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Monday, July 5, 2010

Program gives kids a peek at life as a cop

Program gives kids a peek at life as a cop

Program gives kids a peek at life as a cop

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, July 5, 2010
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Jasna Hodzic / The Chronicle
Cesia Gutierrez holds on to a rope to walk along a wire while fellow cadets spot her.
Two dozen San Francisco teenagers are getting a glimpse of what it takes to be a police officer this summer through a new Police Activities League program intended to create a pipeline from the local streets into city law enforcement.
The organization has served 5,000 city youth a year for 51 years, mostly through sports and community activities. Now Police Department and PAL officials want to expand the program to align it with Chief George Gascón's community policing efforts, said PAL leader Lorraine Woodruff-Long.
There's a greater emphasis on a "grow-your-own" approach to San Francisco's future police force, with renewed support for the youth program from police leadership and neighborhood stations, she said.
Not that the organization hasn't served as an avenue for youth to become police officers in the past.
Police Capt. David Lazar credited the PAL program for his 19-year-and-counting career


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/BAE71E84IG.DTL&type=education#ixzz0soo4vQPV

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Government Mulls Making Debt Collection Rules Secret #Education Center - US News Education

Education Center - US News Education

Government Mulls Making Debt Collection Rules Secret

July 05, 2010 09:02 AM ET | Kim Clark | Permanent Link | Print
Should student loan borrowers have a chance to know the rules and strategies used by debt collectors?
The U.S. Department of Education appears to be saying no, at least for now, to the dismay of consumer rights and government transparency advocates.

The department says it is just temporarily removing from public view its procedures for the companies it hires to collect from defaulted student borrowers. Education says it is "reviewing" what should be public. Once the review is "complete, we will re-post all appropriate information," the department says. Meanwhile, the department directs borrowers having trouble making payments to its Guide to Defaulted Student Loans.
But many outside the government are worried. The guide designed for borrowers is incomplete, says Deanne Loonin, a student debt expert for the National Consumer Law Center. The site designed for collectors gives borrowers updates on changes to rules and practices "you can't get anywhere else," Loonin says. Loonin would regularly compare what collection agencies told her clients with the laws and specific procedures posted on the collectors' site to make sure her clients were treated fairly and legally. She says this is the first time she started using the site in 2004 that she has noticed the department hiding the collections procedures from the public.
Many transparency advocates also worry that the department's move contradicts the Obama administration's lofty rhetoric. "A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency," President Obama declared in a memo on his first day in office. "Agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their
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CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Cambridge Lakes Charter School

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Cambridge Lakes Charter School

Cambridge Lakes Charter School

by The Perimeter Primate
UNION FILES CHARGE AGAINST SCHOOL, March 27, 2008, Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)


Illinois' largest teacher's union has filed a charge against the Cambridge Lakes Charter School for a Feb. 25 meeting at which the union claims the school violated teachers' right to organize.
The charge alleges charter-school officials "interfered with, restrained and coerced its employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed under the (Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act)" at the Feb. 25 staff-wide meeting.
The Illinois Education Association is seeking an injunction to stop Northern Kane Educational Corp., the firm that runs the charter school, from continuing the alleged anti-union activities.
Northern Kane Executive Director Larry Fuhrer would neither confirm nor deny the allegations on Wednesday.
"I have no comment on that," he said.
At the Feb. 25 meeting, teachers were asked if they had been involved in "recently publicized acts
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Free Technology for Teachers: Mind Cipher - Brain Teasers & Logic Puzzles

Free Technology for Teachers: Mind Cipher - Brain Teasers & Logic Puzzles

Mind Cipher - Brain Teasers & Logic Puzzles

by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
Mind Cipher is a collection of brain teasers, logic puzzles, and riddles submitted by members of the Mind Cipher community. All submissions placed into one of ten categories. The categories include mathematics, logic, lateral thinking, and physics. All submissions are ranked as either fairly easy, moderate, or challenging.

