Governor Condemns ‘Intolerable Acts of Racism’ at UCSD | NBC San Diego

Governor Condemns ‘Intolerable Acts of Racism’ at UCSD | NBC San Diego

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned “intolerable acts of racism and incivility” on UC Campuses Saturday, including UCSD.

"I am deeply troubled by the horrific incidents that recently took place on various campuses of the University of California system,” he said.

He called the acts unacceptable and said he would join the University of California President, Chancellors and student leaders in condemning the incidents.

“There is no excuse for this kind of behavior in our system of higher education or anywhere else and it will not be tolerated," the Governor said.

Campus Protests Break Out After Noose Found

UCSD students held a number of protests Friday -- including one inside the chancellor's office -- after the discovery of a noose at a campus library.

A noose was found hanging at the Geisel Library around 10 p.m. Thursday, according to campus police. Officers confirmed after noon Friday that one person was in custody in connection with the act

Source: Governor Condemns ‘Intolerable Acts of Racism’ at UCSD | NBC San Diego 

UPDATE student admits to noose: UCSD students angry after finding noose in library

UPDATE student admits to noose: UCSD students angry after finding noose in library

A student admitted to hanging a noose in the library at the University of California-San Diego has been suspended.  The act is being investigated as a possible hate crime "with intent to terrorize," said campus spokesman Rex Graham.

The noose was found hanging from a light fixture on the seventh floor of the Geisel Library. Hanging a noose to terrorize is considered a hate crime and punishable up to a year in jail.  This is the latest of a series of incidents on the campus over the last two weeks. The first was an off-campus party, called the "Compton Cookout" which urged people to dress "ghetto" and offered food such as watermelon and chicken and malt liquor to drink.

Students wearing red handkerchiefs over their faces stood in front of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox's office chanting "Real pain, real change." Hundreds of students rallied and denounced the noose as an example of intolerance on a campus where less than 2 percent of students are black. In a news conference on Friday, Fox said 

Call-Out to Students and Education Workers: Post March 4th Reports and Photos to Indybay : Indybay

Call-Out to Students and Education Workers: Post March 4th Reports and Photos to Indybay : Indybay

University, College, and High School Students and Education Workers
Publish Your March 4th Breaking News, Reports, Photos and Video to Indybay.org

fp_indybaylogo.gif

The Importance of Radical Activists and Journalists Utilizing Indymedia

As March 4th approaches, your schemes are being firmed up, and the resistance commences against budget cuts and fee hikes, be sure to make plans for documenting the actions in which you participate and witness. If not you yourself, then discuss with others who amongst you can best capture and report on what happens in the streets or occupations. Do not rely on the corporate media to tell your story. They are guaranteed to disappoint with shallow coverage that never tells the full story, especially not from your perspective, or from that of those standing up against the dismantling of public education in California. You and your allies must tell the stories yourselves.

Indybay has a proud 10-year history as a radical news website where activists and independent journalists continue to publish their own news in their own words. Indybay.org — the website of the SF Bay Area and Santa Cruz Independent Media Centers — is a unique and invaluable open-publishing resource where every reader can also be a reporter.

Long before corporate "Web 2.0" sites were allowing users to post photos and video, Indybay was hosting a wide breadth of activist's' stories and media from across Northern California and beyond. Besides the obvious problem of patronizing large for-profit corporations that often work against the interests of social justice, corporate websites routinely hand over personally identifiable information to law enforcement or other corporations, whereas Indybay values your security and privacy in ways such as not logging the IP addresses of those who post to the site.

Additionally, at mega-sites your content might get seen but it also can easily get lost amongst personal anecdotes and cute cat videos in not much time. That sort of conten

The Prox: An alternative to ‘higher’ education

The Prox: An alternative to ‘higher’ education

An alternative to ‘higher’ education

Oaksterdam University and Med Grow Cannabis College, located in California and Michigan, respectively, seek to introduce its students to the cannabis industry in a legal fashion.
It is unlikely that the six-week course at Med Grow Cannabis College ($475 tuition) or the series of weekend seminars offered at Oaksterdam University ($150 tuition) can be transferred to Princeton for University credit.

