Georgetown University rally denounces anti-gay violence - washingtonpost.com

Georgetown University rally denounces anti-gay violence - washingtonpost.com:

"About 50 Georgetown University students rallied on campus at noon Friday to show solidarity with a student who was allegedly attacked this week because of her perceived sexual orientation.

'We should not have to fear for our lives when we walk down the street,' said freshman JM Alatis, secretary and historian of GU Pride, the student group that organized the rally in less than 24 hours via Facebook, Twitter, text message and e-mail."

Editorial - Hawaii’s Children, Left Behind - NYTimes.com

Editorial - Hawaii’s Children, Left Behind - NYTimes.com:

"The economic crisis has forced every state to scramble to get its budget in balance. This has meant torturous efforts to preserve essential services and minimize the pain and damage from slashed spending and lost jobs. Every state has sacrificed. But Hawaii has sacrificed its own schoolchildren."

The 50th state, the only one with a single statewide school district, has just cut 17 days from the academic year, under a new labor contract with public school teachers that avoids layoffs in favor of pay cuts and furloughs, all to be taken on instructional days. Barring a court order or other intervention, there will be no classes on most Fridays for the rest of the school year, leaving 170,000 children in the lurch. Parents are furious that a state already lagging in academic achievement would willingly adopt the country’s shortest school year.

The teachers’ union, the school board, the Department of Education and Gov. Linda Lingle all share responsibility for the debacle; they all signed off on the new contract last month. Ms. Lingle issued a statement at the time praising it as being “in the best interest of teachers, our students and the general public.”

The Answer Sheet - Enough feuding! It's time for a D.C. schools summit

The Answer Sheet - Enough feuding! It's time for a D.C. schools summit:

"I just might scream if I hear one more person invoke what is “best for the kids” in the growing conflict between D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and her critics.
Tension is rising over a seemingly growing gap between what Rhee says in public and what she actually does--and while everybody is arguing about who is right and who is wrong and who didn’t call whom back, guess who is going to suffer?

(Did I just invoke what is “best for the kids?” Okay, I’m screaming.)

Yesterday Rhee was hit by D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray for deciding unilaterally to lay off teachers and staff instead of trimming summer school operations as the council had ordered to save $9 million. It was suggested that she broke the law; she said she was on solid legal ground."

Ms. Rhee's show trial - washingtonpost.com

Ms. Rhee's show trial - washingtonpost.com:

"D.C. SCHOOLS Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee stands accused, it seems, of trying to manage her budget in a way that will do the least harm to students. Not a crime, you might think -- unless, like Ms. Rhee's accusers on the D.C. Council, you are more interested in scoring political points than in hearing what she is doing for children.

Ms. Rhee was called before the council Thursday to explain the layoffs of 388 employees, including 266 teachers and other educators. She provided convincing evidence of the budget pressures leading to this month's reduction in force. She offered solid reasons for the hiring of some 900 teachers last spring and summer, and held out an olive branch to the council -- saying she never intended to blame it for the layoffs. She made clear that her goal was to save summer school as an option for as many children as possible."

National Summer Learning Association - Home

National Summer Learning Association - Home:

"Welcome to the National Summer Learning Association

We opened our doors September 1, staffed by former staff of the National Center for Summer Learning. Find out why, and what it means to you. Join the Association.

Secretary Duncan Champions Summer Learning

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan received the Association’s “Champion of Summer Learning” award as part of a recent ceremony in Washington, DC. Duncan, who advocates using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to promote and strengthen summer learning programs, explains the basis for his support.
Funding Available for Summer Learning Programs

Funding is available for summer learning like never before, so make sure your summer programs reap the benefits. Get the information you need to make your case for funding, in the Association’s new policy brief, ARRA, School Improvement and Summer Learning—Funding Blueprint for States and Districts."

