From the Intelligencer.
Gotta love the comments section...
Teachers, board reach tentative deal
By AMANDA CREGAN, The Intelligencer
Palisades parents can breathe a sigh of relief.
The school district announced Wednesday that a tentative agreement has been reached between the teachers union and school board following negotiations Tuesday night.
Details of the new contract won't be released until both sides finalize the deal.
“Our ratification process usually takes about two weeks, and we will not discuss terms of the agreement until the process has been completed,” said Palisades teachers union Co-President Laurie Borger.
Parents and school administrators were bracing for a strike this week if teachers union representatives did not see contract talks significantly progress.
Last week, the 160-member teachers union authorized its leadership to call a strike, and Pennsylvania State Education Association representative Gary Smith said he was preparing for the worst.
“I think it's very likely,” Smith said late last week. “The board is just simply not being forthright with the association and the sides are very far apart. I can't see the board moving to anywhere near middle ground for a settlement.”
Teachers union and school board members would not discuss any details of the unexpected agreement.
In their old contract, salaries ranged from $40,000 to $93,505.
Teachers pay 11 percent of their health insurance premium and are responsible for prescription drug co-pays.
The benefits package also includes life insurance, liability insurance, short-term disability and long-term disability protection.
In the $36 million district budget for 2008-09, salary and benefits total nearly $24 million.
That contract expired June 30; talks began in January.
This fall, Palisades teachers have been working to rule, which means their workday ends at school dismissal and they do not participate in extra school activities.
It was also the first time the district has ever seen a strike authorization by teachers.
PSEA representative Smith could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
School board members declined to publicly mention the tentative agreement at their scheduled board meeting Wednesday night.
Friday, October 17, 2008
College Affordability Hearings
From marketwatch.com
PA State Board of Education to Host Hearings on College Affordability
Last update: 11:35 a.m. EDT Oct. 16, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- 5 Hearings Offer Opportunity for Students, Parents, Others
With Pennsylvania college students graduating with an average of almost $23,000 in student loan debt, the affordability of post-secondary education will be the focus of a series of hearings announced today by the State Board of Education.
The issue of college affordability continues to be a serious and growing concern of the State Board's Council of Higher Education. It was the first issue addressed in the Master Plan for Higher Education approved by the Board of Education in 2005.
As the costs of attending college continue to escalate - combined with relatively flat federal, state and institutional financial aid and increasingly restricted public and private loan markets - the Council of Higher Education hopes to gain the public's insight into how these factors are impacting the ability of those wishing to attend college.
The board is looking for testimony from college students, recent graduates, parents, higher education officials and others on how financial factors are impacting the accessibility to a postsecondary education and how students might be able to attend college without taking on worrisome debt burdens that must be repaid after graduation.
Among the issues the hearings will explore:
-- Do students feel overly burdened by the amount of money they must borrow
to cover educational costs?
-- Do concerns about student loan debt impact the choice of college major
or career choice?
-- How widespread is the practice of students and their families borrowing
funds from private sources such as home equity loans, credit cards,
etc., to pay for college?
The hearings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
-- Oct. 23 - Luzerne County Community College Conference Center, Room 131,
1333 South Prospect St., Nanticoke.
-- Oct. 24 - Community College of Philadelphia Center for Business &
Industry, C2.5 - Lecture Room, 1700 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia.
-- Oct. 28 - Harrisburg Area Community College, Cooper Student Union, Room
204, One HAAC Dr., Harrisburg.
-- Oct. 29 - Community College of Allegheny County, Dining Room, Boyce
Campus, 595 Beatty Road, Monroeville.
-- Nov. 3 - Clarion University, Gemmell Student Center, Room 250, 840 Wood
St., Clarion.
Each hearing will begin at 10 a.m. and will continue until all testimony is received.
Individuals wishing to testify must register at least 24 hours in advance and will be assigned a 10-minute time slot. Those registered to present testimony must provide 25 copies of their written comments at the time testimony is presented, and they are requested to arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to their scheduled time slot to avoid delays in the hearing.
Persons interested in presenting testimony must contact the State Board of Education office at (7l7) 787-3787 (TTY 717-783-8445) or e-mail babaker@state.pa.us, Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Individuals unable to attend the hearing are encouraged to submit written comments directly to the State Board of Education on or before 4 p.m., Nov. 5. Copies of testimony will be provided to each member of the State Board of Education. Comments should be sent to:
Council of Higher Education
State Board of Education
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333.
CONTACT:
Jim Buckheit
(717) 787-3787
SOURCE Pennsylvania State Board of Education
PA State Board of Education to Host Hearings on College Affordability
Last update: 11:35 a.m. EDT Oct. 16, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- 5 Hearings Offer Opportunity for Students, Parents, Others
With Pennsylvania college students graduating with an average of almost $23,000 in student loan debt, the affordability of post-secondary education will be the focus of a series of hearings announced today by the State Board of Education.
The issue of college affordability continues to be a serious and growing concern of the State Board's Council of Higher Education. It was the first issue addressed in the Master Plan for Higher Education approved by the Board of Education in 2005.
As the costs of attending college continue to escalate - combined with relatively flat federal, state and institutional financial aid and increasingly restricted public and private loan markets - the Council of Higher Education hopes to gain the public's insight into how these factors are impacting the ability of those wishing to attend college.
The board is looking for testimony from college students, recent graduates, parents, higher education officials and others on how financial factors are impacting the accessibility to a postsecondary education and how students might be able to attend college without taking on worrisome debt burdens that must be repaid after graduation.
Among the issues the hearings will explore:
-- Do students feel overly burdened by the amount of money they must borrow
to cover educational costs?
-- Do concerns about student loan debt impact the choice of college major
or career choice?
-- How widespread is the practice of students and their families borrowing
funds from private sources such as home equity loans, credit cards,
etc., to pay for college?
The hearings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
-- Oct. 23 - Luzerne County Community College Conference Center, Room 131,
1333 South Prospect St., Nanticoke.
-- Oct. 24 - Community College of Philadelphia Center for Business &
Industry, C2.5 - Lecture Room, 1700 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia.
-- Oct. 28 - Harrisburg Area Community College, Cooper Student Union, Room
204, One HAAC Dr., Harrisburg.
-- Oct. 29 - Community College of Allegheny County, Dining Room, Boyce
Campus, 595 Beatty Road, Monroeville.
-- Nov. 3 - Clarion University, Gemmell Student Center, Room 250, 840 Wood
St., Clarion.
Each hearing will begin at 10 a.m. and will continue until all testimony is received.
Individuals wishing to testify must register at least 24 hours in advance and will be assigned a 10-minute time slot. Those registered to present testimony must provide 25 copies of their written comments at the time testimony is presented, and they are requested to arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to their scheduled time slot to avoid delays in the hearing.
Persons interested in presenting testimony must contact the State Board of Education office at (7l7) 787-3787 (TTY 717-783-8445) or e-mail babaker@state.pa.us, Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Individuals unable to attend the hearing are encouraged to submit written comments directly to the State Board of Education on or before 4 p.m., Nov. 5. Copies of testimony will be provided to each member of the State Board of Education. Comments should be sent to:
Council of Higher Education
State Board of Education
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333.
CONTACT:
Jim Buckheit
(717) 787-3787
SOURCE Pennsylvania State Board of Education
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Budget Cuts: Machete or Scalpel?
From the AP at forbes.com
Pa. schools, governments feel the economic misery
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press 10.15.08, 5:19 PM ET
HARRISBURG, Pa. -
Less money is coming in, investments are being hammered and loans - when available - are likely to become more expensive.
While that describes the household finances of many Pennsylvania families these days, the same set of daunting challenges faces local governments across the state.
"We're feeling it," said Aurel Arndt, general manager of the Lehigh County Authority, which provides water and sewer services. "Our new revenues have essentially flattened, and that's a reflection of the fact that there are very few customer additions to the system."
The authority appears likely to increase sewer bills next year to close its budget gap, Arndt said. Other local governmental entities - school districts, townships, boroughs, cities and counties - are looking at service cuts, employee reductions or tax increases.
Officials are in the early stages of budget planning for 2009, and many assume the slowdown will reduce local income tax collections, increase delinquencies and fuel demand for police and social services.
The state may not be able to do much to help out. Its tax collections for 2008-09 were hundreds of millions dollars shy of projections just in the first quarter of the budget year.
Gov. Ed Rendell on Sept. 16 ordered state agencies to look for ways to cut 4.25 percent from their discretionary appropriations - although public safety, health and education were given smaller amounts to cut. The administration is still working out the details, but counties are worried about how that austerity will affect their own budgets.
"It's a killer," said Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. "The bottom line is, obviously it comes from somewhere, so we anticipate at best further pressure."
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation estimates that the motor license fund's payments to municipalities will be down $7 million to $10 million next year. That may be a small drop-off for a $332 million fund, but officials said the most recent comparable situation was the energy crisis of the mid-1970s.
Pension funds, which are closely tied to the stock market, loom as another major problem. At the end of June - before Wall Street turned from bad to worse - the state's $63 billion public school retirement system said investments had lost nearly 3 percent in the prior year.
That is bad news for local school districts that have to pump tax money into the fund when investments fall short. Last year's losses increased the much-dreaded 2012-13 pension contribution spike up from 11.2 percent of payroll to an estimated 16.3 percent, and the stock market's decline since June 30 can only have made that worse.
Municipal pensions also are feeling the pinch. In Cambria County, chief clerk Mike Gelles said Wednesday the county's pension fund lost about $42 million since the start of the year, or 24 percent. Layoffs, service cuts and millions in additional contributions from county taxpayers are considered likely.
"The markets turn around, it may have less of an impact, but at this point in time, with the numbers we're looking at, we have to plan for the worst," Gelles said.
The worldwide credit crunch is expected to soon increase the economic misery for Harrisburg property owners, who could end up paying much higher trash collection bills because their city authority has had difficulty refinancing debt tied to an ill-starred incinerator project.
Market conditions were a factor in a decision by the state's Commonwealth Financing Agency to delay - at least temporarily - the issuance of $800 million in bonds that were approved by the Legislature this summer.
That money is designed to help water and sewer plants comply with the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, but it has tight deadlines. About 60 larger plants along the Susquehanna River watershed must finish construction in 2012.
"We are hearing some of our folks are postponing projects because the bond market is so bad," said John W. Brosious, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association. "Unfortunately, those with Chesapeake Bay permits will not have that much flexibility to wait too long to start."
