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 VOTE - School Board 18 August 2010
| Why I voted for Joe Neunder and Kathy James for Sarasota County School Board
There are two parents who are fiscal conservatives running for the Sarasota
County School Board. That is why I voted for Joe Neunder in District 1 and
Kathy James in District 5.
All the other candidates represent the status quo.
The status quo includes:
1. Fiscal Irresponsibility - Spending on ever increasing salaries and benefits
using non-recurring dollars for recurring expenses. Add to that the recent vote
to use reserves to give raises.
2. Social Irresponsibility - A failed school system that is not being held
accountable for over 50% of our public school students reading below grade
level. Add to that over 50% are below grade level in science and nearly 30%
below grade level in mathematics.
3. Moral Irresponsibility - Bypassing voters using Certificates of
Participation to fund school construction. This process allows the school board
to in debt our children and grandchildren without asking you and me first.
4. Academic Irresponsibility - The decision by the school board to keep an
academically inaccurate and biased textbook on its approved list goes beyond
the pale. Any textbook that favors socialism, Eastern/Middle Eastern Cultures
and Islam needs to be removed from the district approved list.
5. No Accountability - Teachers must be held accountable for student
performance just as you and I are held accountable for our performance in the
world of work. Only in our public schools do we find this anomaly. Why is this
so? - because it is written into the union contract.
6. Taxation Without Representation - The school board raised our property taxes
by 6% while our county is in a deep recession. They did not even ask us, as
they said they would.
If you are tired of the status quo and pouring your hard earned tax dollars
into a failed public school system that is harming our kids, then I encourage
you to vote for Joe Neunder and
Kathy
James.
By Rich Swier
Posted By Editor
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FCAT Scores 7 July 2010
| The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) results for 2010 were just
released. According to the Sarasota County FCAT score data for 10th
graders:
•61% are below grade level in reading
•62% are below grade level in science (this is for 11th graders)
•27% are below grade level in mathematics
If you read the local media you get a different picture. Headlines say
the district mean scores are better than the state average and in some grades
the mean scores improved. True enough but that is not the whole picture and
does a disservice to our students. I suggest we focus on those students who
fall below level 3 on the FCAT as the true measure of the district's success or
failure. When this many students cannot achieve at the minimum level of
performance in core subjects then the district is in deep trouble.
As Florida TaxWatch points out these 10th graders will never catch up. They are
doomed for life and will never achieve their full potential. Harsh words, yes,
but true.
FL DOE
Posted By Editor
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School District Paid 2 Million Dollars Too Much? 14 May 2010
| The Sarasota School District paid $12 million for a computer software program
from a company that may have skirted the law and could be headed for
bankruptcy, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
The lawsuit filed by two partners in the Orlando-based firm Crosspointe.net
also claims that another partner in the company paid $31,500 to Bob Hanson, the
school district's former IT director, as a possible thank you for helping
facilitate the sale.
The allegations come amid an FBI investigation into another high tech purchase
by the district -- the $13 million the district paid for electronic white
boards for classrooms. Hanson has been implicated in that investigation, too.
The lawsuit was filed May 6 by Larry Plasil and Jim Barako, software engineers
whose companies own a 50 percent stake in CrossPointe. In it they accuse Joan
Keebler, who owns the other half of the company and was the main salesperson,
of gross negligence and possible illegalities.
Plasil and Barako are seeking to recover payments they say were made to Hanson
without their consent and to investigate "any improprieties or illegal
conduct." Hanson was the school district's chief negotiator on the CrossPointe
contract.
The lawsuit claims that Crosspointe is in deep financial trouble because of
Keebler's loose spending and asks an Orange County judge to appoint an overseer
for the company.
The lawsuit also claims:
That Plasil was supposed to approve all company expenditures, but did not
approve a $31,500 payment to Hanson made through the Florida Association of
School Administrators, where Hanson now works.
"Keebler's concealment of the company's payments to Hanson through FASA are
troubling, and they raise issues about whether the entire procurement of the
Sarasota School District contract was tainted by some arrangement or
understanding between Keebler and Bob Hanson," the lawsuit states. "If the
process of procuring the Sarasota School District contract was in fact
compromised by Keebler's misconduct then Plasil and Barako agree that the
Company should pay the Sarasota School District back the Company's ill-gotten
gains."
That Keebler offered Hanson a job at CrossPointe in October 2009, as he was
leaving the school district, but backed off after Plasil and Barako objected.
