Thursday, May 27, 2010

YourPolitics.com | National News

National News

TimesCast: Obama and the Spill

Today's TimesCast covers President Obama's news conference on the government's response to the gulf oil spill.

Thursday May 27, 2010 7:50PM | nytimes.com

Cuomo Accepts New York Governor Nomination

At the Democratic state convention, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo tried to portray himself as an outsider.

Thursday May 27, 2010 6:27PM | nytimes.com

Defending Spill Response, Obama Expresses Frustration

President Obama declared on Thursday that he is “angry and frustrated” over the oil spill in the gulf, and ordered a further moratorium on new permits to drill new deepwater wells.

Thursday May 27, 2010 6:05PM | nytimes.com

Obama Extends Moratorium; Agency Chief Resigns

President Obama announced the decision on drilling new deepwater wells on Thursday, as the head of the agency that oversees offshore drilling departed under pressure.

Thursday May 27, 2010 5:38PM | nytimes.com

Live Blogging Obama's News Conference

President Obama holds a White House briefing on the government's latest efforts to contain the Gulf oil spill, and to announce shifts in offshore drilling policies.

Thursday May 27, 2010 4:56PM | nytimes.com

Poll: Wide Majority See Spill as 'Disaster'

A new USA Today/Gallup survey shows that the public is paying particular attention to spreading spill, and following responses to it.

Thursday May 27, 2010 4:19PM | nytimes.com

New Security Strategy Focuses on Managing Threat

This Week In Education Teachers: Duncan Follows Up On Conference Call Fail

This Week In Education

Teachers: Duncan Follows Up On Conference Call Fail

by Alexander Russo

EdSec Duncan made followup calls to Facebook teacher group leaders after a Monday afternoon conference call disappointed many who participated, according to teacher blogger David Cohen (Can You Hear Me Now?). The Facebook group is Teachers’ Letters to Obama.

Local News | Search committee for new UW president announced | Seattle Times Newspaper

Search committee for new UW president announced

The committee that will search for the next president of the University of Washington includes both academic and business leaders.

By The Associated Press

The committee that will search for the next president of the University of Washington includes both academic and business leaders.

UW President Mark Emmert announced last month he had accepted a job as the president of the NCAA. He is scheduled to start his new job in November.

On Thursday, the university Board of Regents approved the committee including a Microsoft executive, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the student body president and the CEO of Recreational

The Condition of Education: Private, For-Profit Colleges and Universities � The Quick and the Ed

The Condition of Education: Private, For-Profit Colleges and Universities

by Chad Aldeman

This post is part of a series on the annual Condition of Education put out by the National Center for Education Statistics. See earlier posts on the dramatic increase in Master’s degrees awarded in education, the college wage premium, economic and racial segregation in our schools, andstudent/teacher ratios.

Private, for-profit higher education institutions are not a new phenomenon, but they seem to be getting a lot more attention lately. Frontline devoted an episode to the rise of for-profits, the Department of Education is in the middle of drafting new regulatory requirements to govern them, and stock market analysts are weighing inby calling the for-profit higher education industry the next big bubble.

While for-profits enroll only about 7 percent of all undergraduate students, their growth rate far outpaces public and private, not-for-profit institutions. Public college and university enrollment increased 19 percent from 2000 to

QUICK Hits

by Kris Amundson

How can teaching be like the Lemony Snicket novels? Sometimes, days are just a Series of Unfortunate Events. (ABCDE blog)

What happens when a great teacher leads students through a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird—45 years after they left her class? (A Place at the Table)

Could NYC’s School of One have developed the Killer App? (edReformer)

What does your sticky note say? (Organized Chaos)

The Better Mousetrap Problem

by Kevin Carey

Discussions of technology and higher education tend to veer from “This. Changes.Everything” techno-triumphalism to assertions that using the Internet to educate people is clearly a plot to turn higher education into a cheap corporate commodity on par with bulk packages of frozen french fries. As is often the case, the most interesting work in the field right now sits close to the equipoise between the two, as Ben Miller documents in his new report, The Course of Innovation, which you should read.

The report focuses on the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT), which has spent the last decade working with scores of colleges and universities to transform mostly introductory college courses with technology. NCAT’s track record is impressive. To the extent that such things can be proven without elaborate randomized control trials, they’ve proven that thoughtful, faculty-driven course redesign can simultaneously

The Educated Reporter: Forgoing teaching?

