Fighting for Public Ed @ Netroots– Lily's Blackboard #nn11

Lily's Blackboard - – Lily's Blackboard

Fighting for Public Ed @ Netroots

Jun 17th, 2011

by LilysBlackboard.

No comments yet

Join us (from your nearest connected device) to watch Lily on the Engaging Progressives to in the Fight to Save Public Education panel at Netroots Nation which will spotlight the push to commercialize and privatize public education. How can progressives successfully challenge the powerful forces behind misguided school reform efforts? How can activists use the blogosphere to move public education policies toward a more progressive agenda?

Watch live streaming video from fstv1 at livestream.com

Child Care Cuts Would Affect Us All « MomsRising Blog

Child Care Cuts Would Affect Us All « MomsRising Blog

Child Care Cuts Would Affect Us All

by Hannah Matthews

This morning, like millions of other parents across the country, I dropped my daughter off at child care on my way to work. In choosing a licensed child care provider to care for her, I made certain assumptions about the standards that provider would be required to meet. And, probably like many other parents, I take for granted that the government plays a role in helping to ensure my daughter’s health and safety.

In the policy arena, we often refer to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) as the program that funds state child care assistance programs that help low-income families afford child care while they are working, looking for work, or in training or education programs. However, CCDBG plays a role in the lives of all families using child care, not just those who are low-income. CCDBG includes a requirement that states spend up to 4 percent of funds on initiatives to improve the quality of care. In 2009, the latest year data are available, states set aside more than $661 million for this purpose.

These quality funds reach child care settings that serve children across income levels and are the sole source of federal funding dedicated to improving the quality of child care in this country. States spend at least half of these

We Need to Take the “Sin” Out of Wisconsin | Dissident Voice

We Need to Take the “Sin” Out of Wisconsin | Dissident Voice

We Need to Take the “Sin” Out of Wisconsin

by David Macaray

Following their supreme court’s recent 4-3 ruling, Wisconsin now becomes one of only six states in the union (joining North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Texas) where it’s illegal for public employees to engage in collective bargaining—which is, arguably, the working man’s sole recourse and the life-blood of organized labor.

Despite Wisconsin having one of the finest public school systems in the United States, the virulently anti-union governor, Scott Walker, and his Republican state legislature nonetheless took it upon themselves to declare war on the teachers’ union. Eliminating collective bargaining (under the guise of “fiduciary responsibility”) was their weapon of choice.

Even with the budget problems Wisconsin was experiencing (and, in truth, compared to California’s budgetary woes, they were relatively minor), this decision didn’t make sense. It was like dropping an H-bomb on an

Reports Find Dangerous Metals in Meat and Seafood

by Martha Rosenberg

Over five years ago the Chicago Tribune reported that tuna was unequivocally contaminated with mercury. “The tuna industry has failed to adequately warn consumers about the risks of eating canned tuna, while federal regulators have been reluctant to include the fish in their mercury advisories — at times amid heavy lobbying by industry,” said the paper. Three years later, the New York Times found similar contamination in area sushi.

But rather than a safer product, clearer warnings or regulatory distance between federal officials and the industry they are supposed to oversee, tuna fish consumers have gotten nothing but more studies.

Last year Time magazine reported 100 samples of both lean red tuna and fatty tuna from 54 restaurants and 15 supermarkets in Colorado, New Jersey and New York, exceed recommended amounts of mercury.

And this year Consumer Reports says every tuna sample tested at an outside lab “contained measurable levels of mercury, ranging from 0.018 to 0.774 parts per million. The Food and Drug Administration can take legal action to pull products containing 1 ppm or more from the market. (It never has, according to an FDA

Netroots Livestream: Engaging Progressives in the Fight to Save Public Education #NN11

Education Votes

Netroots Livestream: Engaging Progressives in the Fight to Save Public Education

by treed [editor] | June 16, 2011 | Discuss 0

Share33

Tags: education, Education Funding, education policy, Eskelsen, Lily Eskelsen, livestream, Netroots, video

Time: Friday, June 17 · 11:30am – 1:00pm EDT (10:30am-12:00pm CDT)

National Education Association Vice President Lily Eskelsen joins a panel that will discuss the key underlying factors driving the so-called school reform movement, including efforts to de-professionalize teachers, open up the sector for profit-making, stratify educational opportunities and undermine unions. How can progressives successfully challenge the powerful forces behind misguided school reform efforts? How can activists use the blogosphere to move public education policies toward a more progressive agenda?

Come back to this page on Friday, June 17 to view the livestream.

