Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Plan, Day Three: Abolish the Department of Education - Glenn Beck - FOXNews.com

The Plan, Day Three: Abolish the Department of Education

Thursday, April 15, 2010

FNC

Glenn Beck with Stephen Dubner and Chris Edwards

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," April 14, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: All right, today, we've decided we're going to get rid of the Department of Education.

I don't know why this is such a ridiculous idea. It's only been really in existence since 1979. We'll tell you a little of the history of it coming up in a few minutes. It would save us $100 billion.

Take a look at this graph: 81 percent — 81 percent — of the department's spending goes back to the states. So, let me just get this right, only the federal government would do this: I take my local money and send it to Washington and then they send it back.

That doesn't make sense to me.

Here to tell us how we can do this and what some of our alternatives are is the director of the tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, we have Chris Edwards, and, of course, he's the author of "Downsizing for the Federal Government."

And Stephen Dubner, author of "SuperFreakonomics."

OK, Chris, let me start with you. This is such a sacred cow, and yet it's a relatively new

Beatles Cartoon - Taxman

Celebrate National Poetry Month

04/8/10 | The Women's Conference | 1 Comments

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We at The Women's Conference want to honor the importance of art, creativity and poetry in our lives. Throughout the month of April we will be sharing with you some of our favorite poems. And we're inviting you to share yours as well in our first ever Virtual Poetry Reading.

Maria Shriver Reads Her Favorite Poem for National Poetry Month

Great Interview With Diane Ravitch | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Great Interview With Diane Ravitch

Filed under school reform

Yesterday, Michael Krasny did a great interview with education historian Diana Ravitch on the San Francisco public radio station.

You can listen to “Reconsidering America’s School System” here.

Thanks to my principal, Ted Appel, for letting me know about it.

Education Research Report: Don't Restrict Children's Writing Sources

Don't Restrict Children's Writing Sources

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

An approach to teaching young children the principles of writing and literacy that prohibits them from borrowing from our common cultural landscape is a problematic one, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies childhood learning and literacy development.

Anne Haas Dyson, a professor of curriculum and instruction in the U. of I. College of Education, says that excluding pop culture touchstones such as movies, TV shows, comic books and cartoons from composition programs in order to focus almost exclusively on the everyday occurrences of a child’s life is a contradictory notion, at best.

“Since the line between fiction and reality for younger students is often very thin, it’s inevitable that children will borrow from what they know, and that they will create stories where they and their friends interact with Spider-Man, the X-Men or Hannah Montana,” Dyson said.

Not to be confused with plagiarism, copying, which could be thought of as an adolescent version of what hip-hop artists call “sampling,” has a long history as a pedagogical tool for teaching younger students the alphabet and

Nobody Minding The Store At LAUSD - Perdaily.com

Nobody Minding The Store At LAUSD

by Leonard

Today taxes are due. As we race to get our tax returns filed before the midnight deadline, I have often used this annual event to get my students to think about why people procrastinate to the last possible minute to file and then finally get their returns in just under the wire. After some attempt at avoidance of the issue presented by this problem -- much in the manner of those sitting in their cars in front of the Terminal Annex Post Office Downtown just before midnight in their pajamas -- the students finally come up with the answer: nobody wants to face the consequences of failing to timely file, which includes interest, penalties, and maybe a better chance of being audited added on to their already painful tax reality.

