Wednesday, July 7, 2010

AFT - A Union of Professionals - AFT Convention 2010

THE 81st CONVENTION of the American Federation of Teachers is hereby called to convene at the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), Seattle, July 8, 2010, at the hour of 9:30 a.m. and will remain in session until such time as it has given full consideration to such matters as legally may be brought before it.

RANDI WEINGARTEN, president
ANTONIA CORTESE, secretary-treasurer
LORRETTA JOHNSON, executive vice president

CONVENTION CHAIRS:

Sandra Schroeder, AFT vice president; president, AFT Washington;
Merlene Martin, AFT vice president; president, Oregon School Employees Association

AFT GIVES BACK!

Help AFT members in Seattle who work with young children by joining together for a day of community service in Seattle before the convention starts. We are also collecting supplies to help homeless students.

Work (and Play) at Tiny Tots

On Wednesday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., we'll be volunteering at the Tiny Tots Development Center in Seattle, where members of the AFT's Washington Educators in Early Learning work with young children. We'll be taking on several projects including moving and setting up classrooms; landscaping; building and roofing repairs; helping teachers as they work with the children; and leading arts and crafts time. Grab fellow delegates from your local and come lend a helping hand.

Transportation will be provided between the Washington State Convention Center and Tiny Tots. Sign up here.

Bring a New Backpack of Supplies for a Homeless Child

AFT members of the Tacoma Federation of ParaEducators, local 461, work with 1,400 homeless students and their families in the greater Seattle area. You can help support our fellow AFT members and the children they serve by providing basic supplies, including backpacks, toiletries and uniforms. Bring these items with you to Seattle and drop them off at the AFT Gives Back booth outside Hall 4ABC at the Washington State Convention Center.

More information, including a complete list of needed school supplies, can be foundhere .

Follow the AFT Convention on Twitter

Stay updated with the latest convention news by following us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/AFTconvention. We'll be posting news, photos and offering Twitter-only giveaways during the convention. Don't miss out! New to Twitter? That's ok; it's easy and fun. Check out ourTwitter 101 guide.

P.S. Got tweets? E-mail your thoughts on the upcoming AFT convention to twitter@aft.org, and we'll post some to the live Twitter feed.

The Answer Sheet - A tradeoff worth making for schools

A tradeoff worth making for schools

My guest is Scott Lilly, a senior fellow at the non-profit Center for American Progress. This piece ran on the center’s website. By Scott Lilly I am sure that Jonathan Alter’s recent column in Newsweek, “How Congress Keeps Screwing Up Education—President Obama’s school-reform programs are falling victim to the teachers’ unions,” is as funny to the lobbyists of teachers unions as it is to me. The column is in fact not about Congress, but rather about Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin), who Alter claims “is in danger of (leaving office) as a water carrier for the teachers’ unions—the man who gutted President Barack Obama’s signature program on education, Race to the Top.” As someone who worked for Rep. Obey on education issues for many of his 41 years in Congress and was present on more than one occasion when education union lobbyists were unceremoniously thrown out of his office, I can

School Tech Connect: My Way Or The Highway

My Way Or The Highway

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

When I think of the scale of the bill that the President is threatening to vetobecause Congressman Obey has properly re-directed $500m away from the Race To The Test to go toward a $10b fund to help school districts stave off the coming mass layoff wave, it sort of solidifies a feeling I've had.

The feeling is that the President has spoken on the issue of public education.

He's against it.

He knows a good school when he sees one-- his daughters have always attended wonderful NAIS schools-- and he's determined to do every conceivable thing to the public schools that the NAIS schools would

Twitter Fun Fact Of The Day

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Use the word "inconceivable" in a tweet. See if you get this in response:

Test Everything

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

The speech. This is just a piece of it:

I have been told by some people in the Obama Administration that the way to stop the narrowing of the curriculum is to test everything. In fact, the chancellor in Washington, D.C., the other day announced she plans to do exactly

Education Week: Conservative Candidates Take Aim at Federal K-12 Role

Value of Yearly Special Ed. Reviews Questioned

Six years after IDEA ushered in federal ratings of state special education programs, it’s not clear if the process is worth the effort.

Includes exclusive interactive state ratings map.

(July 7, 2010) | Comments (3)

'Mutual Consent' Teacher Placement Gains Ground

Two states and several districts join Chicago and New York City in banning the forced transfer of teachers to specified schools. (July 6, 2010) | Comments (4)

POLITICS K-12 BLOG

Edujobs or Race to Top: What's Worth More to States?

(July 7, 2010)

DIGITAL EDUCATION BLOG

Coalition Calls for Modernizing Online Privacy Act

(July 6, 2010)

'Turnaround' Test Case: Los Angeles’ Fremont High Reopens With New Staff

(July 7, 2010) | Comments (2)

Conservative Candidates Take Aim at Federal K-12 Role

As the GOP seeks to retake Congress, some hopefuls take sharp aim at the Education Department and the stimulus. (July 7, 2010)

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE BLOG

Undocumented Immigrants, Their Kids, and the Cost to Educate

(July 7, 2010)

Midland Lutheran to take in half of Dana students - Boston.com

Midland Lutheran to take in half of Dana students

By Margery A. Beck

Associated Press Writer / July 7, 2010

Text size – +

FREMONT, Neb.—Midland Lutheran College is picking up where another small, private college just 30 miles away left off when it announced its closure last week.