Students at these institutions, ‘high’-minded in several ways, are free from the stress of midterms and finals — what can be considered as an ‘extracurricular’ activity at colleges across the nation is now the main focus of curriculum at these institutions. Still, there is no smoking in class, per se.

At the moment, 14 states allow the use of medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Act, signed by Jon Corzine this past January, will officially take effect on July 18, 2010. If New Jersey follows in the footsteps of California and Michigan, it may not be too long before we see our own share of cannabis colleges here on the east coast.

http://chronicle.com/article/High-Minded-College-Offers-/64288/

Welcome to Workday Minnesota, your leading source for labor news!

Welcome to Workday Minnesota, your leading source for labor news!:

"Rally March 4 to ‘defend public education’

MINNEAPOLIS-AFSCME locals at the University of Minnesota are organizing a rally March 4 at noon outside Morrill Hall on the university’s Minneapolis campus as part of a “National Day of Action to Defend Public Education.”
The day originated in California as a response to draconian cuts in the University of California system, becoming a national call to action as universities and K-12 school systems across the country became targets of budget cuts.

At the University of Minnesota, administrators are considering furloughs by all university employees to save money. AFSCME locals have begun a “Chop from the Top” campaign.

“The March 4 National Day of Action rally will be a loud and public demand that the budget crisis not be solved by cutting the lowest-paid workers at the University,” said Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800, which represents U of M clerical workers. For more information on the National Day of Action: www.defendeducation.org."

The Brown Daily Herald - Editorial: Cut it out

The Brown Daily Herald - Editorial: Cut it out:

"Last week, the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley, released a report that analyzed funding for higher education from a comparative international perspective. According to the report, the United States is an outlier in that it has responded to the current economic recession by sharply cutting public funding for colleges and universities.
The authors of the report note that public colleges and universities in the United States depend heavily on cash-strapped state governments. By contrast, other countries’ central governments have made a strong commitment to education. As a result, “most nations have not thus far resorted to uncoordinated cutting of funding for higher education that we generally see in U.S. state systems.”
The researchers at Berkeley have pointed out a disconcerting systemic problem. In the United States, education seems among the first on the chopping block when times get tough — it is a sector especially prone to frequent and sizeable cuts."

Bash Ends With Fire, Vandalism - Daily Nexus

Bash Ends With Fire, Vandalism - Daily Nexus:

"Bash Ends With Fire, Vandalism
Dissent Over Rising Costs Leads to Arrests, Damage to Property"

UC Berkeley — A protest condemning tuition fee increases turned violent when hundreds of demonstrators at UC Berkeley transformed a flash mob dance party into a riot.

Roughly 200 demonstrators gathered in UC Berkeley’s Upper Sproul Plaza on Thursday evening for a dance party aimed to rally support for an upcoming nationwide protest supporting public education set for March 4. Attendees then occupied a campus building and by 1:30 a.m. had flooded the streets of downtown Berkeley.

Rioters clashed with police and vandalized public property, breaking windows and setting trashcans and dumpsters on fire. Officials said protestors also hurled rocks and bottles during the altercation.

The riot was met by roughly two dozen UC Police Dept. and 

Community Evaluates Riot's Impact on Advocacy Efforts - The Daily Californian

Community Evaluates Riot's Impact on Advocacy Efforts - The Daily Californian

Though individuals touting the cause of public education rioted Friday morning, organizers of the upcoming day of statewide action said the March 4 demonstrations will not be defined by further violence.

Rioting broke out Friday morning on the south side of the UC Berkeley campus where 200 people gathered to dance, clashed with police and vandalized public property. With days remaining until the statewide protests planned for March 4, student and faculty organizers said advocating for public education is the best way for the campus community to move forward.

UC Berkeley senior Marika Goodrich, 28, was arrested at the intersection of Durant and Telegraph avenues and booked for assault on a police officer, inciting a riot and resisting arrest, according to Berkeley police Officer Andrew Frankel. Zachary Miller, 26, a UC Berkeley alumnus and an organizer for the "Rolling University," was also arrested at the intersection and was booked for inciting a riot, resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer.