If there is a silver lining, it's that the heavy season for school district borrowing comes during the summer, leaving time for the credit markets to recover.
"Any districts who are trying to issue new bonds are probably finding extreme difficulty in the short term," said Dave Davare, director of research services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
State revenues are considered a generally reliable indicator of what is happening to less-closely-tracked local taxes, and the Revenue Department says that, from July to September, they were 4.7 percent below what was anticipated.
Pa. schools, governments feel the economic misery
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press 10.15.08, 5:19 PM ET
HARRISBURG, Pa. -
Less money is coming in, investments are being hammered and loans - when available - are likely to become more expensive.
While that describes the household finances of many Pennsylvania families these days, the same set of daunting challenges faces local governments across the state.
"We're feeling it," said Aurel Arndt, general manager of the Lehigh County Authority, which provides water and sewer services. "Our new revenues have essentially flattened, and that's a reflection of the fact that there are very few customer additions to the system."
The authority appears likely to increase sewer bills next year to close its budget gap, Arndt said. Other local governmental entities - school districts, townships, boroughs, cities and counties - are looking at service cuts, employee reductions or tax increases.
Officials are in the early stages of budget planning for 2009, and many assume the slowdown will reduce local income tax collections, increase delinquencies and fuel demand for police and social services.
The state may not be able to do much to help out. Its tax collections for 2008-09 were hundreds of millions dollars shy of projections just in the first quarter of the budget year.
Gov. Ed Rendell on Sept. 16 ordered state agencies to look for ways to cut 4.25 percent from their discretionary appropriations - although public safety, health and education were given smaller amounts to cut. The administration is still working out the details, but counties are worried about how that austerity will affect their own budgets.
"It's a killer," said Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. "The bottom line is, obviously it comes from somewhere, so we anticipate at best further pressure."
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation estimates that the motor license fund's payments to municipalities will be down $7 million to $10 million next year. That may be a small drop-off for a $332 million fund, but officials said the most recent comparable situation was the energy crisis of the mid-1970s.
Pension funds, which are closely tied to the stock market, loom as another major problem. At the end of June - before Wall Street turned from bad to worse - the state's $63 billion public school retirement system said investments had lost nearly 3 percent in the prior year.
That is bad news for local school districts that have to pump tax money into the fund when investments fall short. Last year's losses increased the much-dreaded 2012-13 pension contribution spike up from 11.2 percent of payroll to an estimated 16.3 percent, and the stock market's decline since June 30 can only have made that worse.
Municipal pensions also are feeling the pinch. In Cambria County, chief clerk Mike Gelles said Wednesday the county's pension fund lost about $42 million since the start of the year, or 24 percent. Layoffs, service cuts and millions in additional contributions from county taxpayers are considered likely.
"The markets turn around, it may have less of an impact, but at this point in time, with the numbers we're looking at, we have to plan for the worst," Gelles said.
The worldwide credit crunch is expected to soon increase the economic misery for Harrisburg property owners, who could end up paying much higher trash collection bills because their city authority has had difficulty refinancing debt tied to an ill-starred incinerator project.
Market conditions were a factor in a decision by the state's Commonwealth Financing Agency to delay - at least temporarily - the issuance of $800 million in bonds that were approved by the Legislature this summer.
That money is designed to help water and sewer plants comply with the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, but it has tight deadlines. About 60 larger plants along the Susquehanna River watershed must finish construction in 2012.
"We are hearing some of our folks are postponing projects because the bond market is so bad," said John W. Brosious, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association. "Unfortunately, those with Chesapeake Bay permits will not have that much flexibility to wait too long to start."
If there is a silver lining, it's that the heavy season for school district borrowing comes during the summer, leaving time for the credit markets to recover.
"Any districts who are trying to issue new bonds are probably finding extreme difficulty in the short term," said Dave Davare, director of research services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
State revenues are considered a generally reliable indicator of what is happening to less-closely-tracked local taxes, and the Revenue Department says that, from July to September, they were 4.7 percent below what was anticipated.
Effort mounts to stop teacher strikes
From the Intelligencer
Effort mounts to stop teacher strikes
By RICH PIETRAS, The Intelligencer
Jill Basile is determined to get teacher strikes struck down. And it appears she has found a brother in arms for her battle, and perhaps a small army.
Basile, a 42-year-old resident of Harleysville, hosted a town hall meeting Monday night for more than two hours at the Indian Crest Public Library in Telford to discuss teacher strikes, and teachers unions — a hot topic considering current labor unrest in the Souderton Area School District.
“I suffered through a school strike when I was at Neshaminy (High School) that lasted two-and-half months when I was a freshman,” Basile said. “I swore after that, I would never let my children go through something like that ... it was horrible.”
And she seems to be sticking to her promise, because Basile has a first-grade daughter in the Souderton Area School District who was forced out of school early in September. And although the strike ended after 13 days, it appears the determined mother of two is just getting started.
The guest speaker for the event was Simon Campbell, a grass roots activist opposed to teachers' right to strike in Pennsylvania.
He is also the president of StopTeacherStrikes Inc., whose Web site provides information on everything from how many school districts are at immediate risk of a strike, to the commonwealth's constitution, which Simon believes makes teacher strikes illegal.
Expecting only 30 people to show up, Basile was surprised to see 60 people fill the meeting room of the library. She was also thrilled to have Campbell come on board. Campbell, 41, who hails from England, settled in Pennsylvania in 2004 and has three children in the Pennsbury School District. It was Simon's exposure to a teachers strike there in the fall of 2005 that inspired him to form StopTeacherStrikes in March 2006. The unpaid volunteer has championed the cause of strike-free education and voluntary unionism ever since.
“I'd never even heard of a teachers strike until I moved to the states,” Simon said in front of a mixed crowd of parents and students as well as a couple of school board members. “I couldn't believe such a thing was allowed.”
A big part of the evening was devoted to the discussion of the Strike Free Education Act, House Bill 1369, which Simon and Basile wholeheartedly support.
Although the bill will not be signed into law this year, Simon, who turned the meeting into a mini civics lesson, urged the audience to do whatever it could to ensure the bill will pass and add Pennsylvania to the other 37 states that ban teacher strikes.
Basile said she believes that every side has been heard in the Souderton dispute but the residents.
“Where are the children's rights?” Basile asked. “The unions are running our education system, not us.”
Ernie Rosato, 46, Upper Salford, who has a child attending Souderton Area High School, also felt empowered after the meeting and hoped others felt the same way.
“We have a choice as a community to make a stand,” Rosato said. “It's time the community takes back what's really ours by telling the school board that strike should not be allowed and ask them to put their thoughts together on House Bill 1369.”
Effort mounts to stop teacher strikes
By RICH PIETRAS, The Intelligencer
Jill Basile is determined to get teacher strikes struck down. And it appears she has found a brother in arms for her battle, and perhaps a small army.
Basile, a 42-year-old resident of Harleysville, hosted a town hall meeting Monday night for more than two hours at the Indian Crest Public Library in Telford to discuss teacher strikes, and teachers unions — a hot topic considering current labor unrest in the Souderton Area School District.
“I suffered through a school strike when I was at Neshaminy (High School) that lasted two-and-half months when I was a freshman,” Basile said. “I swore after that, I would never let my children go through something like that ... it was horrible.”
And she seems to be sticking to her promise, because Basile has a first-grade daughter in the Souderton Area School District who was forced out of school early in September. And although the strike ended after 13 days, it appears the determined mother of two is just getting started.
The guest speaker for the event was Simon Campbell, a grass roots activist opposed to teachers' right to strike in Pennsylvania.
He is also the president of StopTeacherStrikes Inc., whose Web site provides information on everything from how many school districts are at immediate risk of a strike, to the commonwealth's constitution, which Simon believes makes teacher strikes illegal.
Expecting only 30 people to show up, Basile was surprised to see 60 people fill the meeting room of the library. She was also thrilled to have Campbell come on board. Campbell, 41, who hails from England, settled in Pennsylvania in 2004 and has three children in the Pennsbury School District. It was Simon's exposure to a teachers strike there in the fall of 2005 that inspired him to form StopTeacherStrikes in March 2006. The unpaid volunteer has championed the cause of strike-free education and voluntary unionism ever since.
“I'd never even heard of a teachers strike until I moved to the states,” Simon said in front of a mixed crowd of parents and students as well as a couple of school board members. “I couldn't believe such a thing was allowed.”
A big part of the evening was devoted to the discussion of the Strike Free Education Act, House Bill 1369, which Simon and Basile wholeheartedly support.
Although the bill will not be signed into law this year, Simon, who turned the meeting into a mini civics lesson, urged the audience to do whatever it could to ensure the bill will pass and add Pennsylvania to the other 37 states that ban teacher strikes.
Basile said she believes that every side has been heard in the Souderton dispute but the residents.
“Where are the children's rights?” Basile asked. “The unions are running our education system, not us.”
Ernie Rosato, 46, Upper Salford, who has a child attending Souderton Area High School, also felt empowered after the meeting and hoped others felt the same way.
“We have a choice as a community to make a stand,” Rosato said. “It's time the community takes back what's really ours by telling the school board that strike should not be allowed and ask them to put their thoughts together on House Bill 1369.”
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Safety at the Schools
I received several emails regarding a possible incident outside of Grandview School yesterday. Does anyone have any information?
Here is a snip from one of the emails.
Maybe the board can authorize something tonight to address this issue. This seems like a safety issue to me.
A student was hit by a car yesterday at her safety post at Grandview Elementary. I do not know all the details, but word is, thankfully, the girl is fine.
If this is a not a wake up call, then what will it take?
Many of us have seen close calls with cars in the school zones, repeatedly. My own daughter was nearly hit at the same spot last year. The issue of traffic safety around our schools remains unresolved, despite the efforts of staff, Mr. May and Mr. Seward.
The borough has not been willing to spend money on flashing lights outside each school zone. We fought just to get minimal signage around the schools. Plastering the smallest, least expensive 15 mile an hour signs along the streets is better than what we had before, but it is inadequate. We need flashing 15 mph signs in front of ALL schools. There is a reason most municipalities do this- people are more likely to notice the lights and will more likely take it seriously. Flashing lights will get the attention of motorists, but this alone will not be sufficient. We need the enforcement of police officers to back it up.
This will cost. But I'm willing to wager that this is one issue this town can agree on. Nobody wants to wait for a tragedy. The weight of losing a child when we could have acted will be much heavier than the weight of a few more tax dollars.
