School Board Meeting 2/9/10

Brief recap: snow snow snow!

Fairly routine. Two votes of interest for me. I voted against consent agenda based on content of one item

Also, was able to overturn an expulsion recommendation on a 3 YES-2 NO vote in which 4 votes were not obtained due to to absent members as a result of inclement weather. My reason was simple and consistent: Zero Tolerance has run amok in Christina and this case fit the overreaching profile perfectly.

A Teacher’s Guide to Generation X Parents: by Susan Gregory Thomas

A Neglected Generation

A little background here: Generation X, according to a 2004 study
conducted by marketing-strategy and research firm Reach Advisors, “went through its all-important formative years as one of the least parented, least nurtured generations in U.S. history.” Little wonder: Half of all Gen Xers’ parents are divorced. We were the first to be raised in record numbers in day care, and some 40 percent of us were latchkey kids.

We’ve been taking care of ourselves since we started going to school, and we don’t trust authority figures, because they weren’t trustworthy when we were growing up. Our parents didn’t know what was going on at school, and our teachers didn’t know what was going on at home. We’re not going to let this happen to our children — not even for a second. We’ll do whatever we have to do to make sure our kids get what they need.

“They’ll go over your head if they don’t get the results they want
from you,” says Anita Thomas, who taught science in a public school in Beaufort, South Carolina. That makes sense, says Lisa
Chamberlain, author of Slackonomics: Generation X in the Age of
Creative Destruction. “Anything that smacks of bureaucratic red tape or protocol is an irritant,” she explains. “We had to fend for
ourselves, which is great if you’re an entrepreneur, but not when you’re a parent.”

Full Article: HERE.

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NOTICE FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 SCHOOLS CLOSED, OFFICES CLOSED Christina School District

REVISED NOTICE FOR WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 10
Schools Closed,
Offices Closed

All schools and offices in the Christina School District will be closed on Wednesday, February 10 due to inclement weather conditions.  Preschool Programs, Parents as Teachers Stay and Play, Continuing Education Classes and Adult Education Classes are also canceled.  REMINDER: At this time, preschool,
elementary and middle schools are scheduled to be closed on Thursday, February 11. High Schools are scheduled to be in session on Thursday, February 11. All
schools are scheduled to be closed on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 15.

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What’s the deal with NYC and the Stat Juking!

More than a hundred retired New York Police Department captains and
higher-ranking officers said in a survey that the intense pressure to
produce annual crime reductions led some supervisors and precinct
commanders to manipulate crime statistics, according to two
criminologists studying the department.

Full article: HERE.

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The Impact of Corruption

NOTICE FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8: CHRISTINA SCHOOL DISTRICT

All schools in the Christina School District are CLOSED on Monday, February 8. Preschool programs, Parents as Teachers Stay and Play, Continuing Education Classes, AdultEducation classes, and Distance Learning are also canceled.

Click here to access the School Closing Information and to register for the Christina School District E-News or State School Closing Website.

Offices will be open. Employees should use extreme caution and discretion when traveling.

Inclement weather procedures for staff are available on the district website,

click here to access.

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Delaware people: For volunteer math tutor, it adds up to one very satisfying life

FULL ARTICLE From News Journal: HERE.

In retirement, Willard Baxter has helped students solve math problems at Newark High School for 11
years. At least, that’s the number they give at the school.

“I think that’s short, but I’m not going to argue,” he said.

Few people can argue with Baxter, though, when it comes to numbers. Before retiring 17 years ago, he worked as a mathematics
professor at the University of Delaware for 36 years, chairing the math department for five years.

But contemplate this even larger number: 80. Baxter reached that milestone age in December, and Newark High showed its appreciation
for him with a surprise birthday party.

And consider this much smaller number: zero. The octogenarian makes that much money for coming to the school to tutor from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday — week after week, all school year.

In a flash, Baxter could tell you that his work schedule adds up to a 30-hour week. The volunteer to the 10th power has his own numbered parking space and an office he carved for himself in a library storage room with a conference table (though he sometimes has to relinquish it during some school meetings).

The school library is Baxter’s home base. With no appointments necessary, students and even some teachers come to him with math
problems they can’t solve, with grades they need to pull up or tests they have to pass.

I had the pleasure of attending his surprise birthday party. Mr. Baxter truly fits the description of an unsung hero and I am proud that he calls a Christina school his home…I know the school, staff and students are very happy to have him there every day!

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Rodel itself admits there is no proof of what works… #RTTT

UPDATE 4: The blog post is back up on Rodel site 2/7/10.

Update 3: RECOVERED in full from a cached link:

Yelling “Fire”

Feb 5

Written by:

paulh

2/5/2010

2:20 PM

Dear Friends,Turning around low performing schools is finally getting some traction, but this is going to be a steep learning curve. As one of my board members said last week, “Those buildings have been burning for years, but no one’s been yelling, ‘Fire.’” The question is, “Do we know how to put it out?” Sure, we know we need wholesale versus piecemeal change, but how we manage this challenge at a state level with quality is going to be a big lift.As an organization committed to yelling “Fire” in our state, Rodel is looking forward to learning from the many other states that have been,  or soon will be, working to dampen the flames. Earlier this week, we were excited to see that Mass Insight announced its “Partnership Zone” initiative with Delaware and five other states—Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York. The initiative will set a policy and support framework for school turnarounds. (If you want local color, here’s the front page story our local paper, The News Journal, and this EdWeek blog provides a straightforward assessment of how Delaware’s strategy may differ from others, namely that the Secretary of Education has a substantial role in making sure this gets done right.)

I’m optimistic about the direction, but this is largely new territory for Delaware and most states. While there have been isolated reconstitution efforts in the past, until recently the only places from which we could learn about taking turnarounds to scale were charter school authorizers (usually serving 5% or less of a given student population) and big districts – like New Orleans and Chicago. By and large, the notion of states potentially shutting down and reopening public schools is very new, and – drawing from my past experience as a charter authorizer in Massachusetts – doing so quickly and within the same, likely bruised communities, is a doable, yet very tall, order.