Forgoing teaching?

by Linda Perlstein

A new report in California shows a significant drop in the number of people entering teacher preparation programs in that state. You can’t blame someone for bypassing teaching these days, as it is far from a sure bet at employment. I am curious if this trend is reflected elsewhere, and what it means for improving teacher quality at

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Nu Bethel Center of Excellence

Nu Bethel Center of Excellence

by The Perimeter Primate

Two Dayton charter schools may close this year (WHIO news, May 26, 2010)

DAYTON -- School may be out not just for summer, but for good at two Dayton charter schools after the 2009-10 comes to an end in just over a week.
The Carter G. Woodson Institute and the Nu Bethel Center of Excellence on West Siebenthaler Avenue still don't know if their high schools will exist in the fall.
Both schools were the subject of critical state audits last year, have lost their sponsors and can't

Carter G. Woodson Institute

by The Perimeter Primate

Two Dayton charter schools may close this year (WHIO news, May 26, 2010)

DAYTON -- School may be out not just for summer, but for good at two Dayton charter schools after the 2009-10 comes to an end in just over a week.
The Carter G. Woodson Institute and the Nu Bethel Center of Excellence on West Siebenthaler Avenue still don't know if their high schools will exist in the fall.
Both schools were the subject of critical state audits last year, have lost their sponsors and can't

And the whole world full of petty wars � SCUSD Observer

SCUSD Observer

And the whole world full of petty wars

A Race to Equity. � Fred Klonsky's blog

A Race to Equity.

MAY 27, 2010

tags: Herb Kohl, Race to Equity, race to the top

by preaprez

Since the present administration in Washington is obsessed with the whole racing thing, a recentpost by educator Herb Kohl might be something they find worth while.

Rather than a race for test scores, Kohl suggest a race for equity. He even provides some benchmark measures:

-What are the facilities necessary to promote equitable learning?

- What is an equitable ratio of students to teachers?
- What is the range and scope of a learning program that promotes equitable learning – this would include the arts, opportunity for athletics and cultural learning, advanced placement courses, science labs?
-What are the credentials teachers are expected to have to produce excellence in learning?

This Week In Education Thompson: My VCR, R.I.P.

This Week In Education

Thompson: My VCR, R.I.P.

by john thompson

This may be my last month in our school, so perhaps I saw too much symbolism in the death of my VCR and my fruitless search for another one. I would not mourn the loss of a reliable old tool if I saw students being exposed to PBS.org and NPR.org via digital technology. But I blame the almost complete disappearance of VCRs from our school on the stigmatization of teachers who use video by true believers in top down curriculum alignment. No longer is C-SPAN available in our classrooms. No longer do teachers spark a class discussion with satire from Jon Stewart or

Cartoon: "Hey, Kids! Look! High Definition!"

by Alexander Russo

Quote: Rhee Describes Herself To Sacto Press Corps

by Alexander Russo

"I am someone who does not mince words. I am someone who does not spare feelings. And I am someone who does not pull punches when it comes to doing what is right for kids." -Michelle Rhee (viaSmall Talk)

Charter boom – no end in sight | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Charter boom – no end in sight

So far, ethical and financial abuses haven't deterred the District from creating more charters.

by Dale Mezzacappa

Photo: Harvey Finkle

At Independence Charter School in Center City, kindergarten students Geonni Gee (left) and Nyla Ringgold-Floyd and classroom assistant Joanne Leibowitz enjoy math and reading online games on a website that a teacher created.

In 13 short years, the charter school movement in Philadelphia has grown from nothing to a network with 67 schools and more than 36,000 students, financed by $400 million in taxpayer dollars.

Counted together, they would be the second largest school district in Pennsylvania.

But today, the work of many dedicated educators who eagerly seized the opportunity to create successful learning communities has been nearly overshadowed by revelations about profiteering, excessive CEO salaries, mismanagement, and nepotism at several charters.

Some who witnessed the charter approval process, especially in the early years, now tie the current troubles to Distict officials who ignored warning signs and approved deficient proposals in the rush to create as many schools as possible. Officials who were either pressured politically or committed to school choice ideology then looked the other way when evidence of questionable financial and ethical practices began to surface.

“We gave up too many charters too fast in the beginning,” said Lori Shorr, Mayor

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Attention bounty hunters

Attention bounty hunters

by Mike Klonsky

We know about schemes to pay students for high marks. And we’ve written about some of the marketing tacticsschools are using to attract families. But one charter high school in Williamsburg is taking a step further –

Ex-justice O’Connor gives schools poor civics marks - The Boston Globe

Ex-justice O’Connor gives schools poor civics marks

Associated Press / May 27, 2010

Text size – +

NEW YORK — An “unintended consequence’’ of the No Child Left Behind initiative has been a decrease in civics knowledge, former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor said yesterday, promoting computer games that try to make learning about government fun.