Applications for Education
Mind Chiper could be a great resource to consult during those times when you have a few minutes of "down-
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NEA Convention 2010: I’m Eating This Sandwich for the Children | Intercepts

NEA Convention 2010: I’m Eating This Sandwich for the Children | Intercepts

NEA Convention 2010: I’m Eating This Sandwich for the Children

It’s not really true that the reason the Donner Party ate each other was because they faced listening to California new business items. But it is true that of the 99 NBIs submitted this year, 39 are from California. The California Teachers Association makes up about 10% of NEA membership.
Here are a few more NBIs to be debated today and tomorrow.
NBI 55: “NEA shall support state affiliates’ efforts to pass state legislation banning the use of hand-held cell phones while operating a motor vehicle and (shall, through appropriate communication vehicles), educate members about the dangers of using hand-held cell phones while operating a motor vehicle.”
NBI 87: “Move that NEA RA 2010 New Orleans Delegates stand up and leave the convention center to send a clear message to protest against Public Schools’ budget cuts on July 6th (last day RA) for ‘one’ hour during lunch time (discretion of NEA President for time of lunch). NEA staff will contact TV news to get media coverage and organize the exit of members in an
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Byrne: Teachers yes, but not AEA - Decaturdaily.com

Byrne: Teachers yes, but not AEA - Decaturdaily.com
Byrne: Teachers yes, but not AEA
‘Political organization’ is ‘holding back’ state
By Bayne Hughes
Staff Writer

Despite his long-running conflict with their union, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne said he is pro-teacher.

Byrne told The Daily editorial board that his problems with the Alabama Education Association stem from his view of the union as a political organization.

“I’ll stand up for teachers,” Byrne said. “AEA is a political organization that’s holding back education and this state.”

Byrne, who faces Dr. Robert Bentley in the July 13 runoff, said he has worked well with teachers for 20 years, first as a state Board of Education member and then as chancellor of the two-year college system.

He said he talks directly with teachers when he wants an opinion on education issues.

“Individual teachers aren’t paid attention to (by state leaders),” Byrne said.

“They listen to the administrators and their group. They listen to AEA. But I feel it’s most important to listen to individual teachers.”

Byrne said he would make funding and supplying the needed resources that directly affect the classroom a priority if elected.

“We can’t control what happens in students’ families or where they come from, but we can control the quality of their education,” Byrne said.

One problem he said he hears from teachers is that some textbooks offer little help in their instruction. He said he

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Cyber-bullying and Managing Policy Dilemmas � Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cyber-bullying and Managing Policy Dilemmas � Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cyber-bullying and Managing Policy Dilemmas

by larrycuban

Schools are expected to deal with the high-tech problem of teenager cruelty to one another in cyberbullying and similar abuses that often begin after-school or in the home but spill over students in school (see post of July 1, 2010). Parents expect school officials to restrict use of cellphones, iPods, laptops, and other devices to prevent such abuse and, when necessary, intervene to protect children and youth.

Yet that expectation clashes with one in which parents, employers, educators, and voters also expect schools to use the newest technologies—often the very same devices–so that students could learn more, faster, and better. They expect that students using these new devices will be ready to enter the labor market fully equipped to manage technological demands of jobs.

Where this conflict in societal expectations pinches even more is the accelerating use of high tech devices by the young. Since children and youth typically watch screens daily (TV, cell phones, laptops, and other hand-held devices) that screen time has grown from over 6 hours a day in 2004 to nearly 8 hours a day in 2009 (or over 53 hours a week excluding screen time done in school). Moreover, since teenage use of social media approaches the point of utter dependency upon the devices–see my post of June 17, 2010–-should parents, voters, and educators encourage children to spend even more time on screens in schools?

The question plumbs to the heart of a significant policy dilemma.

Voters and parents want schools to expose students to the most recent technologies to advance their learning

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National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- A Funding Formula For Success?

National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- A Funding Formula For Success?

A Funding Formula For Success?

