Montgomery officials question sale of high school property to private academy

Montgomery officials question sale of high school property to private academy

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By Michael Birnbaum and Miranda S. Spivack

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 7:51 PM

A proposal to sell a former Montgomery County high school to the private school that rents it has raised concern among some elected officials, who say the county should not be selling school buildings when enrollment is growing and many classrooms are overcrowded.

These critics also point to the gap between the proposed purchase price and the assessed value of the property.

Officials with the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy say they were performing a public service when they spent more than $8 million on renovating the former Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville in 1996 and that they did so with the understanding that they

Insurance Companies are Buying Mike Villines. Are you?

davejonesinscomm2010 | October 27, 2010

Insurance companies have spent $5.7 million to elect Mike Villines, an anti-consumer, pro-insurance industry candidate for California Insurance Commissioner. They are laundering their contributions through the California Chamber of Commerce so voters don't know who is funding the attack ads against consumer champion Dave Jones.

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News & Politics

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• Mike Villines
• Insurance Commissioner
• Dave Jones

"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

by Sabrina

I'm a big fan of Allie Brosh's comic blog, Hyperbole and a Half. As I engage with different people working in the school reform arena, I often encounter people who disagree with me. That's OK. But I'm also, and often, blindsided by crazy statements that make me want to scream,

and have all of the nonsense just reverse course or melt away. Trying to improve schools and society is hard enough, without the additional burden of stupid rhetoric that clouds the real issues, confuses the public, and makes it difficult to advance comprehensive solutions.

This Is A Great Explanation Of One Of My Biggest Concerns About “School Reformers” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

This Is A Great Explanation Of One Of My Biggest Concerns About “School Reformers” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

This Is A Great Explanation Of One Of My Biggest Concerns About “School Reformers”

by Larry Ferlazzo

One of the biggest concerns I have about many “school reformers” is the fact that many have extremely limited (and in a number of cases — like Education Secretary Duncan — zero) direct experience in the classroom.

It’s not my habit to quote from Forbes Magazine, but there is an exceptional column there by Conor Friedersdorf that’s titled Why Some Elites Know Not What They Run. In it, he shares correspondence he has had with a person who wants to reshape health policy, but does not want to spend any time “working in the trenches.” It provides a much more articulate representation of my concern than any that I could write.

Here’s an excerpt:

I understand why my correspondent doesn’t want to spend several years in the field or working at a hospital before she gets to even tackle the systemic problems that she wants to solve, but I’d wager anything that she’d be far better at improving outcomes on the ground if she understood first hand what went on there, rather than

Why Pell Will Not Save Us From High Tuition

Why Pell Will Not Save Us From High Tuition

Why Pell Will Not Save Us From High Tuition

by Ben Miller

Source: College Board Trends in Student Aid 2010

The past few years have seen a massive investment in the federal Pell Grant Program. This has translated instead substantial increases in the maximum award, which has gone from $4,050 in the 2006-07 academic year to $5,350 in 2009-10. Add in the additional $200 increase for the school year underway and you’re talking about a $1,500 bump in just a few years.

Richmond High Gets Lesson in Masculinity - The Bay Citizen

Richmond High Gets Lesson in Masculinity - The Bay Citizen

Richmond High Gets Lesson in Masculinity

It was a year ago yesterday that police say seven men beat and raped a 16-year-old Richmond High School girl for more than two hours before anyone called 911. The victim had just left the school’s Homecoming Dance. Several people reportedly witnessed the crime and took no action to stop it; how many bystanders were there is disputed. In the days immediately following the crime, rape prevention instructor Rhonda James excoriated the school district for denying her request to teach workshops at the high school. James directs Community Violence Solutions, a nonprofit that offers what’s called “bystander training” in how to intervene to stop a rape. School officials subsequently allowed James’ program into the school. Community Violence Solutions began holding the

Studies Show Pot Arrests Lopsided for Blacks and Latinos

In addition to being a health, economic and legal issue, Proposition 19 has now become a civil rights issue. According to two reports released within the last week by the Drug Policy Allianceand partnering civil rights organizations, African Americans and Latinos are arrested anywhere from 2 to 13 times as often as whites for personal possession of marijuana, although arrest rates vary by city. The Drug Policy Alliance, an organization that works to change public policy regarding drugs, worked with the California NAACP to release the report Arresting Blacks for Marijuana in Californialast Friday. On Wednesday, it released a second report, Arresting Latinos for Marijuana in California, with the William C. Velasquez Institute, a public policy analysis organization that

Why Schools are the Proper Venue to Address Anti-LGBT Bullying | Gay Rights | Change.org

Why Schools are the Proper Venue to Address Anti-LGBT Bullying | Gay Rights | Change.org

Why Schools are the Proper Venue to Address Anti-LGBT Bullying

by Cristian Asher

As we wrote on Change.org earlier today, a school district in California has gotten into trouble for showing an acclaimed anti-bullying film to students. Why? Because the film includes gay and lesbian kids (or those perceived to be gay or lesbian) among the groups who deserve respect from their peers in the classroom.