Please urge your borough council representative to take action - install flashing lights and provide police enforcement in our school zones on a regular basis. We don't need to wait for another study or more meetings that hash out the same issues. The issues are clear.
Just do what is standard practice everywhere else. Protect our children's safety.
Here is a snip from one of the emails.
Maybe the board can authorize something tonight to address this issue. This seems like a safety issue to me.
A student was hit by a car yesterday at her safety post at Grandview Elementary. I do not know all the details, but word is, thankfully, the girl is fine.
If this is a not a wake up call, then what will it take?
Many of us have seen close calls with cars in the school zones, repeatedly. My own daughter was nearly hit at the same spot last year. The issue of traffic safety around our schools remains unresolved, despite the efforts of staff, Mr. May and Mr. Seward.
The borough has not been willing to spend money on flashing lights outside each school zone. We fought just to get minimal signage around the schools. Plastering the smallest, least expensive 15 mile an hour signs along the streets is better than what we had before, but it is inadequate. We need flashing 15 mph signs in front of ALL schools. There is a reason most municipalities do this- people are more likely to notice the lights and will more likely take it seriously. Flashing lights will get the attention of motorists, but this alone will not be sufficient. We need the enforcement of police officers to back it up.
This will cost. But I'm willing to wager that this is one issue this town can agree on. Nobody wants to wait for a tragedy. The weight of losing a child when we could have acted will be much heavier than the weight of a few more tax dollars.
Please urge your borough council representative to take action - install flashing lights and provide police enforcement in our school zones on a regular basis. We don't need to wait for another study or more meetings that hash out the same issues. The issues are clear.
Just do what is standard practice everywhere else. Protect our children's safety.
Sneaker Update
ORIGINAL POST OCTOBER 8: Do you remember the sneaker collection campaign being conducted by the Morrisville High School National Honor Society students? NBC10 stopped back to see how they did.
They reached their goal of 600 pairs of sneakers. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Congratulations to everyone.
UPDATED OCTOBER 15: Now with video link from WBIR in Knoxville, TN.
Students Collect Sneakers For Needy Overseas
Shoes Will Be Refurbished, Sold To Help Family In Ghana
POSTED: 4:22 pm EDT October 7, 2008
UPDATED: 4:47 pm EDT October 7, 2008
Those old sneakers stuffed in the back of the closet may seem worthless, but students at a Bucks County high school recently asked people not to simply throw the shoes in the trash.
Instead, the students collected the shoes, and shipped them overseas to Ghana, where the sneakers will help a needy family.
During the past month, students at Morrisville High School gathered hundreds of pairs of sneakers from donors, all while learning about Ghana, located in West Africa.
"We got a lot more than we expected," junior Amanda Graf said, standing amidt trash bags stuffed with sneakers.
The shoes will be refurbished and sold in villages, said Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury, a teacher at Morrisville.
"The money from the sneakers provides funding for … a pretty large family," Glaum-Lathbury said, "and provides them with bikes, bees, rabbits, trees, a water pump, everything they need to become self-sustaining and sufficient."
It takes about 600 pairs of shoes to raise enough money to start a family farm, the teacher said.
It's like pretty much all of us helping just one family rather than everybody else," said senior Chad Demi. "We actually know who the stuff is going to instead of just random people."
Henry Cox picked up the shoe the students had collected and will ship them to Ghana.
"I think it's really great that the youth of our time is not only looking out for themselves," Cox said, "but they're looking out for other people in different countries."
They reached their goal of 600 pairs of sneakers. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Congratulations to everyone.
UPDATED OCTOBER 15: Now with video link from WBIR in Knoxville, TN.
Students Collect Sneakers For Needy Overseas
Shoes Will Be Refurbished, Sold To Help Family In Ghana
POSTED: 4:22 pm EDT October 7, 2008
UPDATED: 4:47 pm EDT October 7, 2008
Those old sneakers stuffed in the back of the closet may seem worthless, but students at a Bucks County high school recently asked people not to simply throw the shoes in the trash.
Instead, the students collected the shoes, and shipped them overseas to Ghana, where the sneakers will help a needy family.
During the past month, students at Morrisville High School gathered hundreds of pairs of sneakers from donors, all while learning about Ghana, located in West Africa.
"We got a lot more than we expected," junior Amanda Graf said, standing amidt trash bags stuffed with sneakers.
The shoes will be refurbished and sold in villages, said Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury, a teacher at Morrisville.
"The money from the sneakers provides funding for … a pretty large family," Glaum-Lathbury said, "and provides them with bikes, bees, rabbits, trees, a water pump, everything they need to become self-sustaining and sufficient."
It takes about 600 pairs of shoes to raise enough money to start a family farm, the teacher said.
It's like pretty much all of us helping just one family rather than everybody else," said senior Chad Demi. "We actually know who the stuff is going to instead of just random people."
Henry Cox picked up the shoe the students had collected and will ship them to Ghana.
"I think it's really great that the youth of our time is not only looking out for themselves," Cox said, "but they're looking out for other people in different countries."
Wishful Thinking
From the BCCT. Wouldn't this be nice in Morrisville?
School board meeting canceled
Posted in Community on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 4:47 pm by Joan Hellyer
The Bristol school board meeting scheduled for Thursday has been canceled because of a lack of agenda items, district officials said.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 in the district’s administration building off Farragut Avenue in the borough. Call 215-781-1010 for more information.
School board meeting canceled
Posted in Community on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 4:47 pm by Joan Hellyer
The Bristol school board meeting scheduled for Thursday has been canceled because of a lack of agenda items, district officials said.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 in the district’s administration building off Farragut Avenue in the borough. Call 215-781-1010 for more information.
Meeting Reminder
The Policy committee meeting at 6:30 is CANCELLED.
The agenda meeting is at 7:30
EDUCATION
Morrisville School Board: 7:30 p.m., Large Group Instruction Room of the Middle/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer St. Agenda: Agreement with engineering firm for upgrade services to the high school and surveys of elementary schools, acceptance of grants and donations. 215-736-2681
The agenda meeting is at 7:30
EDUCATION
Morrisville School Board: 7:30 p.m., Large Group Instruction Room of the Middle/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer St. Agenda: Agreement with engineering firm for upgrade services to the high school and surveys of elementary schools, acceptance of grants and donations. 215-736-2681
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Campaign 2008: Education
From the Inquirer
Karen Heller: Health, education foremost for voters
By Karen Heller Inquirer Columnist
In an economy that resembles a natural disaster - except that it was man-made and avoidable - Americans are concerned about health care and higher education, and how they're going to pay for them.
These are universal concerns. Without health or education, we can't go forward. We can't even tread water. Education is the great equalizer and the biggest key to financial advancement and independence, far more than race, ethnicity, country of birth, or your parents' financial situation.
Educated citizens land better jobs, ones with health insurance. A healthy, educated country is a more prosperous one. If that's elite, we should all be for it.
When Americans are uninsured and sick, they drain the entire system. We all end up paying for it. And the nation suffers.
During the Republican National Convention, education came up maybe twice. You can't have the "best workers in the world," as both candidates claim, without educating them well.
Otherwise, you don't simply leave a child behind, you leave a nation.
The McCain campaign rarely mentions education. On health care, it applies the same marvelous free-market applications that got us into this fiscal disaster. The campaign is too busy fighting community organizers and former domestic terrorists, who often amount to the same thing. Who knows, they could be anywhere. I attended the same school as Bill Ayers' wife, in the neighborhood where they live. Possibly some errant terrorist dust rubbed off on me.
Karen Heller: Health, education foremost for voters
By Karen Heller Inquirer Columnist
In an economy that resembles a natural disaster - except that it was man-made and avoidable - Americans are concerned about health care and higher education, and how they're going to pay for them.
These are universal concerns. Without health or education, we can't go forward. We can't even tread water. Education is the great equalizer and the biggest key to financial advancement and independence, far more than race, ethnicity, country of birth, or your parents' financial situation.
Educated citizens land better jobs, ones with health insurance. A healthy, educated country is a more prosperous one. If that's elite, we should all be for it.
When Americans are uninsured and sick, they drain the entire system. We all end up paying for it. And the nation suffers.
During the Republican National Convention, education came up maybe twice. You can't have the "best workers in the world," as both candidates claim, without educating them well.
Otherwise, you don't simply leave a child behind, you leave a nation.
The McCain campaign rarely mentions education. On health care, it applies the same marvelous free-market applications that got us into this fiscal disaster. The campaign is too busy fighting community organizers and former domestic terrorists, who often amount to the same thing. Who knows, they could be anywhere. I attended the same school as Bill Ayers' wife, in the neighborhood where they live. Possibly some errant terrorist dust rubbed off on me.
Philly Is Hiring Teachers
From the Inquirer.
Phila. district lags in filling teacher vacancies
By Kristen A. Graham Posted on Tue, Oct. 14, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writer
New York City, Chicago and Boston all opened school this fall with no teacher vacancies.
But a month into the new school year, Philadelphia's public schools had 144 unfilled teaching jobs - down from a seven-year high a few weeks ago - and officials warn that about 70 positions will go unfilled all year, with those classrooms staffed by substitute teachers.
Officials say the current spike in vacancies is due to turnover in district brass and a resulting slowdown in this year's hiring process. They also blame national shortages in some subjects.
But teacher-recruitment experts point to other, systemic problems, saying Philadelphia's hiring process is outdated and overly complex.
The 144 vacancies represent a little more than 1 percent of the district's 10,000 teaching jobs. But the impact is significant, said Sheila Simmons, education director for Public Citizens for Children and Youth, a nonprofit advocacy group.
"One percent may not look bad at an administrative level, but if you're a parent or a child and the vacancy is at your school, it's huge," Simmons said. "I think 1 percent is still too much."
The 70 permanent vacancies would mean that at a minimum, 2,300 students would spend the year without a permanent teacher.
That other districts have fixed the problem and Philadelphia has not is particularly frustrating, advocates say.
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman is not pleased, either, but she said the problem was not entirely district-made.
"We're handicapped in our ability to hire teachers," Ackerman said. The current teacher contract, she said, sets up a system where some teaching candidates cannot be interviewed until two weeks before school starts.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, rejected the notion that the contract hurts hiring.
"After all these years, the district should be able to project the number of teachers they're going to need," Jordan said. "There's no reason they can't pre-hire teachers. I don't see the contract as prohibiting them from hiring."
Michael Masch, the district's chief business officer and temporary head of human resources, and Dina Hollingsworth, the new head of recruitment and retention, said the district was improving its hiring practices.
