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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sending NBC's 'Education Nation' Back to School | Labor Notes

Sending NBC's 'Education Nation' Back to School | Labor Notes:

Sending NBC's 'Education Nation' Back to School

by Julie Cavanagh | Wed, 09/28/2011 - 1:36pm

With NBC airing a second “Education Nation” special that resembles an infomercial for charter schools and online learning, the media watchdog group FAIR held an event Tuesday to clear the air.

The panelists at the MisEducation Nation forum in New York City said the coverage offered by NBC was, at best, misguided—a noble but seriously uninformed effort, said Leonie Haimson, a New York City public school parent and leader of Class Size Matters, which advocates for reducing the number of students per teacher.

At worst, “Education Nation” is a sounding board for the corporate education “reform” movement driven by the billionaires’ agenda, said Brian Jones, a Brooklyn teacher.

Jones is the co-narrator of “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman,” a documentary that showed what the "Waiting for Superman" film left out. Davis Guggenheim’s “Superman,” a notably pro-charter and anti-teacher union documentary, was released last year.

The goal of Tuesday’s event, according to FAIR, was to offer a more reasonable conversation about public

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The problem with Obama’s speech to students - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

The problem with Obama’s speech to students - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

The problem with Obama’s speech to students

by Valerie Strauss

There’s no reason why a president — any president — shouldn’t be allowed to give a nonpartisan speech to students across the country during the school day that urges them to take their studies seriously.

And there’s no reason why schools — some of which have no problem yanking kids out of class for a pep rally — shouldn’t allow students to see and hear a message of academic responsibility being delivered directly to them by the leader of their country.

Read full article >>
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Georgia Students Can Opt Out Of Obama Back To School Speech | Resurgence | Big Think

Georgia Students Can Opt Out Of Obama Back To School Speech | Resurgence | Big Think:

Georgia Students Can Opt Out Of Obama Back To School Speech

Kris Broughton on September 28, 2011, 11:00 AM

President_obama_addresses_the_nation

There are still people here in Georgia who do not want their children to listen to a back-to-school speech from that bad, bad man, Mr. Barack Obama, otherwise known for the last two and a half years as the president of the United States.

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s):

We will air President Obama’s third annual national address directly to students on Monday, October 3, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. President Obama’s speech coincides with the beginning of school for many districts across the nation. His actual speech will be delivered on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, at 1:30 p.m.

If you do not want your child to view the address, please complete the bottom portion of this letter and return it to your child’s homeroom teacher no later than Friday, September 30,

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Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts


Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts


Behind the Story: Under Suspicion

California Watch - All Content - 7 minutes ago
The San Francisco Film Society and Center for Investigative Reporting's new quarterly event, Behind the Story, will give audiences an insider's look at the backstory of some of the major reports undertaken by CIR at a time when journalism is undergoing a period of radical transformation and traditional models are evolving to accommodate multi-platform, multi-partner and transmedia approaches. Under Suspicion, the first evening of the series, charts the development of a series of stories, interviews, videos and an animation that CIR produced in collaboration with National Public Ra... more »

Seton Hall will lower tuition rate by $21K to match Rutgers for some incoming freshmen

Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger at New Jersey Real-Time News: Education - 9 minutes ago
Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerSeton Hall University SOUTH ORANGE — In an unusual move, Seton Hall University will reduce its tuition by more than $21,000 next year for incoming freshmen who have high SAT scores and graduate in the top 10 percent...more »

Obama says he can't fix immigration on his own

Julie Pace at Latest education news on Boston.com - 13 minutes ago
Facing weakening support among Hispanics, President Barack Obama expressed deep frustration Wednesday over what he called an inaccurate and damaging perception that he can fix the nation's flawed immigration system on his own. [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to digg] [image: Add to StumbleUpon] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to del.icio.us] [image: Email this Article]

Obama says he can't fix immigration on his own

Julie Pace at Latest education news on Boston.com - 13 minutes ago
Facing weakening support among Hispanics, President Barack Obama expressed deep frustration Wednesday over what he called an inaccurate and damaging perception that he can fix the nation's flawed immigration system on his own. [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to digg] [image: Add to StumbleUpon] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to del.icio.us] [image: Email this Article]

Yale endowment reaches $19.4B

Latest education news on Boston.com - 13 minutes ago
Yale University says its endowment earned about 22 percent return on its investments for the last budget year, bringing it to $19.4 billion and securing its place as the second largest among universities nationwide. [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to digg] [image: Add to StumbleUpon] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to del.icio.us] [image: Email this Article]

