The Educated Guess � Behind-the-scenes maneuvers on parental reforms

The Educated Guess � Behind-the-scenes maneuvers on parental reforms


A new year, same old power plays.

There likely will be action today in the Assembly on compromise Race to the Top legislation, as scheduled.  But instead of one big bill,  two reforms opposed by the school boards association and the state teachers union will be shoved  into a separate bill, which the lobbies hope to kill. At least that’s the word I got late last night, after a day of intense negotiations.

Both reforms would give more power to families in chronically failing schools. So Democrats in the Assembly will find themselves having to choose between the interests of the union and that of parents.

When last we left it, before Christmas, SBX5-4 has passed the Senate and was awaiting action in the Assembly. It still is. The bill would put California on firmer ground in competing for a piece of the Obama administration’s $4.3 billion school reform grant program.

The two parent empowerment reforms are backed by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, and Gov. Schwarzenegger. The open enrollment provision would give parents in the bottom 10 percent of low-achieving schools the right to choose a better school in another district, assuming there is space available. However, in response to serious questions raised at the Senate hearing about how the program would work, the bill needed to be fleshed out in detail over the Christmas break.

The parent “trigger” provision is the creation of Parent Revolution, an activist group behind the big school reform movement in Los Angeles Unified. If 50 percent of parents of students in a school – or 50 percent of parents in  feeder schools, in the case of a high school – signed a petition calling for change, school trustees would have to take decisive action: turning the school over to a charter school operator, replacing the principal and majority of the staff, or taking other serious turn-around strategies. In its latest form, the provision would be restricted to the first  75 successful petitions in schools that had failed to meet federal No Child Left Behind targets for six or more straight years.

Proposed Raffle Ban in New York City Schools Is Rescinded - NYTimes.com

Proposed Raffle Ban in New York City Schools Is Rescinded - NYTimes.com:

"First, it was bake sales. Then, for a few weeks, it looked as if raffles would also be banned.

At a time when New York City schools are struggling with budget cuts, the Department of Education proposed a regulation this month that would ban parent-teacher associations from holding raffles, a mainstay of fund-raising — especially after the city effectively banned PTA bake sales in June.

Parents were furious. “Everybody’s been going crazy about it,” said Wendy Vaphides, the co-president of the Parent-Teacher Association at the Michael J. Petrides School on Staten Island, which estimates it lost $1,800 by not being able to hold its annual holiday bake sales this year, and has a raffle scheduled for March."

Class Struggle - Can D.C. teacher evaluations be too admiring?

Class Struggle- Can D.C. teacher evaluations be too admiring?:

"I am still receiving emails about my Nov. 23 column on Dan Goldfarb, the first teacher to share with me the results of an evaluation under the new D.C. teacher assessment plan, IMPACT. Goldfarb was not happy with his score, 2.3 out of a possible 4 points. He said the rules forced his evaluator to focus on trivia, like whether he had been--to quote the IMPACT guidelines--“affirming (verbally or in writing) student effort or the connection between hard work and achievement.” He said the evaluator told his principal of his complaints about the program and about D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, violating promised confidentiality.

Goldfarb had legitimate gripes. But his was a tiny sample of this innovative attempt at rating teachers. When I sought evaluations from teachers not so opposed to IMPACT, several said they would send theirs over, but so far only one has done so. That evaluation differed from Goldfarb’s in intriguing ways. The score was almost perfect, 3.92 out of 4. But the analysis seemed to me out of sync with thinking behind this program."

UTA, UNT students save cash by renting textbooks | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

UTA, UNT students save cash by renting textbooks | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News| Latest News:

"You can rent an apartment, a car or a DVD. Now add college textbooks to the list expensive items that people are renting because they are short on cash or looking for a better deal."

Students at theUniversity of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas can lease some textbooks through their campus bookstore, while others can find deals through a growing number of online rental sites – think Netflix for English lit and calculus.

Meanwhile, a few professors and colleges are experimenting with free online textbooks.

There's good reason for the demand. College students can expect to shell out more than $1,000 on textbooks over the academic year, according to the Southern Regional Education Board. While that's still a fraction of tuition and fees, the high cost prompts plenty of gripes.

"It comes to a point where you feel like you have to take out a separate loan just for your textbooks," said Branden Scott, a sophomore at UNT.

Scott rented a $70 textbook for his English class through UNT's bookstore. The price for a semester-long rental: about $25.