Consequences, for better or worse, are a necessity in human interactions where one seeks a reasonable percentage of compliance and success in accomplishing the necessary (and less pleasurable) tasks like tax collection. In the past at perdaily, whether we were talking about student behavior, parent's responsibility or

Why Smart, Ambitious People Rarely Become Teachers � The Quick and the Ed

Why Smart, Ambitious People Rarely Become Teachers

by Forrest Hinton

WARNING: This blog post is utterly simple and obvious. There are some life phenomena, events, and trends that are widely recognized and accepted by most people as just plain Truth. (Majority perception isn’t always right, but it often is.) The argument that follows needs no regressions, 5-page data sets, or integration symbols.
This is a fact: Smart, ambitious people are rarely choosing K-12 teaching as a career these days.
Consider that, in 2007, among high school seniors who took the SAT and intended to major in education, theaverage scores were a dismal 480 in Critical Reading, 483 in Mathematics, and 476 in Writing. Compare those scores with the average scores of students intending to become engineers—524, 579, and 510. Or to students intending to enter the fields of communications and journalism: 523, 501, 519. Also consider that the most competitive, elite colleges and universities, like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton, aren’t offeringundergraduate majors in teaching or education.
So why don’t the nation’s best, brightest, most motivated, most talented students choose to pursue K-12

Singapore Math Demystified! Part 3: Is This The Most Visual Math? - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Why Is It Better For Problem Solving?
Why Are Visualization & Drawing As Important As Numbers?
Teacher Bill Jackson Gives Us Answers

Plus Bonus Video Below

Math-phobia is one of the more challenging issues for our students and for this country's educational make-up and there is much to learn from other leading countries such as Singapore.

This is the third installment of the 4-part series "Singapore Math Demystified!" from The Daily Riff,
guest posted by Bill Jackson, Math Helping Teacher, Scarsdale, NY Public Schools, one of the highest performing districts in the country, due to the remarkable interest expressed by parents and schools. We are delighted to share his wealth of knowledge on this subject with us!

If you missed Bill's fascinating journey, from Japan to Germany, discovering and pursuing Singapore Math, see Part 1 Why I Became Interested in Singapore Math, click link HERE. For Part 2 - click link HERE.

The Singapore Math Model‐Drawing Approach

Schools Matter: Rhee's 34 Million or 44 Million: Particles, Waves, or Three Card Monte?

Rhee's 34 Million or 44 Million: Particles, Waves, or Three Card Monte?

by Jim Horn

From Bill Turque on the growing mystery surrounding Rhee's fascinating game:

So does the $34 million surplus Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee described to the D.C. Council Tuesday actually exist?

This is the money she said was now available in the FY 2010 budget, three months after laying off 266 teachers, to underwrite part of the five-year, 20 percent pay package in the proposed labor contract. It's ultimately up to Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi to make that call.
Rhee said again Wednesday night that she has been assured by a staff analysis that the cash was there. But e-mails obtained by D.C. Schools Insider show that as recently as March 31, one week before the tentative agreement was announced, Rhee was raising significant doubts about the existence of the windfall.

On March 29, she received an-email from George Dines, Gandhi's assistant assigned to DCPS. He reported evidence of a surplus estimated between $36 to $53 million in the schools budget for FY

Gov. Crist vetoes teacher tenure bill - St. Petersburg Times

Gov. Crist vetoes teacher tenure bill

TALLAHASSEE — After weeks of protest and a deluge of messages, Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed a bill that would link teacher pay to student test scores and wipe out tenure for new teachers.

"I know in my heart it's the right thing to do,'' Crist said of his veto.

His decision, announced shortly after noon in a Capitol news conference, came as little surprise. Although Crist initially voiced support for the bill, he had distanced himself over the past week as protests mounted.

"I say we must start over,'' the governor said. "This bill has negatively affected the morale of our parents, teachers and students.''

Under the bill, half of a teacher's evaluation would depend on what kind of learning gains their students made. Those evaluations would determine their pay. New teachers would have been hired on annual contracts with no chance of tenure.

Within minutes of his announcement, the reactions began flowing in from both sides of the aisle.

"I'm disappointed that after sending his top policy staffer to the House Committee to testify in support of the proposal, Gov. Crist would change his mind and now veto the bill," House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, said in a statement.

"It's something for teachers to be proud of," said Kim Black, president of the Pinellas Teachers Union. "Somebody is listening, despite what many people up there think."