Rhode Island's reputation as the only state without a formula for funding its schools is now obsolete, reports the Providence Journal. Lawmakers finally approved a plan after surmounting contentious debate that resurrected issues about how these formulas are set across the nation.
First, how much is state government responsible for? It turns out Rhode Island was paying for relatively little, funding about 37 percent of school costs. The national average is closer to 50 percent. But is that the right mix? Must the state always pay more if schools are expected to improve?
And who deserves the most financial help? Rhode Island decided to set a core rate and then bump funding if schools must deal with larger than average enrollment, or more low-income students. Funding also fluctuates based on a community's property values and the area's median family income level. That combination was seen as an effective substitute for directly supporting special education or students learning English. Meanwhile, the highest-performing schools will see cuts that leave local governments footing the bill. Is government creating winners and losers, and is it fair distribution of tax dollars?
-- Eliza Krigman and Lucas Grindley, NationalJournal.com


Beth Glenn responded to A Funding Formula For Success? on July 5, 2010 12:03 AM

An equity roadmap based on kids' needs Our friends in Rhode Island have provided a model of how states can make the concept of greater funding equity into a reality. Their new plan has a number of features that make it more likely money will flow to the students who need it the most: - shifting a greater share of the funding to the state level and away from local contributions; - setting a base level of adequate funding based on real dollar costs for educational inputs adjusted for cost of living; - adding extra investment onto that...

David G. Sciarra responded to A Funding Formula For Success? on July 1, 2010 11:37 PM

Still Run of the Mill Commissioner Gist’s reply underscores why the new Rhode Island funding formula is “run of the mill,” at best. First, it is now widely accepted that a needs-driven funding formula is one based on research to ascertain the actual costs for students to achieve state academic and performance standards. The new Pennsylvania and New Jersey formulas rest on this essential building block. The Rhode Island formula does not. The Rhode Island foundation cost is derived from 2006-07 NCES data – in highly selective spending categories -- from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. By including a low...

Deborah A. Gist responded to A Funding Formula For Success? on July 1, 2010 10:21 AM

R.I. formula based on national research In my brief blog entry, I obviously did not explain every facet of the new Rhode Island funding formula, but I want to emphasize a few points that Mr. Sciarra completely misconstrues: 1. Our core instructional amount was based on national research, using data from the NCES, is sufficient to fund the requirements of the Rhode Island Basic Education Program, and it in no way focused on states with low per-pupil expenditures. In fact, we looked particularly carefully at our neighboring states, which have some of the highest per-pupil expenditures in the...

Bob Peterson responded to A Funding Formula For Success? on June 29, 2010 11:11 PM

My Fifth Graders Need Bold Leadership If the students in my fifth grade classroom on Milwaukee’s north side were born two miles farther north, several thousand dollars more per student per year would be spent on their education. Thanks to recent budget cuts my students have no gym teacher, no music teacher, and no paraprofessionals. That’s not the case with students in the schools two miles north. Yet for many years, the Wisconsin state legislature – whether controlled by Republicans or Democrats – have refused to restructure the school finance system to make it fair and adequate. It’s a simple...
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The Answer Sheet - Is technology changing our brains? -- Willingham

The Answer Sheet - Is technology changing our brains? -- Willingham

Is technology changing our brains? -- Willingham

My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”

By Daniel Willingham
New technologies seem to touch every part of our lives: How we socialize, how we do business, how we elect people to our government and so on.
Is it equally obvious that these new technologies affect the way we think? Are the very brains of our students being changed by new technologies? And if so, should teachers contemplate new methods of instruction to teach these changed brains?

There are two rather obvious caveats that ought to be spelled out before we consider an answer. First, the phrase “new technologies” is empty, because everything depends on what students do with new technologies.
Are they reading Shakespeare, playing pong, following a thread on Twitter debating the merits of teacher merit pay, browsing pornography, or executing a meticulously planned raid of a dungeon with 30 others inWorld of Warcraft?
As the question is usually posed, it is assumed that kids use technology to consume and generate content of no intellectual consequence and
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Rhee should take herself out of D.C. mayor's race

Rhee should take herself out of D.C. mayor's race


By Jay Mathews
Monday, July 5, 2010

I can't blame D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee for getting herself pulled into the D.C. mayor's race. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty wants her support. She wouldn't have her job if it had not been for him.
Although she didn't ask for the assignment, now that she has had some initial success in raising achievement for D.C. children, she apparently feels obliged to help the guy who is more likely to let her follow through.
But suggesting she might leave if D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray beats Fenty, as she has in recent days, is turning her back, at least in part, on those children. Rhee has vowed to focus on the problems of students, not adults. Until now she had been true to her word. That has led many adults whose


Fenty outlines plans to cut special-ed costs


Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (TWP)
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