The pair were "concerned with the unseemly appearance of hiring the individual
most responsible for securing the Sarasota School District contract."
That Crosspointe was willing to accept $10 million for the software program
before the district offered $12 million in December 2008. Keebler "bragged that
she was able to extract an extra $2 million."
That Jim Warford, director of the Florida Association of School
Administrators, was paid $2,000 by CrossPointe for each Florida school official
he recruited to attend technology conferences sponsored by the company.
The company has paid Warford more than $100,000 since December, according to
copies of invoices and canceled checks attached to the lawsuit.
Hanson, Keebler and Warford all dismiss the claims contained in the lawsuit as
unfounded.
Responding to questions via e-mail, Hanson denied ever receiving direct
payments or a job offer from CrossPointe. He said he talked to the company
about employment but a job offer was never extended.
Hanson was hired by FASA in December to help school districts use technology
more effectively.
Keebler dismissed the lawsuit as "sheer nonsense" and said that she is the
aggrieved party in the company.
Plasil has taken CrossPointe software, repackaged it and sold it without
turning revenues over to the company, Keebler said. The lawsuit was filed after
she confronted Plasil over selling CrossPointe's software under another name in
Illinois, she said.
"This is what's precipitating his blackmail," Keebler said, referring to the
lawsuit.
Warford acknowledged that he has been a paid consultant for CrossPointe for
about a year, work that is allowed under his contract with FASA. He denied
being paid a $2,000 "bounty" for each school official he got to come to a pair
of education technology conferences sponsored by Crosspointe and other
companies.
The Sarasota school district bought the software program from Crosspointe about
six months after the company had been formed. The program brings student
performance, school budgeting and management all under one Web-based program.
Despite the court fight between CrossPointe's owners, installation and testing
of the program is proceeding satisfactorily, said Al Weidner, the school
district's budget director, who had not seen the lawsuit.
The system is behind schedule, but the management portion is expected to be
online in August and the district expects that in a year parents will be able
to use the program to check on the progress of their children, Weidner said.
The school district and Hanson were named in March in an FBI subpoena for
information relating to the district's $13 million purchase of 3,000 electronic
white boards, or Activboards, for classrooms. The subpoena also sought
information relating to former school superintendent Gary Norris and the
Activboard's manufacturer, a British company called Promethean.
The FBI is also investigating the purchase of Activboards by the school
district in Waterloo, Iowa. Norris took the Waterloo superintendent position in
2008 after leaving Sarasota and later hired Hanson as a consultant.
Source: May 14, 2010
www.heraldtribune.com
Posted By Editor
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FBI Investigates Sarasota School District 21 March 2010
| SARASOTA COUNTY - The FBI has ordered the Sarasota County School District to
turn over information about top former officials and their dealings with a $13
million contract for electronic white boards.
The agency is investigating the interactions among former Superintendent Gary
Norris, former chief information officer Bob Hanson and a company called
Promethean. In 2006, the British company sold the district 3,000 Activboards --
at the time the largest purchase of such computer-powered boards in the
world.
FBI agents issued the same grand jury subpoenas to Norris' new school district
in Waterloo, Iowa, which he took over in 2008 after leaving Sarasota. That
district is also buying Activboards from Promethean, and has contracted with
Hanson and his wife, Lora, to help with planning.
Reached in Iowa, Norris said he was surprised to learn of the investigation and
defended his dealings with Promethean and Hanson.
"I have zero reason to believe there is any reason to think there was any
impropriety with those contracts," Norris said. "It's hard right now
to add two
and two together and figure out what's going out. I'm sure more will come out
as
this moves forward."
In an e-mail, Hanson said he believes the investigation is focused on
Promethean
rather than on himself or government officials.
"I suspect this investigation is related to vendor sales practices and not
one
of a person's or persons' individual behaviors," he wrote.
Promethean officials said they needed more time to review the subpoenas before
they could comment.
Hanson took over the county Information Technology department in 2000. During
his 10-year tenure he won accolades, including being named one of the Top 100
government IT officers in the country by Federal Computer Week magazine and one
of the Top 25 "Doers, Dreamers and Drivers" by Government Technology
magazine.
In 2004, Hanson took over the IT director duties for the school district, in a
unique agreement orchestrated between Norris and County Administrator Jim Ley.
The move merged some of the operations of both government bodies.