"I was in a rush to get my textbooks for the cheapest prices I could," he said

EducationNews.org - A Leading Global News Source - Education: A Debate over Dumbing Down

EducationNews.org - A Leading Global News Source - Education: A Debate over Dumbing Down:

"Question: What article is being manufactured in the above passage? Too hard? Try these selections, then. What stage of a frog's development is being described in the following excerpt: 'A new frog is like a fish. He must stay in the water.

Education: A Debate over Dumbing Down

Textbooks, using formulas for simplicity, produce perplexity

Tap, tap, tap. See me work. I make I good things. See the red ones. See the blue ones. See the yellow ones. No, no, no. I do not want red ones. I do not want blue ones. I want green ones.'

Question: What article is being manufactured in the above passage? Too hard? Try these selections, then. What stage of a frog's development is being described in the following excerpt: 'A new frog is like a fish. He must stay in the water. You may have seen a little frog as he hopped out of the water. Then you may have seen him hop back in again.' In American history, how true is it to say that former President Richard M. Nixon became enmeshed in Watergate because 'he tried to help his friends'?"

Deborah A. Gist: R.I. is ready for change in education | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Deborah A. Gist: R.I. is ready for change in education | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal:

"The sense of urgency that Deborah A. Gist brought to her job as the state’s top education leader six months ago has only intensified since then, with the new commissioner and her staff at the state Department of Education rolling out a dizzying array of reforms. Most are intended to improve the quality of classroom teachers — one of the most critical factors in student success.

In early January, Gist will launch the state’s ambitious bid to capture millions of dollars in federal grants in the competitive Race to the Top grant program, which rewards dramatic changes.

“This state is really ready to pull its education system up and be the envy of the world,” Gist said. “I see it. I feel it. I hear it from people.” Since September, Gist has visited every district except New Shoreham, which she plans to visit Monday, and has met with hundreds of educators, students, and parents."

Study Gauges Teach for America Graduates’ Civic Involvement - NYTimes.com

Study Gauges Teach for America Graduates’ Civic Involvement - NYTimes.com:

"Teach for America, a corps of recent college graduates who sign up to teach in some of the nation’s most troubled schools, has become a campus phenomenon, drawing huge numbers of applicants willing to commit two years of their lives."


But a new study has found that their dedication to improving society at large does not necessarily extend beyond their Teach for America service.

In areas like voting, charitable giving and civic engagement, graduates of the program lag behind those who were accepted but declined and those who dropped out before completing their two years, according to Doug McAdam, a sociologist at Stanford University, who conducted the study with a colleague, Cynthia Brandt.

The reasons for the lower rates of civic involvement, Professor McAdam said, include not only exhaustion and burnout, but also disillusionment with Teach for America’s approach to the issue of educational inequity, among other factors.

The study, “Assessing the Long-Term Effects of Youth Service: The Puzzling Case of Teach for America,” is the first of its kind to explore what happens to participants after they leave the program. It was done at the suggestion of Wendy Kopp, Teach for America’s founder and president, who disagrees with the findings. Ms. Kopp had read an earlier study by Professor McAdam that found that participants in Freedom Summer — the 10 weeks in 1964 when civil rights advocates, many of them college students, went to Mississippi to register black voters — had become more politically active.

School choice movement pushes for open enrollment in Missouri - KansasCity.com

School choice movement pushes for open enrollment in Missouri - KansasCity.com:

"The idea of opening enrollment across school district boundaries has some obvious supporters.

Start with the families of the 84 students since the fall of 2007 whom the Lee’s Summit School District has removed from its schools for giving false addresses.

“Some forge documents that (say) they are living with someone else,” said Jeff Miller, Lee’s Summit’s director of student services. “Some put money on a place and show a contract, then back out.”"

Should schools relax zero-tolerance disciplinary policies? - Faceoff - NewsObserver.com

Should schools relax zero-tolerance disciplinary policies? - Faceoff - NewsObserver.com:

"Maybe some of the thousands of disruptive, violent or criminal students Wake County suspends each year need a more constructive alternative than getting kicked out of school."

In-school suspensions, reform schools or community service might be better alternatives than life at home, in a gang, or on the street, away from the chance to learn.

But if Wake's school board tinkers with its "zero-tolerance" disciplinary policy, as some board members want to do, it should take care not to make matters worse for teachers and the majority of students who work hard and behave.

The job of students is to learn. The job of teachers is to teach. The job of schools is to make it happen, not to coddle troublemakers.

Granted, some troubled students need and want help. They come from broken homes or suffer emotional, developmental or learning disabilities. We must not abandon them.

And there's no doubt that some misbehaving students booted from school only graduate to professional lives of crime, preying on innocent victims and requiring still more public attention, effort and treasure. Reform school is cheaper than prison. We need effective programs to shrink the pipeline of despair.

