stumblEDucation

Less affordable colleges may get 'F,' land on Wall of Shame - USATODAY.com

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:33:08 -0400

Less affordable colleges may get 'F,' land on Wall of Shame - USATODAY.com:

Interesting take on calling out colleges with out of control costs. Not sure what impact it’ll have though.

Colleges beware: One more tuition hike and your name might just end up on a new federal Wall of Shame.
The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, signed Aug. 14 by President Bush, will require the Department of Education to post online the colleges and universities with the highest percentage increases in tuition and fees in a three-year period. It also calls for the department to list the 5% of colleges with the highest overall sticker prices.

AP: Akron eyes sewage system deal for scholarships

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:07:00 -0400

AP: Akron eyes sewage system deal for scholarships:

My hometown mayor is getting creative in an attempt to get local kids to stay and attend the University of Akron:

Mayor Don Plusquellic has proposed leasing the city-owned sewage system to a private contractor for up to $200 million and using the money to finance college scholarships for Akron’s public high school graduates.
It’s a novel idea, but the 100 city workers who run the sewage system oppose the plan and have forced the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot. Opponents, which include some community groups, fear privatizing public assets.

… (Plusquellic) said money for the scholarships would help students attend the University of Akron or a trade school in the city, and turning over the system to a contractor would include rate caps and service guarantees.

Plusquellic said the plan would address brain drain — a migration of talented students out of the city. About 18.6 percent of Akron residents are college graduates, compared with 27 percent nationwide, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates for 2006.

Texas school district letting teachers carry guns

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:31:09 -0400

Texas school district letting teachers carry guns:

Wow. Or perhaps why? That’s all I can say.

A tiny Texas district will allow teachers and staff members to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings when classes begin this month, provided the gun-toting employees follow certain requirements.

The small community of Harrold in north Texas is a 30-minute drive from the Wilbarger County Sheriff’s Office, leaving students and teachers without protection, said David Thweatt, superintendent of the Harrold Independent School District. The lone campus of the 110-student district sits near a heavily traveled highway, which could make it a target, he argued.

I’m proud to never have stepped foot in the great state of Texas.

Beat Blogging: Blog readers lead to A1 story for Dallas Morning News

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:53:00 -0400

Beat Blogging: Blog readers lead to A1 story for Dallas Morning News:

A reader’s tip about a new, lax grading policy led to a blog post that led to outrage among the Dallas teachers in the blog’s comments. That outrage led to a great A1 story about this:

Dallas public school students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty, under new rules that have angered many teachers.

Read the story: DISD plan to ease grading standards angers teachers

SF Asst. Principal Arrested For Pimping - News Story - KTVU San Francisco

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:30:26 -0400

SF Asst. Principal Arrested For Pimping - News Story - KTVU San Francisco:

Now, that’s an interesting side career for a school principa:

SAN JOSE – The assistant principal of a San Francisco high school has been arrested on pimping charges.

San Jose police say they arrested Gerald Courtney, the assistant principal at Galileo High School, and his accomplice Hsiu Hwa Chou for allegedly running two brothels in San Jose. Both are charged with felony pimping and pandering.

…

No minors, students or other school officials were involved in the prostitution ring, according to police.

Call for Chicago students to skip 1st school day - USATODAY.com

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:01:45 -0400

Call for Chicago students to skip 1st school day - USATODAY.com: CHICAGO (AP) — Community leaders on Monday called on students from poorer parts of Chicago to protest inequalities in school funding by skipping the first day of classes.

“Today we are back to two-tiered schools — white and affluent on one side, and black, brown and poor on the other,” said Meeks, who also is a minister on the city’s South Side. “That’s an injustice and it’s immoral.”

Study: IPS graduates just 19 percent of black males (Indianapolis Star)

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:00:26 -0400

Study: IPS graduates just 19 percent of black males (Indianapolis Star):

“INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A study shows Indianapolis Public Schools have the lowest graduation rate for black male students among 63 urban districts nationwide.

