Friday, May 14, 2010

Hawaii wraps up a year of short school weeks - Boston.com

Hawaii wraps up a year of short school weeks

By Mark Niesse

Associated Press Writer / May 14, 2010

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HONOLULU—When Hawaii ran short on money, it made students and teachers pay by slashing 17 Fridays from the school calendar, resulting in three-day weekends and the nation's shortest school year.

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More than 170,000 students in the nation's only statewide school district spent their so-called "furlough Fridays" playing video games, roaming the mall or studying at home. But that ends Friday , the last day off of the school year.

After missing so much class time, students, educators and parents are evaluating what they've lost. They hope the state's elected leaders and teachers union will strike a deal to prevent furloughs next school year, when 17 more days off are scheduled in a public education system that

Archdiocese to help banned student

The Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday that it would help find a new Catholic school for a boy who was barred from a Catholic elementary school in Hingham because his parents are lesbians. (By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff)

Teachers union, Johnson reach stalemate on plan

The Boston Teachers Union and School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson have reached stalemate over her plan to extend the school day and make other changes at 12 underperforming schools, pushing the monthlong dispute into the hands of an arbitrator. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

Why are so many moms smitten with today’s teen idols?

Like many mothers and daughters, Mary Irizarry and her 12-year-old argue sometimes. But their disputes aren’t over texting or clothing. They disagree about which male “Twilight’’ star is cuter. (By Beth Teitell, Globe Correspondent)

Wayland mosque opens a dialogue on what it means to be a Muslim in America

WAYLAND — Months ago, the Islamic Center of Boston began planning an open house and lecture, “Everything you wanted to know about Islam but were afraid to ask,’’ to celebrate its 30th anniversary. (By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff)

Schools move to educate staff, students on response to bullying

For the longest time, bullying has fallen into the “kids will be kids’’ category, a negative yet somewhat unavoidable part of growing up. But following the suicides of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, a Springfield 11-year-old who took his own life last year after being bullied, and Phoebe Prince, the 15-year-old Irish immigrant in South Hadley who hanged herself in January ... (By Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent)

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

Hawaii wraps up a year of short school weeks (AP, 9:09 a.m.)
La. gov't retirement revamp heads to House debate (AP, 8:29 a.m.)
Ludlow Marine remembered as a hero (AP, 8:28 a.m.)
W.Va. lawmakers begin session on ed, health care (AP, 8:24 a.m.)
New Orleans Museum of Art names new director (AP, 5:08 a.m.)

This Week In Education Thompson: Reform Advocates Mis-Stating The Record

This Week In Education

Thompson: Reform Advocates Mis-Stating The Record

by john thompson

The best practice from academia that I miss the most is the convention where a scholar summarizes his or her own thesis, what his evidence does and does not prove, and the positions of her opponents. Had The New Teacher Project obeyed such an ethic in "The Widget Effect," it would have not misstated the record of the AFT's peer review system... If the Education Trust was duty-bound to summarize its previous claims that "its being done," and that 15.6% of high-poverty schools are "high-fliers," when the better estimate is 1.1% of those schools, then readers would be better equipped to evaluate the Trust’s equally simplistic attacks on collective bargaining

Events: Fritz Has Bills, Hearings, Jobs, & More

by Alexander Russo

Fritz's table of contents -- lots of new and useful stuff there for the busy education professional (or whatever you call yourself): 8 New -- Legislative Activity: floor and committee action; bills and resolutions introduced 2 New -- Hearings, Meetings, Webinars, Etc: May 18, 19 4 New -- Other Information of Interest and Importance: School Choice book by Paul Hill; NCES report on school choice data; National Comprehensive Center on Teacher Quality; Dash+ voting; 3 New -- Newest Job Openings - Hamilton County Principal Leadership Academy; Public Education Network; Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington; 25 Other Jobs Opportunities -- Previously Posted and Still Open 1 New -- Useful URLs for Grants, Policies and Programs -- i3 Registery information. Sign up here to join the list.

Quote: Journalism's Dirty Little Secret

by Alexander Russo

"The actual news of the day -- and especially in-depth reporting -- is often some of the least-read content in a paper." -- Village Voice blogger Foster Kamer

The Washington Teacher Open Letter To AFT President Randi Weingarten From WTU Executive Board Members

The Washington Teacher

Open Letter To AFT President Randi Weingarten From WTU Executive Board Members

This open letter below was sent to me by Washington Teachers' Union Executive Board members, Willie Brewer, Agnes Dyson and Sheila Gill who were wrongfully terminated in what many believe was a manufactured reduction in force created by the Rhee administration. Their email is addressed to American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President, Randi Weingarten requesting that our national union order that all 265 wrongfully terminated union members be reinstated their full membership rights pursuant to AFT's Constitution. - Candi Peterson, blogger in residence

May 13, 2010

Dear President Randi Weingarten,

As you well know, we are elected WTU Executive Board members who were laid off October 2, 2009. We have been denied our right to complete our elected term of office and right to continue our membership by WTU President George Parker. As a result, 265 other WTU members have been damaged by the loss of health insurance and other membership benefits directly attributable to these actions. Upon attempting to maintain those benefits, we were provided misinformation including a WTU parliamentary opinion thereby robbing us of our rights as a WTU, AFT, and AFL-CIO members. At no time were we advised of AFT’s constitution addressing the laid off member policy by the aforementioned or AFT personnel. AFT Constitution & Bylaws, art. III - Membership, §6, cl. C.