Hanson was credited with saving the school district money by streamlining its
IT
department. He also oversaw what was considered the successful implementation
of
the Activboard system in the schools. And he was rewarded for overseeing the
joint operation: His top salary was about $175,000, making him one of the
highest-paid Sarasota County government employees.
Hanson resigned from his position with the School Board in October 2009, and
left his post with the county three months later. Lora Hanson, the county's
general manager for process and quality innovations, resigned in February. Her
annual salary was $92,206.
During Hanson's tenure with the district, it negotiated the contract for
Activboards, buying enough to make Sarasota the first district in the country
to
put one in every classroom.
Promethean was the only company in the world that produced the computerized
white board with a projector that teachers can use to show documents, so it got
the $13.2 million contract without its going out to bid, Norris said. The
decision followed a recommendation from a committee of teachers and
administrators charged with looking at how to use technology in the classroom,
Norris said.
Norris became superintendent in Waterloo in 2008. This past December, the
Waterloo school district agreed to spend about $4.5 million to buy Activboards
from Promethean.
Norris also suggested the district contract with Hanson and his wife for about
$15,000 to help develop their strategic plan.
While Hanson was widely praised during his time with the county, he also drew
some criticism.
Last summer, a citizens budget task force convened by the county questioned why
Hanson had awarded $6 million in IT work without bidding it out.
County Clerk Karen Rushing, whose office oversees county spending, also took
issue with Hanson. In an August 2009 letter, she complained to the budget task
force that insufficient records were kept on some county purchases,
particularly
with IT expenses.
"I have not been denied access to records; rather the records do not exist
in
what I believe to be sufficient detail," she wrote.
Hanson responded to those criticisms by pointing out that he had driven down
costs for the county. For example, the industry average is $3,649 for each
workstation on a network, while the county paid only $2,540 per station, he
said.
Ley agreed that Hanson had saved taxpayer money. For example, combining
operations of the school district and the county saved taxpayers more than $1
million a year, Ley said.
Ley also said that in the course of streamlining operations Hanson eliminated
scores of positions, saving money but also drawing the ire of some employees
who
lost their jobs.
Describing Hanson as a "change agent," Ley noted that the job cuts
might have
led to previous rumors that the FBI was investigating Hanson.
"I've been hearing the FBI discussion for three years," Ley said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100319/article/3191055
Posted By Editor
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Bad Example for Kids? 20 February 2010
| Daily there are new revelations surfacing about the ethical and legal
conduct
of the Sarasota County School Board, District Staff and the Financial Advisory
Committee relating to the School Tax Referendum. A clear pattern of
behavior is forming and it is to say the least disturbing. Many are questioning
the School Board and District Staff doing things that while not perhaps illegal
are certainly un-ethical. Let me list those specific activities that many
parents, citizens and even some district employees have seriously
questioned:
- The Sarasota County School Board (SCSB) and Sarasota Classified Teachers
Association (SCTA) put a specific "trigger" in the current collective
bargaining
contract that both telegraphs an economic loss and puts a reminder on paychecks
of that loss should the School Tax Referendum fail to pass. I wrote a
column asking if this is a backdoor way of influencing district employees to
vote in favor of the referendum and therefore a violation of Federal
Election laws.
- The District Communications Department with the knowledge of the School
Board and Superintended sent out flyers using students to deliver them to
parents which lists the political action committee Citizens for Better Schools
(CBS) as the point of contact agency for information on the School Tax
Referendum. This action led to the filing of formal Florida
Election Fraud Complaint.
- The Venice Taxpayers League is considering filing an injunction to stop the
School Tax Referendum special election because the District Financial Advisory
Committee did not operate in the Sunshine as required by Florida statute.
- The School District allowed at least one school principal to use the
district Connect-ED emergency notification robo-call system to notify parents
to
register to vote on the referendum.
- The School Board's use of Certificates of Participation (COPS) for funding
massive school renovation and construction projects bypassing the voters on
bond
issue referendums.
- The Citizens for Better School (CBS) political action committee receives
97%
of its funding to date from the SCTA union. They used the $28,500 donated by
the
SCTA to print expensive four color brochures, which support the referendum. In
effect these brochures have been paid for using property tax payer dollars. The
School District collects the union dues and sends a check to the SCTA all for
free.
- The District Financial
Advisory Committee taking an "advocacy role" to push the passage of the
referendum as detailed in an e-mail from the Chair to Committee Members and
District Staff.