Crist, a Republican, has been inundated with messages about the bill in recent weeks, receiving more than 109,000. Though about 49,000 were still unread, almost 58,000 of the messages that had been logged were against the bill.

Even former governor Jeb Bush, an ardent supporter of SB 6, left a voicemail.

"He encouraged me to sign the bill," Crist told the Associated Press. "Shocking. God bless

Hispanic Chamber will award more than $100,000 in scholarships | OregonLive.com

Hispanic Chamber will award more than $100,000 in scholarships

By The Oregonian

April 15, 2010, 11:14AM

The Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber will award more than $100,000 in scholarships to students from around the state during a May 4 luncheon at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

State Schools Superintendant Susan Castillo will be the keynote speaker and Ted Wheeler, State Treasurer, will also speak.

The Hispanic Chamber has awarded scholarships to Latino students since 1996, with funds coming from the chamber and contributions from individuals, businesses and organizations.

See the complete list of

No-Oreo zone: Kids at school can't bring processed food

by Stephanie Innes - Apr. 14, 2010 10:36 AM
Arizona Daily Star

TUCSON - As her second-grade students take out their lunches, teacher Leticia Moreno quickly spots two with forbidden food - a burrito and quesadilla made with white flour tortillas.

"I will get them peanut butter and honey on whole wheat," Moreno says, taking away the offending meals.

Moreno is a teacher at the Children's Success Academy, a 10-year-old school on Tucson's south side for children in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The school is unique for its food rules - it bans not only white flour, but refined sugar and anything it defines as processed food.

"It has to say 100 percent juice. If it just says natural,' that's not allowed," 8-year-old third-grader Jacob Price says as he bites into an apple. "I wish we could bring more kinds of food. I like Oreos."

But Oreos will never blight the Children's Success Academy as long as school director and founder Nanci Aiken is in charge.

Aiken, a scientist who holds a doctorate in cell physiology and once worked as a cancer researcher at the Arizona Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins Medical School, is an unabashed food cop.

"I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West a lot of times, but it makes such a big difference,

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Big victory in Florida

Big victory in Florida

by Mike Klonsky

Teachers got the Gov's attention

Florida Republican Gov. Crist has vetoed the anti-teacher SB6 bill passed by a Republican legislature. Crist acted in response to massive and militant student/teacher protests. Lots of lessons here for us.#1 If you don't hit it, it won't fall.

Check out the Sun-Sentinel poll and you'll get an idea

Put that census money to better use, in the Philly schools | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Put that census money to better use, in the Philly schools

by Guest blogger on Apr 15 2010 Posted in Community voices

Another guest blog this week. This is from the April 14 SRC meeting where Shaquille McKnightof E. Washington Rhodes High School spoke about the census. She was the second place winner in the Citywide Student Government Census Oratorical Contest. Here's her speech:

The United States Government census will take place this year. A census counts the current population in each state to determine how much government funding each state will receive. The 2010 census money will go to jobs, schools, health, buildings, transportation, and education.

Schools are one of my city’s biggest problems. Students attending school in the School District of Philadelphia have limited opportunities because of poverty in our neighborhoods. Many schools lack supplies of books, qualified teachers and enough space for the many students that attend, and the quality and quantity of the food is a disgrace.

Without enough books students are unable to learn the necessary concepts. We cannot practice skills at home because there are not enough books to take home and we have to sometimes share books in class. Because our education is not equal we are not getting the same opportunities as students in other schools and our performance in the world may not be as good as possible if this problem is not fixed.

