Friday, December 10, 2010
At SRC meeting, praise for Ackerman, scorn for Inquirer | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/09/2010
At SRC meeting, praise for Ackerman, scorn for Inquirer
By Martha Woodall and William K. Marimow
Inquirer Staff Writers
Amid a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday, School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr. and a parade of witnesses, including business owners, educators, and legislators, praised School Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman's commitment to minority business and assailed The Inquirer's coverage of her decision to award a no-bid emergency $7.5 million contract for school safety.
"I do not believe that she steered work to any particular vendor as The Inquirer reported from unidentified sources," Archie said.
Archie also criticized The Inquirer for failing to provide the historical background of the school district's antidiscrimination policy, adopted in March 2003. And, he said, The Inquirer failed to report that the school district has set a goal that 20 percent of its contracts be awarded to firms owned by minorities and women for professional services, procurement, and design and construction work.
"There is still work to be done," Archie declared, "and I'd like to commend Dr. Ackerman for taking on this additional task . . . for implementing the SRC's
Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20101209_At_SRC_meeting__praise_for_Ackerman__scorn_for_Inquirer.html#ixzz17iJ2pDZ4
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Judging the Success of School Reforms, Part 1* | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Judging the Success of School Reforms, Part 1*
In 1906 in a town built by U.S. Steel on the shores of Lake Michigan, a new superintendent introduced an educational innovation that hundreds of school districts adopted in the next decade. Visitors traveled thousands of miles to meet Superintendent William Wirt, sit in classrooms of cheerfully decorated schools, and marvel at how children of immigrants learned during the day while their non-English speaking parents attended classes at night. Even though U.S. Steel owned the property and employees largely ran the town, the educational experiment converged with company interests in providing what observers called a productive education for both
New schools Chancellor Cathie Black was second choice for the job: report
New schools Chancellor Cathie Black was second choice for the job: report
BY ADAM LISBERG AND RACHEL MONAHAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, December 10th 2010, 4:00 AM
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Incoming schools Chancellor Cathie Black met with Obama's top education official Thursday as a report suggested she wasn't Mayor Bloomberg's first choice for the job.
Black, who met with Education Department Secretary Arne Duncan yesterday evening, was asked to take the job only after Bloomberg offered the spot to Harlem Children's Zone leaderGeoffrey Canada, according to The New York Times.
Bloomberg's surprise choice of Black as a successor to Chancellor Joel Klein has attracted criticism from parents, advocates and politicians critical of her lack of education experience.
The city had to seek a state waiver to give the job to Black, a media executive - and received it only after appointing a chief academic officer to work alongside her.
Canada, whose network of charter schools has attracted international acclaim and was
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/12/10/2010-12-10_black_gets_big_thumbs_up_from_bams_ed_secy.html#ixzz17iHaAWZR
The Answer Sheet - Valerie vs. Jay on Teach for America, KIPP, etc.
Valerie vs. Jay on Teach for America, KIPP, etc.
State agrees to monitor ban on student fees | Thoughts on Public Education
State agrees to monitor ban on student fees
Parents charged fees can seek reimbursementPosted on 12/09/10 • Categorized as Equity issues
Strapped-for-cash school districts will no longer be able to try to balance their budgets on the backs of students through charges and fees.
The ACLU of Southern California announced a settlement Thursday with the state over a suit that attorneys had filed on behalf of families illegally billed, sometimes for hundreds of dollars, for a range of things: books, course materials, lab costs, lockers, musical instruments, sports fees, uniforms. The encompassing agreement calls on the state to monitor school distircts for violations, create a complaint system to reimburse families for improper charges, and post notices of new state regulations in schools. The annual district
Rise & Shine: City gave little warning for JFK HS closure meeting | GothamSchools
Rise & Shine: City gave little warning for JFK HS closure meeting
- With just two days’ notice, few parents attended a meeting about JFK HS’s closure. (Riverdale Press)
- The state named 21 more city schools that must be revamped. (GothamSchools, NY1, Post, Daily News)
- The city will spearhead development of a toughened high school equivalency exam. (NY1)
- The state might ask districts to pay $6 per student for Regents exams. (Daily News)
- Students rioted at Murry Bergtaum HS after the principal closed bathrooms. (GothamSchools, NY1)
- A Bronx middle school teacher miscarried after breaking up a fight. (Times, Post, Daily News, NY1)
- Harlem Children’s Zone CEO Geoffrey Canada is said to have turned down the chancellorship. (Times)
- Education Secretary Arne Duncan met with and endorsed Cathie Black. (NY1, Post, Daily News)
- IN-Tech Academy in the Bronx is the subject of multiple mystery investigations. (Riverdale Press)
- Nationwide, about 150 schools have replaced half their staffs to get federal aid. (Washington Post)
- The mayor of Los Angeles is stepping up his attacks on the city’s teachers union. (L.A. Times)
- Pressure-cooker communities are digging the anti-stress film “Race to Nowhere.” (Times)
Queens Teacher: Teachers College Not for ELLs & Struggling Students
Teachers College Not for ELLs & Struggling Students
Anonymous said...
It's the day after Thanksgiving and I had a wakeful night thinking about the strugglers in my first grade class. I should give it a rest for the weekend, but the stakes are too high...
I teach in a Title One school in Brooklyn, NY with a high Special Ed and ELL population. My frustration with TC is that its methods don't adequately address the needs of kids who are coming in with low household literacy, are learning English, and have limited background knowledge. TC's non-content approach leaves many of these
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Schools Matter: More of That Obama Flighting Spirit, This Time on Environmental Issues
More of That Obama Flighting Spirit, This Time on Environmental Issues
From the NYTimes:
The Obama administration is retreating on long-delayed environmental regulations — new rules governing smog and toxic emissions from industrial boilers — as it adjusts to a changed political dynamic in Washington with a more muscular Republican opposition.
The move to delay the rules, announced this week by the Environmental Protection Agency, will leave in place policies set by President George W. Bush. President Obama ran for office promising tougher standards, and the new rules were set to take effect over the next several weeks.
Now, the agency says, it needs until July 2011 to further analyze scientific and health studies of
Call to Europe, from Rome to London: this is just the beginning! « occupy california
Call to Europe, from to Rome to London: this is just the beginning!
By *The determination of thousand of students in London, the rage of who assault the Italian Senate house against the austerity and the education cuts, has opened the present time: this is because the future is something to gain that start when you decide collectively to take risk and to struggle.
The extraordinary struggles that we are living have the capacity to show a present with an intensity that exceed the linearity of the time, that refuse our precarity condition: it is an assault to the