“standing your ground:” Wording of Florida Statute 776.013 « Tangerine, Florida

Wording of Florida Statute 776.013 « Tangerine, Florida:

Wording of Florida Statute 776.013

by 5redherrings

Just in case you’re wondering what exactly Florida law says about “standing your ground:”

776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—

(1) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:

(a) The person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against that person’s will from the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle; and

(b) The person who uses defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.

(2) The presumption set forth in subsection (1) does not apply if:

(a) The person against whom the defensive force is used has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder, and there is not an injunction for protection from domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order of no contact against that person; or

(b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child or grandchild, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive force is used; or

Trayvon Martin Case Raises Larger Issues

by 5redherrings

Check out the NPR post on the Trayvon Martin case. It address the “Stand your ground law” that has allowed the shooter to remain free and has short snippets of local residents in a oral interview format.

NYC Educator: Does Joey Look Suspicious Too?

NYC Educator: Does Joey Look Suspicious Too?:

Does Joey Look Suspicious Too?

by Miss Eyre

We have a student at our school I'll call Joey. Joey is one of those good-natured, gentle kids that everyone is excited to see. He learned every teacher's name, even though he's only a ninth grader and doesn't have most of them as teachers in classes, and greets us all personally every day. He will walk right up to guests and introduce himself with a handshake. He'll wander into meetings and greet everyone before he is (gently) kicked out by whoever is running the meeting. He's funny and sweet and generally just great to be around.

He's also 14, almost six feet tall, built like a linebacker, and African-American.

So Joey has been on my mind quite a bit the past few 

Teaching Trayvon Martin: Three Strategies for Teacher Educators | Warner Perspectives

Teaching Trayvon Martin: Three Strategies for Teacher Educators | Warner Perspectives:

Teaching Trayvon Martin: Three Strategies for Teacher Educators

Post a CommentMarch 21, 2012 – 8:02 pm | | Permalink | |

by Ed Brockenbrough

Every year as a faculty member in an urban-focused, university-based teacher education program, I pose the following questions to the teacher certification candidates and certified teachers in my classes: What is your vision of social transformation, and how far are you willing to go in your capacity as classroom teachers to achieve it? Sadly, the murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida is the latest of a never-ending series of tragedies that underscores the urgency of these questions. As teacher educators, it is crucial that we seize this moment to encourage and support classroom teachers’ efforts to end white supremacist violence in the lives of youth of color.

Those who deny the permanence of white supremacy in America will surely concoct a litany of excuses and justifications for George Zimmerman, the man who has admitted to killing Trayvon Martin. As demonstrated time and time again, white supremacy is amazingly adept at defending itself by denying its very existence. Regardless of whatever preposterous defense may prevail on Zimmerman’s behalf, the details of Trayvon Martin’s final moments paint a clear picture of a young man who became yet another casualty of American society’s enduring, well-rehearsed, and unforgiving assault on black bodies. That advocates for redress on Trayvon’s behalf are forced to make the case for the obvious—America’s suspicion of and contempt for young black males—detracts time and energy better spent on strategizing our collective responses for 

Ravi: "I didn't act out of hate" - NorthJersey.com

Ravi: "I didn't act out of hate" - NorthJersey.com:

Ravi: "I didn't act out of hate"

THURSDAY MARCH 22, 2012, 6:36 AM

NORTHJERSEY.COM

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Dharun Ravi acknowledged in an interview Wednesday with The Star-Ledger's Mark Di Ionno that he acted immaturely when he used a webcam to spy on his Rutgers roommate, Tyler Clementi, setting off a chain of events that, in the aftermath of Clementi's suicide, ended with Ravi's conviction last week on 15 criminal counts, including a bias intimidation charge.

ELIZABETH LARA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Defense attorney Steven Altman, left, Dharun Ravi, center, and defense attorney Philip Nettl prepare to exit the courtroom following the verdict in Ravi's trial at Middlesex County Court in New Brunswick on Friday, March 16, 2012.

"But I wasn't biased," Ravi said. "I didn't act out of hate, and I wasn't uncomfortable with Tyler being gay."
Rather, his issue was with Clementi's guest, a 30-year-old man identified in court only as "M.B." When police first sought out Ravi when Clementi was missing, he said he feared "it had something to do with M.B."
Ravi said he did not regret turning down a plea de

Scared Sleepless | Taking Note

Scared Sleepless | Taking Note:

Scared Sleepless

by John Merrow

When quantitative social indicators are used for social decision-making, corruption arises; that's Campbell's Law. So where do we go from there in terms of testing?

“My son can’t sleep at night,” his mother (and a friend of mine) said.

Why, I asked?

“Because his teacher told him that he had to do well on the tests this week or she would be fired. He’s worried sick.”

That conversation, which occurred almost exactly one year ago, continues to haunt me. What kind of teacher would say that to kids? Or, digging deeper, what were the circumstances made the teacher feel so desperate that she would say that?

It doesn’t matter where that 3rd grader and his family live, because that sort of pressure seems to be everywhere. And it seems to be increasing, as scores on state/city exams become the single most important measure of a teacher’s performance — and as pressure grows to publish the test scores of every individual teacher’s students.

Everyone is familiar with Campbell’s Law, developed by social scientist Donald Campbell:

Education | Seattle School Board votes to keep Teach For America partnership | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Seattle School Board votes to keep Teach For America partnership | Seattle Times Newspaper:

Seattle School Board votes to keep Teach For America partnership

New School Board members had moved to cancel the Teach for America contract with Seattle Public Schools.