Midland Lutheran officials said Wednesday that the Fremont college is on track to take in nearly half of Dana College's 600-plus students and is adding four new athletic programs that will be run by former Dana coaches. Midland also is taking steps to hire some of Dana's faculty members.

Dana, which had a 126-year history in Blair, announced its closure last week, months after it announced that a group of investors had bought it and planned to convert it to a for-profit enterprise. The closure was forced after the Higher Learning Commission refused to transfer accreditation to the group of investors.

Some 275 former Dana students are expected to attend Midland in the fall,

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

Midland Lutheran to take in half of Dana students (AP, 2:29 p.m.)
NH school loses an option if forced to close (AP, 1:58 p.m.)
Conn. school coaches charged after player collapse(AP, 12:18 p.m.)
Student construction apprenticeship jobs start (AP, 11:54 a.m.)
Man arraigned in attack on Maine university campus(AP, 9:18 a.m.)

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Keeping students in school helps the economy - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Keeping students in school helps the economy

By Melody Gutierrez - Updated: 2:13 pm

Lowering the dropout rates of minority students in Sacramento would drive $223 million into the local economy through increased spending and home and car purchases, a study released Wednesday found.

Interactive Map: See the latest high school dropout data for every local school

Sacramento teen earns $36,000 grant for creating lounge

By Niesha Lofing - Published: 12:11 pm

A Sacramento teen is being honored with a $36,000 award for creating a youth-owned and operated urban lounge.

Roseville City School District grows as others in region decline

By Diana Lambert - Published: 12:00 am

Roseville City School District is different from most other districts in the region. It's growing.

Relationship Chills Between Teachers Unions, Obama : NPR

Relationship Chills Between Teachers Unions, Obama

by CLAUDIO SANCHEZ

The nation's two largest teachers unions are holding their annual conventions this week and have been saying some harsh things about the Obama administration's education agenda. Some teachers are even calling for Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign.

This seems to suggest that despite the unions' support for many of the administration’s proposals, the relationship has begun to sour. But if Duncan is worried about the angry rhetoric coming from the presidents of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, he certainly won't admit it.

"I just have huge respect for them as individuals. I know they have very challenging jobs, but they're the right leaders at the right time," Duncan says.

The feeling was not mutual among NEA delegates in New Orleans earlier this week. At their annual meeting, they called for Duncan's resignation and cast a vote of "no confidence" in the administration's school reform agenda.

For good reason, says NEA President Dennis Van Roekel: Instead of overhauling the politically unpopular No Child Left Behind law, he says, the Obama administration has not done enough to rescind the law's worst features.

"The narrowing of the curriculum, the overemphasis on tests, the labeling and punishment of [school] districts is not working and the students are losing," Van Roekel said.

So here's how Van Roekel suggests the administration can get back on the unions' good side: reward schools for raising kids' academic performance, no matter how small; stop relying on tests as a single measure of students' academic growth; and absolutely stop supporting the use of test scores to evaluate teachers or decide how much they should be paid.

For people to act right now like they feel betrayed by this president only suggests that they were not paying attention when he was speaking.

- Joe Williams, head of Democrats for Education Reform

"I think that decision is best made at the local level [and] not mandated and micromanaged at the federal level," Van Roekel says.

If the administration does not rethink its policy, says Van Roekel, it will find itself on a collision course with teachers and their unions.

And that is not entirely a bad thing, says Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education in the George W. Bush administration.

"I do think there are some political advantages in characterizing the unions as "about the status quo," and I would commend the president and the secretary for some of the stances that they've taken — they're very courageous for Democrats to take and I would not characterize them as anti-teacher. I would

NorthJersey.com: Autism New Jersey to release parents "wish list'' for kids Thursday

Autism New Jersey to release parents "wish list'' for kids Thursday

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

BY SUSAN K. LIVIO

STATE HOUSE BUREAU

TRENTON - An in-depth survey of parents raising a child with autism found families need the state to take a more active role in helping them find the right therapists, schools, job training and respite care services.

And they want Autism New Jersey, the family support organization that conducted the survey, to become a greater force at the State House to fight their cause.

Autism New Jersey is expected to distribute the report Thursday to the Legislature, members of Governor Christie’s cabinet, and local elected leaders.
"In order to make meaningful change, they told us to change Trenton,’’ said Autism New Jersey Executive D irector Linda Meyer said.
Parents in New Jersey — where the autism rate is highest in the nation — are often too consumed with looking for therapy or educational or vocational programs for their child to solve the red tape of government-funded services, Meyer said. "So often, families are very negative and frustrated and challenged by the system," she said.
"Rather than add to the chorus of much deserved criticism, Autism New Jersey

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010