FALLBROOK: High school district agrees to settle First Amendment case

FALLBROOK: High school district agrees to settle First Amendment case:

"The Fallbrook Union High School District will pay $7,500 to the faculty advisor of the Fallbrook High School campus newspaper and $20,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to settle a lawsuit over a censored article and editorial.

Five Fallbrook High School journalism students and the ACLU filed the suit in November 2008, a year after Principal Rod King told faculty advisor Dave Evans that he couldn't run a student-written article in the Tomahawk's November 2007 edition about former Superintendent Tom Anthony's resignation.

Officials have declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding Anthony's resignation.

The article on Anthony was held despite Evans' 'strong objections,' according to the ACLU.

King also ordered Evans later to hold an editorial critical of the district's abstinence-only sex education program."

Nutter to focus on increasing college admissions | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/04/2010

Nutter to focus on increasing college admissions | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/04/2010:

"In the year ahead, Mayor Nutter's administration will open an office to help more city residents to and through college, and seek from area universities up to 100 new scholarships for city students.

It's part of a push to sharpen the city's focus on higher education - an area not often embraced by mayors traditionally more consumed with their kindergarten-through-12th-grade school systems.

'If we are going to remain economically competitive as a region, we have to get more kids going to college,' said Lori Shorr, Nutter's chief education officer."

HISD chief may halt alternative school program | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD chief may halt alternative school program | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

"Some Houston ISD principals banished as much as 11 percent of their students with disciplinary problems to a privately run alternative campus last school year, while other principals sent only one or two children away.

The wide disparity in principals' use of schools run by Community Education Partners has caught the attention of HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, who questions whether schools are kicking out too many students on trivial grounds.

Texas law requires that students be sent to disciplinary alternative programs for certain reasons — such as assault and selling or using drugs or alcohol — but gives principals discretion over less serious offenders.

“Why are some schools sending so many children to CEP for what on the surface look like much less serious disciplinary actions?” asked Grier, who, after four months on the job, has ordered a comprehensive review of the Houston Independent School District's arrangement with CEP."

Views: Playing Mozart on the Titanic - Inside Higher Ed

Views: Playing Mozart on the Titanic - Inside Higher Ed:

"Scattered through the Modern Language Association’s 2009 convention were telling sessions devoted to the state of higher education. Compelling testimony was offered in small and sometimes crowded rooms about the loss of long-term central features of the discipline, from foreign language study to graduate student support to tenure track jobs for new Ph.D.'s. In many respects, the MLA’s annual meeting is more responsive to higher education’s grave crisis than the other humanities and social science disciplines that should also be part of the conversation, from anthropology to classics to history and sociology. There are simply more MLA sessions dealing with such issues than there are at other disciplinary meetings. Yet there was also throughout the MLA convention a strong sense of irrelevant business as usual, in the form of innumerable sessions devoted to traditional scholarship. There is a certain poignancy to the orchestra playing Mozart while the Titanic slips beneath the waves: We who are about to die salute our traditional high cultural commitments."

Opposing Views: NEWS: Higher Rates of Autism Found in Clusters Around Los Angeles

Opposing Views: NEWS: Higher Rates of Autism Found in Clusters Around Los Angeles:

"Researchers at the U.C. Davis MIND Institute have discovered regions in the state of California that have notably higher autism incidence. But the story is more complicated, and more sad, than one might think at first. Instead of indications of an “autism epidemic”, these clusters point to the fact that minority and poor children are much less likely to receive autism diagnoses.

I don’t have the paper yet (I’m still trying to find the abstract), but articles in the Woodland Daily Democrat and the San Diego Union-Tribune are reporting the story.

The clusters do not appear to point to environmental causes. Instead…well, read for yourself:

Researchers said that in this investigation the clusters probably are not correlated with specific environmental pollutants or other “exposures.” Rather, they correlate to areas where residents are more educated."

How To Close The Budget Gap In Ten Steps | California Progress Report

How To Close The Budget Gap In Ten Steps | California Progress Report

Beginning today, the effects of California’s fiscal meltdown will become ever uglier, with hefty new cuts likely in education, health, welfare and almost every other state program. As always, the biggest victims will be children, the poor, the old, the sick and the future.

By the latest count the state faces a $21 billion budget gap in the coming 18 months and more deficits in the years thereafter. We’ll get some of the grim details from the governor’s state of the state and his budget proposals later this week.

