Markos and Lily: Dreaming at Netroots Nation - Lily's Blackboard #nn11

Markos and Lily: Dreaming at Netroots Nation - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Markos and Lily: Dreaming at Netroots Nation

Jun 16th, 2011

by LilysBlackboard.

Markos and Lily at Netroots Nation

Lily sat down with Markos Moulistas founder of DailyKosand had a frank, open and compelling conversation about the Dream Act, politics, organizing and how activists and educators can make a difference in their communities and in the nation.

The Dream Act would allowundocumented students with good character to obtain conditional permanent resident status after high school graduation, and then apply for citizenship if they successfully graduate from college or join the military.

Brought here as children, the United States is the only country they call home. Even though they have the same dreams as other American children, and have

Radical Expansion of School Choice in Wisconsin Budget - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Radical Expansion of School Choice in Wisconsin Budget - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Radical Expansion of School Choice in Wisconsin Budget

Jun. 16 2011 - 4:36 pm | 93 views | 0 recommendations | 0 comments

Major changes are coming to the Wisconsin public school system, as the Wisconsin Senate prepares to pass Gov. Scott Walker’s budget and radically expand the state’s school voucher programs. What was once a program limited to Milwaukie will now be open to more and more districts. State Superintendent Tony Evers is not pleased:

Once again in the middle of the night, the majority party in the Assembly voted to expand taxpayer-funded vouchers for religious and private schools. This time the result is a hidden expansion of vouchers statewide. Wisconsin is now set to expand vouchers for private and religious schools, while making a catastrophic $1.6 billion cut in funding for public schools.

Governor Scott Walker is attempting to shore up a $3 billion budget shortfall by cutting spending on schools and local governments as well as public workers’ benefits. The governor is hoping to balance the

L.A. Unified to spend $20 million on parent centers - latimes.com

L.A. Unified to spend $20 million on parent centers - latimes.com

L.A. Unified to spend $20 million on parent centers

A historic one-room schoolhouse became the backdrop Thursday for a parent-involvement initiative that includes spending $20 million to upgrade or add parent centers across the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The unveiling is part of a pronounced effort by the last two district superintendents to reshape and increase parent involvement. Some parent leaders have questioned the sincerity or at least the competency of the outreach.

It will be up to local schools to find money in their budgets or through fundraising to staff the parent centers.

For years, the quaint, wood-frame 1876 structure -- that

Bay of Rage, Anti-cut 2 « occupy california

Bay of Rage, Anti-cut 2 « occupy california

Bay of Rage, Anti-cut 2

by *

from BayofRage:

//Where: Starts at intersection of Broadway & Telegraph, Oakland//
//When: June 17, 3:00 pm//

This is the second in a series of counterausterity marches and events we have planned for the summer, in order to begin assembling an anticapitalist force capable of combating the current age of budget cuts and economic violence. This second event is a disruption—a mobile blockade—meant to interrupt, temporarily, the business as usual which economic crisis ever more desperately imposes as the public face of private wealth. For every library and school closure, ten ATMs spring up overnight, circulating ever more swiftly the wealth, looted via predatory lending and home foreclosures. This is not news. Just as globally the US seeks to prop up brutal plutocracies and autocrats in order to maintain its grip on oil reserves and military outposts in the face of pop

House Bill Suggests Cutting School Meal Changes - Politics K-12 - Education Week

House Bill Suggests Cutting School Meal Changes - Politics K-12 - Education Week

House Bill Suggests Cutting School Meal Changes

by Alyson Klein

From guest blogger Nirvi Shah:

The U.S. House's just-passed agriculture appropriations bill whacks spending for many federal food, nutrition, and ag programs, and House members included language that could undo parts of last year's Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

In January, the USDA issued proposed changes to the composition of school meals that will cost billions to put into place over time. For that reason, groups including the American Association of School Administrators, the Council of the Great City Schools, and the National School Boards Association opposed the law.

Earlier this year, some House Republicans labeled parts of the new law "government overreach."

Although not included in the text of the bill, the spending plan is accompanied by report language, essentially a nonbinding recommendation, asking the USDA to come up with a new set of nutrition standards for meals that

warren furutani is not taking your s#*t: skirmish breaks out on california state assembly floor | angry asian man

warren furutani is not taking your s#*t: skirmish breaks out on california state assembly floor | angry asian man

warren furutani is not taking your s#*t: skirmish breaks out on california state assembly floor

Even without any kind of context, this is an awesome photo. Assemblyman Warren Furutani being restrained on the California State Assembly floor? Badass. Seriously, he looks like he wants to kick somebody's ass. And indeed, there was reportedly some kind of skirmish that went down yesterday: Skirmish breaks out on Assembly floor during budget debate.

It apparently started when Assemblyman Don Wagner of Irvine likened a portion

Daily Kos: NN11 - the first day continues

Daily Kos: NN11 - the first day continues

NN11 - the first day continues

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I arrived at the Convention Center at about 7:15, helped set up for registration, and volunteered getting people their credentials until around 9:30. This is part of the volunteering I am doing in return for the scholarship from Democracy for America, about which more in a minute.