By my team’s unofficial count there are now 10 states – not just districts – that have committed through legislation, regulation, or formal partnerships to wrestle with “turnarounds.” CA, CO, LA, MA, MI, MS, TN and DE all recently passed legislation or regulations on this issue, and NY and IL are now engaging in this work through the Mass Insight partnership. Our presumption is that the other 31 states/jurisdictions that applied for RTTT last month are going to be moving forward on this as well, signaling a massive policy shift for state education agencies that are largely under-resourced.

Anything worth doing usually requires some pain and some sweat. This work will entail incredibly tough political battles (the current push back in NY, as one example), and the science of how to do this is far from certain. What is the end game for schools in recovery school districts that improve? Do they return to
their old districts or are we looking to recreate new, “mega” districts? How will this work in rural schools where it’s tough to find new staff? Can this be done at scale within a traditional collective bargaining environment? How can we do this fast (and well) to minimize the disruptions in communities often facing multiple challenges? How can we sustain the deeper investments needed to move these schools forward after the stimulus dries up? Can we push harder on solutions such as weighted student funding?

There’s a lot to learn, so as you come across strong new policies or advocacy strategies, please keep me in mind and feel free to use Rodel’s blog to share ideas about where states are getting this right.

The money quote of course is: “the science of how to do this is far from certain”

Also, notice how “fast” is in the narrative and “well” is in parentheses when describing the work to be done. Also, citing New Orleans and Chicago as examples is sad. Clearly Duncan and the ED reformers have a macabre fascination with New Orleans, and Chicago is a straight up mess of epic proportions. Duncan juked the stats, got the buddy hook up and left right quick….the children left behind are still behind under these “innovative” strategies. Search this blog for proof.

UPDATE 2: SCREEN SHOT OF MISSING BLOG POST:

UPDATE: It appears Rodel has taken down the post since my entry, I will monitor and provide updates on the Rodel Blog

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Amazing.

http://action.rodelfoundationde.org/acenter/Blog/tabid/60/EntryId/50/Yelling-Fire.aspx

and as you’ll read, they are ready to yell “FIRE”. If my first 7 months are any indication, yelling “FIRE” is a slow process which requires seemingly unending energy. Thankfully I, and a few others,  have the time and willingness to work for our students. Good luck Rodel, you’ll surely need it in not only yelling “FIRE” but in trying to convince anyone that deploying untested ideas works, unless their titles are Governor or Secretary or Superintendent.

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End of week funny from TWIE! #RTTT #ED #edreform

February 4, 2010 | Posted At: 09:11 AM | Author: Alexander Russo | Category: Made-Up News , NCLB News , On Maryland Avenue

H/T to Alexander Russo at TWIE.

The “Race To The Top Of Maryland Avenue” (RTTTOMA) Act is a $50 billion competitive grant program designed to incent the US Department of
Education to make itself dramatically better over the next two years.

This bold proposal hidden deep in the fine print accompanying the FY2011 budget request is just coming to light, apparently inserted there by White House staffers concerned about self-satisfaction and stagnant performance at the US Department of Education.

Read below for program details and a preliminary response from the Education Secretary.

Highlights.  The program would:

- Provide choice:  The RTTTOMA Act would require the USDE to eliminate barriers against other Cabinet agencies providing education services and operating education programs, regardless of any possible duplication, cherry-picking, or performance issues that may occur.

- Improve human capital.  The RTTTOMA Act would require the USDE to eliminate barriers against the hiring of freshly-minted college grads into key senior positions. A Mathematica study shows that interns from elite universities can manage grants and evaluate programs as well as any career employee.

- Measure progress fairly.  The RTTTOMA Act would measure Departmental performance based on as-yet undetermined measures of progress and readiness rather than current measures (meeting deadlines, reducing overhead costs, eliminating waste) that are arbitrary, Utopian, and overly punitive.

Of course, Congress would have to approve the funding for the new program and the USDE would have to apply for the grant.  Early indications are that Secretary Duncan considers it overly prescriptive, based on unproven ideas, and too small to be worth the effort.

“Some of the stuff in there sounds good, but a lot of it is just Washington mumbo-jumbo,” said Secretary Duncan in a phone interview yesterday. “And what happens after two years?”

February 4, 2010 | Posted At: 09:11 AM | Author: Alexander Russo | Category: Made-Up News , NCLB News , On Maryland Avenue

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House Committee OKs Bill on Restraint and Seclusion By Lisa Fine

From EDWEEK.

A
bill that would regulate the use of restraint and seclusion on students
in schools, and require any use of such practices to be reported to
parents, cleared a legislative hurdle today.

The House Education and Labor Committee voted 34-10 to approve a law
that would establish the first federal safety standards in schools for
the use of restraint and seclusion, similar to rules in place in
hospitals and non-medical, community-based facilities. Regulations on
the practices of restraint and seclusion vary from state to state.

With committee approval, now the full U.S. House of Representatives
can take up the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
Act.

“This bill makes clear that there is no place in our schools for
abuse and torture,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the
chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The egregious
abuse of a child should not be considered less criminal because it
happens in a classroom — it should be the opposite. I’m proud that
this bill has bipartisan support and I hope the full House will vote on
it soon.”

A Government Accountability Office report in May found allegations
that children had been abused, or even died, because of misuse of
restraint and seclusion in schools. Many of the children on whom these
practices are used are students with disabilities. The practices are
meant to be used in emergencies when students are a danger to
themselves or others.

Mr. Miller and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., proposed the bill in
the House, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., proposed a similar law in the
Senate.

The law would ban the use of mechanical restraints, such as
strapping students to chairs, and prohibit restraints that restrict
breathing. It would prohibit the use of medications to control behavior
that were not administered consistent with prescriptions from a doctor.
It would ban staff members from denying students water, food, clothing,
or access to toilet facilities to control behavior. States would be
required to report the use of restraint and seclusion to the U.S.
Secretary of Education, according to the House Education and Labor
Committee.

States would have two years to develop policies, procedures, and
monitoring and enforcement systems to meet the minimum federal safety
standards. Federal funds could be withheld from states that do not meet
the requirements.

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The science of motivation: Duncan and #RTTT crew this is must see stuff….