Officials have begun a campaign to recruit more aggressively, including internationally; hire earlier; and reach out to more partners.
Historically, the number of city classrooms without a permanent teacher in September has fluctuated, from a low of 62 two years ago to 169 a month ago, the highest in seven years. The vacancies are concentrated in hard-to-staff subjects like math, science and vocal music, and at the city's neighborhood high schools.
Cecilia Cummings, a district spokeswoman, said that the 70 unfilled jobs were typical for the district and that she could not say when they would be filled.
"In a workforce so large, you're always going to have vacancies," Cummings said. "In most cases, we have qualified, long-term subs who are certified to teach the courses."
Substitute teachers are not all state-certified, though 37 percent of Philadelphia's do have state credentials, officials say. In many cases, though, their areas of certification do not match those needed for open jobs.
The teacher shortage really hits home for Candace Carter and Isiah Enoch, both 17.
Carter and Enoch, seniors at Sayre High in West Philadelphia, spent the first three weeks of school without a permanent English teacher. Last week, their third teacher arrived.
Initially, "we weren't doing anything," Carter said. "We were just sitting there, doing nothing."
Work was assigned and ignored. Students were confused and acted up.
"We're really behind," Enoch said. "It's a shame."
Success elsewhere
Unlike suburban districts around the region, where earlier hiring timetables, higher salaries, and fewer classroom challenges mean a smoother hiring process, big-city schools have long wrestled with vacancies.
But in the last five years, other urban districts have ramped up their efforts, said Allan Odden, a University of Wisconsin professor and codirector of Strategic Management of Human Capital, a nonprofit that works with the nation's largest districts.
"Unless a district mounts and maintains a comprehensive hiring strategy, they're going to open with vacancies," Odden said. "But if New York, Chicago and Boston can do it, anybody can do it."
In the past, city districts in general did little recruiting, and rarely looked at applications before August, when most of the top talent had already been snapped up by suburban districts.
Now, successful districts have revamped and automated cumbersome hiring processes, Odden said. They have begun recruiting at better universities, partnered with "talent organizations" such as Teach for America, negotiated changes in seniority with powerful teachers unions, and moved up hiring schedules with the goal of filling every vacancy by the beginning of summer.
Philadelphia has taken some of those steps, but has been hampered by uncertainty in a contract year, the teachers union says - its current pact expires at the end of this month. Researchers also point to a hiring process that's "mind-numbingly complex and slow," according to a 2007 report by Research for Action.
Elizabeth Useem, a researcher who has studied Philadelphia teacher recruitment and retention for years and coauthor of several reports on the subject, said that recruitment and retention must be a top priority for the district's new superintendent and her human-resources team.
"HR needs to be leading reform," said Useem, senior research consultant for Research for Action. "It's a crucial issue, and I don't know why it's slipped."
A multi-level system
Philadelphia made some progress in streamlining and decentralizing hiring in the Paul Vallas era, but still grapples with a teacher contract that sets up a multi-level system of hiring.
Some jobs are filled by "site selection," in which members of a school community pick the teachers themselves. Others are staffed by seniority. In some cases, hiring begins the May before a new school year. In others, it doesn't happen until August or later.
The process makes it tough to hire top candidates in a timely way, critics said.
Ackerman has said moving up the timeline was a priority for a new teacher contract.
Officials said the district was tackling the problem by attending more recruiting events, advertising more nationally and internationally, cold-calling universities to identify job-hunting graduates, and using online recruiting tools - clearinghouse sites such as Pa-Educator.net.
The district is also looking into programs such as Math Immersion, which trains college graduates with good math aptitude to teach arithmetic.
And Masch said the district must automate its hiring.
"My first day on the job, I filled out my name and Social Security number on 20 different pieces of paper," said Masch, who started in July. "I am determined that in the future, no hire should have to do that."
Ackerman has other proposals to pay teacher specialists - such as those who work in hard-to-staff jobs or schools - more money, and to require teachers to give more notice when they retire or resign.
In September alone, more than 50 teachers departed the district, some with little warning.
Phila. district lags in filling teacher vacancies
By Kristen A. Graham Posted on Tue, Oct. 14, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writer
New York City, Chicago and Boston all opened school this fall with no teacher vacancies.
But a month into the new school year, Philadelphia's public schools had 144 unfilled teaching jobs - down from a seven-year high a few weeks ago - and officials warn that about 70 positions will go unfilled all year, with those classrooms staffed by substitute teachers.
Officials say the current spike in vacancies is due to turnover in district brass and a resulting slowdown in this year's hiring process. They also blame national shortages in some subjects.
But teacher-recruitment experts point to other, systemic problems, saying Philadelphia's hiring process is outdated and overly complex.
The 144 vacancies represent a little more than 1 percent of the district's 10,000 teaching jobs. But the impact is significant, said Sheila Simmons, education director for Public Citizens for Children and Youth, a nonprofit advocacy group.
"One percent may not look bad at an administrative level, but if you're a parent or a child and the vacancy is at your school, it's huge," Simmons said. "I think 1 percent is still too much."
The 70 permanent vacancies would mean that at a minimum, 2,300 students would spend the year without a permanent teacher.
That other districts have fixed the problem and Philadelphia has not is particularly frustrating, advocates say.
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman is not pleased, either, but she said the problem was not entirely district-made.
"We're handicapped in our ability to hire teachers," Ackerman said. The current teacher contract, she said, sets up a system where some teaching candidates cannot be interviewed until two weeks before school starts.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, rejected the notion that the contract hurts hiring.
"After all these years, the district should be able to project the number of teachers they're going to need," Jordan said. "There's no reason they can't pre-hire teachers. I don't see the contract as prohibiting them from hiring."
Michael Masch, the district's chief business officer and temporary head of human resources, and Dina Hollingsworth, the new head of recruitment and retention, said the district was improving its hiring practices.
Officials have begun a campaign to recruit more aggressively, including internationally; hire earlier; and reach out to more partners.
Historically, the number of city classrooms without a permanent teacher in September has fluctuated, from a low of 62 two years ago to 169 a month ago, the highest in seven years. The vacancies are concentrated in hard-to-staff subjects like math, science and vocal music, and at the city's neighborhood high schools.
Cecilia Cummings, a district spokeswoman, said that the 70 unfilled jobs were typical for the district and that she could not say when they would be filled.
"In a workforce so large, you're always going to have vacancies," Cummings said. "In most cases, we have qualified, long-term subs who are certified to teach the courses."
Substitute teachers are not all state-certified, though 37 percent of Philadelphia's do have state credentials, officials say. In many cases, though, their areas of certification do not match those needed for open jobs.
The teacher shortage really hits home for Candace Carter and Isiah Enoch, both 17.
Carter and Enoch, seniors at Sayre High in West Philadelphia, spent the first three weeks of school without a permanent English teacher. Last week, their third teacher arrived.
Initially, "we weren't doing anything," Carter said. "We were just sitting there, doing nothing."
Work was assigned and ignored. Students were confused and acted up.
"We're really behind," Enoch said. "It's a shame."
Success elsewhere
Unlike suburban districts around the region, where earlier hiring timetables, higher salaries, and fewer classroom challenges mean a smoother hiring process, big-city schools have long wrestled with vacancies.
But in the last five years, other urban districts have ramped up their efforts, said Allan Odden, a University of Wisconsin professor and codirector of Strategic Management of Human Capital, a nonprofit that works with the nation's largest districts.
"Unless a district mounts and maintains a comprehensive hiring strategy, they're going to open with vacancies," Odden said. "But if New York, Chicago and Boston can do it, anybody can do it."
In the past, city districts in general did little recruiting, and rarely looked at applications before August, when most of the top talent had already been snapped up by suburban districts.
Now, successful districts have revamped and automated cumbersome hiring processes, Odden said. They have begun recruiting at better universities, partnered with "talent organizations" such as Teach for America, negotiated changes in seniority with powerful teachers unions, and moved up hiring schedules with the goal of filling every vacancy by the beginning of summer.
Philadelphia has taken some of those steps, but has been hampered by uncertainty in a contract year, the teachers union says - its current pact expires at the end of this month. Researchers also point to a hiring process that's "mind-numbingly complex and slow," according to a 2007 report by Research for Action.
Elizabeth Useem, a researcher who has studied Philadelphia teacher recruitment and retention for years and coauthor of several reports on the subject, said that recruitment and retention must be a top priority for the district's new superintendent and her human-resources team.
"HR needs to be leading reform," said Useem, senior research consultant for Research for Action. "It's a crucial issue, and I don't know why it's slipped."
A multi-level system
Philadelphia made some progress in streamlining and decentralizing hiring in the Paul Vallas era, but still grapples with a teacher contract that sets up a multi-level system of hiring.
Some jobs are filled by "site selection," in which members of a school community pick the teachers themselves. Others are staffed by seniority. In some cases, hiring begins the May before a new school year. In others, it doesn't happen until August or later.
The process makes it tough to hire top candidates in a timely way, critics said.
Ackerman has said moving up the timeline was a priority for a new teacher contract.
Officials said the district was tackling the problem by attending more recruiting events, advertising more nationally and internationally, cold-calling universities to identify job-hunting graduates, and using online recruiting tools - clearinghouse sites such as Pa-Educator.net.
The district is also looking into programs such as Math Immersion, which trains college graduates with good math aptitude to teach arithmetic.
And Masch said the district must automate its hiring.
"My first day on the job, I filled out my name and Social Security number on 20 different pieces of paper," said Masch, who started in July. "I am determined that in the future, no hire should have to do that."
Ackerman has other proposals to pay teacher specialists - such as those who work in hard-to-staff jobs or schools - more money, and to require teachers to give more notice when they retire or resign.
In September alone, more than 50 teachers departed the district, some with little warning.
Show Me the Signs
Here's a short story from the BCCT about McCain signs being removed from a Morrisville homeowner's property.
Respect for the other person's political viewpoint and rational discussion of that viewpoint is at a premium in general, but in Morrisville, it's an ancient art that is almost extinct.
Vote for McCain. Vote for Obama. Vote third party if you want. Just make sure to VOTE.
And leave the signs alone.
Joe Hurchick of Morrisville shows where someone came onto his property at Jefferson Ave and stole his McClain for President signs. Signs were stolen all along Jefferson Ave down to Pennsylvania Ave.
“People can vote for whoever they want to,” Hurchick says,”but I don’t like people coming onto my property and stealing my signs.
