Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Federal jobs bill averts needs for cuts | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Federal jobs bill averts needs for cuts

by Paul Socolar on Sep 15 2010 Posted in Eye on the budget

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The District's budget is still balanced despiterecent state funding cutbacks, Chief Financial Officer Michael Masch told the SRC Wednesday - mostly thanks to the August adoption of a federal education jobs bill that will send $98 million to Philadelphia.

The $10 billion federal bill provides money "for one purpose and one purpose only - to create or retain education jobs," Masch explained. The funds can be expended between now and September 2012.

Masch said he expected to use half of the money - $49 million - to bring the budget into balance for the current school year and the other half next year. This is enough funding each year to protect more than 500 teacher jobs, he said.

Back to school in the GothamSchools community section | GothamSchools

Back to school in the GothamSchools community section

by Philissa Cramer

Returning to the classroom isn’t just a source of anticipation and stress for teachers. It’s also a source for blog fodder.

The GothamSchools community section has been abuzz since last week with back-to-school thoughts from contributors old and new. Read Ruben Brosbe on the little-known phenomenon of teacher backsliding; Lizzie Hetzer on the mixed emotions brought on by moving to a more teacher-friendly school; Dana Lawit on the symbolism of fresh pencils; and Stephen Lazar on his hopes and fears for the new year.

The section’s newest author is actually a former city teacher. Collin Lawrence just left the city after four years at a small high school in Brooklyn, which he is calling the Brooklyn Arts Academy. In his first post, “Back to Civilian Life,” Lawrence outlined his project:

I have decided to chronicle the tumultuous four-year saga that marked my tenure at the Brooklyn

11th Annual Historically Black College Recruitment Fair�-�U Can Go To College - UCAN

11TH ANNUAL HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE RECRUITMENT FAIR

Contact: Karen Compton Phone: (916) 921-UCAN (8226) ucan@kcimedia.com

The United College Action Network (U-CAN), of Sacramento, California Nehemiah Corporation of America and New Faze Development in partnership with Elk Grove Unified School District, Sacramento City Unified School District, Twin Rivers Unified District, Oakland Unified School District, Stockton Unified School District, a consortium of education partners in, Solano county, and local community organizations wishes to announce the upcoming Tenth Annual Black College Recruitment Fair.

U-CAN President Alan H. Rowe states, “Last years regional event drew more than 15,000 students and parents from Sacramento and surrounding counties, and was an overwhelming success with many students receiving on the spot admissions and scholarship offers.”

Event coordinators anticipate this year's attendance will once again also draw thousands. Representatives from more than thirty of the countries leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

United College Action Network (U-CAN!)

will be recruiting college bound students on-site during the weeklong event. The College Fair locations are scheduled on Monday evening, September 13, 2010 at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield, Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at Laney College in Oakland Thursday, September 16, 2010 at Sacramento City College in Sacramento California, Friday, September 17, 2010 at Foothill High School in Sacramento, and Saturday, September 18, 2010 at Valley High School in Sacramento, California within the Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove.

Interested high school and college students will have the opportunity to receive preliminary "on-the-spot" admissions, scholarships, financial aid information and face-to-face exposure with many of the most respected historically black institutions of higher learning within the United States. A partial list of participating colleges includes: Alabama State University, Dillard University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University, Morgan State University, South Carolina State University, Spelman College, Tuskegee University and Xavier University of Louisiana, among many other colleges and universities. Each college fair event is free and open to the public and all students.