#RTTT applications from ED.gov

In order to make the information available to the public as quickly
as possible, while fulfilling our legal obligation to protect certain
information, including personal information, that may have been
included, the Department will be posting the applications in two
stages. At this time, the Department is releasing only the states’
narrative responses to the application criteria. Because each state had
some flexibility in determining the placement of the information
provided in its application, the narrative statements for some states
include information that other states determined were best included in
the appendices. Please note that the documents provided below are partial applications; they
include only the application narratives and not the appendices, and as
such do not constitute the entire application submitted to the
Department. The Department is currently reviewing the remaining
portions of the applications — the appendices — and intends to post
them in the coming weeks.

Alabama	Application PDF (20.5M)
Arizona	Application PDF (10.5M)
Arkansas	Application PDF (9.26M)
California	Application PDF (9.08M)
Colorado	Application PDF (13.8M)
Connecticut	Application PDF (18.4M)
Delaware	Application PDF (13.3M)
District of Columbia	Application PDF (16.7M)
Florida	Application PDF (30.3M)
Georgia	Application PDF (28.3M)
Hawaii	Application PDF (12.2M)
Idaho	Application PDF (23.6M)
Illinois	Application PDF (20.8M)
Indiana	Application PDF (13.4M)
Iowa	Application PDF (31.7M)
Kansas	Application PDF (24.8M)
Kentucky	Application PDF (19.3M)
Louisiana	Application PDF (23.0M)
Massachusetts	Application PDF (18.9M)
Michigan	Application PDF (16.0M)
Minnesota	Application PDF (20.5M)
Missouri	Application PDF (21.5M)
Nebraska	Application PDF (12.9M)
New Hampshire	Application PDF (17.8M)
New Jersey	Application PDF (18.3M)
New Mexico	Application PDF (39.1M)
New York	Application PDF (27.3M)
North Carolina	Application PDF (31.1M)
Ohio	Application PDF (32.0M)
Oklahoma	Application PDF (54.5M)
Oregon	Application PDF (31.1M)
Pennsylvania	Application PDF (25.7M)
Rhode Island	Application PDF (21.5M)
South Carolina	Application PDF (13.2M)
Tennessee	Application PDF (26.1M)
Utah	Application PDF (20.0M)
Virginia	Application PDF (28.0M)
West Virginia	Application PDF (16.0M)
Wisconsin	Application PDF (28.9M)
South Dakota	Application PDF (16.0M)
Wyoming	Application PDF (19.9M)

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Turning schools into Registry of Motor Vehicles – The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

#RTTT does not address core inequity.

Frederick Hess’ words fired up the National Journal Experts discussion ”the old saying goes: ‘people are policy.’” In the case of the RttT, “that’s truer than ever. The reviewers are judging brand-new criteria recently cooked up by the Department of Education; employing a novel, convoluted 500-point rating system to judge 19 (!) competing “priorities”; and being asked to resolve seemingly contradictory dictates.”

So David Sciarra asked why those smart people didn’t tackle the #1 priority for federal spending, addressing inequities in funding? Why is Illinois with “one of the nation’s most regressive funding systems” where “Chicago gets $3,000 per pupil less than its share” being challenged to “mandate testing at every grade and rate teachers and principals based on students’ test results?”

Judith Brown-Dennis answered that the RttT “draws a lot of wonky attention – praise and scorn alike.” But people who live with inner city kids worry that ”before NCLB and the rise of testing, the majority of the 100 largest school districts in the country saw rising graduation rates.” Since ”NCLB and the rise of testing … 73 of districts have seen their graduation rates decline – often precipitously.”

 

Pull Post Here: Thompson on TWIE.

Excellent #RTTT analysis on motivation, proof, money and outcomes.

From WAPO.

By Daniel Willingham
When I was about 10 years old I was supposed to clean my room each day,
which meant that each day I tried to find a way to get out of the house
before my mother discovered that I hadn’t done so. Tired of nagging me,
my mother offered me fifty cents a week to keep it clean. So then my
goal changed from sneaking out of the house to preventing my mother
from discovering that I had merely shoved all my junk under the bed.

This reminds me of the “Race to the Top” initiative.

Why would the federal government hold a grant competition for
states? Either because states lack money, or because they lack
conviction.

States might lack money, meaning
that they have good ideas for how to improve schools, but cannot carry
them out because of tight budgets. With a grant competition, the Feds
could pick the best ideas and fund them.

Alternatively states might lack conviction, meaning they know what
ought to be done, they just don’t have the political courage to do it.
The grant is essentially a bribe to get them to do “the right thing.”

It’s quite obvious that “Race to the Top” is a bribery scheme. The
secretary of education and the president believe they know what ought
to be done, and they are offering money to states who do it. (Indeed,
they are confident that their ideas are “research based,” although I
haven’t met many researchers who think the data are at all clear on
this point.)

It’s easy to deduce the administration’s stance by looking at the
criteria by which the “Race to the Top” grants will be evaluated,
included as an Appendix to the application form. If the point of the
grants were to collect good ideas and fund them, there would be a lot
of information in rubric defining what makes an idea good, and little
or nothing about the content of the idea.

Instead, you gain points in the “Race to the Top” evaluation rubric
by measuring student growth, conducting annual evaluations, ensuring
that teachers and principals are distributed “equitably” through the
system, and so forth. The open question in the grant application is not
what you’re going to do to improve schools. It’s how you’re going to
implement the administration’s ideas.

The likely failure of the “Race to the Top” initiative doesn’t depend on whether or not these ideas are any good.

Here’s the problem. States are not really committed to the reforms
the administration envisions. If they were, they would have implemented
them, or at least they would have been making a game attempt to do so.

When you pay people to do something, they don’t become motivated to
do it. They become motivated to be able to defend that they are doing
it. States will do their best to make it appear that they are
complying.

This was one of the more important lessons of the “No Child Left Behind”
act. To whatever extent you believe it worked, it’s obvious that the
impact was lessened because states gamed the system. There is no reason
to think that the “Race to the Top” initiative will be any different.
The administration is motivating states to shove their dirty laundry
under the bed. Eventually that will be discovered, but in the meantime
we will have wasted a lot of time and money.

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Dekalb Educators on 380-Thousand Trip to Hollywood #RTTT #edreform

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=140437&catid=40

I wonder if DE sent anyone…..