Respect for the other person's political viewpoint and rational discussion of that viewpoint is at a premium in general, but in Morrisville, it's an ancient art that is almost extinct.
Vote for McCain. Vote for Obama. Vote third party if you want. Just make sure to VOTE.
And leave the signs alone.
Joe Hurchick of Morrisville shows where someone came onto his property at Jefferson Ave and stole his McClain for President signs. Signs were stolen all along Jefferson Ave down to Pennsylvania Ave.
“People can vote for whoever they want to,” Hurchick says,”but I don’t like people coming onto my property and stealing my signs.
Peers influence students
Another dispatch from the front lines in the education wars from Captain Obvious, as printed by the BCCT.
Study: Peers influence students
Overall, students were nearly as likely after three years of college to call themselves “conservative” or “far-right.”
By JUSTIN POPE
On issues such as abortion, gay marriage and religion, college students shift noticeably to the left from the time they arrive on campus through their junior year, new research shows.
The reason, according to UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, isn’t indoctrination by left-leaning faculty but rather the more powerful influence of fellow students. And at most colleges, left-leaning peer groups are more common than conservative ones.
After college, students — particularly women — move somewhat back to the right politically.
The research is the latest of several efforts by academics to lend analytical rigor to an emotional debate. Overall, college faculty lean left politically, but there’s sharp disagreement on whether they impose their views on students. The UCLA researchers are among several social scientists who have tried to undermine the argument that students respond strongly to their teachers’ opinions.
Overall, students were nearly as likely after three years of college to call themselves “conservative” or “far-right,” according to findings, and only somewhat more likely to call themselves “liberal” or “far left.”
On specific policy questions, they moved to more liberal positions.
Sixty percent of the college juniors said they support legalized abortion, up from 52 percent who said so as freshmen. The percentage supporting “legal marital status” for gay couples rose from 54 to 66. The percentage supporting increased defense spending fell from 34 to 25.
“People are moving out of the center to the left during college,” said one of the researchers, Alexander Astin.
Studies dating back decades have noted the trend of college students moving to the left during their college careers. But finding a representative snapshot of overall college opinion is difficult, because colleges have such varying student bodies.
The new figures from UCLA — which has been tracking attitudes of freshmen for more than 40 years — give a fresher and, the authors contend, more valid portrait. Based on a sample of nearly 15,000 students who entered 136 colleges in 2004, the results are carefully weighted to represent the full college population. Unlike some other such surveys, UCLA was able to pose its questions to the same students when they started college and after junior year.
Among other findings:
The percentage of students who support laws prohibiting homosexual relationships fell 10 points, from 31.5 percent to 21.5 percent after three years of college.
The percentage who never attend religious services nearly doubled to 37.5 percent.
There were exceptions to the leftward trend. A majority continued to support the death penalty, though the percentage saying it should be abolished rose 5 points to about 37 percent. On taxes, the percentage strongly agreeing the wealthy should pay a larger share rose slightly, but there was otherwise little change.
Study: Peers influence students
Overall, students were nearly as likely after three years of college to call themselves “conservative” or “far-right.”
By JUSTIN POPE
On issues such as abortion, gay marriage and religion, college students shift noticeably to the left from the time they arrive on campus through their junior year, new research shows.
The reason, according to UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, isn’t indoctrination by left-leaning faculty but rather the more powerful influence of fellow students. And at most colleges, left-leaning peer groups are more common than conservative ones.
After college, students — particularly women — move somewhat back to the right politically.
The research is the latest of several efforts by academics to lend analytical rigor to an emotional debate. Overall, college faculty lean left politically, but there’s sharp disagreement on whether they impose their views on students. The UCLA researchers are among several social scientists who have tried to undermine the argument that students respond strongly to their teachers’ opinions.
Overall, students were nearly as likely after three years of college to call themselves “conservative” or “far-right,” according to findings, and only somewhat more likely to call themselves “liberal” or “far left.”
On specific policy questions, they moved to more liberal positions.
Sixty percent of the college juniors said they support legalized abortion, up from 52 percent who said so as freshmen. The percentage supporting “legal marital status” for gay couples rose from 54 to 66. The percentage supporting increased defense spending fell from 34 to 25.
“People are moving out of the center to the left during college,” said one of the researchers, Alexander Astin.
Studies dating back decades have noted the trend of college students moving to the left during their college careers. But finding a representative snapshot of overall college opinion is difficult, because colleges have such varying student bodies.
The new figures from UCLA — which has been tracking attitudes of freshmen for more than 40 years — give a fresher and, the authors contend, more valid portrait. Based on a sample of nearly 15,000 students who entered 136 colleges in 2004, the results are carefully weighted to represent the full college population. Unlike some other such surveys, UCLA was able to pose its questions to the same students when they started college and after junior year.
Among other findings:
The percentage of students who support laws prohibiting homosexual relationships fell 10 points, from 31.5 percent to 21.5 percent after three years of college.
The percentage who never attend religious services nearly doubled to 37.5 percent.
There were exceptions to the leftward trend. A majority continued to support the death penalty, though the percentage saying it should be abolished rose 5 points to about 37 percent. On taxes, the percentage strongly agreeing the wealthy should pay a larger share rose slightly, but there was otherwise little change.
Bristol Twp Updating Report Cards
From the BCCT.
District to make improvements to secondary students’ report cards
The revisions for secondary students could take effect next school year.
By JOAN HELLYER
Bristol Township secondary students may soon take home clearer, concise and more upbeat report cards, according to district officials.
The school board is considering whether to make numerous changes to the current secondary report card. The changes would take effect in 2009-10, district officials said.
At the urging of Bristol Township teachers, district staff worked on the proposed changes for about a year to create “a more positive line of communication with parents about the students,” Assistant Superintendent Parthenia Moore said. The changes include:
The student’s school will be more readily identifiable. Right now all four of the district’s secondary schools are listed on every report card with no clear indicator of which school a student attends.
The demographic information of the student and his or her parents will be clearly visible at the top of the report card. Currently, the student’s name is buried between grade descriptions and achievement information.
The district will move from listing just letter grades to also showing students’ numerical grades in an effort to be more precise with grade point averages and class ranking, Moore said.
Comments about student achievement listed on the evaluation will be positive in nature compared to the generally negative comments on the existing report cards, the assistant superintendent said.
Students attendance will be tracked not only on a daily basis but also for each individual class he or she is scheduled to attend.
Internet links will be included for parents to access the state standards for which their child is being evaluated.
The proposed changes were listed on the agenda reviewed by the board during its planning session Monday night. The board is expected to decide during its Oct. 20 meeting whether to move forward with the suggested changes.
District to make improvements to secondary students’ report cards
The revisions for secondary students could take effect next school year.
By JOAN HELLYER
Bristol Township secondary students may soon take home clearer, concise and more upbeat report cards, according to district officials.
The school board is considering whether to make numerous changes to the current secondary report card. The changes would take effect in 2009-10, district officials said.
At the urging of Bristol Township teachers, district staff worked on the proposed changes for about a year to create “a more positive line of communication with parents about the students,” Assistant Superintendent Parthenia Moore said. The changes include:
The student’s school will be more readily identifiable. Right now all four of the district’s secondary schools are listed on every report card with no clear indicator of which school a student attends.
The demographic information of the student and his or her parents will be clearly visible at the top of the report card. Currently, the student’s name is buried between grade descriptions and achievement information.
The district will move from listing just letter grades to also showing students’ numerical grades in an effort to be more precise with grade point averages and class ranking, Moore said.
Comments about student achievement listed on the evaluation will be positive in nature compared to the generally negative comments on the existing report cards, the assistant superintendent said.
Students attendance will be tracked not only on a daily basis but also for each individual class he or she is scheduled to attend.
Internet links will be included for parents to access the state standards for which their child is being evaluated.
The proposed changes were listed on the agenda reviewed by the board during its planning session Monday night. The board is expected to decide during its Oct. 20 meeting whether to move forward with the suggested changes.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Holiday Monday
It's apparently a quiet day. There's a quasi-holiday depending on your school district or work location. [Morrisville does have school today.] There's not a lot in the blogosphere or in the BCCT this morning, either.
Here's a shout out to Oregon and Lebanon for Truth and Reconciliation.
Here's what LT says in their short bio: About Me
"I am a citizen concerned about the morality and ethics of my town, Lebanon. I am concerned about the process that is being used by members of the Lebanon Community Schools board of directors to make decisions. Is Lebanon a town where truth and justice are feared or is it a place where bullying and cover up are the main decision-making tools? There are people who are concerned, but don't get accurate information and/or are afraid to speak. This is designed to be a forum where people can get accurate information and share ways to encourage the practice of respect, thoughtful decision-making, truth-telling."
The perusal of a few posts reveals that there's quite a bit of Morrisville in our western neighbor. Or them in us.
Here's a shout out to Oregon and Lebanon for Truth and Reconciliation.
Here's what LT says in their short bio: About Me
"I am a citizen concerned about the morality and ethics of my town, Lebanon. I am concerned about the process that is being used by members of the Lebanon Community Schools board of directors to make decisions. Is Lebanon a town where truth and justice are feared or is it a place where bullying and cover up are the main decision-making tools? There are people who are concerned, but don't get accurate information and/or are afraid to speak. This is designed to be a forum where people can get accurate information and share ways to encourage the practice of respect, thoughtful decision-making, truth-telling."
The perusal of a few posts reveals that there's quite a bit of Morrisville in our western neighbor. Or them in us.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
I Before E, Except if You're Failing
From the Seattle Times. Here's a real life example of Joe Stalin's famous observation about voting: It's not who votes, but who counts the votes. All we have to do is to count your GPA correctly, and your grading problems will go away.
Consider this quote: "A student with three A's and three E's would have a grade-point average of 2.0. A student with three A's and three N's would have a perfect grade-point of 4.0."
Morrisville's sports team have recently been feeling the pinch that academically ineligible players can inflict. It may mean an enhanced losing season, but it's the right thing to do. Resetting the goalposts doesn't help anyone. Helping the students reach the goalpost does.
Seattle high-schoolers can now get failing grades
Seattle Public Schools has changed its high-school grading policy to include E grades, a mark more commonly known as an F. In the past, students who did not pass a class earned an N, which did not affect their grade-point averages.
By Linda Shaw
Seattle Times education reporter
For the first time in seven years, Seattle public high-school students who do poorly can receive a failing grade on their report cards.
Since 2000, not a single student has received an E, a mark more commonly known as an F. High schools instead handed out N's for "no credit," which didn't affect a student's grade-point average and took much of the sting out of failure.