Students who wish to apply and qualify for "on-the-spot" admissions and scholarships should bring an official transcript, if available, and a copy of their ACT/SAT test scores, if taken, for each college application they plan to complete. All high school and community college students and their parents will not want to miss this annual college planning event and opportunity. This event is open to all students. For more information visit us on the web at www.ucangotocollege.com or contact us at (916) 921-UCAN (8226) ucan@kcimedia.com

Dr. Jill Biden Announces Date of First-Ever White House Summit on Community Colleges | U.S. Department of Education

Dr. Jill Biden Announces Date of First-Ever White House Summit on Community Colleges

Summit to Address Critical Role of Community Colleges As Part of America's Economic Vision for the Future
Announcement Video Features Community College Success Stories and Invites Americans to Submit Their Feedback

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

Contact:

Public Affairs, (202) 401-1576

To View the Video:
http://blip.tv/file/4114920
PW: comcoll

Washington, D.C. — The White House announced today that Dr. Jill Biden will convene the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. President Obama asked Dr. Biden to chair this event to highlight the critical role that community colleges play in developing America's workforce and reaching our educational goals.

The summit is an opportunity to bring together community colleges, business, philanthropy, federal and state policy leaders, and students to discuss how community colleges can ensure that we have the most educated workforce in the world, so that American businesses can compete in the global economy and that we can achieve the President's goal of leading the world with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. Community colleges are the largest and fastest growing segment of America's higher education system enrolling more than eight million students each year. This administration is making historic investments in a series of new innovations and reforms to expand and strengthen opportunities at America's community colleges.

The summit will also enable Americans across the country to submit their thoughts, questions and challenges for discussion as part of the summit dialogue. The White House has set up a number of ways for the public to participate in the summit online at WhiteHouse.gov/CommunityCollege. Community college students are encouraged to submit their stories about how community college has changed their lives. Educators, administrators, students and stakeholders can also participate in an online dialogue about improving community colleges for the future.

As a lifelong educator and community college instructor for the past 17 years, Dr. Biden knows that community colleges are uniquely positioned to graduate more Americans with the skills that businesses and the economy will need to compete in the 21st century. Since coming to the White House, she has visited successful job training and completion programs as well as student support programs at community college campuses throughout the country.

"Community colleges are a key part of our economic vision for the future," said Dr. Biden. "I see firsthand the power of community colleges to change lives every single day I am in the classroom. I am proud to be part of an administration that recognizes the value of a community college education and is working to make it more accessible to students across this nation."

Today's announcement video features current community college students as well as community college graduates. To watch the video, please go to: www.whitehouse.gov/communitycollege.

Individuals highlighted in the video today include:

Alexandra de Armas, student, Miami Dade Community College
Bill E. Green, CEO of Accenture, Dean College
Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Spoon River Community College
Jim Lehrer, PBS' Newshour, Victoria Community College
Sober Brooks, student, Miami Dade Community College
Anthony Whitmore, student, Lorain County Community College

Details about media credentialing and logistics for the summit on community colleges will be released at a later date.

Michelle Rhee Drama Begins to Thicken � Larry Miller's Blog

Michelle Rhee Drama Begins to Thicken

by millerlf

2 D.C. Council members to push Gray and Rhee to compromise on contract extension

By Bill Turque

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Two D.C. Council members said Tuesday that they will press mayoral primary winner Vincent C. Gray and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to negotiate an “extended transition” that could keep her in the job until the end of the 2011-12 school year.

in the three years since her appointment by Mayor Adrian Fenty (D), fighting over spending, enrollment and laborissues. Gray has not committed to retaining her. Rhee has strongly signaled that she does not want to work for Gray, who defeated Fenty on Tuesday.

But council members Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), allies of Gray, said that a lengthy transition would be in the best interests of the city’s schoolchildren as well as of Gray and Rhee.

“I would ask the chairman and the chancellor to finish out this school year and add one more year to ens

Daley Derides Obama ‘Race to the Top’ Slogan / Chicago News Cooperative

Daley Derides Obama ‘Race to the Top’ Slogan

by IDALMY CARRERA

A month after Illinois got nothing from the federal Race to the Top grant program, Mayor Richard M. Daley on Wednesday blasted the Obama administration’s $3.4 billion initiative.