Both are being held at Berkeley City Jail and will be arraigned Monday. Two officers suffered minor injuries but did not require medical attention, according to a BPD statement.

Activists from all sectors of public education are expected to rally for increased state investment on March 4.

But some organizers of the upcoming protests said the student movement is decentralized. Whether more rioting, building occupations or confrontations with law enforcement ensues is a matter of what individual activists decide, said graduate student Callie Maidhof, an organizer and spokesperson for the Durant Hall occupiers.

"The riot seems likes a very clear example of what happens when the state has abused its power for so long," she said. "We're not a centralized movement. If (the riot) is not what people want to see happen on March 4, that's not what they'll do. Nobody is forcing

Quick Takes: Obama Picks Another Californian for Top Education Post - Inside Higher Ed

Quick Takes: Obama Picks Another Californian for Top Education Post - Inside Higher Ed:

"President Obama last week nominated Eduardo M. Ochoa, the No. 2 official at Sonoma State University, to be assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education. Ochoa, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Sonoma since 2003, and a professor of economics at institution as well, has spent most of his career in the California State University system, previously serving as business dean at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona and as a professor and chair of economics and statistics at California State University at Los Angeles. The assistant secretary for postsecondary education historically has been the federal government's top higher education official. But if the Senate confirms Ochoa's nomination as assistant secretary, he would join an unusually crowded group of higher education policy makers at the Education Department -- most of whom are Californians. In addition to Under Secretary Martha J. Kanter, who was chancellor of Foothill-De Anza Community College District, the department's upper ranks also includes Robert Shireman, who has since March been serving as deputy under secretary, a new position in this administration that did not require Senate confirmation. Daniel Madzelan, a long-time career official in the department, is acting as assistant secretary."

Why we're protesting, part one | SocialistWorker.org

Why we're protesting, part one | SocialistWorker.org:

"Why we're protesting, part one


March 4 will be a day of strikes and protests to defend public education for students, teachers, faculty, campus workers and members of the community in California. The movement to save our schools is building at every level of the public education system.


We asked some of the people organizing for the day of action to explain what they're fighting for. We'll publish their statements over three days."

Why we're protesting, part one March 4 will be a day of strikes and protests to defend public education for students, teachers, faculty, campus workers and members of the community in California. The movement to save our schools is building at every level of the public education system. We asked some of the people organizing for the day of action to explain what they're fighting for. We'll publish their statements over three days. Fresno State protesters demonstrating against budget cuts and furloughs last October (Diane M. Blair) Brian Malone Graduate student, University of California Santa Cruz I AM a graduate student in literature, and my department (along with every other department in the humanities) has been among the hardest hit at University of California Santa Cruz. Funding for graduate students is scarce: I've watched many of my friends and colleagues take leaves of absence this year, and I wonder if I will need to do the same next year. But I'm not just angry about my own uncertain future; I'm angry for my students. The supposedly prestigious UC education that my students are receiving is merely a ghost of what it was even five years ago. Course enrollments are already too large, and increasing yearly. Teaching assistants and discussion sections are being cut. Libraries may soon be closed for days at a time. Written assignments are being reduced or replaced with multiple-choice exams. Retention programs for economically disadvantaged students and students of color are being slashed. And for this, my students--those who can afford to remain in school--will pay 32 percent more in tuition. I can't stand for this. And neither should you. The UCSC March 4 Strike Committee--a body made up of students, faculty, and

The Diamondback - Activism: Getting what we can take

The Diamondback - Activism: Getting what we can take

For student activists, it’s hard to point to wins. The structures of the university are made to seem inevitable and enduring, and you’d never know by looking that the Maryland Food Co-op or Shuttle-UM were originally projects of student resistance. As soon as students win anything, it is quickly swallowed into the mythology of the university, leaving only a trace of its origins. But as stable as the university seems, it is and has always been in a constant state of flux, a dynamic project between all affected parties.

Of course, there are tensions between different affected groups: Students want to pay less and still have access to a quality, holistic education,;workers want a living wage and to be treated with respect; the state wants to improve the school’s reputation while also paying less; and administrators just want to be paid more. The state and administrators have been incredibly successful at convincing students that we all share the same set of goals and that students (or faculty and staff for that matter) advocating for their own interests are selfish and not committed to the well-being of the university. Last week, the Student Government Association split evenly on whether to support the state’s proposed 3-percent tuition increase in an act of “thank you, sir, may I have another?” masochistic confusion.

Students themselves are eager to point out the contradictions between wanting to pay less and learn more — as if there were a direct causation there — but no one wants to tell the state it can’t cut our 

After budget cuts, Texas colleges woo Calif. educators | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

After budget cuts, Texas colleges woo Calif. educators | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

SAN DIEGO — In the cutthroat game of university recruiting, one state's fiscal crisis is another's opportunity.

While the revered University of California is getting pounded by deep state budget cuts, the University of Texas System is trumpeting its robust fiscal fitness in print advertisements, a calculated bid to lure some of the nation's top scientists and professors to Texas while the getting is good.

The UT System ran a full-page ad in the Chronicle of Higher Education this month with the headline, “Texas can take you higher,” boasting that billions of dollars were available to hire star professors, support research and build new facilities and that there was a 7 percent increase in state funding last year.

In her office at the University of California at San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, a former administrator at UT-Austin, took note of the burnt orange ad with a wry smile.

“The impression we get in California is that there are unlimited funds in Texas,” Fox said.

But how long will Texas be able to boast deep pockets?

Come 2011, Texas is facing a budget shortfall, and Gov. Rick Perry has asked all state agencies to chop 5 percent of state funds out of their budget before then. Leaders at public community colleges and universities glumly submitted proposed cuts, warning that wage and hiring freezes could wipe out Texas' competitive edge.

California's ‘mistake'

Some academics are turning to the business lobby to spare them from cuts, saying their influence with GOP lawmakers could coax more dollars for higher education.

“Don't make the same mistake California did. Don't do it,” William Henrich, president of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, said at a recent meeting of college presidents, lawmakers and business leaders. “The business community is such a powerful voice in Texas. They have to make the argument to lawmakers.”

March 4 Day of Action: Historic day for education? - Santa Cruz Sentinel

March 4 Day of Action: Historic day for education? - Santa Cruz Sentinel

SANTA CRUZ -- Thursday, if labor organizers and advocates have their way, all levels of education will come to a grinding halt throughout the state as tens of thousands of students, teachers and their supporters march on Sacramento and in their communities in protest of California's education crisis.
The state's $20 billion budget deficit has trickled down to K-12 and higher education, leaving school districts, community colleges and universities scrambling to cut programs and staff to fill gaping budget holes. The proposed state budget leaves education short about $2.5 billion, despite Gov. Schwarzenegger's pledge to fully fund K-12 education.
UC Santa Cruz officials have had to cut about $50 million from their budget in the past two years and have asked academic and support services chairs for tentative plans to cut either 5.5 percent or 11 percent more for next year. Cabrillo College, with a spring enrollment of 5,514, is teaching the equivalent of 1,500 full-time students without state compensation, which runs between $4,500 and $5,000 per year per the equivalent of a full-time student.
Santa Cruz City Schools is looking to cut $5.2 million next year while the Pajaro Valley Unified School District is facing the loss of $8.7 million next year on top of $14 million in cuts for this year. Those include cuts to custodial staff and an assistant superintendent, class size increases from 20 to 30 students in kindergarten and third grade, and the loss of
all sports funding.
Scotts Valley is figuring out how to spread $1.5 million in cuts over the next three years. Other districts are dipping into rainy day funds to make up their differences, and nearly all are relying increasingly on parent fundraising.
Thursday's protests are part of a month-long demonstration for education, one piece of a solidarity movement by educators who are trying to show that troubles at one level of education impact all others.
"It's really an autonomous effort between students, workers and ... teachers," said Matthew Palm, UCSC Student Union Assembly commissioner of academic affairs.
About 120 UCSC students will be in Sacramento today to lobby, but the main focus is