By Brian M. Rosenthal

Seattle Times education reporter

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Charlie Mas, a blogger and school-district watchdog who says Teach for America provides too little training, addressed the Seattle School Board on Wednesday.

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The Seattle School Board reached decisions Wednesday night on two of the most controversial proposals it has considered this year, voting to continue the district's partnership with Teach for America and to set specific guidelines for how far board members can go in overseeing district operations.

The votes came during a packed public hearing, at which nearly 50 community members signed up to express their views, although only 20 got the chance to do so.

Almost all weighed in on TFA, an organization that places high-preforming, recent college graduates without teaching credentials in low-performing 

What standardized tests should assess - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

What standardized tests should assess - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Student mocked by teacher for missing state standardized test

by Valerie Strauss

A middle school student who didn’t take the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Testbecause he was sick at home was later forced by a teacher to wear a sign that said: “I decided to come to school today, but I didn’t come to school during the FCAT.”
Read full article >>

What standardized tests should assess

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author. This first appeared on truth-out.org .

By Marion Brady
If you fly, thank Myron Tribus for helping make your flight safer. He played a major role in the development of the equipment that keeps airliner wings free of ice.
Read full article >>

Rethinking Schools SPRING 2012

Rethinking Schools:

Volume 26, Issue 03

Volume 26, Issue 03

VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 — SPRING 2012 The entire spring issue of

Every day, teachers are being pressured to compete with each other and push their students over the testing precipice, all in the name of accountability—a word that has become corporate-speak for test, test, test. On a very different trajectory, Rethinking Schools has assembled two new books that focus on what teachers are really accountable for: the learning, empowerment, and well-being of their students. This issue of the magazine highlights five new articles from those books. RETHINKING ELEMENTARY EDUCATIONA Message from a Black Mom to Her SonBy Dyan WatsonAn African American mother and teacher educator uses examples from her own childhood to describe how she hopes her child will be treated by teachers, and what she fears.
Writing for Justice • Persuasion from the Inside Out
By Mark Hansen
An elementary school teacher takes us inside his classroom to see how he builds on his students’ lives and passions to help them create persuasive essays.

---

PENCILS DOWN! 
Rethinking Standardized Testing and Accountability in Public SchoolsAbout Those Tests I Gave You • An Open Letter to My Students
By Ruth Ann Dandrea
A middle school language arts teacher apologizes to her students for the state’s narrow and deceptive standardized test.
Testing Our Limits
By Melissa Bollow Tempel
First graders, three at a time, use classroom computers to take standardized tests. Their teacher explains the impact on the students and herself.
Playing Smart  • Resisting the Script By Wayne AuScripted curriculum de-skills teachers and rewards students for passivity, not critical thinking. A teacher educator urges teachers to organize and fight back

Jersey Jazzman: War On Teachers = War On Women, Part III

Jersey Jazzman: War On Teachers = War On Women, Part III:

War On Teachers = War On Women, Part III

by Duke

A quick thought:

I've already blogged about how I believe the War on Teachers is, in many ways, an extension of the War on Women. To me, it's no coincidence that the same people who want to cut contraception services to women are the same people who want to strip workplace protections away from a workforce that is three-quarters female.

In a different vein, I also recently wrote about how I'm perplexed that the corporate reformers and conservatives that back them have so little regard for experienced teachers. The idea that older teachers regularly get burned out and are a drag on students seems to be ingrained into the reformy consciousness.

But it didn't occur to me until today that these two memes are actually complimentary; and the spark that got me to put the two together was remembering this:

Popout

I try to check in with Media Matters regularly; this remains one of my all-time favorite moments that they've highlighted about Fox. Because Ingraham, who is usually just awful, just smacks it out of the park here.

School Tech Connect: Crowdsourcing the Lobby Effort

School Tech Connect: Crowdsourcing the Lobby Effort:

Crowdsourcing the Lobby Effort

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

I locked myself in my office tonight for two hours to work on the statewide database of teacher/activists and what I found was that the whole thing didn't even take two hours. I'm testing for bugs in the system tonight, tomorrow, and possibly Saturday.

I've decided to aim high. It will be more than a database; it will have a community space for all of us who want to work with legislators-- in Springfield and in the district offices around the state. The crowdsourcing of lobbying is probably the last untapped resource we have, and I know we can make it work.

It's got a working name.

Not the smoothest thing in the world but it will do. Keep your eyes peeled.

Anyway, exciting news over in the 39th. I'm sending victory vibes over there to Will Guzzardi. My hypothesis is 

I Can Never Figure This One Out

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Reconcile this with this. Has Arne Duncan ever been asked about this charter network publicly? Oh, I see thathe has.

Seattle Schools Community Forum: New Principal for TOPS K-8

Seattle Schools Community Forum: New Principal for TOPS K-8:

New Principal for TOPS K-8

by Melissa Westbrook

From Dr. Enfield to the TOPS community:

I am excited today to announce the appointment of Chris Scott as your new principal, effective July 30, 2012.

Dr. Scott comes to TOPS from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently the principal of a gifted and talented magnet school. Dr. Scott earned his doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he focused on social justice and equity in public education and conducted research addressing educational opportunities of American Indian students.

Dr. Scott was selected after a hiring process that included interviews with a team consisting of four parents, three certificated staff and one classified staff member. The process was comprehensive and the members of the committee were nominated through the TOPs site council. Candidates also participated in a site-visit.  The