In spite of the importance of this message, a group of parents has objected, with one woman declaring that her parental rights had been trampled and that the district was trying to usurp her parental role by exposing her child to what she considers an unhealthy lifestyle.

The offensiveness of this mother's position is infuriating, and the fact that she considers it better for children to be driven to suicide than for their possible gender identities to even be discussed in school is a moral outrage.

Facing new rules, a for-profit charter school company evolves | GothamSchools

Facing new rules, a for-profit charter school company evolves | GothamSchools

Facing new rules, a for-profit charter school company evolves

by Anna Phillips

The city’s most established for-profit charter school management company is rebranding and recreating itself in light of a new law that forbids the group from running schools.

As of tomorrow, Victory Schools will be named Victory Education Partners and it will no longer be a traditional management company. The group will retain its for-profit status, but will continue to work in schools by offering a variety of services, from professional development to back-office support, that schools can choose to purchase.

The change was prompted by the passage of a new law last spring that doubled the cap on charter schools, and also barred for-profit companies from operating or managing new charter schools. One of three for-profit charter management groups work with New York City schools, Victory had to change or close shop in the city. It’s

Portland School Board lauds Superintendent Carole Smith, begs her to stick around | OregonLive.com

Portland School Board lauds Superintendent Carole Smith, begs her to stick around | OregonLive.com

Portland School Board lauds Superintendent Carole Smith, begs her to stick around

Published: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 12:11 PM Updated: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 12:30 PM

Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
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Many people dread their annual job evaluation, but for Portland Superintendent Carole Smith, the public unveiling of her performance reviewthis week wasn't a nail-biter but a full-fledged love fest.

All six school board members present praised her personal and professional integrity, her quiet way of getting things done, her inclusive leadership style and her deep commitment to serving all children, particularly the disadvantaged.

"We have a great leader," said board member Pam Knowles. "I have been particularly impressed with her concern about all children. ... The equity work has been phenomenal."

In a school district where short-term or temporary leadership has been the norm since 1997 -- with five superintendents or interim leaders in less than 11 years before Smith came aboard -- board members said it loud and clear: They really want Smith to stick around.

Board member Ruth Adkins put it this way: "We are all in agreement that ... we are very lucky. ... I hope she will be with us for

North Portland's University of Portland named a top producer of Fulbright scholars

by Molly Hottle, The Oregonian

The university produced five master's degree scholars this year, placing it above Seattle University and 12 other U.S. colleges.

How Facebook Helped Parents Win A War With Chicago Schools | Education | Change.org

How Facebook Helped Parents Win A War With Chicago Schools | Education | Change.org

How Facebook Helped Parents Win A War With Chicago Schools

by Carol Scott

Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of an interview with Laura Ramirez, an ally to the Chicago moms staging a sit-in to demand a library for their children. Part 1 was posted earlier today.

After a 44-day sit-in, national media coverage and hundreds of phone calls and letters sent from the community and beyond, a group of South Side Chicago moms may have finally reached an agreement with Chicago Public Schools. CPS head Ron Huberman has agreed to build a library inside their children's elementary school, and

Kids' Brains Can't Handle Homelessness

by Josie Raymond

Homelessness can wreak havoc on the adult brain, causing mental disorders like depression and post traumatic stress disorder in addition to being caused by them. Imagine what going without stable shelter does to the developing minds of young children.

In fact, one in three homeless kids has a mental health problem that affects their functioning by age 8. Long before that, though, 75 percent of kids 4 and under have developmental delays while about 40 percent of them have emotional and/or behavioral problems. What school teachers think is a problem child might just be a child with problems, a child who is homeless.

Why? Take your pick of reasons: stress, depression, fear, hunger, sleep-deprivation, or a parent who's so

Cancer, Hyperactivity, and Allergies May Lurk in Trick-or-Treat Bags

by Sarah Parsons

"Candy's Dark Side" is a Change.org series that looks at the health, ethical, and environmental costs of producing Halloween treats. For more installments in this series, click here, here, and here.

This Halloween, kids will undoubtedly come home with treat-or-treat bags exploding with color. M&Ms, Skittles, Sweet Tarts, Pez, and Nerds are just of few of the many candies out there that boast brilliant hues as part of their identities. While Skittles wouldn't be where it is today without its "taste the rainbow" mantra, it turns out that that rainbow actually tastes pretty toxic.

Food corporations use several synthetic food dyes to make their candies turn shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fails to regulate the use of these artificial dyes, increasing evidence suggests that the synthetic

SBE races fly under political radar | EdNewsColorado

SBE races fly under political radar | EdNewsColorado

SBE races fly under political radar

by Todd Engdahl

If history, voter registration and fund raising are any indications, the State Board of Education after Tuesday’s election will look similar to the board that’s been operating for the last two years.

Colorado Department of Education

The board has four Republicans and three Democrats now, and most observers expect those numbers won’t change, but there will be at least two new faces in seats that are being vacated.

The new group faces major tasks in the next year, including the hiring of a new