Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Citrus Heights PTA Mom to Represent California at National Event — Citrus Heights Herald

Citrus Heights PTA Mom to Represent California at National Event

by EMILY CARDIFF on APRIL 28, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

Lichen K-8 School mom, Laura Taylor, is an active participant in her community who knows the importance of education for young children. Laura takes her involvement in education to the next level by spending some of her time volunteering for her local elementary school’s PTA group. She is so dedicated that she’s not only a member and supporter of the school, but she’s also the president of the Lichen PTA Board in Citrus Heights.

Her significant contributions and devotion for improving local schools have not gone unnoticed by her friends, family and peers. Not too long ago, Laura was nominated as a possible representative for the state of California at the first annual inaugural Mom Congress on Education and Learning Conference.

The conference will take place at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. where United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is scheduled to speak

South Carolina Becomes Second State Affiliate Placed Under NEA Trusteeship | Intercepts

South Carolina Becomes Second State Affiliate Placed Under NEA Trusteeship

by Mike Antonucci

The South Carolina Education Association (SCEA), long plagued by membership losses and management turnover, has been placed under the trusteeship of its parent affiliate, the National Education Association, according to sources within the union. SCEA joins the Indiana State Teachers Association, suffering under debt due to its failed insurance trust, as NEA state affiliates now under the direct jurisdiction of a nationally appointed administrator.
NEA refused to confirm or deny the existence of the trusteeship.
Robert Bonazzi, the former executive director of the New Jersey Education Association, is SCEA’s trustee.

LAUSD Taskforce On Teacher Policy Reform - Perdaily.com

LAUSD Taskforce On Teacher Policy Reform

by Leonard

The most alarming aspect of virtually all discussion of public education reform that goes on between all school stakeholders whose ideas and solutions are covered by the mainstream media is the incredibly superficial and sanitized discussion that continues to misrepresent -- by omission -- the problems we face in reforming public education. These failures necessarily make subsequent proposals incomplete with superficial solutions that clearly have no chance of success, because they do not address many of the real problems we face in public education. There is a depressing irony to the fact that all those who are involved in this discussion are supposed to be practitioners and products of good public education. Regrettably, they seem to lack the facility of expression either verbally or in their written ideas to clearly define the specific problems or solutions we face. The rigorous English or Social Studies class that were required of me to graduate high school in my generation of LAUSD, made mastery of these basic skills mandatory. The fact that 60% of students now arriving at LACC are not ready for college is not just indicative of LAUSD's failure with the present generation of students, but also a clear indication that many of the educators who are now attempting to fix the system do so with something less than the English language skills they need to succeed in this task.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, the report of a 50 person task force of "local teachers, administrators, parents,

Non-English languages 'part of the national fabric' | California Watch

Non-English languages 'part of the national fabric'

by Agustin Armendariz

Flickr photo by Justin Taylor"I Voted" stickers in English, Tagalog and Vietnamese

Agustin Armendariz

Amid the current immigration debate, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report on Tuesday analyzing the different languages spoken in the country.
The Bureau's findings provide "illustrative evidence of the continuing and growing role of non-English languages as part of the national fabric," says the report. "Fueled by both long-term historic immigration patterns and more recent ones, the language diversity of the country has increased over the past few decades."
Based on the U.S.'s current immgration trends, the "pattern of language diversity will also likely continue," the report concludes.
Among the more than 55 million Americans who speak a language other than English at home, roughly 34.5

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Accountability dept.

Accountability dept.

Western Michigan charter school board: "We didn't fire popular principal. It was our private management company."

Accountability Dept. #2

by Mike Klonsky

McCain, Palin, Jindal and now Obama: "Drill baby, drill!" 42K gals. of crude/day heading for Louisiana coast. Spill bigger than state of Rhode Island. May be worst eco-disaster in U.S. history. Obama now wants to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the

In New Jersey, a Civics Lesson in the Internet Age Education News - The New York Times

Education News - The New York Times

In New Jersey, a Civics Lesson in the Internet Age

By WINNIE HU

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

In Newark, students took their protest to City Hall, but the real target of their message was Gov. Christopher J. Christie, who has cut state aid to schools.

Inspired by a Facebook message, thousands of students walked out of class Tuesday to protest cuts in school aid.

At Attendance Court, Judge Eileen Koretz, left; Susanna Osorno-Crandall, program coordinator; and Trayvon Johnson, 13.

Lessons in Tough Love at a Court for Truants

By WILLIAM GLABERSON

The court has no power to punish, but students and their parents get helpful advice and offers of counseling and other services.

Graduate Students Ask N.Y.U. to Recognize Union

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

The teaching assistants hope to persuade the National Labor Relations Board to reverse a 2004 ruling and give them the right to organize.

ADVERTISING

In a World of Ads, Teaching the Young How to Read Them

By STUART ELLIOTT

A government campaign will try to teach children from the fourth to the sixth grades how to think critically about ads.

Reed College’s President Is Told to Crack Down on Campus Drug Use

By TAMAR LEWIN

Two overdose deaths in two years at the small liberal arts college in Oregon have drawn the attention of law enforcement authorities.

In Shake-Up, Principals May Get More Say Over What Is Taught

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Chancellor Joel I. Klein said he was reshuffling the top jobs at the Education Department headquarters and eliminating the division that oversees curriculum and teacher training.