Stop Releasing Mall Fire Dispatches, Roseville Tells KCRA 3 - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento

Stop Releasing Mall Fire Dispatches, Roseville Tells KCRA 3 - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento

Stop Releasing Mall Fire Dispatches, Roseville Tells KCRA 3

Radio Traffic Offers Insights Into Oct. 21 Blaze

POSTED: 3:47 pm PST December 23, 2010
UPDATED: 4:03 pm PST December 23, 2010

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The City of Roseville is demanding that KCRA 3 stop revealing Roseville Fire Department radio transmissions from the day of the Westfield Galleria at Roseville mall inferno.

"KCRA knows ... that neither the City of Roseville nor its fire department had authorized the disclosure of the audio recordings," Roseville City Attorney Brita Bayless said in a "cease-and-desist" request sent to KCRA 3 on Wednesday.

In its response, attorneys for KCRA 3 told Roseville city officials that the station's "publications of these recordings is fully protected by the First Amendment" even though the city "may be embarrassed by public disclosure of these recordings."

The request from the City of Roseville comes after KCRA 3 released multiple radio transmissions regarding the intentional shutoff of the mall's sprinkler system during the Oct. 21 blaze.

The latest radio transmissions show the frustration firefighters dealt with as law enforcement officers did not immediately include them in the initial

Ed Next Poll: Top Books of the Decade : Education Next

Ed Next Poll: Top Books of the Decade : Education Next

Ed Next Poll: Top Books of the Decade

By Education Next 08/30/2010

34 COMMENTS | PRINT | NO PDF | SHARE

The first issue of Education Next was published in February 2001. In our inaugural issue, we described our goal as “giving voice (without fear or favor) to worthy research, sound ideas, and responsible arguments.” Over the past ten years, much has changed in the world of education policy, and in particular the “war of ideas” today is very different than it was in 2001.

We have been both producers and consumers of research, ideas, and arguments over these past 10 years. In honor of our 10th anniversary, we are launching a poll to determine the best books of the past decade, as identified by our readers.

Listed below are 41 books that we’ve identified as contenders. Only books published after 2000 were considered. The books appear in random order.

Please vote for the top three books of the decade. Once you have voted, you will be invited to view the current results of the poll by clicking on a button at the bottom of the poll. The poll will run until December 31, 2010.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: POWER TO THE PARENTS

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: POWER TO THE PARENTS

POWER TO THE PARENTS Daily Breeze Editorial | http://bit.ly/hMVsLp 12/18/2010 - The tools to transform public education in California have been put into the hands of parents. What they do with them, next year especially, will dictate the future of education in California. ...

FACTIONS IN SCHOOL DEBATE NEED A TIME OUT: Mayor Villaraigosa, L.A. Unified and the teachers union need to start acting like adults when it comes to watching out for students' needs. By Steve Lopez – LA Times Columnist - http://lat.ms/fdFxwj December 18, 2010, 5:10 p.m. - Pardon me, kids, but is it too much to ask that teachers union representatives, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Unified School District officials begin ...

L.A. PLANS TO ENGAGE PARENTS IN SCHOOLS WITH SERVICES CHRISTINA HOAG – Associated Press -Ventura County Star |http://bit.ly/fqzuYM December 18, 2010 at 9:39 a.m., updated December 18, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.— LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's no secret that students do better in school if their parents are involved in ...

Report: State needs 'children's cabinet' | California Watch

Report: State needs 'children's cabinet' | California Watch

Report: State needs 'children's cabinet'

by Louis Freedberg

Louis Freedberg

As California prepares for another round of severe budget cuts, a child-advocacy group is recommending the state create a "Children's Cabinet" to coordinate the myriad services delivered by multiple state agencies.

The idea is one of numerous recommendations embedded in the 2011 California Report Card (PDF) issued this week by Children Now, an advocacy group based in Oakland. The report lays out a detailed "children's agenda" for the state, some of which would involve significant additional revenues – an unlikely prospect given the state's budget problems.

But the suggested "Children's Cabinet" would cost little or nothing.

As outlined by Children Now, the cabinet would consist of the heads

Why Naming Names is a Problem Even When the Names Have Been Named « Student Activism

Why Naming Names is a Problem Even When the Names Have Been Named « Student Activism

Why Naming Names is a Problem Even When the Names Have Been Named

by Angus Johnston

Last night Moe Tkacik, a blogger for the Washington City Paper, put up a post about the Assange rape allegations that mentioned the names of the women who claim he raped her. When the #mooreandme folks got wind of it, they hammered her, and she replied with this (edited slightly for clarity):

I did not get the memo about how we were supposed to be all State Department “see no evil” abt accusers’ names at this point. From my perspective, names were just the obvious way of keeping their stories straight. They’ve been all over internet, tweeting etc about this.

Today the editor of the website Jezebel, called out for doing the same thing in a post a while back, replied with this:

Her name has been public for 4 mos. Let’s not pretend otherwise.