Yale endowment reaches $19.4B

Latest education news on Boston.com - 13 minutes ago
Yale University says its endowment earned about 22 percent return on its investments for the last budget year, bringing it to $19.4 billion and securing its place as the second largest among universities nationwide. [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to digg] [image: Add to StumbleUpon] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to del.icio.us] [image: Email this Article]

More than 2,900 convicted criminal immigrants arrested, ICE says

Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News - 16 minutes ago
Source: [b]CNN[/b] Washington (CNN) -- In a huge, seven-day operation covering all 50 states and four U.S. territories, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 2,901 convicted criminal immigrants as part of the "Cross Check" enforcement operation, ICE officials announced Wednesd... more »

Tech discounts to help state teacher centers offer digital training

Rachel Cromidas at GothamSchools » Newsroom - 27 minutes ago
Teach for America members aren’t the only teachers to start getting digital tools from a technology giant. A new partnership between a statewide network of teacher training centers and Microsoft will give teachers access to discounted computer hardware and software, and help using them. Announced this week, the Tech4Teachers program will flood New York State Teacher Centers [...]

Number of Married Gays Drops 62% Because People Are Bad at Forms

Dino Grandoni at The Atlantic Wire - 43 minutes ago
The U.S. Census Bureau has just released a startling new statistic: its count of same-sex married couples has dropped a whopping 62 percent, from 349,377 to 131,729. Who's to blame for this precipitous drop? Obama? Religious leaders? The GOP? A wave of divorces? No, none of the above: the American people are really bad at filling out forms correctly. The bureau tabulates the number of wed gays by combining the questions that ask about martial status and sex. If a couple checks off that they're married and they happen to be the same sex, then--bam!--the Census says they're gay marr... more »

Solyndra CEO touted progress to lawmakers just before bankruptcy

California Watch - All Content - 43 minutes ago
Daniel J. Goldstein ReutersExecutives from the failed solar company Solyndra are expected to take the Fifth today. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Less than two months before his solar panel company filed for bankruptcy, Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that thanks to the $535 million taxpayer loan to build a new factory, his company had shipped record-breaking numbers of solar panels to buyers and was poised to double its revenue in 2011. "Factory output is ramping rapidly," Harrison wrote in a June 22 presentation to members of Congress titled, “Exceeding Expecta... more »
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Prosecutions of Berkeley Activists Roll On « Student Activism

Prosecutions of Berkeley Activists Roll On « Student Activism:

Prosecutions of Berkeley Activists Roll On

September 28, 2011 in Access, Administration, Campus Communities, Campus Protests,Civil Liberties, Governance, Guns, Organizing, Police

Last week six UC Berkeley students went on trial on charges stemming from a March occupation of Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall. Unlike the Irvine 11, their fate was decided by a judge, not a jury. And unlike the Irvine 11, they were foundnot guilty.

The acquittals of these six students, however, were followed just two days later by the arrests of two more, at the campus’s “Day 1″ protests marking the start of the fall semester throughout the UC system.

Police say that protesters on September 22 threw chairs, bottles, and chunks of concrete at cops, and that members of the group used oversized book-cover props as shields and offensive weapons. But one officer’s claim that “we respect people’s right to protest, but we ask that they do it safely and

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Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Oct. 3 | Duke Today

Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Oct. 3 | Duke Today:

Education Activist Diane Ravitch to Speak Oct. 3

Duke's Program in Education and Durham Public Schools join to bring speaker to campus, Durham schools

September 28, 2011 | David Jarmul
Ravitch
Diane Ravitch's criticism of standardized testing has changed the national debate on education.

DURHAM, NC - Diane Ravitch, one of the country's leading authors and activists on education issues, will discuss school reform in a speech at Duke University's Page Auditorium at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 3.

Her visit is sponsored jointly by the university'sProgram in Education and Durham Public Schools (DPS), each of which is arranging private gatherings with Ravitch. She will meet that morning with Duke faculty and administrators to discuss teacher education and partnerships between schools and universities. In the afternoon, she will meet with DPS teachers, principals, administrators and board members to discuss ways of enhancing student performance.

"We worked together to arrange this visit, which

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Arne's Revenge | District 299: The Inside Scoop on CPS

Arne's Revenge | District 299: The Inside Scoop on CPS:

Arne's Revenge

By Alexander Russo, today at 11:20 am

Remember how much Arne hated the NCLB-mandated SES tutoring program, which required schools to offer after school tutoring if they didn't meet AYP (and required CPS to give up to 20 percent of its NCLB allocation to pay for it)? Well, after all those years he's apparently getting his revenge. When states get their NCLB waivers -- up to 25 of them in the next year or so, according to one CCSSO estimate -- the districts get to start keeping their SES allocations instead of "giving them away." Whether districts like CPS will do any better with the not insubstantial amount of money than the tutoring companies is anyone's guess, though history suggests that the

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