Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 1-10-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2



Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE


Levy's seminar

My brother Fred's blog carries a post which included a self-revealing letter from former N.Y.C. Chancellor Harold Levy for his upcoming private seminar for investors on making money on education. Levy has since become a Wall Street lawyer who now works for Palm Ventures in Greenwich, Conn. He's one of the high rollers in corporate school reform. He's alsochairing The Capital Roundtable’s ENCORE full-day conference – Private Equity Investing In For-Profit Education Companies,

Here's some back-story to Fred's post.

It was Levy, in a NYT piece back in 2009, while working for Citigroup, who offered us his "5 ways to fix schools."  At that time, I wrote,
Levy, who obviously hadn't yet discovered the 5 ways while he was still in power, now wants to make it "mandatory" that all kids go to college for a year. I suppose he hopes that will keep them out of the job market and off the unemployment line for a while longer and hopes that the feds will pick up the cost of tuition ($8,000 average for state colleges and $25,000 for private). As for those kids who want to take a year off after high school, to work or travel? I suppose we could arrest their parents. How will this "fix" schools? Maybe Levy will tell us later.
Levy helped funnel $500K of DFER money to Shapton.
I also pointed out in the same post that,

Taft classroom shooting stuns students, parents

A classroom shooting at Taft Union High School southwest of Bakersfield that left a 16-year-old boy in critical condition stunned parents and students.
Some  compared the incident to the Newtown, Conn., shooting, and so did various public officials who hastened to issue condemnations. In a statement denouncing the gun violence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said her father had attended the school.

Angela Hayden, whose 16-year-old daughter attends Taft High, said the suspected shooter allegedly threatened 

Garcia leads in fundraising for L.A. school board



The early money leader in the race for seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education is school board president Monica Garcia. Financial data released Thursday show that Garcia raised $174,288 last year, far outdistancing the combined total of four challengers vying to unseat her. Garcia represents District 2, which stretches out from the city’s central core.
Three of the seven board seats will be on the ballot in the March primary election. Much is at stake in the 



Taft classroom shooting: Teen opened fire with 12-gauge shotgun


A 16-year-old boy was in critical condition after a classmate interrupted a first-period class at Taft Union High School southwest of Bakersfield, confronted him by name and fired a round from a 12-gauge shotgun into his upper body, authorities said.
The shooter, also 16, then tried to shoot a second boy and missed before an unarmed science teacher was able to talk him down, apparently taking his weapon as the other students fled from the classroom through the door.
Police officers arrived after the teacher had disarmed the shooter, and took him into custody. They seized his 

Oregon ranked No. 43 for education policies and results

Education Week finds that Oregon fourth-graders showed the least improvement in math from 2003 to 2011 of students in any state; reading gains were small, too

Massive flu outbreak claims lives of 18 children

The United States was in the grip Thursday of a deadly influenza outbreak that has hit harder and earlier than in previous years, and has claimed the lives of at least 18 children. “It looks like the worst year we had since 2003-2004,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National...

1. 20 Tips for Creating a Professional Learning Network

Added by Tess Pajaron on January 4, 2013


First amendment issues in the contentious #edreform debates #highered

I’m watching another Piers Morgan gun debate on CNN. I was reminded of this: Moreover, James Tracy asserts in radio ...
Continue reading

Report Explores Differences Among States that Affect College Funding

David Weerts
David WeertsWhen it comes to securing stronger investments in higher education at the state level, it pays to understand how funding decisions get influenced by a complex set of political, economic and cultural dynamics that are unique to a given state.
That is the crux of a new report released recently by Demos, a New York-based national policy and research organization that focuses on increasing opportunity and social mobility.
The report, titled College Funding in Context: Understanding the Difference in Higher Education Appropriations 



First amendment issues in the contentious #edreform debates #highered

I’m watching another Piers Morgan gun debate on CNN. I was reminded of this: Moreover, James Tracy asserts in radio ...
Continue reading


” Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for Youth Success”

Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for Youth Success is a new report from The Harvard Family Research Project.
Here’s how they describe it:
There is strong evidence that, when schools partner with families and community-based organizations, these partnerships for learning improve children’s development and school success. They provide a seamless web of 


Interesting & Useful Perspective On Parents & Community

Alexander Russo shared this video on his blog. No matter what your position is on Bill Ayers and his work, he does make some interesting comments on parents and the community in this short video.
You might also want to check out The Best Reasons Why Parents Should Be Looked At As Allies & Not Targets Of Blame.


GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR 2013-2014

“Under this budget, K‑12 school districts will see an increase in funds. School districts serving those students who have the greatest challenges will receive more generous increases — so that all students in California have the opportunity to succeed. This budget also focuses more responsibility and accountability on those who are closest to our students.” From the Governor’s


National Louis University Students Use Trip to Mexico For Teaching Preparation

Ten National Louis University undergraduate elementary education students recently traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico to observe teachers, share ideas with their counterparts at two teacher-training universities, and immerse themselves in the country’s culture. The trip was part of the Chicago Teacher Partnership Program (CTPP) grant, which was awarded to a group of select Chicago universities, including National Louis, to prepare teachers in high-need Chicago public elementary schools. Many students in the high-need Chicago public schools come from Mexico or have parents who immigrated, and they face challenges of culture and language. The ultimate 


Latin America News:  Guatemalan Students Riot, Protesting Educational Reform

A group of students from the state University of San Carlos set fire to a public bus Monday in protest against the educational overhaul approved by the Guatemalan government and set to take effect in the coming days. No one was hurt in the incident. A police spokesperson told reporters that a group of “supposed university students, who covered their faces with ski masks, hijacked a bus and set it on fire” outside the San Marcos campus. After 


University of Puerto Rico Students Demand Elimination of $800 Annual Fee

Students at the state-run University of Puerto Rico on Thursday demanded that Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla eliminate the $800 annual fee imposed last year on top of the standard tuition of $49 per credit hour. Members of the University Student Confederation issued a communique calling for the elimination of the fee that last year sparked one of the longest students strikes UPR had ever experienced. According to the leader of the student 


Report: Future High Schools Will Have Smaller Graduating Classes, More Diversity

The 8th edition of Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates, released today by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), indicates that the population of U.S. high school graduates is entering a period of modest decline after nearly two decades of sustained growth. In addition, the pool of future college students is rapidly growing more racially and ethnically diverse, putting pressure on policymakers and practitioners to address educational attainment gaps among many traditionally underrepresented populations. Increasing the share of young people who enroll in and complete a postsecondary 


Taft students say gunman had a hit list and was bullied

The teen who injured at least two people with a shotgun at a high school in Taft, California was previously kicked out of school for having a “hit list,” students and parents said. “He had a hit list of who he wanted to kill and I guess last year he wasn’t in school, he got...


30th Anniversary of Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act

30th Anniversary of Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection ActNext week marks the 30th anniversary of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
This landmark legislation provides employment-related protections to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers and is administered and enforced by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. The law requires that, among other things, every non-exempt farm labor contractor, agricultural employer, and agricultural association must disclose the terms and conditions of employment to each migrant worker in writing at the time of recruitment and to each seasonal worker when employment is offered, in writing if requested.

The law also says each worker must be paid the wages owed when due and