Decatur– In a time of budget shortfalls and teacher furloughs, dozens of Dekalb educators are on an expensive trip to Hollywood, California.

“Even in tough economic times, learning continues,” says Deputy Superintendent Gloria Talley.

A total of 180 teachers, principals, assistant principals, and other educators
made the trip to California for a three day conference put on by
America’s Choice. According to Dekalb school administrators, the total
cost for the trip is around 380-thousand dollars.

Dekalb’s Deputy Superintendent is quick to point out funding for the trip comes from the federal government, and not Dekalb’s strapped school budget.

Still, some parents are questioning the message.

“To me, it’s a sign of mismanagement,” says Cordelia Blake, the parent of a second grader. “If you need training, get it here in Georgia. Don’t go to California. The school district is sending employees to California while they’re making budget cuts. It’s ridiculous.”

The conference is part of Dekalb’s plan to bring reform to 40 schools that
have struggled with achievement. The federal government’s Title 1
program is providing the funds for the trip. School administrators the federal government dictates that the money has to be spent on school achievement, and can’t go toward salaries or to help make up the county’s budget deficit.

“It has to go to your schools improvement plan, which this does,” says Talley.

Still, parents question the price tag, and the timing of the trip.

“I don’t know of another way to get our teachers exposed to other teachers
around the country who are implementing the same model, and can tell us
about the lessons they’ve learned.” says Talley.

“This is a national conference. We don’t choose where the conference is held.”

Talley says she doubts educators on the trip will have time for entertainment
or a tour of Hollywood. She adds if they do, they’ll pay for that part
of the trip themselves.

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Vital Stats on Race to Top Judges By Michele McNeil #RTTT

POST HERE.

We may not know
who the Race to the Top peer reviewers are, but the Education
Department has provided some basic demographic information on this jury
that will help dole out the first round of $4 billion in competitive
grants.

Not that these tidbits will satisfy the critics of the department’s decision to keep the panelists’ identities secret, but they’re worth sharing nonetheless.

The crew of 58 looks like this:

• 15 are former principals, 30 are former K-12 teachers




• 4 are attorneys




• 35 have doctoral degrees




• 12 have served on state or local boards of education




• 15 are former state or district superintendents




• 25 are from the Northeast, 13 from the West, 13 from the South, and seven from the Midwest




• 32 are women, and 26 are men

So that seems to indicate that the composite picture of the average
peer reviewer is a former female teacher from the Northeast who has a
PhD.

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Duncan Katrina Redux, or not…. #rttt #vallas #edreform

From Mike Klonsky:

The study finds that compared with 2000 census data, the region is now less poor with fewer adults lacking a high school diploma, fewer households with children, more one or two-person households, fewer households lacking vehicles, a larger share of the population that is foreign-born, a higher homeownership rate, and more homeowners without mortgages.New Orleans lost about 60,000 families after Katrina, according to Post Office mail surveys.Could these demographic and population changes account for the relatively small bump  in N.O. students’ standardized test scores? You bet they could. Can they explain the “unbelievable progress” Duncan is referring to? Of course they can. Is Post-Katrina New Orleans a model for school reform and social reorganization in cities like Detroit, D.C., or New York? Of course not.

Duncan needs to deepen his self-criticism and rethink his assumptions about reform.

Spot on…..

 

Lowery hopes to identify the underperforming schools in Delaware early next week. #RTTT

From News Journal.

Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery said she would not rule out using any option to help effect change.

“We’re going to have to act in the best interest of the children, period,” she said.

Under the program developed by a Boston nonprofit, states and school districts will select local “lead” partners to manage underperforming schools in so-called partnership zones and determine, with state school officials, which services or changes are needed to reverse the downward slide.

The lead partners would become responsible for student outcomes, would have the authority to select principals and oversee every program in the school.

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I wonder what the term “generously invested”means…. #rttt #GovMarkell #underhisnose

Does it mean pay to play the Delaware Way?

Nothing is more conforting than the company that writes the report describing it as “ground breaking”…it must be great right? #netDE #RTTT #shuthedoors

Boston, MA – February 2, 2010 – Six states — Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and New York — will participate in a three-year, $75-million public-private partnership to create scalable and sustainable strategies for turning around clusters of their lowest-performing schools. A two-year extension is slated to follow the three-year initial effort. The announcement was made today by the School Turnaround Group at Mass Insight Education & Research Institute, the non-profit organization that published the groundbreaking 2007 report, The Turnaround Challenge.

GROUND BREAKING PRESS RELEASE: HERE.

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Says it all about the state of PUBLIC education in #Delaware #RTTT

In Delaware, the Longwood Foundation generously invested
in Delaware’s initial work with Mass Insight this past summer when Secretary Lowery convened her Innovation Action Team (IAT). The IAT, consisting of representatives from state agencies, DOE personnel and the business community, worked with Mass Insight to develop goals and strategies to support Delaware’s lowest performing schools.  The result of that work laid the foundation for the initiatives in Delaware’s Race to the Top application as well Delaware’s inclusion in Mass Insight’s Partnership Zone Initiative.

Release: HERE.

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Delaware was “selected” to participate in Mass Insight turnaround framework known as Partnerhip Zones…. #ZEROlocalcontrol #closeschools #RTTT

From the DEDOE Press Release:

The design and timing for implementation of each Partnership Zone will vary depending on each state’s policy environment and capacity, but all Zones will draw on the same set of guiding principles that turning around low-performing schools requires a balance of autonomy and accountability, and the implementation of practices most likely to transform chronically low-performing schools.  States plan to launch Partnership Zones on a flexible but aggressive timeline; with some states implementing Zones as early as the 2010-11 school year.

Delaware, along with the other partnering states were selected based on:

• A commitment to the Partnership Zone framework set forth in Mass Insight’s 2007 report, The Turnaround Challenge;

• A commitment to investing the resources necessary for successful turnaround; and,

• Alignment and support of state leadership.

Mass Insight and a leading group of National Collaborators will
assist states and districts in planning, state policy analysis, human
capital analysis, district and school budget audits,
communications/outreach, and other critical turnaround activities. National Collaborators include: Education Counsel, Education First Consulting, Education Resource Strategies, KSA-Plus Communications, The New Teacher Project, the Parthenon Group, and Turnaround for Children.