But it doesn’t have to be this way – it’s not written in stone, and never was. We – the legislature, a generation of governors, the voters – have made the choices that got us here, and it wouldn’t be all that hard to work our way out of it, were we only willing. 
Begin with a few simple facts:

*Because of the accretion of loopholes and other tax breaks enacted in the past three decades, California corporations are paying a much smaller share of their profits in corporate taxes now than they did in 1981. If the share had been the same in 2006 as it was in 1981, according to CBP, the California Budget Project, corporate tax collections would have been $8.4 billion higher. Our corporate tax rates are high, but the tax code is such a Swiss cheese of breaks that the official rates tell a misleading story.

*All, told, tax cuts enacted since 1993 cost the state an estimated $11 billion in 2008-9.

*Because a much larger share of the state’s economic

SoCal Muslims Targeted in Recent Hate Crimes

SoCal Muslims Targeted in Recent Hate Crimes

Costa Mesa - Police are investigating a series of apparent hate crimes targeting Muslims in Southern California.

Mosques and displays have been vandalized in Costa Mesa, Mission Viejo, and Azusa in recent weeks... in five separate incidents.

On New Year's Day, someone left a burned and tattered Quran... the Islamic faith's holy text... at the back entrance of the Islamic Education Center while hundreds of people worshipped inside.

L.A. needs a healthy Latino middle class - latimes.com

L.A. needs a healthy Latino middle class - latimes.com:

"The middle is what holds Los Angeles together.

Not too rich, not too poor. Right in the middle of the curve -- a place that doesn't inspire much passion.

But without the middle class, what is Los Angeles?

Imagine a metropolis where all the homes have either iron bars on the windows or walls and guards to keep away the riffraff. A city of castes. Gated communities and gangland, with nothing in between.

In other words, a Third World city.

With our economy in the dumps and public services and the education system in crisis, it's easier to imagine Los Angeles becoming such a place.

I started thinking about the middle class after three reports came across the transom about Latinos, that very loosely defined ethnic group whose members make up a plurality of both Los Angeles County and Greater Los Angeles.

Two of the reports contain troubling information."

Mysterious pro-charter study supposedly to be announced Jan. 5

Mysterious pro-charter study supposedly to be announced Jan. 5:

"In an odd new salvo in the food fight over whether charter schools are superior to public schools, a Stanford organization that released a high-profile study last June showing charter schools performing worse than public schools is reportedly about to release a new report showing the opposite about New York City's charter schools.

Because New York is the nation's largest school district and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's school reform policies are so drastic and controversial, this report should get a lot of attention. But there are some strange things about it.

The organization CREDO -- the Center for Research on Education Outcomes -- released its nationwide study in June 2009, showing that (according to the press release on the study) 'in the aggregate, students in charter schools [are] not faring as well as students in traditional public schools.' The report 'found that 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were significantly better than traditional public schools, while 37 percent of charter schools showed gains that were worse than their traditional public school counterparts, with 46 percent of charter schools demonstrating no significant difference.'"

Educational Institutions Are Facing a Leadership Vacuum

Educational Institutions Are Facing a Leadership Vacuum:

"Educational institutions are facing a 'demographic time bomb' which could potentially leave them seriously short of qualified leaders within the next ten years. As babyboomers prepare for retirement, no system is immune, K12, Community Colleges and Universities alike face an impending leadership vacuum. Experts warn that leaving leadership development to chance or individual whim is short-sighted, there must be a concerted effort to identify and recruit talented individuals from existing faculty pools.

For many institutions, the problem finding qualified leaders is a real challenge. It is one thing to find someone with the background in finance, or law, or institutional and facilities planning. It is another challenge to find someone with a solid background in best teaching practices and the skills necessary to help struggling students achieve in the classroom. However, it is another thing entirely to find someone who has both the business and pedagogical background all in one package. These individuals are golden."

California leaders seek budget help from D.C.

California leaders seek budget help from D.C.:

"California's political leaders, who are facing the daunting challenge of closing an estimated $20.7 billion budget deficit this year, are looking to Washington for help. Just don't call it a bailout."


Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he plans to head to the nation's capital "early and often" seeking federal assistance. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger already has put the federal government on notice that he wants billions he says the state is owed. And outgoing Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), said she would head east as soon as this month.
It is not just cash that California wants. Schwarzenegger is calling for permanent changes to the formula that determines the amount of money the federal government contributes to Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, noting that the state is among the lowest in the country in reimbursement rates. He also wants money for the costs of providing special education in schools and incarcerating illegal immigrants, both unfunded federal mandates.
Steinberg said he wants a "dynamic partnership" between the federal government


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/01/04/MNCJ1B84N3.DTL#ixzz0beGbEPOD

Sacramento charter school aims for Hmong - Local - Fresnobee.com

Sacramento charter school aims for Hmong Local- Fresnobee.com

SACRAMENTO -- A group of Sacramento parents, educators and business professionals wants to open a charter school that will focus on teaching Hmong children, who have largely fallen through the cracks at regular public schools.