So okay. Here’s the deal. Two things:

First, and most obviously, a “public” fact can always be made more public. There are people in the world who

NYC Public School Parents: Goodbye and good riddance to Joel Klein

NYC Public School Parents: Goodbye and good riddance to Joel Klein

Goodbye and good riddance to Joel Klein

by Leonie Haimson

Joel Klein's last (hopefully) Principals Weeklyreminds us of some of his worst qualities – his pretentiousness and hypocrisy.

Harold Levy came in as Chancellor quotingWallace Stevens; Klein leaves quoting T.S. Eliot. (What is it with these corporate lawyers posing as educators; is it intellectual insecurity?)

Klein quotes these lines, from Eliot's Little Gidding:

"We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time."

Sounds like a a dog chasing his own tail -- an inadvertent metaphor for the perpetual cluelessness of

The Answer Sheet - A student play blasting N.Y. school reform is banned

The Answer Sheet - A student play blasting N.Y. school reform is banned

A student play blasting N.Y. school reform is banned

Fourteen students from two New York City schools -- Jamaica High and Queens Collegiate -- wrote an impressive play about school reform under Superintendent Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, based on the classic play “Antigone.” They were rehearsing to perform the play -- complete with music, visual projections and lights -- when they were told that their principals had decided not to allow them stage it. The play, titled “Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together,” was banned. According to a teacher who was working on the project with the students, the principals sent word that they were uncomfortable with criticism of Klein and Bloomberg, and they would not allow the Dec. 17 scheduled performance to go on in the Jamaica High auditorium. It's hard to even fathom the thinking that went into the decision to stop the kids from performing a clever work that they

Is it the “New Normal” or the “New Stupid?” « School Finance 101

Is it the “New Normal” or the “New Stupid?” « School Finance 101

Is it the “New Normal” or the “New Stupid?”

by schoolfinance101

I’ll admit from the start that I’m recycling some arguments here (okay… all of the arguments) … but this stuff needs to be reinforced, over and over again. Quite honestly, to me, from a school finance perspective, this is the most important issue that has surfaced in the past year, and potentially the most dangerous and damaging for the future of American public education.

Robert Reich of Berkeley recently wrote of the Attack on American Education:

http://wallstreetpit.com/54502-the-attack-on-american-education

Specifically, Reich pointed to substantial budget cuts across states as evidence of our de-investment in public schooling. Here are the first three states (by alphabetical order), and the education spending cuts mentioned by

Introducing the Reform-Inator! « School Finance 101

Introducing the Reform-Inator! « School Finance 101

Introducing the Reform-Inator!

by schoolfinance101

Introducing the Coolest New Gadget of the Year – just in time for last-day shopping! The Reform-inator!

1. Can be used to instantly fire and/or de-tenurize teachers. However, in order to use the reform-inator for these purposes you must line up 100 teachers including all of the good, bad and average ones. The reforminator is a bit touchy… and misfires quite frequently … hitting an average teacher instead of a truly bad one about 35% of the time, and hitting a good teacher instead of a truly bad one about 20% of the time. But what the heck… go for it. Thin the herd. Probabilities are in your favor, if only marginally. And besides, there will be plenty more teachers willing to step up and face the firing line next year.
2. Can be used to instantly replicate (or new reformy term: scalify, or scalification) only the upper half of charter schools, because we all know that the upper half of charter schools are … well… better than average ones, and well… good charters are good… and bad ones bad (but no need to talk about those, just as there’s no need to talk about the good traditional public schools)… so we really want to replicate

Es el momento - Tú puedes ir a la Universidad

Es el momento - Educacion, Becas, Universidades, Aprendizaje

Tú puedes ir a la Universidad

Tú puedes ir a la Universidad

El College Board te facilita el camino

• Ventajas de tomar cursos AP

"Teens" prefieren marihuana

Fumar cigarro ya no es tan popular

• Friends of Safe Schools
• Teens abusan de los videojuegos
• Habla con tus "teens"

Adiós a la soda para dormir más

Niños que toman cafeína duermen menos

• El ipad y iphone si educan
• Explota su curiosidad
• Consejos para la seguridad en el autobus

Tú puedes ir a la Universidad

Tú puedes ir a la UniversidadEl College Board administra el SAT y los cursos AP.

solidaridad: Dr. Stephen Krashen - Let's pull out of Race to the Top, but not because our standards are so good

solidaridad: Dr. Stephen Krashen - Let's pull out of Race to the Top, but not because our standards are so good

Dr. Stephen Krashen - Let's pull out of Race to the Top, but not because our standards are so good

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Just continue to follow the money. This Race to the Trough will make the Reading First crooks under Bush look like dopey Boy Scouts. — Jim Horn, PhD (Educator, Writer)


Sent to the Daily Breeze, Torrance, CA

Doug Laskin feels that Gov-elect Brown "needs to pull California out of Race to the Top" (Dec. 20) because California already has good standards and the feds' standards don't exist yet. The virtue of California's language arts standards, according to Laskin, is that they restore grammar, spelling and phonics instruction, which had been removed "by faddish theories."

