him. The city of Detroit needs him. DPS kids and their parents need him. The social-services budgets of the city, the state and the feds need him because, as Nick Kristof points out in today's New York Times:

'Good schools constitute a far more potent weapon against poverty than welfare, food stamps or housing subsidies. Yet, cowed by teachers' unions, Democrats have too often resisted reform and stood by as generations of disadvantaged children have been cemented into an underclass by third-rate schools.'

There's no Detroit dateline on the piece, but there might as well be. He continues: 'It's difficult to improve failing schools when you can't create alternatives such as charter schools and can't remove inept or abusive teachers.'"

Rhee uses scores to back up reforms - Washington Times

Rhee uses scores to back up reforms - Washington Times:

"D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said Thursday that standout gains on a national math test reinforce recent local test results and further validate her aggressive approach to school reform in the District.

'I never like to say that I expect anything,' Ms. Rhee said at a news conference at Mary Church Terrell Elementary School in Southeast Washington. 'We just are glad to see that the progress that our kids are making academically is consistently being seen in lots of different kinds of data.'

The District and four states were the only jurisdictions to see improvements from both fourth- and eighth-grade students since the semiannual National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test was last given in 2007, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education."

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency:

"(Media-Newswire.com) - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued the following statement on The Nation's Report Card: Mathematics 2009, National Assessment of Educational Progress ( NAEP ) at Grades 4 and 8:

“Today's results are evidence that we must better equip our schools to improve the knowledge and skills of America's students in mathematics. Our students have made real gains in math over the past two decades, but for the first time since NAEP's mathematics test started in 1990, student achievement in fourth grade has not improved. More must be done to narrow the troubling achievement gap that has persisted in mathematics, and to ensure that America's students make greater gains toward becoming competitive with their peers in other countries.

“None of us should be satisfied. We need reforms that will accelerate student achievement. Our students need to graduate high school ready to succeed in college and the workplace. These NAEP results are a call to action to reform the teaching and learning of mathematics and other related subjects in order to prepare our students to compete in the global economy.

“President Obama's agenda for school reform is focused on improving student achievement. We're building a teaching profession that will ensure every child has an excellent teacher and that teachers are rewarded for excellent work. We're supporting efforts to create standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and careers. We're helping states build data systems to track whether students are meeting those standards. And we're turning around our lowest-performing schools."

Academic dishonesty | The Citizen Online

Academic dishonesty The Citizen Online:

"College education is a costly proposition with tuition, room and board at some colleges topping $50,000 a year. Is it worth it?

Increasing evidence suggests that it’s not. Since the 1960s, academic achievement scores have plummeted, but student college grade point averages (GPA) have skyrocketed. In October 2001, the Boston Globe published an article entitled “Harvard’s Quiet Secret: Rampant Grade Inflation.” The article reported that a record 91 percent of Harvard University students were awarded honors during the spring graduation. The newspaper called Harvard’s grading practices “the laughing stock of the Ivy League.”

Harvard is by no means unique. For example, 80 percent of the grades given at the University of Illinois are A’s and B’s. Fifty percent of students at Columbia University are on the Dean’s list. At Stanford University, where F grades used to be banned, only 6 percent of student grades were as low as a C. In the 1930s, the average GPA at American colleges and universities was 2.35, about a C plus; today the national average GPA is 3.2, more than a B."

UCSC Students Occupy Dean's Office: Call to Revolt! : Indybay

UCSC Students Occupy Dean's Office: Call to Revolt! : Indybay:

"The glass walls of passivity, separating us from one another, can only be shattered with revolt. We are occupying a second building on the Santa Cruz campus of the University of California because we have answered the call of the first to occupy everything. Tonight is a demonstration to students and workers everywhere that the division between taking what you want and planning for a movement to come only appears as a problem for abstract thought about taking action. We only catch sight of the fires of the insurrection to come on the morning after the unrest of the night before.

What is a crisis anyway? It is the exclusion from work and public services of those most precariously situated within this system. To a crisis which is generalized, it is pointless to respond with generic activism. Activists of more prosperous eras held demonstrations. Still, they were unable to secure any lasting position for those on whose behalf they took “action”. As the current crisis unfolds, it is necessary to elaborate innovative forms of escalation and revolt. Our crisis is as much the failure of these tired forms of mobilization as it is the collateral damage caused by a growing economic catastrophe."

National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week to Commence Weeklong Celebration Across the Country

National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week to Commence Weeklong Celebration Across the Country:

"Helping to answer the Obama Administration's nationwide call for renewed service and education reform, more than 5 million youth, parents, teachers, and volunteers will gather in thousands of schools across the country and around the world to spruce up schools, reclaim neighborhoods, and celebrate good character during the 16th annual National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week on October 18-24.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 16, 2009 -- Helping to answer the Obama Administration's nationwide call for renewed service and education reform, more than 5 million youth, parents, teachers, and volunteers will gather in thousands of schools across the country and around the world to spruce up schools, reclaim neighborhoods, and celebrate good character during the 16th annual National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week on October 18-24."