“Turning around low-performing schools is one of the areas that
President Obama and Secretary Duncan include in all federal guidance for state education agencies. The Partnership Zone Initiative complements the Race to the Top fund and the four assurances set forth by the Secretary, as well as the guidance for the 1003g school improvement grants,” says Justin Cohen, President of Mass Insight’s School Turnaround Group. “This alignment is based on the belief that increased authority should be given in exchange for increased accountability, the recognition that these schools require quick and dramatic changes, and the acknowledgement that schools and districts must look to partners to increase their capacity to do this work and ensure its sustainability.”

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Rahm really is a jerk. This isn’t partisan, it’s about decency and compassion. #FIRErahm #noplaceforthisinWH

Story: HERE.

Dating back to the time he worked in the Clinton administration, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has developed an almost notorious reputation
in Washington for being a brash personality with a penchant for
profanity-laced diatribes. Conversely, his intense nature, in addition
to his sharp mind, are what many attribute to his success and
effectiveness as a Washington power player. But a recently revealed
remark he made in a closed-door meeting attended by White House aides and leaders of liberal special-interest groups has irked many, prompting him to issue an apology.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Emanuel, exasperated upon learning that liberal special-interest groups were planning to run ads against conservative Democrats not supportive of health care reform,
blasted the plan as “f—— retarded” over the summer. Naturally, some
outrage ensued after Emanuel’s words came to light, with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin taking to her Facebook page to call on President Obama to fire him for what she saw as the equivalent of a racial slur.

Palin, whose son Trig is afflicted with Down syndrome,
said she was informed of Emanuel’s comment by a fellow parent of a
special-needs child and pleaded with the president to “show decency” to
the political process by “eliminating” the Chicago native from his
inner circle.

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Parents “may be invited” to placement hearings……. #doe #parentsdontcount

Proposed Regulation…check out 4.23…

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of the Secretary

Statutory Authority: 14 Delaware Code, Section 122(b) (14 Del.C. §122(b))

14 DE Admin. Code 609

PROPOSED

Education Impact Analysis Pursuant To 14 Del.C. Section 122(d)

609 District and School Based Intervention Services

A. Type of Regulatory Action Required

Amendment to Existing Regulation

B. Synopsis of Subject Matter of the Regulation

The Secretary of Education intends to amend14 DE Admin. Code 609
District and School Based Intervention Services. This regulation is
part of the five-year review cycle. The Department recognizes the
on-going work of the House Resolution 22 Task Force that is reviewing
laws and regulations related to school discipline. The regulation was
first published in the November 2009 Register of Regulations
and in now being re-published. The Department received comments from
the Governors Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens and the State
Council for Persons with Disabilities. This republication reflects the
addition of language requested by both councils regarding student
population served and the membership of the school based intervention
team.

Persons wishing to present
their views regarding this matter may do so in writing by the close of
business on or before March 2, 2009 to Susan Haberstroh, Education
Associate, Regulation Review, Department of Education, at 401 Federal
Street, Suite 2, Dover, Delaware 19901. A copy of this regulation is
available from the above address or may be viewed at the Department of
Education business office.

609 District and School Based Intervention Services

1.0 Provision of Services

Each school district shall provide services for students whose behavior
disrupts the classroom setting and creates distractions that impede the
learning process, but who are not eligible for placement in an
alternative program pursuant to 14 DE Admin. Code 611. School
districts may offer such services based on the identified needs of the
district and its individual schools, subject to the requirements of
this regulation.

2.0 Application for Funding

2.1
Any school district requesting an incentive or supplemental grant to
provide intervention services shall apply for such funds using the LEA
Consolidated Application process provided by the Department of
Education.

2.12
Any incentive or supplemental grant approved as part of the LEA
Consolidated Application process shall be in the amount appropriated
for that purpose by law.

3.0 Student Population to be Served

Services funded under this regulation may be provided to any student in grades K
to 12, subject to the terms of the district’s approved LEA Consolidated Application. Notwithstanding any of the provisions to the contrary, IDEA-identified students with disabilities shall be served pursuant to the provisions in 14 DE Admin. Code 925 and
students with disabilities identified under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act shall be served in conformity with 34 C.F.R. Part 104.

4.0 School Based Intervention Programs

4.1
If a district, through its LEA Consolidated Application, provides a School Based Intervention Program as part of the services provided to disruptive students, such Program shall meet the following requirements:

4.12
A School Based Intervention Program shall include both short term and long term intervention strategies. Such strategies may include character education, short or long term counseling to improve behavior  which impacts educational performance, and methods to identify the need to refer students for additional services either within the district or to other agencies. The Program shall also include support services to provide a smooth transition for students who are returning to their regular school from a Consortium Discipline Alternative Program or from a Department of Services to Children, Youth and their Families (DSCYF) setting.

4.23
The decision to place a student in the School Based Intervention Program shall be made by the student’s Intervention Team. The
Intervention Team shall include the building principal or assistant principal, school nurse, counselor, social worker (if the student
receives social work services), and a teacher familiar with the student. Other individuals, including parents, guardians or Relative
Caregivers, may be invited as appropriate.

4.3 When placing an IDEA-identified student with a disabilities in a School Based Intervention Program, the Intervention Team and a
student’s IEP team may be the same as long as the membership of the Intervention Team also meets the requirements of 14 DE Admin. Code 925. When placing a student with a disability identified under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Intervention Team may be the same as a multidisciplinary team authorized to make placement decisions as long the Intervention Team also meets the requirements of 34 C.F.R. 104.35

5.0 Evaluation of Services

5.1
Any local school district receiving a grant pursuant to this regulation shall submit an annual evaluation report on the effectiveness of its District and School Based Intervention Services. Such report shall be submitted as part of the LEA Consolidated Application process and shall conform to content and format standards.

8 DE Reg. 1008 (1/1/05)

13 DE Reg. 986 (02/01/10) (Prop.)

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Michelle Rhee and the Death of the Washington Post #rhee #edreform #rheefail #epicfail #liar #bully

From the Edumacation Archive…..

