Parents sue over 8-year-old's school arrest

Parents sue over 8-year-old's school arrest Monday, July 12, 2010 0 0 0 MORE NEWS Police: 3 dead, 8 wounded in Albuquerque shooting 07.12.10 BP works to put a tighter-fitting cap on the well 07.12.10 AP: Mate piloting tug that hit duck boat takes 5th 07.12.10 (07-12) 13:47 PDT Boise, Idaho (AP) -- The parents of an 8-year-old autistic girl who was arrested at her northern Idaho elementary school are suing the school district and the sheriff's department, saying the agencies violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. Spring Towry and Charles Towry, and their daughter, Evelyn, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week against the Lake Pend Oreille (POND'-der-RAY) School District and the Bonner County Sheriff's Department. Evelyn was a third-grader at Kootenai Elementary School last year when she was handcuffed and arrested. School staffers say she spit on and inappropriately touched two instructors. Evelyn and her parents say their rights were violated.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/12/national/a134724D63.DTL&type=education#ixzz0tVKeWnqI

The social studies test that some Queens students took twice | GothamSchools

The social studies test that some Queens students took twice | GothamSchools

The social studies test that some Queens students took twice

by Philissa Cramer

The principal who allowed her fifth-graders to re-take parts of the state social studies test told the Times that she had a good reason for doing so. The students, she said, had inadvertently failed to answer entire sections of the test.
How is that possible? While the Department of Education prepares an official investigation, we thought we’d look

Rise & Shine: Principal gave students a second try on state test

Schools Matter: Richmond (NAPCS) Hammers Imagine; Trouble in Texas

Schools Matter: Richmond (NAPCS) Hammers Imagine; Trouble in Texas

Richmond (NAPCS) Hammers Imagine; Trouble in Texas

by Kenneth Libby

From Greg Richmond, outgoing President of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools (via Edweek):

The award for the most breathtaking abuse in the nation surely belongs to Ohio. In 2006, the Ohio legislature enacted a law that allows a management company to fire the charter school governing board to which it supposedly reports and to replace that board with individuals who are more to its liking. This law turns the concept of accountability on its head. Yet the White Hat Management company is currently doing just that, taking action to remove the

Gottfried: ERN Mailers “Seriously Misstates My View” � DFER Watch

Gottfried: ERN Mailers “Seriously Misstates My View” � DFER Watch

GOTTFRIED: ERN MAILERS “SERIOUSLY MISSTATES MY VIEW”

Posted by kennethlibby on July 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment

You might remember that ERN sent out mailers praising politicians for voting for the bill to lift the charter cap in NY. Assembly Member Richard Gottfried clarified his vote for the bill in the letter below:

Charter Schools: Where I Stand

Dear friend:
You may have received a mailing saying “thank you” to me for helping to pass legislation to expand charter schools in New York. I had nothing to do with that mailing, and it seriously misstates my view.

Whether you support or oppose charter schools, I want you to know where I stand. I do not support

THE BROAD REPORT: Deborah Sims, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

THE BROAD REPORT: Deborah Sims, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

Deborah Sims, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

NOTE: No mention is made of Deborah Sims on the current alumni pages of the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site.*

Deborah Sims completed her training at the Broad Superintendents Academy in November 2005 and was appointed superintendent of the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) in California in August 2006. Amidst controversy, she announced her resignation in May 2009.

Before arriving in Antioch, Sims had been a deputy superintendent and chief of K-12 school operations for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

-----

SCHOOLS CHIEF'S CANDOR A WELCOME CHANGE IN

Update: Today's Big Education Ape Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools #education

Parents 4 democratic Schools

Today's Big Education Ape Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

Recent Post Update 7-12-10 12:00 PM PDT

• Illuminating Positive Change: Rural Transformation at West Carter Middle School – ED.gov Blog #edu
• We Don’t Do Propaganda :: Frederick M. Hess #edu
• THE BROAD REPORT: John Q. Porter, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006 #edu
• This Week In #Education: Thompson: Revisiting The Promise of Small Schools, Part I #edu
• The Educated Guess » Tough road for charters on ‘worst’ list #edu
• The Answer Sheet – Teacher accountability schemes let teens off the hook — Willingham #edu
• This Week at UCLA: USSA’s National Student Congress « Student Activism #edu
• The Man picks his favorite union. « Fred Klonsky’s blog #edu

Recent Post

• 69-year-old retired school principal beaten, school board director arrested last night (Commmunity Voices) | Oakland Local #edu
• Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog: Power philanthropy at its worst #edu
• NYC Public School Parents: The Eleventh Agent #edu
• Blog U.: Compared to What? – The World View – Inside Higher #Edu
• This is Dropout Nation: A Southern Decline | Dropout Nation: Coverage of the Reform of American Public #Education Edited by RiShawn Biddle #edu
• #Education: beyond grades and test scores – Social & Political Issues – JamaicaObserver.com #edu
• The Answer Sheet – Questions for Michelle Obama’s live Web chat on obesity
• National Journal Online — #Education Experts — Defining Effective Teachers
• #Education Week: Duncan: Congress Needs to Act Now on School Money #edu
• Leader of governors group focuses on college grads – Boston.com #edu
• The Answer Sheet – Bill Gates’ troubling involvement in school reform #edu #AFTConvention
• Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES #edu
• Chewing Over the #AFTConvention News – Teacher Beat – #Education Week #edu
• Which For-Profits Donate to DFER? « DFER Watch #edu #edreform
• AFT’s Race to the Top Resolution in Flux – Teacher Beat – #Education Week #AFTConvention

Democurmudgeon: Computer/Parent oversight Big Part of Closing Education Gap. Internet Access Not the Solo Answer

Democurmudgeon: Computer/Parent oversight Big Part of Closing Education Gap. Internet Access Not the Solo Answer

Computer/Parent oversight Big Part of Closing Education Gap. Internet Access Not the Solo Answer

by Democurmudgeon

There is a race to bring broadband Internet access and computers to low income neighborhoods as a way of closing the education gap. Research is turning up disappointing results:

Garland blog: TEA investigating TAKS irregularities at Classical Center at Vial Elementary 12:08 PM CT | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Garland blog: TEA investigating TAKS irregularities at Classical Center at Vial Elementary 12:08 PM CT | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Garland blog: TEA investigating TAKS irregularities at Classical Center at Vial Elementary12:08 PM CT

12:49 PM CDT on Monday, July 12, 2010

By KAREL HOLLOWAY / The Dallas Morning News
kholloway@dallasnews.com

Editor's note: This item originally appeared on dallasnews.com'sGarland blog.

The Texas Education Agency is investigating possible irregularities withTAKS testing at the Classical Center at Vial Elementary School, one of the district's magnet campuses.

A Vial employee has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, Garland spokesman Chris Moore said, but would not say whether the person is a teacher or administrator.

Moore said he knew little about the investigation since several key administrators still are out for summer vacation.

"It could be anything," he said, from the way testing was monitored to test security.

TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culberston said last week the agency received a report on June 10 and was waiting for documentation from the school district.

Moore said that documentation now has been sent. He didn't know

Schools Matter: The Most Dangerous Oligarch

Schools Matter: The Most Dangerous Oligarch

The Most Dangerous Oligarch

by Jim Horn

From Leonie Haimson at HuffPo:

The most dangerous man in America

Bill Gates sure is a popular guy. He is appearing this afternoon at the national conference of the American Federation of Teachers in Seattle, after having recently been the keynote speaker at the annual National Charter School convention.

Just this week, Warren Buffett announced he was giving an additional $1.6 billion to the Gates Foundation, which already had a $35 billion endowment; by far the largest in the nation.

In the past eight years, the foundation has spent nearly $4 billion promoting his personal education agenda; at first providing subsidies to districts that would agree to close down large neighborhood

The Educated Guess � Tough road for charters on ‘worst’ list

The Educated Guess � Tough road for charters on ‘worst’ list

Tough road for charters on ‘worst’ list

Posted in Charters, Turning around failing schools

The state’s 113 lowest-performing schools seeking federal school-reform money includes eight charter schools. Their applying for a School Improvement Grant caught my eye, because that would appear to contradict state policy, which presumes that charter schools on the list of lowest achievers would shut down.
But a closer look reveals a more complex situation, with several schools in limbo and others already facing strict scrutiny by state or local regulators. And the number eight was off.
For starters, two – United For Success in Oakland Unified and Highlands Academy of Arts and Design in Twin Rivers Unified – were misclassified; they are actually district schools, according to district officials.

A third school listed, Edison-Ronald McNair Intermediate Schools in the Ravenswood District in East Palo Alto, ended its affiliation with the for-profit operator, Edison Learning, two years ago because of poor test scores, and reverted to a district-run school.
The State Board of Education will decide this week whether a fourth school, Today’s Fresh Start Academy, can continue to operate. The K-8 school, serving

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: The Web 2.0 Classroom

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: The Web 2.0 Classroom

The Web 2.0 Classroom

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)

This is available in PDF format
Written in 2006, I believe this is still a very current document and just realized I hadn't shared it with you. I tried to update but point out if I've missed something. Where would you update? The PDF is the older version as shared in K12 online.

The Updated Web 2.0 classroom schematic as I used at ISTE 2010, it is not in the PDF above or in the original article. Note that I've added "accountability" since the original article emerged in 2006.

The Web 2.0 Classroom
By Victoria A. Davis, October 2006
Web 2.0 is a “buzzword” as is “Classroom 2.0,” but with the habit software developers have used of numbering their software, (The higher number represents the newer version), educators and industry have begun to “number”

Stanford University confronts the graying of academia - ContraCostaTimes.com

Stanford University confronts the graying of academia - ContraCostaTimes.com

Education

Stanford University confronts the graying of academiaMany workers yearn for retirement — the goodbye parties, the golf course, maybe even a gold watch. But Stanford University has the opposite problem: Nobody wants to leave. On Assignment: Mt. Diablo superintendent issues statement in principal hiring ordeal Project Ready to Learn Launching July 21 Empty West Contra Costa schools to be leased, not sold Voters would back West Contra Costa parcel tax, survey shows Six Diablo Valley College sports teams saved from becoming budget casualties Grand jury: Peralta college district irresponsible, wastes tax dollars Hometown Hero: Teen fills the void when youth music programs are killed

Duncan and Murray: Together for Edujobs - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Duncan and Murray: Together for Edujobs - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Duncan and Murray: Together for Edujobs

by Alyson Klein

This week, the Senate is back and word is that lawmakers will start trying to figure out how to pay for theedujobs bill.
In fact, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spent last Friday in Washington state stumping for the edujobs bill, alongside Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a key member of Congress who hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with the administration on K-12 policy issues. (For instance, last year, she spoke out against a measure that would have increased funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund—a major White House priority—because the boost would come at the expense of the formula-based grants aimed helping states improve teacher quality.)
But if Duncan wants to get edujobs through the Senate without those "wrong offsets," he may need help from folks like Murray, who sits on both the Senate education committee and the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees K-12 spending, and has many fans in traditional education organizations.
And, besides helping to push edujobs, Murray and other Washington state officials may also have something to