- Parents are reporting that pro-Referendum signs are being distributed by
schools on behalf of the political action committee Citizens for Better
Schools.
Attempts to provide parents with information on the other side of the issue are
rejected.
- The School District's on-hold message promotes Citizens for Better Schools
and provides the web adreess for this pro-Referendum political action
committee.
It is clear that the referendum is in deep trouble. The latest example
occurred today when the Venice City Council voted 4 to 2 to table a motion
supporting the School Tax Referendum, a major political defeat for the School
Board and School District.
Clearly, the School Board and District Staff with the help of CBS and
SCTA are doing things that are most certainly questionable, undoubtedly
un-ethical and possibly illegal. Is this the example that you and I want for
our
kids? What ever happened to being fair, doing the right thing, holding to
values
and setting the ethical bar high?
Sarasota County School District Setting A Bad Example for
Kids?
I have been covering the Sarasota School Tax Referendum and reported on
several activities of the School Board and School District that are
questionable
at best. One of my columns reported on an election felony complaint filed by Better
Sarasota Schools for Less (BSSFL).
http://www.redcounty.com/sarasota-county-school-district-
setting-a-bad-example-kids/36716
Posted By Editor
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Lori M. White is new Superintendent of Schools 8 April 2008
| In an announcement this morning, the Sarasota School Board said it has asked associate superintendent Lori White to take Norris’ spot, and that White has accepted.
White has spent her entire career in the Sarasota schools system, starting as a special education teacher at Ashton Elementary School in 1977. She worked her way up the career ladder and became associate superintendent in 2003.
Norris announced last week that he has accepted the school superintendent position in Waterloo, Iowa. His last day is June 30.
Today’s announcement came at a School Board workshop intended to discuss the process the board would undertake to replace Norris. At least a couple of board members had said earlier that they wanted to conduct a national search for a new superintendent.
There are still some details to be worked out in cementing White’s selection, including the terms of her contract. Also, since today’s meeting is a workshop no official vote can be taken, so White’s appointment would need to come before the board at a regular meeting and put before a vote.
Posted By Editor
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Norris is Gone? 1 April 2008
| THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
WATERLOO, Iowa — An Iowa district selected a Gary Norris as its new district
superintendent Monday evening.
The Waterloo Community Schools education board unanimously approved 57-year-old
the Sarasota superintendent and would start July 1 after current Superintendent
Dewitt Jones retires.
Norris has been head of the Sarasota County School District since 2004. He
began his career in 1972 as a vocal music teacher and earned a doctorate from
Kansas State University.
According to the district's Web site, Waterloo has about 10,000 students and is
one of the 10 largest school districts in Iowa. About 60 percent of the
students qualify for free or reduced lunches; at some schools that number
approached 90 percent.
Most recently, Norris is one of six finalists for the top school post in
Albuquerque, N.M..
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier is reporting that Norris will take the job and
be paid $195,000 his first year.
"I think we're getting a very qualified, a very energetic person," board member
Mike Kindschi told the newspaper. "I think he'll be a great asset to our staff
and take us into the future."
Norrisvdid not attend the meeting but spoke to the Courier by phone: "I have a
strong desire to work with a school board that wants to work as a team on
closing the achievement gap and work with at-risk populations of young people,"
he said.
"I really sensed that the seven board members were really intent on doing
that," he said.
Posted By Editor
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Superintendent Norris Resigns 22 September 2006
| Dr. Gary W. Norris
7919 Osprey Hammock Ct.
Sarasota, FL 34240
9/21/06
Dr. Carol Todd, President
School Board of Sarasota County Florida
1960 Landings Blvd
Sarasota, FL 34231
Dear Dr. Todd and Members of the Board of Education,
It is with sadness that I am serving you notice today that I will resign my
position as Superintendent of Schools effective June 30, 2007. I appreciate the
fact that with your "meets expectations" vote on my evaluation, June 21, 2006,
the board automatically extended my contract another year until June 30, 2008,
but unfortunately, I must decline your offer. I intend to immediately begin a
search for a new position.
The past several months have been unnecessarily tumultuous and have exacted a
huge toll on my family and me. I have loved every part of my 24-year career as
superintendent of schools until recently. I think it best for the school board,
the school district and my profession, that I not elaborate any further.
The past few weeks have cemented my realization that while the work to create a
NeXt Generation education system is essential, there are unimaginable
roadblocks in Sarasota County that will continue to impede the transformation.