Earlier this week, I reported on Michelle Rhee’s accusations that some of the teachers she had laid off this year had sex with their students. When the public outcry did not go away on it’s own and people demanded answers, Michelle Rhee chose to go to the Washington Post editorial board to give her non-apology.   As always, Rhee has been able to count on the good old Washington Post to provide her with a soft landing.  When metro education reporter Bill Turque wrote a post that was
critical of the Post and its coddling of Rhee, the post was promptly pulled from the newspaper’’s blog only to be returned edited into a much kinder story.  In the original article Turque had said, “the chancellor’s obvious rapport with Jo-Ann, also means that DCPS has a guaranteed soft landing spot for uncomfortable or inconvenient disclosures–kind of a print version of the Larry King Show.”  It was changed to read, “the
chancellor’s rapport with Jo-Ann, means that DCPS may prefer to talk to her than me.”

It is amazing how positive the Washington Post has managed to be
about Michelle Rhee even in the face of the most damming evidence
against her.   Jay Mathews is perhaps the most egregious example.   You
could actually feel the tears softly falling on his keyboard today as
he beseeched Michelle Rhee, “So please, Ms. Chancellor, say whatever
you have to say to get us past this rough spot. I can see why national
political leaders are afraid to apologize for things they did. Their
opponents just use their words to beat them over the head harder. But
you are in a very strong position. Test scores are improving.”

Aside from the fallacy of the test scores which has been well
documented elsewhere, this is the kind of journalism that the
Washington Post has sunk to?   As a fan of movies like The Front Page,
I’m as sad as anybody to see the day of the newspaper over, but the
Washington Post is dying of self-inflicted wounds if this is what
passes for journalism today.   Today’s Washington Post would have
Woodward and Bernstein would be praising Nixon for opening China and
asking him to distance himself from G. Gordon Liddy.

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108A Administrator Appraisal Process Delaware Performance Appraisal System (DPAS II) Revised #review #netDE

108A Administrator Appraisal Process Delaware Performance Appraisal System (DPAS II) Revised

1.0 Effective Date

1.1
The Administrator Appraisal Process, Delaware Performance Appraisal
System (DPAS II) Revised shall be effective for all school districts
and charter schools beginning July 1, 2011, and shall, at such time,
replace the current 14 DE Admin. Code 108 Administrator Appraisal Process Delaware Performance Appraisal System (DPAS II).

1.1
For purposes of this regulation, an administrator shall be a
professional employee authorized by a board to serve in a supervisory
capacity involving the oversight of an instructional program(s).

2.0 Definitions

The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this regulation:

“Board” shall mean the local board of education or charter school board of directors.

“Credentialed Evaluator”
shall mean the individual, usually the supervisor of the administrator,
who has successfully completed the evaluation training in accordance
with 10.0. A superintendent shall be evaluated by member(s) of the
local school board of education who shall also have successfully
completed the evaluation training in accordance with 10.0. The
Credentialed Evaluator may also be referred to as “Evaluator”.

“DASA” shall mean the Delaware Association of School Administrators.

“DPAS II Revised Guide for Administrators”
shall mean the manual that contains the prescribed forms, detailed
procedures, evaluation criteria and other relevant documents that are
used to implement the appraisal process.

“DSEA” shall mean the Delaware State Education Association.

“Experienced Administrator” shall mean an administrator who has three (3) or more years of service as an administrator.

“Formative Process”
shall consist of the Goal Setting Conference, self evaluation, a survey
of staff that are supervised by the administrator, and formative
conferences and reports as outlined in the DPAS II Guide for
Administrators.

“Improvement Plan” shall be the plan that an administrator and evaluator mutually develop in accordance with 8.0.

“Inexperienced Administrator” shall mean an administrator who has less than three (3) years of service as an administrator.

“Satisfactory Component Rating” shall mean the administrator’s performance demonstrates an understanding of the concepts of the component.

“Satisfactory Evaluation” shall be equivalent to the overall “Effective” or “Needs Improvement” rating on the Summative Evaluation.

“State Assessment” shall mean the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) or its successor.

“Student Achievement” shall mean

(a) For tested grades and subjects:

(1) Students scores on the DSTP or successor statewide assessment; and, as appropriate,

(2)
Other measures of student learning, such as those described in
paragraph (b) of this definition, provided they are rigorous and
comparable across classrooms.

(b)
For non-tested grades and subjects: alternative measures of student
learning and performance such as student scores on pre-tests and
end-of-course tests; student performance on English language
proficiency assessments; and other measure of student achievement that
are rigorous and comparable across classrooms.

Such alternative measures shall be approved by the Department and developed in partnership with the [local collective bargaining representatives Delaware Association of School Administrators (DASA) and the Delaware School Boards Association (DSBA)].

“Student Growth”
shall mean the change in achievement data for an individual student
between two points in time. Growth may also include other measures that
are rigorous and comparable across classrooms.

“Summative Evaluation” shall be the final evaluation at the conclusion of the appraisal cycle.

“Unsatisfactory Component Rating” shall mean the administrator’s performance does not demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of the component.

“Unsatisfactory Evaluation” shall be the equivalent to the overall “Ineffective” rating on the Summative Evaluation.

“Working Day” shall mean a day when the employee would normally be working in that district or charter school.

Rest of Changes: HERE.

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Obama Budget Calls for Major Shifts on ESEA

From EDWEEK:

Advocates for school districts voiced wariness toward the emphasis on competition.

“The focus on competitive grants and the decision to provide no increase to
Title I means rural districts and children in the poorest parts of the
country will be left behind,” Anne Bryant, the executive director of
the National School Boards Association, said in a statement. “Those
districts do not have the capacity to compete for grants—unless you
want to shift money from teachers to grant writers.”

The proposed budget would also include a substantial boost for the Title I
School Improvement Grants, a program that helps districts target
interventions to schools struggling to meet the goals of the ESEA law.

The program, which would now be called the School Turnaround Grants
program, would receive $900 million under the proposal, a nearly 65
percent increase over fiscal 2010. That does not include money
allocated for the grants under the stimulus law.