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The federal education program appropriated funds “based on good test scores in math, science, and reading,’’ she said, but did not distribute money for history or civics.

She made the remarks at a conference where she was promoting iCivics.org, a website that targets middle-school students.

“Barely one-third of Americans can even name the three branches of government, much less say what they do,’’ O’Connor said.

“Less than one-fifth of high school seniors can explain how civic participation benefits our government. Less than that can say what the Declaration of Independence is, and it’s right there in the title. I’m worried,’’ she said.

Games on iCivics include “Do I Have A Right?’’, in which the player runs a firm specializing in constitutional law; “Executive Command,’’ which offers a chance to play president; “Supreme Decision,’’ about the Supreme Court; “Branches of

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Believe Schools

Believe Schools

by The Perimeter Primate

Students at $100 a Head? (The New York Times, May 26, 2010)

We know about schemes to pay students for high marks. And we’ve written about some of themarketing tactics schools are using to attract families. But one charter high school in Williamsburg is taking a step further – offering a $100 reward to any student who recruits another teenager to attend the school.
Last night we were sent a photo purporting to show a sign posted on the third floor of Public School 126 at 424 Leonard Street, which houses the Williamsburg Charter High School as well as its two spinoffs, Believe Northside Charter High School and Believe Southside Charter High School.
Evoking the old “Wanted” posters of the Wild West, the flier asks for help to “recruit students who you feel would benefit from the exceptional opportunity to attend Believe Schools in all grades.” It promises $100 for each student recruited, provided they enroll and “remain for at least one term with us!” (The same picture also turned up Tuesday night on Education Notes Online.)
Jacqui Lipson, a spokeswoman for the schools, declined to comment but did not deny that the sign was up…
Officials about from the department’s charter school office received a similar picture of the sign last weekend and asked officials at the Believe charter network to take down the sign and rescind the

Dual Immersion Academy

by The Perimeter Primate

Parents protest at Salt Lake charter school: Academy's board stands behind administrator, despite parents' allegations. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 2010)

Dual Immersion Academy's board has thrown its support behind a beleaguered administrator who resigned earlier this week amid parents' financial mismanagement allegations.
At a meeting Friday evening, board members voted to reject DIA director Laurencio Peña's Wednesday resignation, saying his contract expires June 30 and they will renegotiate his employment then.
The board passed a resolution expressing support for Peña, who denied he has mismanaged the public charter school's budget.

Why It Doesn't Matter Who's Running Your Charter/Public School... - Perdaily.com

Why It Doesn't Matter Who's Running Your Charter/Public School...

In fixing public education in LAUSD and elsewhere I must confess that I am more concerned with what people actually do than who is doing it. In the first round of deciding who was going to get a chance to run certain failed LAUSD schools that were up for grabs there was a tremendous amount of media coverage about the battle between charter operators and groups headed by teachers and administrators, but little or no discussion of what they would actually do to accomplish this herculean task of trying to turn around long failed LAUSD schools.

While occasionally we hear groups like Ben Austin's Parents' Revolution talk about finally empowering parents or LAUSD talk about small learning communities as if just saying these things was all that is necessary to accomplish the difficult task of charting a new course for LAUSD schools that in the final analysis actually gets us somewhere other than more failure. Without the specificity and the well thought out and methodical approach to undoing the damage to our student population, you can rest assured that like the much touted LEARN reforms of the 1990s nothing will change.

"Los Angeles Unified officials released a list Monday of 17 new and chronically underperforming campuses that will be up for grabs under a district reform plan that allows teachers, charter operators and nonprofits to apply to operate campuses." Let me suggest what should happen in this second round of alternate operators running LAUSD schools and what will most likely happen. One of the 17 schools up for grabs is Audubon Middle School where I started my own teaching career 24 years ago. In checking on its status over the years I have found that little has changed their because most of the students age-determined grade level has nothing to do with their actual ability. Irrespective of whether a teacher, administrator group or charter group ge

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, May 27, 2010

National News

Search committee for new UW president announced

And the whole world full of petty wars

A Race to Equity.

Charter boom – no end in sight

So far, ethical and financial abuses haven't deterred the District from creating more charters.

by Dale Mezzacappa

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Ex-justice O’Connor gives schools poor civics marks