But the E is back — effective immediately.
The reason, the district says, is a technical one. In a larger review of high schools, a district committee recently realized that the exclusive use of N's violated School Board policy.
The change, however, has been welcomed by many principals and teachers who believe that students should face more consequences for failure.
At Ingraham High, for example, just one of the school's 14 department heads opposed the change, Principal Martin Floe said.
"I think it's the right step," Floe said. "It allows us to be consistent with the grading practices for the majority of schools in the area."
The return of the E could cause difficulties for some athletes because the school district requires students to have a C average to play. It also might affect some students' prospects as they apply to college, although area colleges are aware of what Seattle was doing.
But it will stop what many say was an unintended consequence: Some students decided it was better for their GPAs if they just gave up and lost credit for a class rather than earn a D or even a low C.
"For a number of years now, people have been feeling that the N policy is problematic," said Marni Campbell, principal at Nathan Hale High School.
An E counts as a zero
When students receive an E or an N, they don't get any credit toward graduation. The E, however, counts as a zero when calculating a student's grade-point average. An N does not. So a student with three A's and three E's would have a grade-point average of 2.0. A student with three A's and three N's would have a perfect grade-point of 4.0.
The district doesn't plan to change past N's to E's, but says schools should give the failing grade from now on.
District officials say former Chief Academic Officer June Rimmer banished the failing E grade seven years ago, in part to help some students meet the district's then-new requirement that students had to have a C average to graduate. The School Board also had voted that, for the purposes of graduation, failing grades can be left out of the GPA equation. The board did not, however, say schools could do away with E's altogether.
Rimmer's decision was a part of a larger effort to focus more on what students learn, and less on how long it takes them. She once proposed what she called an "at-your-pace" diploma, which students would earn in three to five years. The idea was to acknowledge that not all students learn at the same rate, and should be able to retake a class without being punished or discouraged by receiving a failing grade the first time.
Rimmer was quoted saying that N could stand for "not yet."
She wasn't alone in such sentiments. One example is the Federal Way School District, where students have to earn at least a C-minus in required classes or retake them. Teachers in many school districts incorporate similar ideas in how they grade assignments.
State law allows high-school students to retake a class and count only the higher grade in their GPA, although the failing grade still must be listed on transcripts. And Seattle allows students to take one class each semester for pass/no credit.
But Seattle appears to be the only district in the area that didn't use — or count — failing grades on report cards. Even nationally, it appears that it's one of just a handful. One national consultant who has written books about grading said he's come across several. Another says he's never heard of any.
Practice inflated GPAs
College admissions officers were aware that the practice inflates Seattle students' GPAs. Western Washington University and University of Washington officials said that's one reason they look at students' transcripts, not just their GPAs.
"Just because it's not counted in the GPA doesn't mean it doesn't matter," said Philip Ballinger, UW's admissions director. "We take a look at a GPA and then we place it in a great big pile of contextual salt. We want to place that GPA in context. The N is part of that."
Still, the fact that Seattle students could fail four classes, get two As and still have a perfect GPA "seemed a bit ridiculous," said Tim Ames, a social-studies teacher at Nathan Hale High School.
That didn't happen often, but it did happen, usually just for one semester or quarter, said Bruce Bivins, principal at West Seattle High.
Bivins, like many principals, is happy the E is back, saying he thinks it will lead students to work harder.
Board member Harium Martin-Morris said the N offered too much absolution for his taste.
"It might be the tough-love part of me," he said, "but there are times when you don't do well that it has to be made known to you in a very direct way."
Michael Tolley, the district's high-school director, said the exclusive use of "no credits" also may have unintentionally raised the district's dropout rate. If it's true that a lot of students opted for N's rather than D's, he said, they might have saved their GPAs in the short term, but they also missed out on earning credits. And lack of credits, he said, is one of the top reasons why students drop out.
Some teachers say they'll miss the flexibility that the N allowed, especially the ability to send students a message without putting a big dent into their GPAs.
And Garfield High School Principal Ted Howard II says the return to the E needs to be accompanied by intensive support for students who arrive in high school performing below grade level, so they have a chance to earn passing grades.
The E versus N issue came up as part of a larger discussion of grading practices. A subcommittee of the district's high-school steering committee already has made recommendations that its members hope will encourage students to work harder. Those recommendations include allowing teachers to give A-minuses and B-pluses rather than just straight letter grades, giving more weight in the GPA to tough college-level courses such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, and doing away with the requirement that students need a C average to graduate.
That subcommittee also endorsed bringing back the E.
Consider this quote: "A student with three A's and three E's would have a grade-point average of 2.0. A student with three A's and three N's would have a perfect grade-point of 4.0."
Morrisville's sports team have recently been feeling the pinch that academically ineligible players can inflict. It may mean an enhanced losing season, but it's the right thing to do. Resetting the goalposts doesn't help anyone. Helping the students reach the goalpost does.
Seattle high-schoolers can now get failing grades
Seattle Public Schools has changed its high-school grading policy to include E grades, a mark more commonly known as an F. In the past, students who did not pass a class earned an N, which did not affect their grade-point averages.
By Linda Shaw
Seattle Times education reporter
For the first time in seven years, Seattle public high-school students who do poorly can receive a failing grade on their report cards.
Since 2000, not a single student has received an E, a mark more commonly known as an F. High schools instead handed out N's for "no credit," which didn't affect a student's grade-point average and took much of the sting out of failure.
But the E is back — effective immediately.
The reason, the district says, is a technical one. In a larger review of high schools, a district committee recently realized that the exclusive use of N's violated School Board policy.
The change, however, has been welcomed by many principals and teachers who believe that students should face more consequences for failure.
At Ingraham High, for example, just one of the school's 14 department heads opposed the change, Principal Martin Floe said.
"I think it's the right step," Floe said. "It allows us to be consistent with the grading practices for the majority of schools in the area."
The return of the E could cause difficulties for some athletes because the school district requires students to have a C average to play. It also might affect some students' prospects as they apply to college, although area colleges are aware of what Seattle was doing.
But it will stop what many say was an unintended consequence: Some students decided it was better for their GPAs if they just gave up and lost credit for a class rather than earn a D or even a low C.
"For a number of years now, people have been feeling that the N policy is problematic," said Marni Campbell, principal at Nathan Hale High School.
An E counts as a zero
When students receive an E or an N, they don't get any credit toward graduation. The E, however, counts as a zero when calculating a student's grade-point average. An N does not. So a student with three A's and three E's would have a grade-point average of 2.0. A student with three A's and three N's would have a perfect grade-point of 4.0.
The district doesn't plan to change past N's to E's, but says schools should give the failing grade from now on.
District officials say former Chief Academic Officer June Rimmer banished the failing E grade seven years ago, in part to help some students meet the district's then-new requirement that students had to have a C average to graduate. The School Board also had voted that, for the purposes of graduation, failing grades can be left out of the GPA equation. The board did not, however, say schools could do away with E's altogether.
Rimmer's decision was a part of a larger effort to focus more on what students learn, and less on how long it takes them. She once proposed what she called an "at-your-pace" diploma, which students would earn in three to five years. The idea was to acknowledge that not all students learn at the same rate, and should be able to retake a class without being punished or discouraged by receiving a failing grade the first time.
Rimmer was quoted saying that N could stand for "not yet."
She wasn't alone in such sentiments. One example is the Federal Way School District, where students have to earn at least a C-minus in required classes or retake them. Teachers in many school districts incorporate similar ideas in how they grade assignments.
State law allows high-school students to retake a class and count only the higher grade in their GPA, although the failing grade still must be listed on transcripts. And Seattle allows students to take one class each semester for pass/no credit.
But Seattle appears to be the only district in the area that didn't use — or count — failing grades on report cards. Even nationally, it appears that it's one of just a handful. One national consultant who has written books about grading said he's come across several. Another says he's never heard of any.
Practice inflated GPAs
College admissions officers were aware that the practice inflates Seattle students' GPAs. Western Washington University and University of Washington officials said that's one reason they look at students' transcripts, not just their GPAs.
"Just because it's not counted in the GPA doesn't mean it doesn't matter," said Philip Ballinger, UW's admissions director. "We take a look at a GPA and then we place it in a great big pile of contextual salt. We want to place that GPA in context. The N is part of that."
Still, the fact that Seattle students could fail four classes, get two As and still have a perfect GPA "seemed a bit ridiculous," said Tim Ames, a social-studies teacher at Nathan Hale High School.
That didn't happen often, but it did happen, usually just for one semester or quarter, said Bruce Bivins, principal at West Seattle High.
Bivins, like many principals, is happy the E is back, saying he thinks it will lead students to work harder.
Board member Harium Martin-Morris said the N offered too much absolution for his taste.
"It might be the tough-love part of me," he said, "but there are times when you don't do well that it has to be made known to you in a very direct way."
Michael Tolley, the district's high-school director, said the exclusive use of "no credits" also may have unintentionally raised the district's dropout rate. If it's true that a lot of students opted for N's rather than D's, he said, they might have saved their GPAs in the short term, but they also missed out on earning credits. And lack of credits, he said, is one of the top reasons why students drop out.
Some teachers say they'll miss the flexibility that the N allowed, especially the ability to send students a message without putting a big dent into their GPAs.
And Garfield High School Principal Ted Howard II says the return to the E needs to be accompanied by intensive support for students who arrive in high school performing below grade level, so they have a chance to earn passing grades.
The E versus N issue came up as part of a larger discussion of grading practices. A subcommittee of the district's high-school steering committee already has made recommendations that its members hope will encourage students to work harder. Those recommendations include allowing teachers to give A-minuses and B-pluses rather than just straight letter grades, giving more weight in the GPA to tough college-level courses such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, and doing away with the requirement that students need a C average to graduate.
That subcommittee also endorsed bringing back the E.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Excellence in Zero Tolerance Education
Another one that is too good to pass up.
The Knuckleheads of the Day award
Posted by Bill Jempty
Published: September 12, 2008 - 3:15 PM
Today's winners are Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendent of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale. They get the award for the following.
A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.
The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.
A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff's report.
It was obvious that the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.
The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.
District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district's zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.
Zero tolerance in this case and others, is the mantra or justification for me who refuse to think. Part of a pencil sharpener is a weapon? Maybe, but so are pens, pencils, protractors and a long list of other items found in schools. How about paint and glue? A child may harm a classmate if they inject it into another's mouth. Any student bringing these should be suspended too. I mean school officials must have zero tolerance for any potential weapon.