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What do you do when you need to “show” quick results? #edreform #tiredoldplaybook #sameoldsameold #RTTT

You move the goalposts…classic maneuver by Sec. Duncan. Do you think we do not see the truth of your competition. Move the kids (school clousures), move the goals (we are doing better now) and make sure all the ed reform companies get the money (look at each application and see all the “partners” littered throughout), then you claim political victories as fast as the next election cycle comes, and you do all of it on the backs of students…..and in the throws of intentionally imposed “confusion” like this:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check out this doozy from the New York Times:

The secretary of education, Arne Duncan, foreshadowed the elimination of the 2014 deadline in a September speech, referring to it as a “utopian goal,” and administration officials have since made clear that they want the deadline eliminated. In recent meetings with representatives of education groups, Department of Education officials have said they also want to eliminate the school ratings system built on making “adequate yearly progress” on student test scores.

“They were very clear with us that they would change the metric, dropping adequate yearly progress, and basing a new system on another picture of performance based on judging schools in a more nuanced way,” said Bruce Hunter, director of public policy for the American Association of School Administrators, who attended one of the meetings.

The current system issues the equivalent of a pass-fail report card for every school each year, an evaluation that administration officials say fails to differentiate among chaotic schools in chronic failure, schools that are helping low-scoring students improve, and high-performing suburban schools that nonetheless appear to be neglecting some low-scoring students.

Instead, under the administration’s proposals, a new accountability system would divide schools into more categories, offering recognition to those that are succeeding and providing large new sums of money to help improve or close failing schools. A new goal, which would replace the 2014 universal proficiency deadline, would be for all students to leave high school “college or career ready.” Currently more than 40 states are collaborating, in an effort coordinated by the National Governors Association and encouraged by the administration, to write common standards defining what it means to be a graduate from high school ready for college or a career. The new standards will also define what students need to learn in earlier grades to advance successfully toward high school graduation.

The administration has already made its mark on education through Race to the Top, a federal grant program in which 40 states are competing for $4 billion in education money included in last year’s federal stimulus bill. In his State of the Union address, Mr. Obama hailed the results so far of that competition, which has persuaded states from Rhode Island to California to make changes in their education laws.

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Broad Education annual report 2009. #epicfail #edreform #rttt #infect #destroy #antiteacher

Full Report: HERE.

Our work in governance started with The Broad Institute for
School Boards. Over the course of six years, we trained 320
board members from 35 districts. But observing the frequent
political turnover on school boards (and often the resulting
shakeup in a school district’s leadership or reform agenda) and
the lack of focus on student achievement led us to conclude
that a more successful governance structure than the country’s
14,000 school boards was mayoral, gubernatorial or state control.
So our work evolved into supporting mayors and governors
in cities and states like New York, Boston,Washington, D.C.,
Chicago and New Orleans, where their education reform
efforts are supported politically in a more sustainable way….…

Teacher unions have always been a formidable voice in public
education. We decided at the onset of our work to invest in
smart, progressive labor leaders like Randi Weingarten, head of
the United Federation of Teachers in New York City for more
than a decade and now president of the American Federation
of Teachers (AFT). We partnered with Weingarten to fund two
union-run charter schools in Brooklyn and to fund New York
City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools,
as well as the AFT’s Innovation Fund. We had previously
helped advance pay for performance programs in Denver and
Houston, but we were particularly encouraged to see New York
City embrace the plan. Ten years into this work, and we
have found that teachers unions and school boards are still the
strongest voice to preserve the status quo—and there are far
too few progressive leaders.

I guess by status quo you mean anyone who disagrees with your vision of invade, infect and destroy? The status quo of education is a dizzying constant state of reform and change. It has failed us for the last 50 years in a horrifying manner, causing us to lose our edge as a nation. You can vilify school boards and unions all you want Mr. Broad, but you own your legacy, and it is that of failing children consistently for 20 years. Ironic, eh?

By the way Mr. Broad…did you ever speak to Arne Duncan about Hurricane Katrina? From the same report above, page22 of your .pdf:

Charters/Leadership Already in disrepair and further devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the New Orleans public school system is ripe for a total overhaul. The Broad Foundation invests $6 million to help rebuild New Orleans’s public education system through the recruitment and training of more highly qualified teachers and school leaders and the creation of new, innovative public charter schools. The grant funds Teach For America, New Schools for New Orleans and
New Leaders for New Schools.  In 2005, under the direction of Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, 107 low-performing schools in New
Orleans are taken over by the state and placed in the “Recovery School District” (five New Orleans schools were taken over prior to  Hurricane Katrina) led by Superintendent Paul Vallas. By 2009, 66 schools re-open in New Orleans–33 traditional public schools and 33 public charter schools.

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The #edreform stooges, not original, but funny. #RTTT

#2 with a bullet…..Look out DL…..I am coming! #netDE #DL #blogrank #influence #RTTT #edreform

Slow and steady, up from 3 to 2……..on the 12 week average.

4 of the top 7 are education-centric blogs!!!!!!!!!

Average Influence

This measure tracks each blog over the last twelve weeks in a rolling average, producing a more stable measure of influence that reflects a blogs longer-term impact on the blogospheric conversation rather than the “Official” single week results which can be influenced by a few really good or really controversial posts.

Rank		Blog	Prev
1		DelawareLiberal.Net	1
2		Transparent Christina	3
3		DelawarePolitics.net	2
4		Kilroy’s delaware	4
5		Delaware Way	5
6		Children and Educators First!	7
7		Red Clay Now	13
8		Dave Burris	12
9		Delmar DustPan	11
10		Salisbury News	6
11		The Colossus of Rhodey	9
12		miriam’s ideas	8
13		That’s Elbert With An E	10
14		DELAWARE REPUBLICAN	18
15		Redwaterlily’s Ramblings	16
16		What A Smell?	17
17		kavips	15
18		Delaware Libertarian	14
19		Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog	19
20		Delmarva Dealings	–

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Jack, what have you done about this? #RTTT does not fix this…..

I’ll answer that: NOTHING.