Hmong students in the Sacramento City Unified School District had the lowest scores -- collectively -- of all the district's ethnic groups on the English language arts section of standardized tests last year and the year before.

Studies show Hmong struggle in school districts throughout the nation. The result: A large number of Hmong youths are relegated to a life of gangs, crime or low-paying jobs, said Dennis Mah, president of the Urban Charter School Collective, formed to start the school.

This can be a perplexing problem in a region that is home to 30,000 Hmong.

The Yav Pem Suab Academy would serve kindergartners through sixth-graders. It would focus on teaching methods tailored to helping Hmong students learn but, as a public school, will be open to all students.

"We think we can build a better mousetrap," said Mah, who also is a retired principal.

Students at the academy would attend school year-round, four days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- the equivalent of 100 more days than the average school.

The school day would include Hmong language classes and three hours of enrichment -- music, drama, dance, agriculture, quilting or drawing -- as well as state-mandated courses.

The charter proposal must be approved by the Sacramento City Unified school board, which is scheduled to vote on it Jan. 21.

Organizers of the proposed school say the academic struggles of Hmong students often go unnoticed because they are grouped with other Asians in analyses of school test scores; generally, Asians perform exceptionally well on standardized tests.

"At the state level Asians are lumped together and Hmong students don't show up on the radar," said William Vang, who worked as a student achievement specialist with Sacramento City Unified before taking a leave this year.

The Hmong community has rallied around the charter school proposal. More than 300 people showed up for the public hearing on the charter at the Nov. 18 school board meeting, Mah said.

And the state already has given the charter preliminary approval for a $600,000 start-up grant.

You Decide

Palm Beach County School District's profitable rental policy put to the test

Palm Beach County School District's profitable rental policy put to the test:

"There's life after the last bell: On a recent Sunday, Oklahoma-based LifeChurch.tv's 9:30 a.m. service drew enough parishioners to fill the west side of Palm Beach Central High School's parking lot. Space rented from the high school may run five figures, but the school's state-of-the-art auditorium is a good fit with LifeChurch's JumboTron-like broadcast sermons and live music.

And when LifeChurch is shutting down its Sunday services and pulling its 26-foot trailer out of the Wellington school's parking lot, the Tabernacle Pentecost congregation's truck is pulling in.

'It can get interesting,' LifeChurch campus pastor Larry Mayer said of the back-to-back ministries.

That's not the half of it.

Soul line dancing. A poetry slam. Pre-kindergarten graduation. A Sweet Sixteen party, wedding reception, family reunion: Organizations ranging from tutoring franchises to the How Ya Livin ministry are leasing portables, fields and auditoriums, pouring millions of dollars into school district coffers — $3.6 million in the 2008-09 school year alone."

Kevin Huffman - The keys to a successful education system

Kevin Huffman - The keys to a successful education system


Ten years ago, deep in the Rio Grande Valley, two 23-year-old Teach for America teachers opened an after-school tutoring program. Through sheer force of will, the program became a public charter school, housed on the second floor of a local church. Eventually, that school became a cluster of 12 schools, serving kids from Colonias -- communities so impoverished that some lack potable water.
IDEA College Prep graduated its first high school class in 2007 with 100 percent of the seniors headed to college. Last month, U.S. News and World Report ranked it No. 13 among America's public high schools.
"It's not magical resources," IDEA Principal Jeremy Beard told me. "It's the thinking around the problem. I have no control over what goes in on in the kids' Colonia. But we can create a culture. Kids here feel part of a family, part of a team, part of something special."
I have worked in education for most of the past 17 years, as a first-grade teacher, as an education lawyer and, currently, for Teach for America. I used to be married to the D.C. schools chancellor. And the views expressed here are mine alone. I tell the IDEA story because too often when we look at the sorry state of public education (on the most recent international benchmark exam conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment, U.S. high schoolers ranked 25th out of 30 industrialized nations in math and 24th in science) we believe the results are driven by factors beyond our control, such as funding and families. This leads to lethargy, which leads to inaction, which perpetuates a broken system that contributes to our economic decline.
Last year, McKinsey & Co. monetized the cost of our international achievement gap. Our education system's poor results cost the country $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion a year, it found -- as much as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the stimulus package combined. America cannot afford this kind of failure. We must make this the decade of education

Op-Ed Contributor - The Replacements - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributor - The Replacements - NYTimes.com:

"TWO years ago, during lunch with a second-grade teacher in the Chicago area, I mentioned that I was going to substitute teach. The teacher — I’ll call him Dan — started into a story about his own experience with a substitute, which is easily summarized: Dan left a lesson plan; the sub didn’t follow it. So, he ended by asking, how hard can substitute teaching be?