A Beaufort County school spokesman said-
"We're always going to do something to make sure the child understands the seriousness of having something that could potentially harm another student, but we're going to be reasonable,"
Suspending a student over a broken pencil sharpener isn't a reasonable action except in the mind of idiots. Why are people like this educating students in South Carolina? Their brain matter is obviously more consistent with a person who digs ditches.
Steve Verdon at OTB wrote-
This policy is stupid in that a sliver of metal is probably far less lethal a weapon and a pencil or pen. The idea of preventing weapons on a school campus with young children is a laudable goal, but when you end up punishing a student for a silly mistake it is counter productive. The school district looks like a bunch of blithering morons and could undermine their authority (I'm sure the child has heard an earful from mom and dad about what a bunch of blithering morons the school officials are right on down to the teacher), undermine their credibility with the public, make them look incompetent and waste time on what amounts to literally a non-issue for the school, the parents and law enforcement.
*****
The reasonable thing is to say, "Have your mom buy another pencil sharpener, and throw that one out." Maybe having a meeting with the parents and the child and pointing out the concern. But for crying out loud a sliver of sharpened metal is nowhere near as deadly as a pencil, pen, a shod foot, a hard bound book, a chair, or a belt with a metal buckle. Hell, I bet a paper cut would be worse.
Being this stupid needs to hurt.
Its cases like this that show why schools in this country fail to educate. The principals and administrators are clueless idiots. One blogger called these school officials, 'retarded primates'. I think that's insulting to the real primates populating this planet.
The School Principal Jill McAden defended her, Kim Bratt(The person who called police to report the 'crime') and the school district's actions-
We regret that inaccuracies in a local news story created an impression that we do not use common sense in working with our children.
"The student was not suspended for having a pencil sharpener," McAden wrote. "He had an exposed blade which created a dangerous setting for the student and other children. The student was suspended for one day for inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The suspension was warranted."
The information in the story published in The Island Packet on Thursday was taken primarily from a Beaufort County sheriff's report. According to that report, the sheriff's office responded to the school after a teacher noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade.
"It was obvious the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small plastic pencil sharpener," the deputy noted in his report.
The 10-year-old boy -- described in the report as"a very good student who has not been in any previous trouble" -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal, according to the report.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended.
Here's a link to the police report in question. Draw your own conclusions. McAden's defense looks to me like the desperate actions of a person who has been discovered to be an out of control idiot. Being labeled as an national embarassment to the education system in this country has to hurt.
Valerie Truesdale is the superintendent of schools in the county, and her failure to reign in McAden and Bratt makes her equally assinine looking. Valerie I see you have a doctorate, may I ask if it is in total stupidity?
Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendant of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale are today's Knuckleheads of the Day. Show this off to Beaufort County schoolchildren, Ladies.
The Knuckleheads of the Day award
Posted by Bill Jempty
Published: September 12, 2008 - 3:15 PM
Today's winners are Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendent of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale. They get the award for the following.
A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.
The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.
A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff's report.
It was obvious that the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.
The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.
District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district's zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.
Zero tolerance in this case and others, is the mantra or justification for me who refuse to think. Part of a pencil sharpener is a weapon? Maybe, but so are pens, pencils, protractors and a long list of other items found in schools. How about paint and glue? A child may harm a classmate if they inject it into another's mouth. Any student bringing these should be suspended too. I mean school officials must have zero tolerance for any potential weapon.
A Beaufort County school spokesman said-
"We're always going to do something to make sure the child understands the seriousness of having something that could potentially harm another student, but we're going to be reasonable,"
Suspending a student over a broken pencil sharpener isn't a reasonable action except in the mind of idiots. Why are people like this educating students in South Carolina? Their brain matter is obviously more consistent with a person who digs ditches.
Steve Verdon at OTB wrote-
This policy is stupid in that a sliver of metal is probably far less lethal a weapon and a pencil or pen. The idea of preventing weapons on a school campus with young children is a laudable goal, but when you end up punishing a student for a silly mistake it is counter productive. The school district looks like a bunch of blithering morons and could undermine their authority (I'm sure the child has heard an earful from mom and dad about what a bunch of blithering morons the school officials are right on down to the teacher), undermine their credibility with the public, make them look incompetent and waste time on what amounts to literally a non-issue for the school, the parents and law enforcement.
*****
The reasonable thing is to say, "Have your mom buy another pencil sharpener, and throw that one out." Maybe having a meeting with the parents and the child and pointing out the concern. But for crying out loud a sliver of sharpened metal is nowhere near as deadly as a pencil, pen, a shod foot, a hard bound book, a chair, or a belt with a metal buckle. Hell, I bet a paper cut would be worse.
Being this stupid needs to hurt.
Its cases like this that show why schools in this country fail to educate. The principals and administrators are clueless idiots. One blogger called these school officials, 'retarded primates'. I think that's insulting to the real primates populating this planet.
The School Principal Jill McAden defended her, Kim Bratt(The person who called police to report the 'crime') and the school district's actions-
We regret that inaccuracies in a local news story created an impression that we do not use common sense in working with our children.
"The student was not suspended for having a pencil sharpener," McAden wrote. "He had an exposed blade which created a dangerous setting for the student and other children. The student was suspended for one day for inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The suspension was warranted."
The information in the story published in The Island Packet on Thursday was taken primarily from a Beaufort County sheriff's report. According to that report, the sheriff's office responded to the school after a teacher noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade.
"It was obvious the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small plastic pencil sharpener," the deputy noted in his report.
The 10-year-old boy -- described in the report as"a very good student who has not been in any previous trouble" -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal, according to the report.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended.
Here's a link to the police report in question. Draw your own conclusions. McAden's defense looks to me like the desperate actions of a person who has been discovered to be an out of control idiot. Being labeled as an national embarassment to the education system in this country has to hurt.
Valerie Truesdale is the superintendent of schools in the county, and her failure to reign in McAden and Bratt makes her equally assinine looking. Valerie I see you have a doctorate, may I ask if it is in total stupidity?
Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendant of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale are today's Knuckleheads of the Day. Show this off to Beaufort County schoolchildren, Ladies.
Candidates defend right to be stupid
Once a right reserved to the public only, now, new! And improved!
It has nothing to do with education or Morrisville. The headline was too good to pass up.
Enjoy your weekend.
It has nothing to do with education or Morrisville. The headline was too good to pass up.
Enjoy your weekend.
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
The Human Factor in Education
by Dorothy Rich
Education is a messy business. I am not talking about the educational "mess" rhetoric that is much in the news. I am talking about the messy quality of even good education. Education is not a sleek, mechanistic enterprise of "I teach and you learn. Instead, education is an emotional set of experiences. That's what makes it so messy
An F School? Depends on How It's Judged
New York Times
By ROBERT GEBELOFF
Grades for New York City schools are determined, in part, by a series of subjective decisions about which factors to use and how to weigh them.
A diploma for every student
Boston Globe
THERE ARE conflicting reports about the state of the public education system in Massachusetts. National data indicate that students are achieving at the highest levels in the country, yet the state Department of Education says that one out of every two public schools in the Commonwealth "needs improvement," and 75 percent of the middle schools and 277 public schools need yet-undefined "restructuring" to meet state MCAS standards.
It's a rough road to a diploma that means something
Providence Journal
Julia Steiny
The best thing about Rhode Island's rigorous new diploma system is its child-friendly spirit. Not that everyone feels that spirit. A newly organized group of parents sees the system becoming outright oppressive to kids, but more on those parents in a moment
Audit gives Detroit PS failing grade
Detroit News
An audit of Detroit Public Schools found serious systemic problems across many facets of the district, including lack of a strategy for raising academic performance, financial systems teetering on the edge of a breakdown and a nonexistent facilities management plan.
Primary school axes spelling tests because they are too 'distressing' for pupils
Daily Mail
Pupils in a Gloucestershire school will no longer be tested because staff believe it leaves them feeling like failures nationwide.
by Dorothy Rich
Education is a messy business. I am not talking about the educational "mess" rhetoric that is much in the news. I am talking about the messy quality of even good education. Education is not a sleek, mechanistic enterprise of "I teach and you learn. Instead, education is an emotional set of experiences. That's what makes it so messy
An F School? Depends on How It's Judged
New York Times
By ROBERT GEBELOFF
Grades for New York City schools are determined, in part, by a series of subjective decisions about which factors to use and how to weigh them.
A diploma for every student
Boston Globe
THERE ARE conflicting reports about the state of the public education system in Massachusetts. National data indicate that students are achieving at the highest levels in the country, yet the state Department of Education says that one out of every two public schools in the Commonwealth "needs improvement," and 75 percent of the middle schools and 277 public schools need yet-undefined "restructuring" to meet state MCAS standards.
It's a rough road to a diploma that means something
Providence Journal
Julia Steiny
The best thing about Rhode Island's rigorous new diploma system is its child-friendly spirit. Not that everyone feels that spirit. A newly organized group of parents sees the system becoming outright oppressive to kids, but more on those parents in a moment
Audit gives Detroit PS failing grade
Detroit News
An audit of Detroit Public Schools found serious systemic problems across many facets of the district, including lack of a strategy for raising academic performance, financial systems teetering on the edge of a breakdown and a nonexistent facilities management plan.
Primary school axes spelling tests because they are too 'distressing' for pupils
Daily Mail
Pupils in a Gloucestershire school will no longer be tested because staff believe it leaves them feeling like failures nationwide.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Neshaminy Superintendent Resigns
From the BCCT.
Kadri to resign as superintendent
School board members said they haven’t met to select an interim superintendent or possible replacement.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Neshaminy Superintendent Paul Kadri submitted his 90-day resignation Thursday after the Groton Public School District in Groton, Conn. agreed to hire him as its new superintendent, Kadri confirmed Thursday.
Groton school board members Wednesday night approved a three-year, roughly $165,000-a-year contract with Kadri. He’ll replace a longtime administrator in the Groton district. That salary is about $10,000 less than he’s making in Neshaminy, he said.
With 5,200 students, Groton is roughly half the size of the Neshaminy district, officials said.
“Obviously, this is a very bittersweet emotion that I have right now,” Kadri said from his cell phone as he visited the Connecticut district’s 11 schools to meet students and staff.
“I genuinely love the Neshaminy system and community,” he said. “I will miss working with them. But I’m very excited about this community and I look forward to building the same type of relationships. This just seems like a fantastic fit up here in terms of my skills and philosophy.”