We also have a problem with teachers. We do not have enough teachers and

Israel Divestment Clash In Berkeley Student Govt � Student Activism

Israel Divestment Clash In Berkeley Student Govt

by Angus Johnston

A marathon meeting of the UC Berkeley student senate has ended without taking final action on an Israeli divestment bill.
The resolution, which calls on Berkeley to divest from two corporations that do business with the Israeli military, was passed by the ASUC senate a month ago by a wide margin, but vetoed by president Will Smelko a week later.
Today’s meeting began last night and continued for more than twelve hours. The resolution was brought to a vote just before dawn, at which time the override effort failed, but supporters quickly passed a motion to reconsider and resumed debate. A few minutes after seven this morning senators voted to table the discussion until the senate’s next meeting.
The tally of the override vote, as reported on Twitter, was 12 in favor, seven opposed, with one abstention. Fourteen votes are needed for passage.
It appears that one of the bill’s supporters voted “no” in order to set up the motion to reconsider, suggesting that override proponents fell just one vote short.
The resolution became the focus of intense international attention in the weeks since it was approved by a 16-4

In Their Own Words: Revised Draft of Texas Standards Online - Curriculum Matters - Education Week

In Their Own Words: Revised Draft of Texas Standards Online

By Erik Robelen on April 15, 2010 1:03 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The wait is over. A month after the Texas State Board of Education finished up Round Two of its deliberations over rewriting the state's social studies standards, the Texas Education Agency today finally posted the latest draft, which includes many amendments (some rather controversial) from the March meeting. The board tentatively approved the standards March 12 on a party line vote of 10 to 5, with all Democrats opposed.

Those even vaguely familiar with what's going on know the Texas debate has proven "lively," you might say, and has attracted widespread coverage well beyond the Texas border. I've blogged about developments a few times—here,here, and here for example—and we ran a larger story about Texas as well as several other states working to revise their social studies standards.

While a relatively small number of amendments have attracted the most attention, the standards documents cover a lot of terrain and I encourage you to check them out for yourself.

Here are links to the proposed standards for elementary, middle, and high school students. There's also a separate document for economics (with, and I'm

Giving Back to Students – ED.gov Blog

Giving Back to Students

Today, as hardworking Americans across the country file their taxes or await their return, middle class families and students paying for college loans will find a larger refund coming their way. The American Opportunity Tax Credit alleviates up to $2,500 of federal income tax owed for individuals paying for college loans and making up to $90,000 a year or for couples making up to $180,000.
This is just one of the many ways this Administration is giving back to students. When President Obama signed into law historic healthcare legislation, he not only improved the availability and quality of health care services for thousands of uninsured and under-insured Americans, he made a tremendous investment in our nation’s students. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 ended wasteful subsidies to banks and freed up nearly $68 billion dollars for college affordability and deficit reduction. Over the next 10 years, the Act will make important investments in higher education, help make college more affordable for hardworking Americans and give back to the American tax payer by:

Expanding the Pell Grant program by $36 billion.
Investing $2 billion in community colleges.
Increasing support for minority servicing institutions by $2.55 billion.
Investing $750 million to bolster college access for students over the next 5 years.
Reducing monthly payments under the Income-Based Repayment Program—capping monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of the borrower’s discretionary income. For graduates entering public service (such as teachers), remaining loans will be forgiven after 10 years.

Without this legislation, as many as eight million students could have seen their current aid cut by 50 percent. That would’ve been absolutely devastating, especially at a time of economic rebuilding when education can mean better jobs and a better future for families and the nation. By making college more accessible and affordable, we can educate our way to a better economy.
I encourage you to take full advantage of these opportunities for higher education and career training. For more information on these programs, go tohttp://studentaid.ed.gov and http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=211309,00.html.
Secretary Arne Duncan

The Education Report “Emerging Oakland businesses” to get a larger piece of school construction funds

The Education Report

“Emerging Oakland businesses” to get a larger piece of school construction funds

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 8:41 pm in finances
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The Oakland school board just approved a new (renegotiated) Project Labor Agreement for its Measure A and B-funded construction bond projects, a move that should give more jobs and apprenticeships to Oakland residents and businesses.

Under the old PLA, the school district was only able to earmark $400,000 of bond proceeds for small, local businesses, and contractors were allowed to use 10 of their own employees before hiring locally, General Counsel Jackie Minor said.

The new PLA increases the “carve-out” — bond money the school district can direct