School leaders say they’re working to turn around the statistics. In the 2005-06 school year, just 19 percent of black males and 19 percent of while males graduated from IPS, according to the rankings compiled by the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

IPS has introduced dropout prevention programs and has worked to ease the transition into high school.”

(BTW: This links to the Indy Star’s original story, but I used the lede on the AP version just to get the news quicker.)

Cleaner Classrooms Mean Fewer Sick Kids - New York Times Blog

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0400

Cleaner Classrooms Mean Fewer Sick Kids - New York Times Blog:

In some classrooms, teachers used disinfecting wipes on student desks, and students used hand sanitizers in the classroom before and after lunch. In other classrooms, students and teachers followed usual hand-washing and cleaning procedures but weren’t given specific products or instruction.
Over eight weeks, researchers tracked the frequency of absences and the reasons for missing school. Study investigators also tested several classroom surfaces for bacteria and common viruses.

The absenteeism rates for gastrointestinal illnesses were 9 percent lower in the extra-clean classrooms. However, the absenteeism rate for respiratory ailments was not affected by the intervention.

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized,” said guidance counselor Lori..."

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:14:54 -0400

““They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized,” said guidance counselor Lori Tauber. “That’s how they get the message.””

- School uses bogus student crash deaths to dramatize drunken driving dangers - The Daily Breeze

The Columbus Dispatch : Ohio will try new system to improve poor schools

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:27:00 -0400

The Columbus Dispatch : Ohio will try new system to improve poor schools:

Indiana is one of the other states picked for this. From the Dispatch’s story, note especially the last quote here because I’ve heard that from so many people:

Although it’s unclear how the change will affect districts – new test scores and yearly growth data will be released this summer – it’s clearer why the changes were made. Some suburban school districts felt their good standing was being tarnished by a few students and wanted more flexibility in how to fix problems.
The federal No Child Left Behind law dictates how schools must be punished when not all students in a school are making progress. Ohio was one of six states offered the chance to veer from the law and try a different set of sanctions. The state legislature still must approve the new plan.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s one of those things where suburban superintendents and suburban lawmakers have thrown their hands up and said, ‘This is stupid. We’re being punished by what happens to 11 kids in a high school of 1,000?’ and that resonates with lawmakers,” said Terry Ryan, vice president for Ohio programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Holding Back Young Students - Is Program a Gift or a Stigma? - NYTimes.com

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:39:30 -0400

Holding Back Young Students - Is Program a Gift or a Stigma? - NYTimes.com

IPS mulls cutting Wednesdays short | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:08:28 -0400

IPS mulls cutting Wednesdays short | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star:

Indianapolis Public Schools students would get Wednesday afternoons off next school year so teachers could attend training sessions under a new district plan.

Superintendent Eugene White said teachers and administrators would use that extra 90 minutes to better learn fresh teaching methods and collaborate with colleagues.

“Teachers need a common time to plan each week,” White said. “We have teachers next door to one another who never talk about instruction. … And we can’t afford to have teachers out of class during the school day.”

AP: Schools experiment with paying kids

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:40:14 -0400

AP: Schools experiment with paying kids:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Friday is payday at KIPP DC: KEY Academy, and some sixth-grade girls gather at the makeshift school store trying to decide how to spend their hard-earned money.

They received paychecks for behaving well, doing their homework or making academic gains. The money is pretend. But it can be used at the store for genuine items such as pens capped with fluffy feathers, pencil cases shaped like animals and colorful erasers.

Schools, under pressure to boost student achievement, are offering incentives - field trips and cash, for example - to motivate students.

Full text of Obama's education speech - The Denver Post

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:33:08 -0400

Full text of Obama's education speech - The Denver Post:

Sen. Barack Obama’s speech, “What’s Possible for Our Children,” was delivered at Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts in Thornton on Wednesday…

PD: Cleveland teacher retires; his fight for better schools continues

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:15:34 -0400

PD: Cleveland teacher retires; his fight for better schools continues:

Now that he is retiring, Cleveland teacher Gene Tracy says he will be less diplomatic in criticizing the district.