After our own research yielded the above, President Parker undertook obstreperous actions to disallow WTU Executive Board members consideration of our concerns. Constitutionally mandated Union meetings-executive board, delegate assembly and

Firing won't be on Houston teacher's record | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Texas law on charter schools has big loophole

By ERICKA MELLON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

May 12, 2010, 9:03PM

A Harris County charter school teacher caught on video beating up a student last month could face criminal charges, but she will not lose her teaching certificate.

That's because Sheri Lynn Davis, 40, doesn't have one.

As a science teacher at a charter school, she didn't need to be certified. Texas law requires charter schools to hire certified teachers only in the areas of bilingual and special education.

The state's charter school law is designed to give the campuses more freedom in hiring, but Davis' case illustrates a little-discussed loophole: If teachers aren't certified by the state, then the state has no power to sanction them. Their records are clean if they apply for other teaching jobs. In fact, they don't have a record at all with the State Board for Educator Certification.

Any punishment would have to come through the court system, said Debbie Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating allegations against Davis, who was fired this week from Jamie's House Charter School in north Harris County. A cell phone video, shot by a student, shows the teacher dragging a 13-year-old boy across the floor, apparently kicking him in the back, slapping his face and slamming his head against a classroom wall.

Davis has not made any public comments.

Jamie's House Charter School did not respond Wednesday to questions about Davis' qualifications but said she had worked there for three years without any complaints. Her 10-month salary was $32,000.

‘Got to be a way'

State Rep. Rob Eissler, who chairs the House Public Education Committee, said he will ask his colleagues to study whether there's a way to ensure that non-certified teachers who get in trouble can't hide in the system.

“There's got to be a way to prevent that,” he said.

The Republican from The Woodlands noted that a 2007 state law requires all Texas public schools, including charters, to fingerprint and conduct national criminal background checks on all teaching applicants. If a noncertified teacher were charged with a crime, the school should be alerted through the check.

State Rep. Scott Hochberg, a Houston Democrat, suggested another solution: Require charter schools to hire certified teachers, just like traditional public schools.

“There are so many avenues available to become certified that I don't think we should be allowing noncertified teachers to teach,” he said.

High school diploma

To get certified in Texas, a candidate must have a bachelor's degree, complete an educator preparation program (through a

Art of protest - News - Local Stories - May 13, 2010 - Sacramento News & Review

Art of protest

Four local artist/activists launch the Decimation of the Public Education System art show

By Seth Sandronsky
More stories by this author...

This article was published on 05.13.10.

Artist Amy Hines (left) stands with Deena Karagaines (right) and her daughter Eleni in front of Karagaines’ photos of a local elementary school that is scheduled for closure next month.

PHOTO BY SHOKA

To get involved in the Decimation of the Public Education System art exhibition, call (916) 508-6951 or e-mail yamshines@gmail.com.

On Friday, May 14, at 8 p.m., the art exhibition will serve as a backdrop to a global music deejay set at the Sol Collective in Midtown Sacramento.

Amy Hines’ canvases for Sol Collective’s new art show feature illustrations of children, literally painted over a school district’s budget. “Artists have historically been the conscience of society,” said Hines about her newly created work. “Now is our time to be that conscience for California’s budgetary priorities.”
Hines’ creation is part of the Decimation of the Public Education System art show that opened at the Sacramento art center on Mother’s Day to raise awareness about state government budget cuts to public schools. Four local women, Cathy Hackett, Deena Karagaines, Hines and Jenny Berg organized the artist/activist exhibition.
Indeed, the situation is grim for the state’s public schools.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell reports that 22,000 classroom teachers and support staff throughout the state have received layoff notices due to budget cuts in 2010. These notices came after more than 16,000 teachers lost their jobs last year. Further, about 10,000 classified schoolworkers were laid off in the past few budget years.
Back at the Sol Collective, the 22 pieces of art, framed and mounted, spoke of local people’s lives at public schools.
Deena Karagaines is an artist and mother of an infant and toddler. Her black-and-white and color photos show scenes at Garfield Elementary School in Carmichael. “What struck me was that this is a great elementary school, full of life, with children playing,” she said. However, Garfield, in the San Juan Unified School District, is slated for closure next month.
Hackett created “Save Publication Education,” made of acrylic, ink tissue paper and watercolor. “I believe working people should protest so our voice is heard,” she said.
Berg’s medium is newsprint and pencils for her “Barriers.” According to Berg, “Children need opportunities and resources that will allow them to flourish and grow.”