Kadri, 43, came to Neshaminy from the Moorestown School District in Burlington County in 2006. He signed a four-year contract with Neshaminy. Earlier this year, he was a finalist for a similar spot in Michigan, administrators said.
“I, along with many in the Neshaminy community, am very disappointed to see Mr. Kadri leave,” said Neshaminy board member Joseph Blasch. “I wish him well and I think his ‘footprint’ will be here for a long time. I can only hope that his vision for the district will somehow be carried on.”
With a background in finance, technology and assessment, Kadri was described by parents and residents as studentfocused. Some have credited him and his administration with recently reaching budget goals and improving the high school’s standardized test scores.
Blasch said he understood Kadri’s decision to leave, since “there hasn’t always been harmony between some of the board members and Mr. Kadri.”
That discord was evident at board meetings. A few board members, including board President Richard Eccles, have disagreed with Kadri over hiring processes, the budget and recent state exam results.
“I want to wish Mr. Kadri the best in his new endeavor,” Eccles said.
“The Neshaminy School District is presently involved and facing a great many educational and financial challenges in the coming year. The Neshaminy community is very fortunate to have a number of highly-qualified educational professionals that are more than ready for the challenges that will face our new superintendent,” Eccles added. “It is very important that whoever is chosen that he or she can hit the ground running and make the decisions that will propel this district to the prominence that this district, the children and community deserve.”
Regarding his job hunt, Kadri previously had said he and the Neshaminy school board lacked similar expectations and priorities and it was in the board’s best interest for him to move on.
Neshaminy school board members said they have yet to meet to pick an interim superintendent or possible replacement. Before Kadri was hired, Assistant Superintendent Lou Muenker served on an interim basis, but officials didn’t specify who would be considered.
Kadri to resign as superintendent
School board members said they haven’t met to select an interim superintendent or possible replacement.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Neshaminy Superintendent Paul Kadri submitted his 90-day resignation Thursday after the Groton Public School District in Groton, Conn. agreed to hire him as its new superintendent, Kadri confirmed Thursday.
Groton school board members Wednesday night approved a three-year, roughly $165,000-a-year contract with Kadri. He’ll replace a longtime administrator in the Groton district. That salary is about $10,000 less than he’s making in Neshaminy, he said.
With 5,200 students, Groton is roughly half the size of the Neshaminy district, officials said.
“Obviously, this is a very bittersweet emotion that I have right now,” Kadri said from his cell phone as he visited the Connecticut district’s 11 schools to meet students and staff.
“I genuinely love the Neshaminy system and community,” he said. “I will miss working with them. But I’m very excited about this community and I look forward to building the same type of relationships. This just seems like a fantastic fit up here in terms of my skills and philosophy.”
Kadri, 43, came to Neshaminy from the Moorestown School District in Burlington County in 2006. He signed a four-year contract with Neshaminy. Earlier this year, he was a finalist for a similar spot in Michigan, administrators said.
“I, along with many in the Neshaminy community, am very disappointed to see Mr. Kadri leave,” said Neshaminy board member Joseph Blasch. “I wish him well and I think his ‘footprint’ will be here for a long time. I can only hope that his vision for the district will somehow be carried on.”
With a background in finance, technology and assessment, Kadri was described by parents and residents as studentfocused. Some have credited him and his administration with recently reaching budget goals and improving the high school’s standardized test scores.
Blasch said he understood Kadri’s decision to leave, since “there hasn’t always been harmony between some of the board members and Mr. Kadri.”
That discord was evident at board meetings. A few board members, including board President Richard Eccles, have disagreed with Kadri over hiring processes, the budget and recent state exam results.
“I want to wish Mr. Kadri the best in his new endeavor,” Eccles said.
“The Neshaminy School District is presently involved and facing a great many educational and financial challenges in the coming year. The Neshaminy community is very fortunate to have a number of highly-qualified educational professionals that are more than ready for the challenges that will face our new superintendent,” Eccles added. “It is very important that whoever is chosen that he or she can hit the ground running and make the decisions that will propel this district to the prominence that this district, the children and community deserve.”
Regarding his job hunt, Kadri previously had said he and the Neshaminy school board lacked similar expectations and priorities and it was in the board’s best interest for him to move on.
Neshaminy school board members said they have yet to meet to pick an interim superintendent or possible replacement. Before Kadri was hired, Assistant Superintendent Lou Muenker served on an interim basis, but officials didn’t specify who would be considered.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Pennsylvania's '2009 Teacher Of The Year'
Education Secretary Zahorchak Announces Pennsylvania's '2009 Teacher Of The Year'
Greater Latrobe Language Arts Teacher Will Represent Commonwealth in National Event
HARRISBURG – A language arts teacher at Greater Latrobe Senior High School is Pennsylvania’s 2009 Teacher of the Year, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.
A language arts teacher at Greater Latrobe Senior High School is Pennsylvania's 2009 Teacher of the Year, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.
"Rebecca Snyder is inspiring her students with her enthusiasm and her creative methods for instilling students with a love of language, literature and the arts," Zahorchak said. "As our teacher of the year, she also will serve as an inspiration to her fellow educators."
Snyder was chosen from among 12 finalists to represent Pennsylvania in the National Teacher of the Year presentation, scheduled for the spring.
She will serve as spokesperson for teachers across the state for the coming year, giving her the unique opportunity to represent the best in the education field.
"I look forward to an exciting year representing all the dedicated teachers across the commonwealth," Snyder said after receiving the Golden Apple award during a ceremony this morning.
"This event has validated the reasons we all have come to teaching," she told her colleagues. "I am truly honored to be in the same class with all of you."
Snyder chairs the language arts department at Greater Latrobe Senior High School and teaches a range of literature and writing courses, from advanced placement English to mythology.
Each teacher of the year finalist was introduced at the awards ceremony by a former student who related how the teacher positively impacted his or her life. Snyder was introduced by Bree Larkin, now a college freshman, who likened her former high school English teacher to a superhero.
"Mrs. Snyder rescued me from the vicious grip of grades and carried me into a world of passionate learning," Larkin said. "She opened my eyes to the bigger picture of learning by encouraging me to pursue knowledge, not the assignment. She has not forgotten that the people in her classroom have souls that are ready to be awakened and minds just waiting to learn."
Pennsylvania has participated in the teacher of the year program since 1965. The program is co-sponsored by the state Department of Education and the Pennsylvania chapter of the National State Teacher of the Year.
For more information on Pennsylvania's teacher of the year, visit www.pde.state.pa.us.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a list of the 12 nominees for Pennsylvania's 2009 Teacher of the Year:
Linda Barthmaier - 2nd grade - State College Area SD, Centre Co.
Linda Baughman - reading specialist - Mechanicsburg Area SD, Cumberland Co.
Robert Hankes - literature & film - Big Spring SD, Cumberland Co.
Diane Heitzenrater - technology education - Hatsboro-Horsham SD, Montgomery Co.
Gail Rosenberry - 5th grade - Shippensburg Area SD, Cumberland Co.
Marilyn Rothberg - library science - Great Valley SD, Chester Co.
Stephanie Ruby - special education - Gateway SD, Allegheny Co.
Ronald Shealer - technology education - State College Area SD, Centre Co.
Rebecca Snyder - language arts - Greater Latrobe SD, Westmoreland Co.
Timothy Spuck - science - Oil City Area SD, Venango Co.
Gary Vetre - mathematics - Upper Darby SD, Delaware Co.
Charles Youngs - English & communications - Bethel Park SD, Allegheny Co.
Greater Latrobe Language Arts Teacher Will Represent Commonwealth in National Event
HARRISBURG – A language arts teacher at Greater Latrobe Senior High School is Pennsylvania’s 2009 Teacher of the Year, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.
A language arts teacher at Greater Latrobe Senior High School is Pennsylvania's 2009 Teacher of the Year, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.
"Rebecca Snyder is inspiring her students with her enthusiasm and her creative methods for instilling students with a love of language, literature and the arts," Zahorchak said. "As our teacher of the year, she also will serve as an inspiration to her fellow educators."
Snyder was chosen from among 12 finalists to represent Pennsylvania in the National Teacher of the Year presentation, scheduled for the spring.
She will serve as spokesperson for teachers across the state for the coming year, giving her the unique opportunity to represent the best in the education field.
"I look forward to an exciting year representing all the dedicated teachers across the commonwealth," Snyder said after receiving the Golden Apple award during a ceremony this morning.
"This event has validated the reasons we all have come to teaching," she told her colleagues. "I am truly honored to be in the same class with all of you."
Snyder chairs the language arts department at Greater Latrobe Senior High School and teaches a range of literature and writing courses, from advanced placement English to mythology.
Each teacher of the year finalist was introduced at the awards ceremony by a former student who related how the teacher positively impacted his or her life. Snyder was introduced by Bree Larkin, now a college freshman, who likened her former high school English teacher to a superhero.
"Mrs. Snyder rescued me from the vicious grip of grades and carried me into a world of passionate learning," Larkin said. "She opened my eyes to the bigger picture of learning by encouraging me to pursue knowledge, not the assignment. She has not forgotten that the people in her classroom have souls that are ready to be awakened and minds just waiting to learn."
Pennsylvania has participated in the teacher of the year program since 1965. The program is co-sponsored by the state Department of Education and the Pennsylvania chapter of the National State Teacher of the Year.
For more information on Pennsylvania's teacher of the year, visit www.pde.state.pa.us.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a list of the 12 nominees for Pennsylvania's 2009 Teacher of the Year:
Linda Barthmaier - 2nd grade - State College Area SD, Centre Co.
Linda Baughman - reading specialist - Mechanicsburg Area SD, Cumberland Co.
Robert Hankes - literature & film - Big Spring SD, Cumberland Co.
Diane Heitzenrater - technology education - Hatsboro-Horsham SD, Montgomery Co.
Gail Rosenberry - 5th grade - Shippensburg Area SD, Cumberland Co.
Marilyn Rothberg - library science - Great Valley SD, Chester Co.
Stephanie Ruby - special education - Gateway SD, Allegheny Co.
Ronald Shealer - technology education - State College Area SD, Centre Co.
Rebecca Snyder - language arts - Greater Latrobe SD, Westmoreland Co.
Timothy Spuck - science - Oil City Area SD, Venango Co.
Gary Vetre - mathematics - Upper Darby SD, Delaware Co.
Charles Youngs - English & communications - Bethel Park SD, Allegheny Co.
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