I saw a familiar name, and asked the young lady if she were related to someone I knew. Turns out she's his daughter. I first met him in 1963 when we played soccer together in college.

Saw another familiar name, and she too turned out to be the daughter of someone I knew, albeit in this case only electronically. Finally met him when he stopped by tyhe DFA booth where I was I volunteering for an hour for the rest of my service.

There are other organizations helping with the scholarships, including for example Sojourners. The mix of those

How Do We Separate “Being Dumb” from “Being Cool?” « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

How Do We Separate “Being Dumb” from “Being Cool?” « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

How Do We Separate “Being Dumb” from “Being Cool?”

by Oldschoolteach

This morning I was sitting at the table, eating breakfast with my teenage son and his friend. We were talking, (This is why I eat meals at the table any chance I get), and the topic turned to the use of the “N” word, which led to who uses it and who doesn’t. That discussion led to my son informing me that some students in his school call him “white.” His refusal to lower himself academically makes me proud because I have tried to instill in him a sense of dignity, pride, and most of all, knowledge that being intelligent is not a crime.

As an African-American girl, I too was subjected to the same ridicule,. I will never forget using the word “prerogative” and being mocked for days. Did I

What Do Working Dads Want For Father’s Day? They Want Family-Friendly Workplace Laws and Policies « MomsRising Blog

What Do Working Dads Want For Father’s Day? According to a New Report, They Want Family-Friendly Workplace Laws and Policies « MomsRising Blog

What Do Working Dads Want For Father’s Day? According to a New Report, They Want Family-Friendly Workplace Laws and Policies

Posted June 16th, 2011 by Jared Make

“I want to be the dad who attends all the little league games and dance recitals, the dad who is there in the afternoon/evening to help with homework, the dad who sits down to dinner with his family every night. My current job does not allow for that to happen.” — media professional and father of two children, ages 2 and 5

With Father’s Day just around the corner, A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center has released a new report, Beyond the Breadwinner: Professional Dads Speak Out on Work and Family. This report clearly shows that work-family challenges are not just a women’s issue; three out of four fathers surveyed are worried that their jobs do not allow them to be the kind of dad that want to be, and more than half say it is a source of frequent stress. The report is based on a survey of approximately 250

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/what-do-working-dads-want-for-fathers-day-according-to-a-new-report-they-want-family-friendly-workplace-laws-and-policies/#ixzz1PTTQlgQ6

Another Look At Age And Labor Unions | ThinkProgress

Another Look At Age And Labor Unions | ThinkProgress

Another Look At Age And Labor Unions

By Matthew Yglesias on Jun 16, 2011 at 1:44 pm

Matt Di Carlo has an even clearer demonstration of the strong relationship between being old and being skeptical of labor unions, this time using General Social Survey data:

The available data doesn’t really let us know if this is an aging effect or a cohort effect, but my speculation is that it’s a cohort effect if only because seniority-oriented pay schemes

Rep. Clarke Delivers Emotional Speech At Prison Radicalization Hearing

Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI) Delivers Emotional Speech At Prison Radicalization Hearing

Netroots Nation: Jane Hamsher and Lt. Dan Choi on LGBT Activism in the Obama Era | Firedoglake #NN11

Netroots Nation: Jane Hamsher and Lt. Dan Choi on LGBT Activism in the Obama Era | Firedoglake

Netroots Nation: Jane Hamsher and Lt. Dan Choi on LGBT Activism in the Obama Era

by Brian Sonenstein

FDL founder Jane Hamsher is at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis today and will be joining a panel with “Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell” activist Lt. Dan Choi and others titled, “What to Do When the President is Just Not That Into You.”

The panel begins at 3:00PM Central, and you can watch a live-stream of the discussion by clicking “Play” in the video window above.

You can read more about the panel and its participants here.

Choi recently had these kind words to share about Firedoglake and our new Membership Program. Watch his

top 10 charter schools in California.

USC Center on Educational Governance - Rossier School of Education

2011 USC School Performance Dashboard

A report from the Center on Educational Governance, University of Southern California. New this year is a listing of the top 10 charter schools in California.

Is College Worth It? - Dana Goldstein

Is College Worth It? - Dana Goldstein

Is College Worth It?

by Dana Goldstein

My contribution to the debate is a new feature story in The Nation, which reports on several innovative, high school-level vocational education programs, and asks why the Obama administration's reform agenda has directed so little money toward linking young people to the world of work.