“Evil Money Grubbing Robot Seeking to Destroy Public School” was offered by an anonymous high-school student for use in the Sol Collective art show.

PHOTO BY SHOKA

Kenya Michelle, a student at the Regency Park Elementary School in Sacramento, agrees. Her “Help Us Grow Our Public Education System; Help Us Continue to Grow” features oil pastel on poster board. Emma Thompson, a student at the Chavez Elementary School in Davis, titled her art in marker on poster board: “Even If the State’s Funding Is Having a Rainy Day, My School Should Be the Rainbow.”

Grim bookends: Schwarzenegger goes out battling deficits, much as he arrived - San Jose Mercury News

Grim bookends: Schwarzenegger goes out battling deficits, much as he arrived

By Denis C. Theriault

dtheriault@mercurynews.com

Posted: 05/13/2010 07:10:04 PM PDT

Updated: 05/13/2010 10:28:26 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

FILE -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's final budget fight dawns today, when he releases what's...

Special Section

News, resources about the California budget

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's final budget fight dawns today, when he releases what's widely expected to be a dire update of the already-dire spending plan he released in January.

It will be the most agonizing battle yet for a former movie hero who vowed seven years ago to forever fix California's finances.

What had been worst-case proposals — such as the elimination of programs serving millions of needy Californians — will probably now be part of the plan's bedrock, administration sources say. Expected on the chopping block: health insurance for low-income children, in-home care for the elderly and disabled, and CalWORKs, the state welfare program.

Because of weak tax revenue, Schwarzenegger could announce that the state's deficit has climbed as high as $22 billion, even after higher-than-expected collections in the first part of the year and after the Legislature whittled away $1.3 billion in a special session this winter.

The governor's latest, and last, budget proposal will form a grim bookend to the first one he produced in 2004. Then, as now, the state was beset by partisanship, debate about cuts vs. risky accounting tricks and hand-wringing over the state's credit rating.

Another summer of rancor and missed budget deadlines loom. And when it's all said and done, Schwarzenegger will leave behind for his successor the one problem that propelled him into office above all others.

For

supporters of the governor, the blame lies with Sacramento itself and what they call its resistance to change. They also note that California, like the rest of the nation, is still suffering from the worst global downturn since the Great

Peter Dreier: In Pasadena, a Vote of Confidence for Public Schools

Peter Dreier

E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College

Posted: May 13, 2010 05:32 PM

In Pasadena, a Vote of Confidence for Public Schools

Tony Gordo, Ruth Strick, Cushon Bell, and George Brumder spent much of the last two months making phone calls several nights a week from a make-shift office on the second floor of the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, California.

Gordo was calling Spanish-speaking voters, urging them to vote "yes" on Measure CC, a $120 parcel tax for the Pasadena Unified School District. The 50-year old Gordo has worked for PUSD for 16 years, first as a teacher's aide and for the past 10 years as a painter with the district's maintenance division. He has two children at PUSD's John Muir High School and another at Pasadena Community College. His union, Teamsters Local 911, initially recruited Gordo to the CC phone bank, but he soon began showing up at the church on his own on a regular basis.

Strick, 78, is a career counselor and silversmith who has been active in Pasadena's arts community. She learned about the CC campaign from a local arts group and became one of its most effective volunteer phone-bankers. The 38-year old Bell is a teacher in the Los Angeles schools who has two children in Pasadena's public schools. She is a leader with Invest in PUSD Kids, a grassroots community group, which helped organize the CC campaign's volunteers. Brumder, 72, is a retired corporate lawyer and a well-connected and energetic philanthropist whose grown children attended private schools. He serves as president of the Pasadena Educational Foundation, which raises funds for the public schools, and chaired the CC campaign committee.

These four were among the more than 700 volunteers mobilized by the Measure CC campaign. They made phone calls, walked precincts, held house meetings, and spoke to neighborhood

A closer look at homeschooling in the state of California | CAIVN

A CLOSER LOOK AT HOMESCHOOLING IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

by Susannah Kopecky

Fri, May 14th 2010

What do most homeschooling instructors look like? Are they mothers, fathers, grandparents, or neighbors? And what is the state of homeschooling in California today?

In February 2008, the Second District California Court of Appealsruled that a homeschooling instructor must be properly credentialed in order to instruct school-age children at a home course of study. This ruling frightened many parents who had taught their children without needing to show proof of academic qualification.

Within two weeks, the California Department of Education rebuffed the ruling. In a March 11 statement from Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, O’Connell chose to “assure parents that choose to home school that California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still have the right to home school in our state.”

While encouraging all educators (at-home and in-school) to best prepare themselves to educate future leaders, O’Connell stayed firm on the idea that tighter home school regulation was off the table. “Some parents choose to send their children to private schools or to home school, and I respect that right.”

Two years later, little has changed. According to the CA

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Friday, May 14, 2010