My passion to insure a NeXt Generation Education for our children is now even
stronger than it was when we first met in October, 2003. Every single day, the
research becomes clearer that this type of educational reform is necessary for
our students to be successful in our changing world. I intend to offer that
vision to another community or institution.
I will continue to work tirelessly on your 4 goals until June. Equally
important to me is that your next superintendent has a very smooth transition
period. I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens.
Thanks for the opportunity to work with the fine professional educators and
support staff in this school district. I truly believe in them and their
abilities. My sincere thanks, to all of our outstanding community partners,
that have been so supportive of our efforts. I sincerely hope that the
community believes that we have made a small difference in establishing the
vision and elevating the discussion about the importance of transforming our
schools.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Gary W. Norris, Superintendent
Posted By Editor
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Boston school district wins top education award 19 September 2006
|
The Boston public school system won the nation's largest prize in public
education Tuesday, earning $500,000 in college scholarships for making steady
gains in the classroom.
The Boston district won the biggest share of the $1 million Broad Prize for
Public Education. The award annually honors urban districts that make notable
academic progress, particularly by reducing the test-score "achievement gap"
among poor and minority students.
This year, 100 districts were eligible. The other four finalists were
Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut, Jersey City School District in New
Jersey, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the New York City Department of
Education. They will all receive $125,000.
Boston has been a finalist for five straight years. It won this year's top
honor by posting impressive gains among poor and minority kids when compared
with other Massachusetts districts.
"Boston has consistently shown that stable leadership in the school district
and the city, as well as data-driven teaching, leads to strong student
performance," said Eli Broad, the philanthropist who created the Broad
Foundation in 1999, with his wife, Edythe.
"While it is discouraging that there is not more success in this country's
public school systems," he said, "other large urban districts can learn from
Boston's sustained progress."
Boston's district has about 58,000 students, and almost 75 percent of them are
eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches, an indication of a
district's poverty level.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Posted By Editor
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American students seen falling behind 13 September 2005
|
WASHINGTON - The United States is losing ground in education, as peers across
the globe zoom by with bigger gains in student achievement and school
graduations, a study shows.
Among adults age 25 to 34, the U.S. is ninth among industrialized nations in
the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same
age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of
people who hold a college degree.
By both measures, the United States was first in the world as recently as 20
years ago, said Barry McGaw, director of education for the Paris-based
Organization for Cooperation and Development. The 30-nation organization
develops the yearly rankings as a way for countries to evaluate their education
systems and determine whether to change their policies.
'You ought to be worrying'
McGaw said that the United States remains atop the “knowledge economy,” one
that uses information to produce economic benefits. But, he said, “education’s
contribution to that economy is weakening, and you ought to be worrying.”
The report bases its conclusions about achievement mainly on international test
scores released last December. They show that compared with their peers in
Europe, Asia and elsewhere, 15-year-olds in the United States are below average
in applying math skills to real-life tasks.
Top performers included Finland, Korea, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada and
Belgium.
A separate international review last year showed U.S. eighth-graders gaining on
their peers across the globe in science and math. At the same time, though,
fourth-graders here are falling behind others passed as their test scores
remain stagnant, that study found.
McGaw said other measures of achievement — including how U.S. students do on
this country’s federal math and reading test — are fair to consider in rating
performance.
'Inefficient' system
Given what the United States spends on education, its relatively low student
achievement through high school shows its school system is “clearly
inefficient,” McGaw said.
In all levels of education, the United States spends $11,152 per student.
That’s the second highest amount, behind the $11,334 spent by Switzerland.
“The very best schools in the U.S. are extraordinary,” McGaw said. “But the big
concern in the U.S. is the diversity of quality of institutions — and the fact
that expectations haven’t been set high enough.”
The Bush administration says the 2002 federal law known as the No Child Left
Behind Act is fueling higher achievement among all students — particularly poor
and minority kids — by holding schools accountable for progress. But the
international data, mostly gathered in 2003, are not recent enough to confirm
that the law is producing results, McGaw said.
Higher education in the United States remains strong, and the nation continues
to hold an advantage in innovation based on research conducted at universities,
he said.
Women paid less
The report also underscores that women continue to get paid less than men.
Women in the United States who are 30 to 44 and who hold a university degree —
meaning a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctorate or medical degree —
make only 62 percent of what similarly qualified men do.
