Monday, December 6, 2010

Schools, lawmakers cut sabbaticals to trim costs - Boston.com

Schools, lawmakers cut sabbaticals to trim costs

By Ryan J. Foley

Associated Press / December 6, 2010

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IOWA CITY, Iowa—Under pressure to cut costs, state universities and lawmakers across the nation are going after one of the oldest traditions in the academic world: the professor's cherished sabbatical.

Professors often use the paid breaks from teaching to write books, develop new courses or collaborate with colleagues around the world. But the practice is increasingly being questioned by critics who say it offers little more than a paid vacation at a time when other public employees are being furloughed or laid off.

"Why should the taxpayers of Iowa be paying to basically give these folks a year off from teaching?" asked incoming House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican

Alabama students sue authorities over alleged police brutality - Telegraph

Alabama students sue authorities over alleged police brutality

A group of school pupils in Alabama is suing the local education authority for running a "police state" in which officers are allegedly using "chemical weapons" to enforce discipline.

The lawsuit, which is filed on behalf of the 8,000 pupils in Birmingham, seeks damages and demands officials 'immediately abandon the use of chemical and other weapons' against schoolchildren Photo: ALAMY

By Jon Swaine, New York 8:07PM GMT 06 Dec 2010

Seven students in Birmingham, Alabama, have filed a class action lawsuit against the city's education board and the local police force over the frequent use of Mace, or pepper spray, in schools.

The spray is readily used to "enforce basic school discipline", the lawsuit claims, and "school personnel not only watch, but sometimes even celebrate when schoolchildren are maced".

The city has police officers in every school under a scheme designed to ensure the safety of pupils, the lawsuit states. But "officers have

If we don’t, who will? « Failing Schools

If we don’t, who will?

DECEMBER 6, 2010

by Sabrina

Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things. – Russell Baker

I keep a note on my computer. It reads, “If I don’t, who will?”

"I said, 'Somebody should do something about that.' Then I realized, I am Somebody." -Lily Tomlin

A little worn, but the message is clear.

It summarizes a lot about how I think about life; while it’s good and right to trust in (most) other people, it’s not a good idea to assume they will magically get around to doing some thing or another that I think should be done. If I take something seriously enough to complain about it, then I should take it seriously enough to dosomething about it.

It’s pretty obvious that that’s how I feel about improving public education. Quality education for all is tremendously important to our individual and collective well-being; large-scale mis-education threatens us just as much. So, a

Study-In @ CSU Monterey Bay Library « Guerrilla Think

Study-In @ CSU Monterey Bay Library

by guerrillathink

A sit-in at the CSUMB library occurred today to protest the recent fee increases and to attempt to reclaim some space. About 30 students refused to leave when the library closed. After about 15 minutes the campus police threatened to arrest the protesting students. The students left the library and briefly gathered outside to reflect on the action.

Judge rules Detroit school board, not Robert Bobb, is in charge of academics | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Judge rules Detroit school board, not Robert Bobb, is in charge of academics

By CHASTITY PRATT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Detroit Board of Education today won a lawsuit that could dramatically change the power structure and reform efforts under way in the Detroit Public Schools.

According to board president Anthony Adams, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Baxter just released a decision that sided with the board in its lawsuit against Robert Bobb, the state-appointed emergency financial manager. The Free Press is working to obtain its own copy of the decision.

The suit accused Bobb of exceeding his authority as financial manager by also making decisions regarding school closures and curriculum in the school system.

Education Research Report: You’re Leaving? Sustainability and Succession in Charter Schools

You’re Leaving? Sustainability and Succession in Charter Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

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Seventy-one percent of charter school leaders surveyed for this study say they expect to leave their schools within five years. For the nation’s 5,000 charter schools, this raises important questions. Who will be ready to take over? How will the school maintain its instructional program and culture from leader to leader? How does a school survive founder transitions? Where will new leaders come from and how can they be ready to lead existing schools?

The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington spent four years studying charter school teachers and leaders: CRPE’s survey of 400 charter school leader respondents and fieldwork in 24 charter schools in California, Hawaii, and Texas has yielded important insights into these questions and the future of maturing charter schools.

CRPE’s research finds that many charter schools are unprepared when it comes to leadership turnover. Only half

Ignoring value-added typically lowers the reliability of personnel decisions about teachers

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

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The evaluation of teachers based on the contribution they make to the learning of their students, value-added, is an increasingly popular but controversial education reform policy. In this report, Brookings Institution highlights and tries to clarify four areas of confusion about value-added.