As he attended the dedication of the new West Ridge Elementary School on the Far North Side, Daley complained about the federal process for selecting which states would share in Race to the Top dollars. The mayor said it was “silly” that Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman was not permitted to participate in the state’s pitch for funds before U.S. Department of Education officials in August.

The mention of the state’s Race to the Top failure inspired a classic Daley outburst: “These are just political slogans and we should end it. We should end it. It’s just political slogans. Where is the state and where are the federal government continually? You race to the top — actually, you race to the bottom. Next week we’ll race to the side. Everybody’s racing to something. Why can’t we just say, ‘Why can’t you send us money to build our

Announcing The Great August Giveaway Winner

Announcing The Great August Giveaway Winner
Family and Friend
Health and Fitness

09/15/10 | The Women's Conference | 0 Comments

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Food can be a symbol of love. It can create togetherness and warmth. In our Great August Giveaway, we asked you to tell us,

What’s your favorite memory of a meal with friends or family?

Your responses shed light on the power of food – as well as on the power we have to make simple things – like ramen or freezer-burned ice cream sandwiches -- seem like delicious meals.

Below is our winning response, as well as our three honorable mentions. The range in responses reflects the range in how we can approach food, and what food means to us.

Winner

Queen Esther

It was just another meal; actually it was the best meal of my life. Ironically, I’m not even sure I remember what I ate. Truth is this meal was what I feasted on the day I said, “No More!” No more starving myself to be thin. No more missing a meal just to fit in. No more hating the image in the mirror. No more!

Soup’n’salad, a hamburger, or spaghetti – it really doesn’t matter what I ate that day. What does matter is that I ate.

Little did I know the meal would represent my launch into years of healing and looking in the mirror and finally loving the woman looking back at me. Little did I know my experiences would be shared with thousands of little girls, teens and young adults as I conduct workshops across the nation about high self-esteem and healthy lifestyle choices. Little did I know that I would break bread with many workshop attendees while sharing both my test of once having low self-esteem and an eating disorder as well as my testimony and platform as a Quintessential Faith-Filled Fabulously-Fierce Full -Figured Female and the reigning Ms. Plus America 2010.

Honorable Mentions

This Week In Education: Media: Crowd-Funded Education Coverage

Media: Crowd-Funded Education Coverage

by Alexander Russo

I'm late in telling you about Spot.us, one of several nontraditional (ie, micro-donation) approaches to funding journalism out there right now, which has included a handful of education stories. The one that first caught my eye

AM News: Chico Leaning Towards Mayoral Run - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

AM News: Chico Leaning Towards Mayoral Run

by Alexander Russo

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President cites Chicago violence in speech Yahoo! President Obama on Tuesday cited the kind of violence seen in some Chicago neighborhoods as one of the challenges facing urban teens today... Education debate generates sparks - and even a few ideas Tribune: In a panel discussion that included the head of the Chicago Public Schools and its teachers union, sparks flew as the debate touched on hot-button issues ranging from school vouchers to teacher evaluations... In Chicago, Needy Kids Lose Teachers--Again WBEZ: Teachers are being yanked from one of's neediest high schools six weeks into the school year. It's a situation that plagues certain public schools in the first weeks of class... Longtime Daley ally Chico 'seriously leaning toward' mayor's contest Clout Street: Add City Colleges of Chicago Chairman Gery Chico to the list of potential candidates in the wake of Mayor Richard Daley's announcement that he won't run for another term...Understanding the Cycle of Violence in Austin ChicagoTalks: As gang violence and gun-related deaths continue to occur at an alarming rate in a community on the West Side of Chicago, residents are finding constructive ways to end the bloodshed that has plagued their neighborhood for years...Create our own culture of calm Defender: In light of the new school year where over 400,000 cps students returned with the perception of hope, educational advancement, safety and security, and a safe passage initiative funded through a federal grant totaling at least $30 million dollars, it still seems that some youth continue to ascribe to destructive and deadly behavior... Overall Ill. SAT Scores Drop, Essays Up Fox: Average SAT scores in Illinois are down for the class of 2010, but the essay is proving to be one bright spot... Daley Lauded As School Dedicates New Building Yahoo! As students celebrated the grand opening of the new Gary Comer College Prep school building in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Mayor Richard M. Daley told them to "remember those who reached out and believed in you." State-of-the-Art Charter School for the South Side WBEZ: Chicago's South Side has a new charter school building that rivals the most modern schools in the region.