That’s a lower rate than in all but three of the 19 countries for which numbers
are available. The nations with greater inequity in pay are Germany, New
Zealand and Switzerland.
Posted By
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US CONTROLS DESTINY OF IRAQ SCHOOL SYSTEM 20 April 2004
| Considering the pitiful state of the American education system itself, the fact that the U.S., of all countries, is behind revamping Iraq's education system should be a cause for serious concern to Iraqis. In his book Stupid White Men, social critic Michael Moore explains how there are "forty-four million Americans who cannot read or write above a fourth grade level--in other words, who are functioning illiterates."
A 2002 National Geographic/Roper survey assessing geographic knowledge of 18- to 24-year-olds discovered that one out of 10 young Americans could not locate their own country on a world map. Almost 30 percent were unable to identify the Pacific Ocean, 30 percent thought the U.S. population was one to two billion, and although less than 15 percent were able to identify Israel, Iraq, or Afghanistan, more than a third knew that the most recent series of the TV show Survivor was filmed in the South Pacific. Statistics like these have caused Moore to call the U.S. the "Dumbest Country on Earth".
Compare all this to a March 2003 UNESCO report stating that the Iraqi education system prior to the 1991 Gulf War "was one of the best in the region, with over 100% Gross Enrolment Rate for primary schooling and high levels of literacy, both of men and women". The report described Iraq's higher education, especially the scientific and technological institutions, as being "of an international standard, staffed by high quality personnel".
... read more
Posted By perp
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Education Reform Ideals 9 April 2004
| REFORM IDEALS AND TEACHERS' PRACTICAL INTENTIONS Reformers have been trying for
decades to alter the fundamental character of classroom instruction in the
United States, but have repeatedly been unsuccessful in fostering significant
change in teaching practice. Several hypotheses have been put forward to
account for this problem -- that teachers lack sufficient knowledge (hence we
need more professional development), that they lack sufficient will (hence we
need accountability systems) or that they disagree with reform ideals or find
other agendas to be more compelling in their classrooms. This paper by Mary M.
Kennedy addresses the third hypothesis by trying to ascertain what teachers
care about when they respond to specific classroom situations. Numerous
authors have suggested that teachers' beliefs, values, and perceptions
influence their classroom practices.
...read more
Posted By perp
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TEACHERS COME UP SHORT IN TESTING 26 March 2004
| TEACHERS COME UP SHORT IN TESTING
In Philadelphia, students aren't the only ones struggling to pass tests,
reports Susan Snyder and Dale Mezzacappa. Half of the district's middle
school teachers who took tests to become certified as highly qualified
under the federal No Child Left Behind law failed, district results show.
Math teachers did the worst: Nearly two out of every three failed that
exam, while more than half flunked the science test, 43 percent the
English exam, and 34 percent the social-studies test. The results are for
690 of the public school district's 1,346 seventh- and eighth-grade middle
school teachers, who took the tests in September and November. Teachers
have until June 2006 to take the test and meet the mandate. Philadelphia
teachers failed the test at a far greater rate than those in the rest of
the state. "It's obviously very discouraging," said Betsey Useem, a
research consultant with the Philadelphia Education Fund. "People should
be able to pass this test if this is the subject they're teaching. They
shouldn't be skating on thin ice in terms of content knowledge." Paul
Vallas, chief executive officer of the Philadelphia School District, said
in the teachers' defense that the test "is in no way a wimp test. It's a
tough test." But he supported the testing mandate: "Look, we're holding
the kids to higher standards. We need to hold our teachers to higher
standards, too."
Read
more...
Posted By perp
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SCHOOL BUSES CITED FOR POLLUTION 25 March 2004
| DIESEL-FUELED YELLOW SCHOOL BUSES CITED FOR POLLUTION
Around the nation, a concerted effort has sprung up to fight exposure to
toxic diesel exhaust from one of childhood's friendliest icons: the old
yellow school bus. Some schools are updating older buses while others are
buying new, more efficient models. But despite the effort, the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that 90 percent of the nation's
school buses run on diesel and, in most states, are not required to
undergo emissions inspections. For many schools, the pollution issue
presents a budget dilemma: They can afford to buy either books or new
buses, but not both, reports Kimberly Chase.
Read
more...
Posted By Oz
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No Child Left Behind 12 March 2004
| A GENUINE EDUCATION PRESIDENT?