Sacramento's Hmong community divided over charter school - Sacramento Recreation and Places to Visit - Sacramento, Gold Country, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento's Hmong community divided over charter school - Sacramento Recreation and Places to Visit - Sacramento, Gold Country, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco | Sacramento Bee

The idea of a charter school tailored to Hmong students has generated excitement among local Hmong educators and parents, whose children are some of the lowest achievers in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

Proponents of the school say the struggles of Hmong students have been obscured by the academic successes of Asian students in general. Specialized teaching methods and lessons at the Yav Pem Suab Academy, they say, would help those children flourish.

But the pastor of a small Hmong church on 47th Avenue says the proposed school lumps together culturally different ethnic Hmong groups.

Sacramento's estimated 20,000 Hmong include White Hmong, Blue Hmong (some of whom don't spell it with an "H" and are also known as Green Hmong) and even Striped Hmong and Black Hmong.

The Rev. Txer Paul Vang of the 130-member Hmong Calvary Evangelism Center details differences in dialect, spelling and culture in a passionate letter to Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jonathan Raymond. He charges that the proposed charter marginalizes the Blue Hmong-Green Hmong.

Raymond could not be reached 

Make It Viral: Strike to Save Public Education March 4 Schools Matter

Schools Matter

Make It Viral: Strike to Save Public Education March 4

An interesting take from Inside Higher Ed:

The tricky thing about viruses is that it’s impossible to know where they might spread next or what damage they might do if they mutate. The same could be said of “viral” protest movements like the one that started in California months ago.

Talk of a series of March 4 demonstrations across Californiabegan in October, and since that time a loosely connected cyber network of angered faculty and students have planned their own protests across the country. What has emerged is the promise of the collective angst of cash-strapped public education -- from K-12 through the college sector -- bubbling over in hot spots from sea to shining sea.

They may face different levels of budget cuts, hail from different institutions and reside in different states, but these activists are all saying -- in one way or another -- “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!” While that’s a message that many college administrators may privately embrace, since they too feel increasingly shortchanged by the state's budget-setters, the fervor of the protest movement presents a delicate dance for campus and system-level leaders trying to promote thei

More collaboration than conflict in Providence over education | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

More collaboration than conflict in Providence over education | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE — In January, after five city schools were named among the worst in Rhode Island, Providence Supt. Tom Brady had a choice: he could reorganize the schools with — or without — the union’s support.

Brady approached Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, who was currently suing the district over hiring practices, and asked if he would join him in speaking with teachers at the affected schools.

As they toured the schools, Brady would ask teachers with 20 years in the system to stand up, then those with 10 years and so forth. Each time, Brady said, “You all deserve a round of applause.”

Call it a tale of two cities.

While the superintendent and union president have been going at it in Central Falls, Brady and Smith have worked together on a plan to radically reshape five of the state’s lowest-performing schools.

On Friday, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said that she hopes the partnership between management and labor in Providence is the wave of the future.

“I think that we have to acknowledge that change can be difficult,” she said. “I’m really encouraged to see them working together. Providence teachers are fortunate to have leadership that represents teachers while collaborating on what’s best for students.”

The latest collaboration was no small breakthrough. Last fall, the union sued Brady after then-state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters ordered Providence to abolish seniority, the time-honored way in which teachers are assigned to fill openings.

Teacher's union sues Arizona over policy changes

Teacher's union sues Arizona over policy changes:

"The state's largest teacher's union has joined the throng of plaintiffs suing the state over various actions driven by the state's budget crisis.

The Arizona Education Association's lawsuit, filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court, seeks to overturn actions the Legislature took last summer that affect teachers and employment policy. Those actions were unconstitutional, the union argues, because they were taken during a special legislative session devoted to the state budget. The policy changes had nothing to do with the budget, the suit states.

The teachers are seeking an injunction to stop the policies, noting that many of the law's provisions are already being carried out at school districts across the state.

Among other things, lawmakers removed policies that set deadlines for issuing contracts, allowed seniority to be used as a factor in job-cut decisions and permitted union members to use personal time for union matters.