What can the president's words of encouragement mean for students? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

What can the President's words of encouragement mean for students? Standing at the podium in front of a blue background emblazoned with the words “My Education, My Future,” President Barack Obama delivered his second back to school speech in front of 600 students at Julia R. Masterman High School. For 20 minutes ...

Candidates for guv talk school choice by Paul Jablow Joe Watkins, chairman of Students First, yesterday described the 2010 Pennsylvania gubernatorial race as the only such contest in the country in which both candidates supported school choice. Whether or not this was the case, the ...

Free Samples � The Quick and the Ed

Free Samples For-profit colleges and universities have gotten a lot of bad press lately and Kaplan University, aka the *Washington Post’*s rich benefactor, has responded by touting its “risk-free” program to allow students the opportunity to experience a real ...

States Try to Change the Rules After the Game Is Over The *Wall Street Journal *highlights a lawsuit going before a Minnesota court today that could significantly impact the way teacher pensions are looked at from a legal standpoint. Essentially, the state said it was broke, its teacher pension plan ...

ASCD Inservice: Teacher Challenges Lazy Media

Teacher Challenges Lazy Media Why are mainstream media outlets afraid of the classroom? Last school year Newsweek delivered their professional opinion on improving K-12 education, without actually consulting any K-12 education professionals. Our ASCD Annual Conference Scholars have ...

We All Begin as Scientists Speaking at the Brookings Institution this week, Brian Greene, author of the Elegant Universe and the Fabric of the Cosmos. delivered a fervent defense of science. "We all begin as scientists," he said; as children, we throw ourselves wholeheartedly ...

Gray's "Collaborative" and "Inclusive" Win :: Frederick M. Hess

Gray's "Collaborative" and "Inclusive" Win Yesterday, hours before he upended D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary, City Council Chairman Vincent Gray appeared on CNN to chat about the contest. The early signs weren't great for those worried about what Gray's win means for the...

Lessons from Fenty's Loss Last night, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty was decisively defeated in his reelection bid by City Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Fenty lost 56 to 42, a margin that pretty much reflected where the race stood last month. Gray's win throws D.C.'s...

Teachers Union Protests L.A. Times Coverage

RI education commissioner sides with students - Boston.com

RI education commissioner sides with students

September 15, 2010

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PROVIDENCE, R.I.—State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist (GIHST) has sided with students at a Providence high school who wanted a return to the school's former schedule.

Gist ruled Tuesday that the Providence School Department must maintain the original amount of time dedicated to teacher planning at Hope High School.

The school district now must restore 84 minutes of so-called common planning time at the high school.

Students had protested, saying the reduction in planning time had a negative

Fighting over Edujobs, Religion, and Health Care in the States - State EdWatch - Education Week

Fighting over Edujobs, Religion, and Health Care in the States

by Sean Cavanagh

A pair of Republican senators from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, have introduced a bill to allow the state access $830 million in education jobs aid, money that is caught in dispute that is part political, part legal.

As readers of this blog know, Congress approved a $26 million "edujobs" measure this summer to provide relief to state governments, and Texas was entitled to an $830 million cut of it.

But the measure also included a provision, backed by Texas Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett and others, that required the state to maintain school funding over the next three years in order to receive the money. Doggett's goal was to ensure that Republican Gov. Rick Perry and state lawmakers did not use the funding to simply make up for budget cuts, as the congressman says they did with earlier federal stimulus aid. Gov. Perry

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010