I smiled, said nothing and bit into my Reuben.

Over the next two years, I would learn — as I subbed once a week for a variety of classes, including kindergarten, sixth grade, middle-school social studies, high-school chemistry, phys ed, art, Spanish, and English as a second language — that Dan’s story is standard teacher fare. Last time I heard it, though, I didn’t bite my sandwich or my tongue.

“Maggie,” a teacher in a Milwaukee public school, was talking about the difficulty of her job, which is something the teachers I know do quite a lot. Then she complained that her sub hadn’t completed the lesson plan she’d been given."

Julia Steiny: We give kids the message: ‘We don’t want you.’ | Julia Steiny | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Julia Steiny: We give kids the message: ‘We don’t want you.’ | Julia Steiny | projo.com | The Providence Journal:

"Carson McCullers’ 1946 novel “The Member of the Wedding” is a haunting description of childhood loneliness. I knew the story first as a play and then as a heartbreaking movie with Julie Harris playing Frankie, a motherless 12-year-old, and Ethel Waters as Bernice, Frankie’s African-American caretaker.

Frankie is desperate to find “a we of me.”

Like many modern kids, Frankie’s loneliness is endemic to her life. The older neighborhood girls have not invited her into their new club, but Frankie’s loneliness is not just a bout of friendlessness such as happens to any of us, when we’re the new kid in town or the one who’s outgrown the old gang."

Support education that makes a difference

Support education that makes a difference:

"In his powerful and eloquent Nobel Prize lecture, President Obama, exploring the chasm between our hopes for peace and the reality of war, exhorted his audience to continue striving for a just and peaceful world."


"We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The nonviolence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached - their fundamental faith in human progress - that must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey ...



"Let us reach for the world that ought to be," the president said.


Obama's speech was inspiring but short on details for those of us who don't control the levers of state. How do we "reach for the world that ought to be" in an era of airplane bombers with explosives in their underwear or shoes? What can the average citizen do to help bring about peace on earth and goodwill to all men (and women)?


Dr. Helene Gayle, who heads CARE USA, believes her Atlanta agency has one answer: build schools in the world's troubled regions, including Afghanistan. Educating children, including girls, helps to lift people from poverty, which, in turn, contributes to stability and peace.


Education is no peacemaking panacea, of course. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspected of attempting to blow up an American passenger jet on Christmas Day, is well educated, having grown up in a prosperous family. Similarly, Osama bin Laden grew up affluent and was given an education. Still, many experts on the developing world believe that only an educated citizenry can build the civil institutions that contribute to stability and respect for the rule of law.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/03/INKD1BATML.DTL&type=education#ixzz0bZJ3bxNg

O.C. Islamic Educational Center a target of anti-Muslim acts - latimes.com

O.C. Islamic Educational Center a target of anti-Muslim acts - latimes.com:

"O.C. Islamic Educational Center a target of anti-Muslim acts

Costa Mesa police step up patrols after incidents at the center, including the burning of two copies of the Koran. The Muslim part of an interfaith display in Mission Viejo was defaced, a group says."

Costa Mesa police have stepped up patrols near the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County, the target of recent anti-Islamic acts including vandalism, hate mail and the burning of two copies of the Koran.

Vandals also recently defaced part of an outdoor interfaith holiday display in Mission Viejo, according to the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which denounced both acts as "incidents of anti-Islam hate targeting the local Muslim community."

The two incidents are thought to be unrelated but appear to be part of a recent uptick in anti-Muslim acts nationally, especially since the attempted terrorist bombing of a jetliner headed to Detroit on Christmas, council spokeswoman Munira Syeda said Saturday.

A burned and torn copy of the Koran was found in the parking lot at the educational center, on Airport Loop Drive, during Friday prayers. It was the second time in a month that a desecrated Koran had been found there, according to a statement on the Costa Mesa mosque's website.

"This deplorable incident is a form of anti-Islamic assault, hate crime and terror campaign against American Muslims," it read. "Even more, it is a great offense against 1.2 billion Muslim followers worldwide because it defiles their holiest and most sacred divine book."