Rhee is right--summer learning is vital - Class Struggle - Jay Mathews on Education

Rhee is right--summer learning is vital - Class Struggle - Jay Mathews on Education:

"I don't have a transcript of yesterday's raucous D.C. Council hearing over the disputed layoffs of 266 teachers early this month, but the TV clip I saw had Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray asking D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee if she thought she was smarter than everybody else in deciding not to cut $9 million for the 2010 summer school, as the council told her to do. Anyone who has looked at the data on summer learning loss would have to say Rhee was right, and the council was wrong. That won't solve the communication problem the city government is struggling with, but if you are concerned with raising the achievement of D.C. kids, it is important to emphasize that point."

Take a look at the studies compiled by the National Summer Learning Association and see for yourself. At the very least, there is a one month loss of learning because of the traditional summer vacation. Several studies, including some from Johns Hopkins University, have noted the startling difference in the loss of learning between impoverished urban children---like the majority of kids in the D.C. schools---and affluent suburban kids. Suburban parents manage to inject more learning into their children's summers than low-income urban parents do.

New DPS contract sparks concerns | detnews.com | The Detroit News

New DPS contract sparks concerns detnews.com The Detroit News:

"A $40 million contract with a book publishing company has resurrected concerns over Detroit Public Schools making business deals with former employers of its administrators.

DPS contracted with Boston's Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a Web-based teaching product called Learning Village, and for curriculum, training and books. Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the district's chief academic and accountability officer, used to work for Harcourt School Publishers.

The contract is the largest single deal ever for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of the oldest publishers in the nation."

The agreement follows Bobb's hiring of Public Financial Management Inc., where he was a part-time consultant, under a $972,000, no-bid contract. (The Broad Foundation is paying $450,000 of that contract.) The Philadelphia company was contracted to work on DPS finances.

Byrd-Bennett wasn't available for comment, but DPS spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski said the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt contract was competitively bid and the publisher was chosen over the two others that gave the district proposals because it had the highest evaluation from a panel of senior academic staff. Byrd-Bennett was not on this panel, Mrozowski said.

"She was not a part of the bid process or the selection with this company or any of the others," Mrozowski said. "Because she has had relationships with so many (education companies), she deliberately does not participate in the process."

AFP: Harvard University again world's best: Chinese ranking

AFP: Harvard University again world's best: Chinese ranking:

"BEIJING — Harvard University in the United States is once again the world's top institute of higher education for 2009, according to a Chinese ranking that is dominated by American colleges.

Stanford University was second, followed by the University of California at Berkeley, said the annual ranking by the Centre for World-Class Universities and the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai's Jiaotong University.

The Annual Ranking of World Universities was posted on its website at www.arwu.org."

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - We need education funding reform

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - We need education funding reform:

"I am writing this to raise awareness of a situation that is going on right under our noses that most of us are too blind to see.

Our public education system is flawed. Not only flawed, but it is failing.

As a college student, I know the struggle that students face to find classes. I know how much the increases in fees hurt my wallet.

I know what it is like to pay more for less of an education.

I see teachers getting laid off, and others are getting their pay cut through “furloughs.”"

Dan Walters: School duels, using surrogates - Inside Bay Area

Dan Walters: School duels, using surrogates - Inside Bay Area:

"ONE OF the more obscure — and probably more important — of California's many political conflicts pits an organization called EdVoice against the California Teachers Association and other school unions.

It centers on our ever-deepening education crisis, manifested in low test scores and high dropout rates, especially among black and Latino kids.

EdVoice, maintained by some wealthy Californians such as Southern California developer Eli Broad and Silicon Valley tycoon Reed Hastings, advocates charter schools, tougher teaching standards and other aggressive approaches.

The CTA and its allies, meanwhile, say California's chief education issue is money, specifically its below-average level of per-pupil spending."