ShareThis

Free education program for future teachers should be extended nationwide: Premier

Free education program for future teachers should be extended nationwide: Premier

English.news.cn 2011-06-17 21:44:17

FeedbackPrintRSS

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) presents diploma to a graduate during the commencement ceremony held for tuition-free graduates in Beijing Normal University in Beijing, capital of China, June 17, 2011. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A pilot program that offers four-year state-funded undergraduate study programs for future teachers in six of China's elite teaching universities, should be gradually extended nationwide, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday.

Wen made the remarks while attending a graduation ceremony at Beijing Normal University for representatives of the first batch of students to take advantage of the state-funded program.

Initiated in 2007, the pilot program allows six teaching universities in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai,

City may pay millions in private tuition over lack of public school spots for special needs children

City may pay millions in private tuition over lack of public school spots for special needs children

BY BEN CHAPMAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, June 17th 2011, 9:43 AM

John Roca/News

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. The Department of Education missed a June 15 deadline to find spots for thousands of kindergartners with disabilities

The city is on the hook for millions of dollars in private school tuition after failing to find seats for thousands of kindergartners with special needs, the Daily News has learned.

The Department of Education missed a June 15 deadline to find spots for thousands of kindergartners with disabilities - and now the city could be liable for their tuition in private schools, officials acknowledged.

The holdup is also causing panic for families who are still waiting to hear where their kids are going to kindergarten next year.

"We're still in limbo," said Maria Farano of Staten Island, who still doesn't know where

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/06/17/2011-06-17_city_may_have_to_pay_millions_in_private_tuition_over_lack_of_specialed_public_s.html#ixzz1PXsRRzSL

Can We Get 'Plain Writing' on Duncan's NCLB Waiver Plan? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Can We Get 'Plain Writing' on Duncan's NCLB Waiver Plan? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Can We Get 'Plain Writing' on Duncan's NCLB Waiver Plan?

by Michele McNeil

The U.S. Department of Education has launched a "plain writing" effort to make its communications more reader-friendly. It's part of a government-wide initiative to remove "jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity" from government communication, so that folks out there have a clearer idea of what the government is doing.

"Such clear communication benefits the public by making it easier to understand and apply for important benefits and services," said the department's official blog.

And so the department wants your ideas on how to make their communication more clear and less ambiguous.

Well, I have one!

How about Education Secretary Arne Duncan explains what he means by a "regulatory relief" in exchange for a "basket of reforms"? Given that the 2011-12 school year starts in about two months, there are a ton of

Schools Matter: NSBA Calls for Universal Relief from AYP, NCLB's IED

Schools Matter: NSBA Calls for Universal Relief from AYP, NCLB's IED

NSBA Calls for Universal Relief from AYP, NCLB's IED

by Jim Horn

As Bryant points out, public schools cannot wait for Gates stooge, Arne Duncan, to figure out a massive extortion plan to insert the BRT's agenda. From HuffPo:

. . . .With so many delays in Congress to introduced and pass the ESEA reauthorization, the National School Boards Association is calling on Duncan and the Department of Education for flexibility now in NCLB to allow more financial resources to be used for the critical purpose of teaching and learning.

We need the regulatory relief this summer before school starts, instead of a new bureaucratic process that the Department of Education is purposing that could take many months to create. And as we need this as a matter of policy -- not state or school district case-by-case waivers. We specifically support suspension of additional sanctions under current AYP requirements, effective for the 2011-12 school year, so that schools currently facing sanctions would remain frozen; no

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Teacher bashing 'reform' has left Central Falls High School in chaos

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Teacher bashing 'reform' has left Central Falls High School in chaos

Teacher bashing 'reform' has left Central Falls High School in chaos

by Mike Klonsky

Superindent Gallo blames teachers for her mess

Central Halls High School is Rhode Island was the opening salvo in corporate reformers' current war on public schools and on teachers. The mass firing of teachers and service staff was hailed as "courageous" by Obama/Duncan. The school and the city (the smallest and most economicaly depressed in R.I.) was thrown into

Modern School: Kids May Not Know Democracy, But They Know A Bum Deal When They See It

Modern School: Kids May Not Know Democracy, But They Know A Bum Deal When They See It

Kids May Not Know Democracy, But They Know A Bum Deal When They See It

by Michael Dunn

(Expanded version of the Letter to the Editor that I submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle this week):