The first is between value-added information and the uses to which it can be put. One can, for example, be in favor of an evaluation system that includes value-added information without endorsing the release to the public of value-added data on individual teachers.

The second is between the consequences for teachers vs. those for students of classifying and misclassifying

NJEA to unveil reformed proposals on tenure, failing schools | NJ.com

NJEA to unveil reformed proposals on tenure, failing schools

Published: Monday, December 06, 2010, 1:44 PM Updated: Monday, December 06, 2010, 1:44 PM

The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
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Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerNew Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian at the podium in this November 2010 photo.

TRENTON — The state's largest teachers union is scheduled to address proposals on tenure reform and low-achieving schools on Tuesday, according to a report by NorthJersey.com.

Gov. Chris Christie has made tenure a key issue when criticizing the union. The union plans to address people's concerns with tenure without eliminating it completely, said the report.

Previous coverage:

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• N.J. education chief promotes teacher tenure changes, 'merit pay' reforms

SO YOU WANT TO BLOW YOUR WHISTLE? Confessions of a whistle blower! | Dailycensored.com

SO YOU WANT TO BLOW YOUR WHISTLE? Confessions of a whistle blower!

by Peter Phillips

By David Goodstein

Expectation – The government really wants to uncover fraud and punish the guilty!
The Reality – Don’t bother, the government’s first priority is ‘taking care of business’, big business!

As the former Director of Education* for the Kaplan owned CHI Institute in Broomall, PA I was intimately involved in 2006 when an investigation by the State of Pennsylvania into the Medical Surgical Technician program began. A team of experts from Kaplan Higher Education headquarters led by the Regional V.P. Marc Ferguson was dispatched to Broomall, PA. to arrange the smoke and mirrors required to mislead the state. When it was suggested we bribe local hospital CFO’s with $5,000 or $10,000 dollar gifts to find extern sites for our students I pointed out that to hospitals charging $125 for an aspirin $5k or $10k wasn’t very much money. Perhaps a better solution was to just tell the truth. Kaplan decided I didn’t really grasp the gravity of the situation and the next day they escorted me out the door with my carton of personal belongings. Apparently someone who did grasp the gravity of the situation filed a complaint with the federal government. Judging by the statements in the WPO 10K

Queens Teacher: Cathie Comes Out With Guns Blazing

Cathie Comes Out With Guns Blazing

by Queens Teacher

Cathie Black blasts tenure for teachers as 'lifetime guarantee' while teachers union protests
BY Meredith Kolodner

The icy relationship between the Education Department and the teachers union shows no sign of thawing under the new schools chancellor.

Incoming schools chief Cathie Black blasted tenure for teachers in an interview that aired yesterday on Channel 7.

After saying she couldn't imagine running an organization based on the current method of evaluating teachers, she added: "Nor can I imagine at age 25...saying to somebody, 'You have lifetime guarantee for this position. Just show up every day.' It's inconceivable."

Principals can grant tenure to teachers after three years.

Outgoing Chancellor Joel Klein worked unsuccessfully for years to get rid of a provision that allows the least senior teachers to be laid off first.

Black, 66, said she's also against the policy because it could cause the system to lose "younger, newer, fresher

Controversial D.C. school reformer takes agenda national - CNN.com

Controversial D.C. school reformer takes agenda national

CNN Wires Staff

December 6, 2010 12:20 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Former D.C. school chancellor to launch education advocacy group Monday
Michelle Rhee will make announcement on the Oprah Winfrey Show, website said
Rhee stepped down from position as Chancellor in October

(CNN) -- Known as a reformer and a rebel, Michelle Rhee took a "revolutionary" step Monday, when she posted on her website, her intent to launch an education advocacy group, according to one educator.

"There is a significant interest within the country around what's happening in our public schools," Steve Perry, a principal in Connecticut and contributor for CNN said.

"She's gonna put together a grass roots organization of educators, and parents and individuals who just care about public education," Perry said, "she's focused on how we can fix it."

Speaking as someone who has inside information on plans for the group, Perry said "the idea behind the group is to provide another voice in the political conversation," because she understands that "what happens in the classroom is impacted by what happens in Congress."

According to Studentsfirst.org, Rhee will discuss her vision for a better education system Monday afternoon on the Oprah Winfrey

Monday, December 6, 2010