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Ed Everett said that his department has increased patrols in the area but that no arrests have been made.

2010 Kentucky Legislative Preview | Education: Bill would clear way for charter schools | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

2010 Kentucky Legislative Preview | Education: Bill would clear way for charter schools | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal:

"Allowing charter schools to operate in Kentucky and stronger consequences for the state's lowest-performing elementary, middle and high schools are two of the top education issues lawmakers are expected to grapple with this session.

Supporters of charter schools say they believe the momentum for the independent public schools is building because without legislation allowing them, Kentucky could lose out on up to $200million in federal stimulus money aimed at education reform and innovation.

Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, and Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, have already pre-filed bills that would authorize charter schools in the state, but Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, the chairman of the House Education Committee, said he isn't convinced charter schools are what is best for Kentucky."


State regulations can require some changes at charter schools. If, for instance, St. Anthony's School in Indianapolis decides to move ahead with a proposal to become a charter school, religious symbols could no longer be displayed. (Indianapolis Star photo) .

Latino numbers surge at public universities | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

Latino numbers surge at public universities | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register:

"Ames, Ia. - Erika Bahamon, born to Colombian immigrants in southern Texas, had never seen so many white faces as when she showed up for classes at Iowa State University.

'So many blond people - I didn't know it was so common,' recalled a laughing Bahamon, now a 21-year-old senior majoring in pre-med.

It probably won't always be that way. Latinos are the fastest growing minority group on the campuses of ISU, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa, as they are in Iowa and the nation.
At this rate, there could be more Latinos on Iowa's college campuses than African-Americans or Asians within a few years."

Ruben Navarrette: Brat-pack parents strike back - Pasadena Star-News

Ruben Navarrette: Brat-pack parents strike back - Pasadena Star-News:

"After recently criticizing bratty students at the University of California for protesting a fee hike because they'd rather have taxpayers subsidize their educations, I should have expected to be attacked by a squadron of helicopter parents.

Those people get their name because they're so eager to protect their offspring against even the mildest insult or inconvenience that they constantly hover over them. They confuse love with smothering and tend to fight their children's battles. They push self-esteem, instead of self-sacrifice. They do all this because they figured out that it's easier to coddle your kids than to actually go to the trouble of rolling up your sleeves and raising them by teaching some values.

Many of them get carried away. Lik"

Seven Tepees helps build higher education foundation for youth

Seven Tepees helps build higher education foundation for youth:

"San Francisco Unified School District’s high school curricular program has been an amalgamation of bits and pieces and was defined by the individual schools themselves. This left a gap between what was taught in high school and what was needed to enter a four-year university.

The requirements to enter college are known as A-G. According to Coleman Advocates, “70 percent of Black, Latino and Pacific Islander students who graduate from SFUSD are denied the opportunity to even apply to a CSU or UC school because they lacked the required ‘A-G’ courses.”

Over the last year, Coleman joined forces with hundreds of parent and youth members to work with SFSUD personnel to pass a policy requiring all high schools provide the A-G courses needed. Collectively, they mobilized 3,000 postcards from parents, youth and community members demonstrating the broad support for the passage of the policy. San Francisco School Board passed the policy on May 26 and starting with the class of 2014, all high school students will take A-G coursework."

How California produces bad news - Press-Telegram

How California produces bad news - Press-Telegram

When it comes to describing the true source of California's current troubles, one of the late, great cartoonist Walt Kelly's swamp-dwelling characters may have said it best: "We have met the enemy and he is us," declared Pogo in 1971.
He could have been lamenting the irresponsible way we Californians have spent this state into a deep hole over the last 30 years.
Each depredation seemed laudable enough in its time - from passing mandatory prison sentencing laws by large margins to okaying virtually all bond issues proposed on statewide ballots.
Here's some of the bleak picture:
California - once the paragon of smooth roads - now has the second worst pavement conditions in America, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Road Information Program. Its latest report says this state spends $11 billion a year less than what's needed to maintain good roads.
State prisons are so overcrowded courts repeatedly find they violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. As many as 40,000 prisoners may have to be released in the next year.
California's public university systems have unprecedented numbers of qualified applicants for admission at the same time they're reducing student slots. They'll turn away about 150,000 qualified people this year. This amounts to all but abandoning the state's 50-year-old master plan for higher education.
California now has about $89 billion in long-term bond

How to help California / Removing conditions attached to federal funds an excellent idea - SignOnSanDiego.com

How to help California / Removing conditions attached to federal funds an excellent idea - SignOnSanDiego.com:

"We’ve confirmed that there’s going to be an intriguing wrinkle in the 2010-11 budget proposal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will unveil later this month: a request to the federal government that it reduce the strings it attaches to billions of dollars in stimulus aid it has already committed to provide to struggling states.