Claud Evans honored as OSU Distinguished Ag Alumnus

Claud Evans honored as OSU Distinguished Ag Alumnus:

"Dr. Claud Evans of Okemah has been named a 2009 Distinguished Agriculture Alumnus of Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

Evans is perhaps best known to Oklahomans for the 16 years he served as a member of the Board of Regents for Oklahoma State University and the Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges.
'Dr. Evans has certainly had a great influence on our extended OSU family over the years, and the division continues to directly benefit from his expertise and experience through his membership on the Dean's Advisory Council,' said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR dean and director and vice president of agricultural programs at OSU."

PR-USA.net - Barona Tribe Awards 13 Education Grants Totaling $65,000 to Soledad Enrichment Action Charter School

PR-USA.net - Barona Tribe Awards 13 Education Grants Totaling $65,000 to Soledad Enrichment Action Charter School:


"Today, staff and students of 13 Soledad Enrichment Action (SEA) charter schools from Long Beach to Los Angeles to Pomona joined 45th District Assemblymember Kevin de Leon to accept a $65,000 education grant from the Barona Band of Mission Indians. The check was presented by Edwin 'Thorpe' Romero, Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, and represented $5,000 for each school as part of the Barona Education Grant program.

Since 2006, the Barona Band of Mission Indians has been helping lessen the blow of budget cuts for schools throughout California with the creation of the Barona Education Grant program, which has awarded more than $800,000 to over 165 schools statewide, including $140,000 to the SEA schools over the past two years."

California Forward Action Fund Submits Reform Initiatives | Reuters

California Forward Action Fund Submits Reform Initiatives Reuters:

"The California Forward Action Fund submitted a pair of nonpartisan initiatives
Friday that would bring comprehensive reform to California`s broken budget
process, protect funding for local services and give communities new tools and
resources to set their own priorities and chart their own paths for the future.

'In jobs and technology, education and quality of life, our state has always led
the way. We`ve been to every corner of the state, talked to hundreds of people
from every walk of life and spent months of research refining our proposals.
These reforms get California moving again so California can lead again,' said
Bob Hertzberg, co-chair of the California Forward Action Fund and former
Assembly Speaker.

'Politics as usual won`t solve our problems,' said Thomas McKernan, California
Forward Action Fund co-chair and CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern
California. 'It`s time to focus on common sense - by taking practices that have
proven themselves in business and other states, and putting them to work in
California, balancing the budget, reducing waste and delivering better results.'"

River City High principal hurt trying to quell food fight - Latest News - sacbee.com

River City High principal hurt trying to quell food fight - Latest News - sacbee.com:

"A West Sacramento high school principal spent Thursday and Friday at home resting after suffering a head injury breaking up a food fight Wednesday in his campus cafeteria.
The extent of the head injury to River City High School Principal Stuart McKay is not clear, but a district official said she expected McKay to be fit for duty Monday"

Are you switching your kid from public to private school?

Are you switching your kid from public to private school?:

"A decade ago, going public meant frothy tech IPOs. Now, it's what private school kids do when their parents can no longer pay their tuition. Private school enrollments are down everywhere, from Washington D.C. to Tennessee to California, while requests for financial aid are up. Yet recessionary budget cuts have hit many public schools hard, forcing them to lay off teachers (which increases class size), scale back instruction in art, music and theater, and even shorten the school year. Given the cutbacks, public school parents who can afford it may consider sending their kids to private schools.

Are you thinking of transferring your child from private school to public? Or from public to private? Have you already done so recently? Why? What has the transition been like for your children and family? If your kids are already in a public school, are you seeing an influx of children this year who formerly went to private schools? Has that changed the school in any way?

I'm reporting on this topic for DoubleX and I'd love to get your feedback. Please e-mail your responses to doublexschool@gmail.com. E-mail may be quoted in DoubleX unless the writer stipulates otherwise. If you want to be quoted anonymously, please let us know."