Legislators also blocked expansion of school districts' 'career-ladder' programs, which pay higher wages for higher-performing teachers.

This is the second time the AEA has taken its complaint to court. Late last year, it sought immediate relief from the Arizona Supreme Court, but the court declined to hear the case."

Daily Kos: Ravitch: �The Death and Life of the Great American School System

Daily Kos: Ravitch: �The Death and Life of the Great American School System

Ravitch:  The Death and Life of the Great American School System

by teacherken

   

Sun Feb 28, 2010 at 02:20:35 AM PST

My support for NCLB remained strong until November 30, 2006.  I can pinpoint the date exactly because that was the day I realized that NCLB was a failure.

This is a book review.  Those words appear on p.99, which however odd a starting point is critical.  I learned about this event contemporaneously from the late Gerald Bracey, who informed some of us by email and many more in this Huffington Post blog.  At a conference at the American Enterprise Institute called to answer the question of whether No Child Left Behind was working, we learn from Bracey

Charged with summarizing the day, former assistant secretary of education for Bush I, Diane Ravitch, declared that the answer to the conference title's question was clearly, "No!"

That began an intellectual transformation that leads to the outstanding new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.  I will explore the book, the author and the implications of her transformation.

• teacherken's diary :: ::

First, let me dispense with any necessary disclosures.  My professional association with Diane Ravitch goes back almost a decade to when as a graduate student studying Federal educational policy I was fortunate enough to have an extended phone conversation picking her brain.  Our contact has become more frequent especially in the past year, in part as a result of her transformation, a process she thoroughly explores in her first chapter, "What I Learned About School Reform."  As a result of at least one of those exchanges, I am included in the acknowledgments as one who assisted Ravitch in obtaining information.  I was aware of the general thrust of the book, but until I received a copy to review had no knowledge of the specific contents.

SPECIAL SESSION: Tentative budget deal reached; education spending would be cut 6.9 percent - News - ReviewJournal.com

SPECIAL SESSION: Tentative budget deal reached; education spending would be cut 6.9 percent - News - ReviewJournal.com:

"Carson City -- State spending on education would be cut by 6.9 percent under a budget deal Democrats and Republicans reached late Saturday, a source who had seen the draft budget document said.


The extra revenue would come mostly from the mining and banking industries. Casinos would not have to pay any new taxes or fees, but new licensees would be charged for investigations, according to the document. Because of economic hard times, the gaming industry had strongly objected to paying any more money."

The deal does not include a last-minute Republican Assembly idea to essentially allow private investors to buy unclaimed property the state collects, the source who saw the document said.

Members of the political party caucuses still must agree to the plan, which is part of an effort to close an $887 million budget gap and which could be approved at the special session as soon as today.

The deal, which could mean layoffs or pay cuts for teachers, was reached after five meetings over three days among legislative leaders and Gov. Jim Gibbons on Day 5 of the special session.

State workers fared better when, earlier in the day, the Assembly rejected more cuts to their pay but increased classroom sizes for Nevada's youngest pupils and closed many state offices on Fridays.

State Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he thought the Republican governor would sign off on the deal.

Protesters march to stop school changes - Wake County - NewsObserver.com

Protesters march to stop school changes - Wake County - NewsObserver.com:

"RALEIGH -- A call for equality in education took on an urgent and personal tone Saturday as protesters decried the potential end to the Wake County school system's policy of busing students for socioeconomic diversity.

The fourth annual march and rally, called HK on J, for Historic Thousands on Jones Street, drew a racially diverse crowd representing a wide range of local and national interests, from immigration reform to job creation. But it was the broad changes pending for the state's largest school district, which opponents condemn as a move to re-segregate schools, that drew some of the most pointed criticism.

'Hey-hey, ho-ho, John Tedesco's got to go,' some shouted, as Duke University historian Tim Tyson led marchers in a chant aimed at the Wake school board member, one in the new majority moving the system toward neighborhood schools. The crowd, which stretched about two city blocks, walked through downtown Raleigh to the Legislative Building, where Tyson stood onstage at the microphone."