Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates | OregonLive.com

Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates | OregonLive.com

Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates

By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 9:15PM

View full sizeKids in Oregon -- unlike those in 49 other states -- are getting leaner, a new study suggests.

Problem is, experts can't explain why Oregon has veered from the extreme weight-gain trend that continues at an alarming rate elsewhere.

The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, and it doubled among girls in two states: Arizona and Kansas. But Oregon's youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007, researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week.

"It seems quite substantial," said Gopal Singh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. "We don't know precisely the reasons for it."

Singh and others tracked obesity using the National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of parents. The researchers used height and weight to calculate whether children were overweight or obese.

More than 16 percent of U.S. children qualified as obese, having a body

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Willamette University art student just one standout among 2010 grads

By Bill Graves, The Oregonian

April 30, 2010, 5:26PM

Alisa Alexander strolls wistfully through Willamette University's Hallie Ford Museum of Art where she's cultivated her passion over the last four years and staked out a future brimming with promise.  Full story »

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Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates

By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 9:15PM

The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, but Oregon's youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007. Full story »

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Students from Lake Oswego and Florence among nation's top youth volunteers

By Phil Manzano, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 12:50PM

Amy Carlton, 18, of Lake Oswego, and Taylor Graham, 12, of Florence, met with former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Washington D.C. Monday where they received national awards for their efforts fighting hunger in the state. Full story »

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Teacher Appreciation Week: share your stories of favorite teachers

By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 12:17PM

Share your stories of favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-7 Full story »

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Presidential scholars: Oregon scores three

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian

May 03, 2010, 11:56AM

Students from Portland, Corvallis and Eugene are named among the top scholars and leaders in the nation's class of 2010 Full story »

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Recession ravaging region's adult education classes - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Recession ravaging region's adult education classes - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Panel postpones vote on Crocker children's art program

By Marjie Lundstrom - Published: 12:00 am

Second thoughts and personal anguish among First 5 Sacramento commissioners delayed a decision Monday over a controversial public spending proposal involving the Crocker Art Museum.

Recession ravaging region's adult education classes

By Melody Gutierrez - Updated: 12:15 am

Many Sacramento school districts are severely cutting adult education classes, while others are eliminating entire programs, leaving thousands of adult students wondering what classes will remain this fall.

Commission delays vote on child art funding proposal

By Marjie Lundstrom - Published: 5:05 pm

Second thoughts and personal anguish among First 5 Sacramento commissioners delayed a decision Monday over a controversial public spending proposal involving the Crocker Art Museum.

Genealogy class uses maps to visit lives of ancestors

By Hudson Sangree - Updated: 8:51 am

A genealogy instructor took her students on a 19th-century journey Sunday to the brothels of Truckee, North Bloomfield's Chinatown, and a brewery in Mokelumne Hill.

Sacramento area high schools OK with same-sex prom companions

By Ed Fletcher - Updated: 8:15 am

A high school prom is a rite of passage that should be a source of joy, not worry, anxiety or fear, regardless of the student's relationship status or sexual orientation, say local school administrators.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/education/#ixzz0mxgAP7Kh

U.S. probe widens to 18 city charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/03/2010

U.S. probe widens to 18 city charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/03/2010

U.S. probe widens to 18 city charters

Details are sought on the use of public money.

By Martha Woodall

Inquirer Staff Writer

What began as a federal probe of a single charter school in Northeast Philadelphia two years ago has spread to at least 18 schools and may be the largest federal charter investigation in the country, experts say.
"I can't think of a similar situation" anywhere else, said Nelson Smith, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington.
"There has not been any other state or city that has had this kind of charge made against so many [charters] in a confined period of time," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, also in Washington.
In recent weeks, a flurry of federal subpoenas has been served on schools across the city seeking five years' worth of financial records to show how the charters have spent taxpayer money.
Documents from one school provided to The Inquirer offer a glimpse into the broad scope of the federal inquiry. At New Foundations Charter in the Northeast, investigators sought a wide range of print and electronic records, including those showing how the school spent public money. The school received $5 million in the last academic year.
The federal probe was launched in May 2008, shortly after The Inquirer reported allegations of financial mismanagement, nepotism, and conflicts of interest at Philadelphia Academy Charter School in the Northeast. Two former officials are in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
The probe widened as The Inquirer disclosed problems at other charters and now includes all 13 schools that City Controller Alan Butkovitz highlighted in his recent charter investigation.
Butkovitz found compliant charter boards, apparent conflicts of interest, unusual salary arrangements for chief executives, and complex real estate deals in which charters leased facilities from related organizations. He said the schools were chosen because documents indicated they had many of the same problems The Inquirer uncovered at Philadelphia Academy.
Smith said he was not surprised the probe had grown.
Given the controller's allegations, "the U.S. attorney is probably obligated to talk to people and ask for records," he

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Chris Christie: Vouchers offer a 'final solution' for school system

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Chris Christie: Vouchers offer a 'final solution' for school system

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie: Vouchers offer a 'final solution' for school system

Monday, May 3, 2010
LAST UPDATED: MONDAY MAY 3, 2010, 9:20 PM

BY HERB JACKSON

THE RECORD

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

9 Comments

A voucher system that lets any child in New Jersey go to any school, public or private, is the "final solution" to an overly expensive system that continues to fail too many children, Governor Christie said Monday.

ANDREW MILLS/THE STAR-LEDGER

Christie tolld the group New Jersey could be a national bellwether.