No progress + lower standards = progress (OneNewsNow.com)

No progress + lower standards = progress (OneNewsNow.com):

"The Department of Education has released a new report that shows a disturbing trend in state educational standards.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report found that many states are setting educational standards so low that they can claim they made progress when none was made. States also continue to get federal dollars through the No Child Left Behind program. Neal McClusky, associate director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, believes the report will be used to argue in favor of stricter federal standards in education."

"Well, if you see almost everybody setting the lowest standards [they] can, [and] almost every politician setting the lowest standards they can set, why would you ever think, 'If we put it at the federal level, then everything we've seen in politics will change, and somehow they'll set high standards?' Of course they won't because all of the incentives are to set low standards, so they're easy to meet," argues McClusky. The Center's associate director contends that control of education needs to be given over to parents so that they can decide which schools their children attend. With control then taken away from the federal and even the state governments, he says schools will have to compete for dollars and students. That way, he says, failing institutions will not be able to survive.

Illinois school test scores: Income-based gap proves hard to close -- chicagotribune.com

Illinois school test scores: Income-based gap proves hard to close -- chicagotribune.com:

"Surrounded by sports fields and suburban lawns, Hadley Junior High School could be the envy of the state.

Nine of every 10 students at the Glen Ellyn school passed state exams in reading and math, according to the 2009 Illinois School Report Card made public Friday.

But average scores belie a widespread problem the federal government has spent billions trying to fix nationwide: While at least 95 percent of Hadley's well-off students passed the eighth-grade reading and math tests, about half of their low-income classmates met the same goals, revealing an achievement gap that is as persistent as it is pernicious.

Seven years after the federal No Child Left Behind Law ambitiously pledged to eliminate such disparities and invested nearly $6.2 billion in Illinois schools alone, the progress has been modest and isolated."

Sacramento Press / Sacramento Press: Enabling the Community to Offer Food for Thought

Sacramento Press / Sacramento Press: Enabling the Community to Offer Food for Thought:

"Recently I read an article by Mayor Kevin Johnson, 'It's all about accountability,' in which Johnson writes, 'I love accountability ... and I find it curious when elected officials and the media decide the moment has arrived to wrap their arms around the fundamentals of accountability for the time being. They demand accountability for everyone but themselves. They choose which rules they follow .... Let's talk about accountability. It's a subject I understand ... I demand accountability for myself, my staff and every employee in the city of Sacramento.'

Surely we can see how community members can be frustrated when many feel the mayor hasn't been held accountable with mismanagement of St. Hope, with allegations of a relationship with minors, with the $25,000 loan to SAG which was forgiven and became a gift in the midst of controversy and other concerns."

College enrollment up, mostly at 2-year schools • Schools (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital)

College enrollment up, mostly at 2-year schools • Schools (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital):

"Some are there because of the recession, and others despite it. Regardless, more young Americans than ever are in college — especially community college, according to a new report."

A record high of about 11.5 million Americans age 18 to 24, or nearly 40 percent, attended college in October 2008, according to a study of Census data released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. Virtually all the increase of 300,000 students over the previous year came at two-year schools, while attendance at four-year schools remained flat.

Community colleges almost certainly saw attendance go up at least that much again this year, though final figures are not yet available. The American Association of Community Colleges reports growth rates of 10 percent and higher have been common this fall on many campuses.

Overall college attendance has been going up for about 30 years; what's new is the sharp uptick at community colleges, driven in large part by recessionary bargain hunting and closer ties between two- and four-year colleges that give students more confidence they'll be able to transfer.

Flu closes some metro schools, but disruptions minimal | StarTribune.com

Flu closes some metro schools, but disruptions minimal StarTribune.com:

"Serious outbreaks of the H1N1 flu are being reported at scattered Twin Cities schools, forcing a few to close and some to alter their instruction to account for all the absent kids.

Statewide, the number of schools with outbreaks has continued to climb since September, reaching 288 last week, according to the state Department of Health. The list includes public and private schools in Minneapolis, White Bear Lake, Richfield, Burnsville, Maplewood, Edina, Apple Valley, Anoka and St. Paul."