As first reported by Josh Barro on the RealClearMarkets.com Web site, the governor wants President Barack Obama and Congress to eliminate the requirement that stimulus dollars be used to maintain existing service levels in programs getting federal support. This prevents California from changing its Medicaid eligibility rules, which are generous, and from reducing Medicaid services to core medical care, omitting such relative luxuries as acupuncture and chiropractic. There is no good reason why California should spend twice as much per-capita on Medicaid as Nevada."

The Seminal � What happened to education politics?

The Seminal � What happened to education politics?:

"Introduction: Autonomous political organizations and educational politics

Of recent I’ve put forth a number of diaries discussing the need for autonomous political organizations. An autonomous political organization would be able to be able to create a class coalition, to unite the poor to demand a fair share of the economic pie. An autonomous political organization would not care much about whether President Obama were an accomplished leader or a corporate shill, preferring instead to make up its own mind about policy regardless of what Obama thinks about any particular issue. An autonomous political organization, then, would be independent of the 'Veal Pen' by which political organizations are constrained to avoid controversy.

Here I’m going to recommend that, if we are to have an autonomous political organization, it would best be advised to take a position on educational politics, in opposition to the corporate use of the public schools as a cash cow."

Higher education in California should better reflect the times - latimes.com

Higher education in California should better reflect the times - latimes.com

Higher education in California should better reflect the times

As the crisis persists, it's time for a new master plan that would streamline curriculum, bring funding in line with students' ability to pay and put UC, Cal State and community colleges in sync.

California's Master Plan for Higher Education is history. State officials and politicians don't want to admit it, but it's true. Blame it on a severe recession, a dysfunctional state government or tax-phobic voters, the result is the same. Contrary to the plan's vaunted goal, every high school graduate does not have the option of receiving an affordable, high-quality education.

This year's budget cuts were the deepest in the higher education system's history, and projections of continuing deficits promise even more. But California still needs a public option for education. The University of California, the Cal State system and community colleges are major creators of economic wealth, and their graduates are the future drivers of growth.

What to do? We need a new Master Plan for Higher Education that acknowledges a withering state role even as the demand for an educated workforce grows.

When the state adopted the original plan in 1960, higher education was commonly thought to occur on leafy campuses that trained individuals in distinctive curricula and academic specialties. Classes were offered at fixed times and places, and learning proceeded at the same pace for one and all.

The plan's four basic assumptions reflected this reality:

* High school education was separate from the higher education

What’s your college major? No more philosophy or classics | Get Schooled

What’s your college major? No more philosophy or classics | Get Schooled

What’s your college major? No more philosophy or classics

9:09 am January 3, 2010, by Maureen Downey

As a parent of two college students pursing liberal arts degrees, I wonder about their job prospects and whether their areas of study will have any relevance to what they end up doing.

There seems to a change under way in the perceived role of colleges. While it used to be that we saw higher ed as providing an education for life, we now seem to want it to provide an education for careers.It was enough that college taught students how to think; now students want to learn how to do something.

A New York Times story says a lot of parents and students are concerned about the relevance question in this bleak job market. But even before the economy tanked, students were becoming more interested in majors that would help them secure jobs.

In response, colleges are dropping long-standing majors that no longer appeal to goal-oriented students, including philosophy and classical studies

According to the Times

2010: More Budget Pain For California

2010: More Budget Pain For California:

"During last summer's fiscal crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger borrowed the title of a film classic to describe California's budget, saying it contained 'the good, the bad and the ugly.'

He was referring to welfare reforms and the streamlining of state boards that he was able to broker, along with deep spending cuts for schools, health care programs for the poor and AIDS-prevention efforts.

All that's left in 2010 is the ugly.

The nation's most populous state faces a nearly $21 billion shortfall over the next 18 months, a deficit that comes after years of making deep cuts in core state programs."

Shutdowns in region leave parents scrambling to find alternatives - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Shutdowns in region leave parents scrambling to find alternatives - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:

"After the economy caused her daughter's preschool to contract and close, Amy Peterson-Mar was faced with several tough questions.

Would she be able to find affordable care? Should she look for a center near her home or near her job? And how would she break the news to Elspeth, known to everyone but the folks who printed her birth certificate as 'Beanie'?

In the end, Peterson-Mar said, she found a family care home that would work for a while and 'we told (Beanie) she was going to camp.'"