Some critics of President Bush's policy regarding elementary and secondary
education have an alternative, writes George F. Will. It is: Let's leave
lots of children behind. In his view, liberal resistance to education
reform and NCLB is crumbling quickly and arguments for more federal
funding mask a greater resistance to accountability from educators and
complacent middle-class parents.
Read more. . .
Posted By perp
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2004 - 2005 Calendar - Public Schools 10 March 2004
| July 21 - 220 Day Staff Return to Work
August 3 - Teachers/196 Day Staff Return
August 9 - First Day of School
September 6 - Labor Day - No School for Students/All Staff (Paid Holiday)
September 7 - Professional Day - No School for Students/186 Day Staff
October 11 - End of 1st Grading Period
October 15 - State InService Day - No School for Students/186 Day Staff
November 11 - Veterans Day - No School for Students/All Staff (Paid Holiday)
November 24-26 - Thanksgiving Break - No School for Students/186, 196, 220 Day
Staff (Paid Holiday - 2 Days)
November 25 - 26 - Thanksgiving Break - 240 Day Staff (Paid Holiday-2 days)
December 17th - End of 2nd Grading Period
December 20-31 - Winter Break - No School for Students/186, 196, 220 Day
Staff
December 23-31 - Winter Break - 240 Day Staff
January 3 - Professional Day - No School for Students / 186 Day Staff
January 17 - M.L. King Day - No School for Students/All Staff (Paid Holiday)
February 21 - Presidents Day - No School for Students/All Staff (Paid Holiday)
March 10th - End of 3rd Grading Period
March 14 - Professional Day - No School for Students/186 Day Staff
March 25-31- April 1 - Spring Break - No School for Students/186, 196, 220 Day
Staff
March 25 - Spring Break Holiday for 240 Day Staff
May 24 - Last Day of School For Students/186 Day Staff
May 26 - Last Day for Teachers/196 Day Staff
May 30 - Memorial Day/Holiday for 220, 240 Day Staff
June 17 - Last Day for 220 Day Staff
Posted By Oz
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PUBLIC EDUCATION? 27 February 2004
| IS THIS ANY WAY TO PAY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION?
In New Jersey, a school official is contemplating peddling the naming
rights to the district's only school on eBay, reports Kristen A. Graham.
"We understand what's going on in the educational marketplace," said
superintendent John Kellmayer said. "In 10 years, this is going to be a
fact of life. We're aggressive enough to start this now." Aggressive,
creative or crazy: Take your pick. Kellmayer and Bruce Darrow, school
board president and "director of corporate development," preside over a
district that is banking not just on government aid but on selling naming
rights, snagging sponsorships, and launching other money-generating
ventures to fund its future. "We're working people," Darrow said. "But
we've got to get our kids on equal footing, and we have to be innovative."
To those who fight against commercialization in education, Brooklawn's
current path is a sacrilege, a body blow to the last bastion of
unblemished public space. Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial
Alert, a national anti-commercialism group, says the path the school
district is taking is foolish and dangerous. "There's no doubt that
thousands of school districts around the country are desperately short on
funds, but the answer is not to put our kids up for sale," said Ruskin,
who believes that Brooklawn administrators could better spend their time
lobbying to reverse federal tax cuts to fund education.
...Read More
Posted By Perp
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MONEY FOR SCHOOLS 13 August 2003
| MOST PARENTS RAISE MONEY, and SPEND MONEY FOR SCHOOLS
Poll results released today by National PTA show that parents are worried
about the future of public education. Parents are seeing classrooms with
wall-to-wall desks and are opening their wallets to save art and music
programs. Additionally, an overwhelming 93 percent of public school
parents said that education will play a major role in their decision about
which candidate to support in this election year. In a national telephone
poll of 800 public school parents, more than half of the respondents (55
percent) ranked school funding as a top issue facing public schools today
-- eclipsing both school safety and quality. Additionally, 85 percent of
parents believe the federal government should provide more funding for
education. In response to tightened budgets, parents and schools are
becoming more dependent on fundraisers. According to the poll, 79 percent
of parents are being asked to fund items and needs that have traditionally
been covered by school budgets including paper, cleaning supplies,
transportation, technology, teacher salaries, educational curriculum and
art or music programs. 39 percent are contributing more than $100 to their
kids classrooms each year and one-in-ten (11 percent) say they're giving
more than $300 a year.
...Read More
Posted By Perp
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