That’s hard to imagine. Tracy, 57, has harangued school officials for nearly three decades. And if he ever exercised restraint, it wasn’t apparent.

Tracy, whose last class was Wednesday, began staging dramatic displays of displeasure as a new teacher in 1981. He tossed a sickly pre-wrapped sandwich on the table at a school board meeting and dared administrators to take a bite of their cafeterias’ fare. They declined.

He went out in similar fashion at a board meeting last week. The Lincoln-West High School math teacher accused the district of child abuse for letting teenagers reach his ninth- and 10th-grade classes without mastering basic multiplication. He then handed his retirement notice to Chief Operating Officer Daniel Burns.

… for more of his history, click the link to the story

School super really isn’t into this whole Wicked Local blogging thing : Wicked Local Blog

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:01:03 -0400

School super really isn’t into this whole Wicked Local blogging thing : Wicked Local Blog:

Is commencement address really the time to call blogging a “gimmick from a dying industry” ? I want to know the background of this comment.

Education | School's culture failed to stop abuser | Seattle Times Newspaper

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:30:50 -0400

Education | School's culture failed to stop abuser | Seattle Times Newspaper:

In April, Seattle Public Schools settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of two of Hill’s victims for $3 million. Depositions, personnel files and other records from that lawsuit expose a school’s culture of fear and confusion, and they explain how Hill managed to remain a teacher for so long.

At least 30 times since the late 1980s, teachers and staff warned administrators at North Seattle’s Broadview-Thomson Elementary School of their suspicions about Hill, lawyers for the two girls say. The Seattle School District disputes that figure but does admit to five warnings.

State law requires school personnel to report suspected abuse to police or Child Protective Services, but teachers kept their concerns in-house, hewing to a school policy that says go to an administrator. Once passed along, their complaints almost always died, with no investigation, no discipline, no calls to outside investigators.

Graduating high school seniors roll the dice with wait lists - USATODAY.com

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:52:40 -0400

Graduating high school seniors roll the dice with wait lists - USATODAY.com:

The elite college wait-list turned acceptances aren’t having the predicted trickle down effect. But some kids are still holding out hope for their top choice.

Toughest Summer Job This Year Is Finding One - NYTimes.com

Mon, 26 May 2008 21:16:36 -0400

Toughest Summer Job This Year Is Finding One - NYTimes.com: Finding a summer job is even tougher for teens as trying economic times continue:

As the forces of economic downturn ripple widely across the United States, the job market of 2008 is shaping up as the weakest in more than half a century for teenagers looking for summer work, according to labor economists, government data and companies that hire young people.
This deterioration is jeopardizing what many experts consider a crucial beginning stage of working life, one that gives young people experience and confidence along with pocket money.
Little more than one-third of the 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States are likely to be employed this summer, the smallest share since the government began tracking teenage work in 1948, according to a research paper published by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. That is a sharp drop from the 45 percent level of teenage employment reached in 2000.

Schools skittish on extra levies | The Journal Gazette

Mon, 26 May 2008 10:33:05 -0400

Schools skittish on extra levies | The Journal Gazette:

Interesting take on referendum funds for local schools and why so few schools take that route:

Public school districts have the option of establishing an extra fund in their budgets and raising residents’ property taxes to collect money for it. Officials must ask the residents in their districts to vote on the matter at the ballot box as part of a referendum and the money is good for a maximum of seven years before it must be reaffirmed.

It’s worth noting they cite LSC as one of the schools here who has this funding. LSC does, but it’s referendum was for Sunnyside, installing security cameras at Jeff and a few other specific things that aren’t on-going. So when the money’s gone, it’s gone but then the project is finished, too.