In the Sunday Insight, (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/12/11), California State Supreme Court Justice Ming W. Chin expressed alarm that 75% of U.S. students lack a basic understanding of democracy. While disturbing, this is not surprising considering that reality is quite different from the idealized system we are taught in school. For example, the one person-one vote rule is violated each election, when the wealthy are able to disproportionately influence the outcome. The fairness of our legal system is called into question by the fact that affluent defendants can afford better attorneys and are more likely to be acquitted. The separation of powers is routinely undermined when Congress defers its power to declare war to the President, as they have for every war since WWII. Even when civics is well-taught, the take-home message is muddled by propaganda like “America is the freest country in the world,” repeated ad nauseam, leading many to believe we have complete and unfettered personal freedom, a delusion that can cause confusion, frustration and hostility when the Legislature or Court limits

Daily Kos: #NN11 - after the first day

Daily Kos: NN11 - after the first day

NN11 - after the first day

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

there were a LOT of parties. It wasn't necessary to spend money - there was enough free food between what AFSCME offered before the keynote sessions and at the various parties. Because most of us were in the main convention space for 3 hours, perhaps one bought one or two drinks at the VERY EXPENSIVE bars there, but at the parties that was not necessary.

By now I have caught up with many of the people I wanted to see, but not all. Saw a former student (Lee Fang) who is now a rising writer on progressive issues. Got invited to cross- post my work on education at another site. Spoke with Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America's Future. Time to chat with some old friends, with more of that scheduled for today, including I hope some private conversation with Meteor Blades.

There are still people I want to see. There are, we were told, around 2,400 of us. I think back to Vegas in 2006, when we had perhaps 1,300-1,400.

Today our hotel also is hosting the right-wing people who now seem to have a convention on the Right that follows us around. Next year we will have an exclusivity clause in the contract to limit that. There were sightings of Andrew Breitbart, and there was a happy hour with people from both groups - I saw no reason to attend that.

I decided to pack it in around midnight local time. After all, I am 65, and have not fully recovered from Monday night when I got perhaps 3 hours of sleep because I was reading all the final essay exams of my students.

Below the fold, a few general impressions so far, and to what I look forward today.

Queens Teacher: The Truth About Colocations

Queens Teacher: The Truth About Colocations

The Truth About Colocations

by Queens Teacher

Colocations are the very definition of separate and unequal.

Public schools are purposely being crappified so as to create the demand for charter schools.

Schools out

School reform? First we need parenting reform | NMPolitics.net

School reform? First we need parenting reform | NMPolitics.net

School reform? First we need parenting reform

By Emanuele Corso • 6/16/11, 8:11 am • Print

Photo by sidewalk flying/flickr.com

We are presently witnessing an historical moment of truth as one state government after another begins a budget massacre. Getting the axe first will be the softest target of them all – public education.

Aside from the obvious, immediate damage this does to public education, it shows how deep the belief in education goes in contemporary American society. The “real” social value of education to the public and to politicians these days is revealed – when budget cutting is the current issue, education gets it in the neck first. The only reasonably intelligent question that can be asked is, “Why?”

One possibility is that education is no longer as valued a part of the national belief system as it once was. Education seems to no longer be held as an investment in the future, but more of a fungible line item in a strained budget.

Why should it be this way? Here are some of the arguments being expressed:

• Has education made getting a job easier or even possible?
• Teachers are merely putting in their time to retirement.

D.C. education truce, or just hiatus? - The Washington Post

D.C. education truce, or just hiatus? - The Washington Post

D.C. education truce, or just hiatus?

By Mike DeBonis, Published: June 16

It was deja vu all over again in the John A. Wilson Building in many ways Thursday: An hours-long hearing on a D.C. schools chief, with emotional and sometimes angry testimony from residents upset over teacher firings and principal hirings and school closings.

But Michelle A. Rhee did not appear at the witness table, and things were otherwise quite a bit different: There were open seats in the council chamber. The witness list was relatively short. And every D.C. council member was in agreement: To lead the city schools, Kaya Henderson is just fine with us.

What a difference from late in the Rhee regime, when any appearance before city legislators became a forum for rhetoric and recriminations. That Henderson spent the better part of four years as Rhee’s right-hand woman — a co-architect of the policies that closed neighborhood schools, fired unprecedented numbers of teachers and laid the groundwork for other policies that contributed to Rhee’s departure last fall — barely registered with Rhee-loathing politicos, if at all.

Plenty has been said and written about Henderson — her softer touch, her scaled-back ambitions, her political savvy. But just as the chancellor has changed since eight months ago, so has the city and its politics.

For the four years between when then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) first suggested a mayoral takeover of the city schools and the day last in October when Rhee stepped aside after Fenty’s loss, the school reform debate not only dominated city politics, but also