The "faddish' theories were the result of decades of responsible scientific work published in major journals and books. The theories concluded that most of our ability to use grammar and phonics and most of our spelling ability is the result of reading. They also concluded that a modest amount of direct instruction in grammar, phonics, and spelling is advisable, but that these

Year-end Remainders: Black tries to say hello; Klein, goodbye | GothamSchools

Year-end Remainders: Black tries to say hello; Klein, goodbye | GothamSchools

Year-end Remainders: Black tries to say hello; Klein, goodbye

by Elizabeth Green

Headlines:

• A judge will hear arguments today on whether Cathie Black can be chancellor. (NY1, AP)
• Joel Klein’s final missive to principals urged ending the ATR pool altogether. (GothamSchools)
• The mastermind of the CityTime project had previously been probed for fraud. (Daily News)
• Former teacher who did sex work says “reassignment” means paid time to write her memoir. (NY Post)
• Kaya Henderson, Rhee’s successor, isn’t sure whether she wants the job full time. (WUSA9)
• A former Newark education aide will be D.C.’s deputy mayor for education. (D.C. Schools Insider)
• The 50 states’ pension funds collectively share a trillion-dollar hole. (60 Minutes)
• A settlement in Philly protects bullied English language learners in bias cases. (Inquirer)
• Madeleine Sackler’s “Lottery” film about education may be an Oscar contender. (WSJ)

More facts, chatter:

• Cathie Black will be gone by Easter and other 2011 education predictions. (Flypaper)
• A theater teacher highlighted by the union newspaper loses her job. (Dewey21C)
• Is cooperation between networks the next generation of the charter school idea? (Eduwonk)
• Value-added-based bonuses leave out Houston’s non-core subject teachers. (District Administrator)
• Twenty percent of incoming military cadets can’t meet basic academic standards. (Ed Week)
• The most courageous act is to use facts, not faith, to evaluate policies. (Larry Cuban)
• Diane Ravitch wins an academic honor named after Moynihan. (Bridging Differences)

We’re taking the rest of the year off. Happy holidays, enjoy the break, and check in for breaking news if it happens.

On his way out, Klein pushes for end to ATR pool, last-in first-out | GothamSchools

On his way out, Klein pushes for end to ATR pool, last-in first-out | GothamSchools

On his way out, Klein pushes for end to ATR pool, last-in first-out

by Elizabeth Green

The final installment of Joel Klein's weekly memo to principals

In a nostalgic final missive to city principals this week, outgoing Chancellor Joel Klein suggested three things to do once he’s gone.

The Schrag Plan: Six Fixes for California Schools | NBC Los Angeles

The Schrag Plan: Six Fixes for California Schools | NBC Los Angeles

The Schrag Plan: Six Fixes for California Schools

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Writing at California Progress Report, the author Peter Schrag, who has forgotten more than I'll ever know aboutCalifornia, outlines six approaches that Gov.-elect Jerry Brown could take to improve and restore funding for the state's schools. Here they are:

*Extend the temporary tax increases – the boost in the vehicle license fee, the sales taxes and income taxes -- that were enacted in 2009 and will expire in 2011. Voters in 2009 rejected the equivalent of such an extension, but if the extension were earmarked for education, they might react differently. That’s not a good budgeting strategy, but it would be good for the schools.

*Restore fiscal authority to local districts, something that would simultaneously allow local voters to increase property taxes for schools and increase district responsibility in spending. It could also restore some interest and involvement from members of the business community and other local leaders in running for school board seats

GAO Issues Report on Sexual Abuse of Kids in K-12 Schools | Security Management

GAO Issues Report on Sexual Abuse of Kids in K-12 Schools | Security Management

GAO Issues Report on Sexual Abuse of Kids in K-12 Schools

By Teresa Anderson

12/23/2010 -

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has unveiled that K-12 schools across the country continue to hire people who have sexually exploited or targeted children in the past because they did not practice due diligence during the hiring process.

The GAO compared school employment databases from 19 states and Washington, D.C, in between 2007 and 2009 to the National Sex Offender Registry to find cases of sexual abuse that resulted in a criminal conviction.

In investigating known cases of sexual abuse by school employees, the GAO found that people with histories of sexual misconduct were hired or retained as teachers, support staff, volunteers, or contractors. In 11 of the 15 cases the GAO reviewed, the offenders previously targeted children. In six cases, the offenders used their positions in the schools to abuse more children, according to the

Scott transition team’s education plan worries voucher advocate | Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media

Scott transition team’s education plan worries voucher advocate | Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media

Gov.-elect Rick Scott (Pic via scotttransition.com)

Scott transition team’s education plan worries voucher advocate

By Travis Pillow | 12.23.10 | 12:00 pm

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The “universal voucher” proposal floated this week by Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s transition team is drawing opposition from at least one longtime supporter of school vouchers.

In documents released this week, Scott’s education advisers — led by Patricia Levesque, a veteran of the Department of Education under Jeb Bush and the current director of one of his school reform groups — outlined a hypothetical program that would allow parents of public schoolchildren to receive 85 percent of the money the state spends per student, which they could keep in “education savings accounts” to use as they see fit on online “virtual schools,” private schools, tutoring or even college expenses.

Andrew Coulson, a voucher advocate from the libertarian Cato Institute, worries that the idea couldn’t fly in Florida, and should instead be tried in states with friendlier legal climates, according to the St. Petersburg Times.