Christie told an enthusiastic school choice advocacy group in Washington that he will expand the number of public charter schools and supports a bipartisan bill to provide thousands of public scholarships so children in failing districts may attend private or parochial schools.
"They are trapped by a self-interested, greedy schoolteachers union that cares more about putting money in their own pockets and pockets of members than they care about educating the most vulnerable and needy children," Christie said.
But Christie said he was committed to going further. He said he saw families in Newark agonize over children losing a lottery to get into a successful charter school, while his income gave him the ability to choose to send his children to Catholic school.
"A single mother in Newark working two jobs to keep a roof over her child’s head should have no less ability to make that choice than my wife and I had," he said.
Christie was the keynote speaker at the two-day "national policy summit" in the Omni Shoreham hotel organized by the American Federation for Children, a Washington-based group that advocates for vouchers, charter schools and tax credits for corporations that fund scholarships.
"Gov Christie is taking on the education status quo like no other governor today," said Betsy Devos, the federation chairwoman,
Christie said the climate is right for passage of a scholarship bill that some advocates say could serve as

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EARLY CHILDHOOD

This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Media: Me Vs. Megan Fox

by Alexander Russo

Leave it to USA Today's Greg Toppo to pit my view of the world against that of "Transformers" starlet Megan Fox (pictured). She's against education funding cuts and participated in a video lambasting Governor Schwarzenegger for allowing cuts to be considered. I'm "for" them (in the sense that so far at least the pink slips and the media coverage are part of a

Contributors: Where's Thompson?

by Alexander Russo

Several of you have noted the absence of posts from contributor John Thompson, the Oklahoma City teacher who's written here and many other places on education issues. (Several others have noted that they prefer John's blog entries to mine). Not to worry. He's in DC at a Shanker Institute conference called "Education for Democracy: What Works in Preparing an Active and Well-Educated Citizenry," along with others like Sam Chaltain,

Chegg's rent-don't-buy mantra takes hold at California schools Education - San Jose Mercury News

Education - San Jose Mercury News

News > Education

Chegg's rent-don't-buy mantra takes hold at California schools Santa Clara's Chegg rents textbooks to thrifty students Four Bay Area teams advance to finals of National Science Bowl Herhold: Principled San Jose teen stands up to principal Stanford bioengineer explores own genome Ground broken on Gilroy school that was burned by arson New quake map sheds new light on Bay Area faults Not all charter schools succeeding Good goes viral: Stanford class focuses on social media for public good Schwarzenegger promises more money for higher ed San Jose: Program helps turn apathetic teens into motivated students Mountain View High students return to school after being stranded in Paris Schools try fundraisers to save music, sports, small classes

Charter cap lift passes Senate, union says it’s a “one house” bill | GothamSchools

Charter cap lift passes Senate, union says it’s a “one house” bill | GothamSchools

Remainders: Space fears at only public school for the deaf

by Anna Phillips

• Teachers union lobbyist Paul Egan is one of NYC’s 20 most influential unelecteds.
• Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott has been going back and forth to Albany to negotiate RttT legislation.
• Bloomberg hasn’t donated to a pro-charter school group, but “maybe I should” he said today.
• Charter school skeptic Sen. Bill Perkins has two rivals arranging a sit down to take his seat.
• Teachers at the city’s only public school for deaf children worry about another school sharing space.
• The range in principals’ knowledge is partly why special ed service vary so greatly, writes Beth Fertig.
• A private school consultant says tutoring could explain the increase in kids eligible for gifted programs.
• Members of NY’s state teachers union sprung into lobbying action when the charter bill was announced.
• Rick Hess worries some states are going too far to win RttT’s round two.
• The Chicago Tribune backs a school voucher creation bill for students in the worst schools.
• And programs that prepare Texas’ teachers can’t agree on what to teach.

Charter cap lift passes Senate, union says it’s a “one house” bill

by Anna Phillips

A bill that would more than double the number of charter schools allowed in New York passed the State Senate today to critics’ warnings that it would need an overhaul to win the Assembly’s approval.
Passed by a margin of 45 to 15, the bill would raise the charter school cap from 200 to 460 and would require the schools to serve at least half of the percentage of special education students and non-English speaking students that district schools enroll.
Senators who voted in favor of the bill said it would improve the state’s chances of winning $700 million in Race to the Top and help families stuck on charter school waitlists. Those opposed said the bill ignored major concerns about co-location, the state comptroller’s inability to audit the schools, and the number of charter schools that should be able to operate in a single district.
Chair of the Senate’s education committee, Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, voted against the bill, calling it a “distraction.”
“The idea was to try and bring as many entities together so our application to Race to the Top would be a strong one,” Oppenheimer said. “It is certainly not just adding numbers to charter schools, it is adding accountability.”

New Harlem Children’s Zone building planned for public housing

by Maura Walz

The Harlem Children's Zone is planning to open a new building for one of its two charter schools on the grounds of the Saint Nicholas Houses. The school's proposed site is marked on the map in blue.

The city and the Harlem Children’s Zone announced a deal today that would create more charter school space in Harlem — without, officials hope, setting off a new front in the bitter space wars there.
The deal would have the city and philanthropists team up to fund construction of a new building on the grounds of a Harlem housing project, the Saint Nicholas Houses, HCZ President Geoffrey Canada and New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea said.
The new building would eventually nearly double the number of students in HCZ schools without imposing on nearby district schools in Harlem. The convenient deal could avoid political headaches, but it will also likely raise questions about whether erecting a new $100 million building in Harlem is the best use of city capital dollars.
HCZ’s two charter schools are currently run out of three sites, two of which share space with district schools. When the new building opens, Promise Academy 1 would move out of the space it currently shares with P.S. 175. The zone’s second school will continue to split its grades between the building it currently shares with the