I also explore the newest thinking on how to bridge the gap between the vocational track and the academic track:

...some progressive education reformers have attempted to move beyond the old emotional debates about tracking and expectations, and are sounding the call for a more intellectual version of “career and technical education,” or CTE, one that infuses traditional vocational training with the academic rigor and ethic of college prep. “You can teach any given subject at multiple levels,” says Samuel Lucas, a University of California, Berkeley, sociologist and author of Tracking Inequality: Stratification and Mobility in American

U.S. Education Spending and Performance vs. The World [INFOGRAPHIC]

U.S. Education Spending and Performance vs. The World [INFOGRAPHIC]

.

Presentation to Department of Ed public meeting on assessment « Parents Across America

Presentation to Department of Ed public meeting on assessment « Parents Across America

Presentation to Department of Ed public meeting on assessment

by pureparents

The June 10 USDE “Automated Scoring of Summative Assessments” public meeting in Chicago was eerily like a Pentagon briefing for vendors on the latest weapons technology.

USDE’s Ann Whelan, who chaired the meeting, actually wrapped up the day by saying, “We need to be bold and move the industry forward.” I wondered if we should all salute as she walked out.

The meeting was about creating computer-based and computer-scored assessments, a topic that seemed to be over the heads of many attendees (including me) but most seemed ready and willing (though not exactly able) to do whatever it takes to maintain their lucrative testing contracts.

The questions about using artificial intelligence (AI) to score tests raised many questions and evoked several assertions that multiple choice tests have “gotten a bad rap” and are still a “very good way” to test a lot of things: “Nothing is as valid or reliable as multiple

“The Truth About the Economy” in Just Over Two Minutes | Edwize

“The Truth About the Economy” in Just Over Two Minutes | Edwize

“The Truth About the Economy” in Just Over Two Minutes

by W.J. Levay

From MoveOn.org, Robert Reich connects the dots for the short-attention-span crowd.

New Study Says Freedom & Autonomy More Important Than Money (& Classroom Incentives?) | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

New Study Says Freedom & Autonomy More Important Than Money (& Classroom Incentives?) | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

New Study Says Freedom & Autonomy More Important Than Money (& Classroom Incentives?)

by Larry Ferlazzo

A meta-analysis of data from 63 countries has just been published by the American Psychological Association concluding that “freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people’s well-being than money.”

This is no surprise to readers of William Glasser and Daniel Pink, but it can’t hurt to have a little more evidence.

It seems to reinforce the idea that we might be better off in the classroom spending more time emphasizing

NYC schools recognized as among nation’s healthiest | GothamSchools

NYC schools recognized as among nation’s healthiest | GothamSchools

NYC schools recognized as among nation’s healthiest

by Geoffrey Decker

Los Angeles is getting national media attention for its district-wide flavored milk ban today, but one Queens school implemented that policy months ago.

The Active Learning Elementary School (P.S. 244Q), or TALE, which was founded in 2008 on a core mission of encouraging healthy living, removed chocolate milk from its menu this winter, after its hyper-conscious kindergartners pointed out red flags contained on its nutritional labels that they learned about in their academic curriculum.

“Our students’ levels of awareness regarding healthy living are so high, that students regularly stop us to point out ingredients listed in their foods’ labels that they regard as unhealthy,” said principal and founder Ivan Tolentino, a former physical education teacher.

It was this kind of initiative that earned TALE and three other health-conscious New York City schools an official recognition from President Bill Clinton this week as one of the healthiest schools in the country.

Each school “distinguished itself with healthy eating and physical activity programs and policies that meet or

Education Research Report: The Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD

Education Research Report: The Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD

The Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD is an in-depth study conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Designed as a tool to highlight what is and is not working in LA schools, the report compares LAUSD’s policies with both surrounding districts and similar districts around the nation. The report also identifies local and state legislative reforms that would facilitate district efforts to attract and retain highly effective teachers. This report follows other NCTQ district spotlights:

Kansas City, Missouri School District (January 2011)

Baltimore City Public Schools, MD (June 2010)

Boston Public Schools, MA (February 2010)

Seattle Public Schools, WA (October 2009)

Hartford Public Schools, CT (May 2009)

With just over half of the 680,000 students graduating on time in LAUSD, the country’s second biggest school district, systemic change is required in order to make way for effective teachers and overall student achievement.

Give Students Who Want To Leave Failing Schools Better Options?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Ten years ago, the No Child Left Behind Act passed the Congress with broad bipartisan support, but elements of NCLB are now broadly criticized by members of both major political parties. Among the most disappointing features is the poorly conceived and underutilized “transfer” provision, which enables students in “failing” Title I schools to choose to attend another school within their district. Less than 2 percent of students avail themselves of this right to transfer, which has led to suggestions that the provision be scrapped.

In a newly released Century Foundation study, “Can NCLB Choice Work?” Meredith P. Richards, Kori J. Stroub, and Jennifer Jellison Holme of the University of Texas at Austin suggest that, rather than jettisoning the transfer provisions, students in schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress should be given the ability to transfer to higher-performing schools outside of their district. The report draws on sophisticated research models that show both the feasibility and benefit of instituting programs like this across the country.

The report, which draws upon data from forty-five states, finds: