Saturday, October 16, 2010

Alyson Huber aims to continue work on oversight - Lodi News-Sentinel: News

Alyson Huber aims to continue work on oversight

Alyson Huber

Posted: Saturday, October 16, 2010 12:00 am |Updated: 7:10 am, Sat Oct 16, 2010.

By Jordan Guinn
News-Sentinel Staff Writer | 0 comments

Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, hates waste. If re-elected to Assembly District 10, her mission is to continue to bring accountability and oversight to Sacramento, she said.

In her first term in office, Huber authored two bills that would require audits and regular reviews for state boards and commissions. The state is financially strapped and needs fundamental reform, and Huber said she mirrored practices in the state of Texas in her legislation.

"We have to reform government and have a system that works," she said.

Year after year, the state faces budget problems, so the issue is structural, not cyclical, Huber said.

Q&A with Rahm Emanuel: His first Chicago interview :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: News

Q&A with Rahm Emanuel: His first Chicago interview

Q&A | Mayoral hopeful talks about his dealings with Blagojevich, his ideas for a 'fresh start' for Chicago and how he would work with the City Council

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October 16, 2010

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

His conversations with Rod Blagojevich and the convicted former governor's chief-of-staff were captured on federal wiretaps, but Rahm Emanuel insists that all he ever offered Blagojevich was "thanks and appreciation."

He concedes that there may well be a "Stop Rahm" movement among some veteran Democratic ward bosses who favor a strong Council and weak mayor, but says he longs for a "fresh start" with more input and collaboration from the City Council.

For the first time since he returned to Chicago to launch his campaign for mayor, the former White House chief-of-staff agreed to an in-depth interview and answered every question posed to him about the controversies that have surrounded

What's Michelle Rhee's Next Mission? - Newsweek

Rhee’s Next Assignment?

What’s next for Michelle Rhee? The combative Washington, D.C., schools chancellor resigned last week following September’s primary defeat of her boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty. “Not being in this role is heartbreaking,” she said. But, she tells NEWSWEEK, “everyone in the city needs to embrace reform, and that couldn’t happen while I am in the picture.” This does not mean, however, that she’s done working on the issue.

One friend and fellow reformer, who didn’t want to be named discussing Rhee’s future, says he’s received calls from “almost every major city, including many without superintendent vacancies…seeking to assess her interest” in overhauling their local schools. Rhee’s pending marriage to Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson would seem to make a move to the West Coast the most likely. But there has been a lot of speculation about whether Rhee is interested in taking over the deeply

Might D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee go to N.J.? - USATODAY.com

Might D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee go to N.J.?

By Raju Chebium, Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Could the nation's best-known and most controversial education reformer be headed to New Jersey?

Michelle Rhee, who recently resigned as schools chancellor in Washington, D.C., is being talked up as a potential candidate for New Jersey education commissioner or Newark school superintendent after she leaves her current job on Oct. 31.

Gov. Chris Christie is her fan and Newark Mayor Cory Booker is her friend. Both have top education jobs to fill.

Right now, the official word is that Rhee isn't in the running for either job.

"We don't have any comment except to say that the governor admires what Michelle Rhee accomplished in the D.C. schools and wishes her well," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in an e-mail.

And Booker spokeswoman Anne Torres said in e-mail that "at this moment in time, there are no plans to talk to Ms. Rhee about the position."

Christie fired his education commissioner, Bret Schundler, in August after the state failed to win a $400 million competitive

AP: REFORMERS MULL MICHELLE RHEE'S DEPARTURE

Rhee stepped down Wednesday, several weeks after the man who appointed her, MayorAdrian Fenty, was defeated in a Democraticprimary where Rhee's celebrated yet stormy tenure was a factor.

"We have agreed that the best way to keep the reforms going is for this reformer to step aside," she said Wednesday.

If there is any lesson in Rhee's departure for other school reformers, it is that they need to pay attention to politics, said Mike Petrilli, vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit education think tank. Petrilli blamed Fenty for failing to sell education reform and said he and Rhee were wrong to think that just showing gains in student achievement would bring residents around.

"Michelle Rhee did mostly what she was hired to do: shake up the system, be a bull in a china

Sumner school board challenges teachers union | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

Sumner school board challenges teachers union

BY JENNIFER EASTON • GANNETT TENNESSEE • OCTOBER 16, 2010

GALLATIN — The Sumner County school board is challenging the county teachers union's right to represent the system's teachers in collective bargaining for a new contract.

The Sumner County Education Association, an affiliate of the Tennessee Education Association, is recognized as the bargaining agent authorized to negotiate contracts — including pay — for all licensed teachers in the school system, including those who are not members of the union.

At a called meeting last week, Gallatin board member Danny Hale moved to challenge the union's representation, saying he does not believe its membership represents a majority of teachers in th

Charter school case: Attorney for systems says disputed law is an attempt to seize local funding | Get Schooled

Charter school case: Attorney for systems says disputed law is an attempt to seize local funding

9:28 am October 16, 2010, by Maureen Downey

I posted an explanatory piece from the attorney representing the charter schools in a case now before the state Supreme Court. Here is a short piece from one of the attorneys for the school systems, Thomas A. Cox.

First, I want to interject one consideration into this debate: Many of you quote very high per pupil costs in big systems, as much as $13,000 per student. However, that system average is greatly inflated by the costs of educating children with special needs. I once asked Atlanta to break it down for me, and it was spending more than $20,000 for each student with special needs. The costs to educate children with special needs have risen over the last few decades in response to federal mandates to better meet the unique needs of these children.

I attended a seminar on this question at Columbia University years ago where forensic accountants took apart the city of New York’s school budget; I came back from that session and met with APS’s finance director who did the same thing for her system for me to see.

Controversial education reformer eyeing N.J.? | courierpostonline.com | Courier-Post

Controversial education reformer eyeing N.J.?

BY RAJU CHEBIUM • COURIER-POST WASHINGTON BUREAU • OCTOBER 16, 2010

WASHINGTON — Could the nation's best-known and most controversial education reformer be headed to New Jersey?

Gov. Chris Christie is a fan of hers and Newark Mayor Cory Booker is her friend. Both have top education jobs to fill.

Right now, the official word is that Rhee isn't in the running for either job.

"We don't have any comment except to say that the governor admires what Michelle Rhee accomplished in the D.C. schools and wishes her well," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in an e-mail.

The Future of Florida Education: Rick Scott vs Alex Sink � Tangerine, Florida

The Future of Florida Education: Rick Scott vs Alex Sink

by 5redherrings

The airwaves are full of scary attack ads just in time for Halloween. Scariest of all are the Rick Scott and Rick Scott attack ads. Rick Scott’s “Let’s get to work” motto belies the fact that the hospitals Scott’s company owned CUT nursing positions to levels that compromised patient care. Everyone knows about the Medicare fraud Scott’s company engineered but few know about his approach to “reforming” education.

Even Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel, no friend of public education, sees problems ahead if Scott wins:

Scott isn’t interested in school reform. He’s for school revolution.
His plan is next-generation Jeb.
Here is a simplified explanation of where he eventually wants to go: Instead of giving a public school $7,000 to educate little Johnny, the money would go to little Johnny’s parents.

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Saturday, October 16, 2010