Area 1: F

Delivering Well Prepared Teachers

Delaware’s policies supporting the delivery of well-prepared teachers are sorely lacking. The state does not require teacher candidates to pass a basic skills test prior to program admission. In addition, Delaware does not ensure that elementary teachers are provided with a broad liberal arts education. Elementary teacher preparation programs are not required to address the science of reading or provide mathematics content specifically geared to the needs of elementary teachers. The state does not require elementary candidates to pass a test of the science of reading or a rigorous mathematics assessment. Although Delaware commendably does not allow middle school teachers to teach on a generalist K-8 license, the state’s policy in this area does not ensure that middle school teachers are sufficiently prepared to teach appropriate grade-level content. The state also does not ensure that special education teachers are adequately prepared to teach content-area subject matter, nor does it require new teachers to pass a pedagogy test to attain licensure. Unfortunately, Delaware does not hold preparation programs accountable for the quality of teachers they produce, and it has not retained full authority over its program approval process. Further, Delaware lacks any policy that ensures efficient preparation of teacher candidates in terms of the professional coursework that may be required.

Full report: here.

**************************************************************************************************************************

The same report in 2008 gave Delaware a C-( link to video time marker 4:10), so it looks like Gov. Markell and Dr. Lowery have sent us backwards?????

No worries, though, RTTT and Mass Insight are on the way to blow up the crappy schools!

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Great song, Great Movie, now a cool video: Sweet Home Alabama! #ROLLTIDE #ACADEMYWARD #IHEAROLDNEILPUTHERDOWN

It’s going around…..better get your shots…..

Duncan on Katrina: ‘Best Thing’ for New Orleans Schools: #RTTT #Duncan #insensitive #edreform #noproofOFefficacy #turnaroundFAIL

From State EdWatch blogger Lesli A. Maxwell

Did the usually smooth-tongued U.S. Secretary of Education really
say that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing to happen to the
education system in New Orleans? Oh yes, he did.

In an interview to be broadcast this weekend on Washington Watch With Roland Martin, Arne
Duncan says, “I think the best thing that happened to the education
system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina. That education system was
a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to
say that ‘we have to do better.’”

But to the thousands of teachers, students, and school employees who
lost colleagues, jobs, classrooms, school records, and the like, a
remark like that from the nation’s top education official is beyond
insensitive.

Full story: HERE.

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Simple, sweet harmonies #70s #orleans

Orleans – Dance With Me

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The Brothers Gibb

Bee Gees Nights on Broadway, 1975 midnight special 1975

The Bee Gees Nights on Broadway 1975 Midnight Special LIVE High Quality

Which spawned this classic SNL skit:

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Washington Post Blog Post Critical of Washington Post Disappears from Web Site #Rhee #DCPS #fail #fireRHEE

The Washington Post on Wednesday evening deleted from its
Web site a sizzling and brilliantly constructed blog post that
criticized the paper’s editorial board. Metro education reporter Bill Turque, in a Wednesday afternoon item on washingtonpost.com,
explained to readers why they might have noticed an anomaly in the
paper’s coverage of a high-profile hubbub centering on D.C. public
schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

Rhee, as the entire city knows, got herself in big trouble last week when comments she’d made to Fast Company
magazine surfaced on the Web. Among other things, Rhee stated that a
round of controversial layoffs last October had dumped teachers who had
had sex with DCPS children.

Full article: HERE.

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Dan Cruce on #RTTT and #gates money.

http://learningmatters.tv/blog/podcasts/race-to-the-top-podcast-a-competitive-edge/3821/

“at the end of the day”….as tired a phrase as it gets

“we’re confident, but we’re not cocky” – Dan Cruce

Obnoxious if you ask me.

Delaware appeals sports betting restrictions to US Supreme Court #DE #netDE

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The state of Delaware on Wednesday appealed
restrictions on its sports betting lottery to the U.S. Supreme Court,
arguing a lower court overstepped its authority by limiting the scope
of the betting.

In a 106-page court filing, attorneys for the state asked the court to review a ruling by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia that limits sports betting in Delaware to multi-game, or
parlay, bets on professional football.

Attorneys for the state argued that the appellate court ruling is “the product of several legal
errors.” The Supreme Court accepts only a small fraction of cases presented for appeal.

Full AP ARTICLE: HERE.

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Commentary on Citizens United, especially in the State of the Union: SCOTUS BLOG

Focus of this blog entry is this:

SCOTUS BLOG: HERE!

Commentary on the Citizens United decision lingers in the headlines of Supreme Court coverage.

The topic was revived as a news item by President Obama’s sharp criticism of the decision in his State of the Union address last night.  As the Huffington Post and Politico report (with video clips), six of the Justices were in the audience;
one of them, Justice Alito, was seen to mouth the reply, “No, that’s not right.” At the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr notes that, after the awkwardness of that moment, “it will be interesting to see how many Justices attend [the SOTU] next year”; in any event, he suggests that perhaps they should not attend at all.  At the BLT, Tony Mauro offers two historical angles on the event.  First, he notes that attendance by the Justices has been sporadic.  Second, the State of the Union addresses have mentioned the Supreme Court by name only nine times, and even then rarely in criticism.  In an online column for the New York Times, Linda Greenhouse suggests that what Justice Alito found “not right” was Obama’s statement that the ruling “reversed over a century of law” – a charge commonly made in the media – when in fact the early twentieth-century law banning direct political contributions by corporations was not at issue in Citizens.  Elsewhere, the New York Times briefly mentions another inaccuracy in the president’s remarks about the Court’s ruling.

The Atlantic Journal-Constitution hosts a discussion of the campaign finance decision, with Senator Mitch McConnell and law professor Floyd Abrams supporting the ruling and Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, criticizing it.  A Newsweek opinion article by Jonathan Alter accuses the conservative Justices of hypocrisy:  in his view, they departed from their usual position of judicial restraint with regard to the states when they struck down corporate campaign spending laws in twenty-two states.  On the other side, George Will at the Washington Post argues that the heated criticism of Citizens is hyperbolic and based on inaccurate predictions about the number and type of corporations that will likely take advantage of the ruling, while briefly shunning the idea of public election financing as “wildly unpopular.”

The AP (via the Washington Post) notes that, in light of Citizens, the conservative legal foundation the James Madison Center for Free Speech has urged the F.E.C. to formally and quickly throw out its rules limiting expenditures so that corporations and unions can start spending for the next election cycle.

As reported by this blog’s Lyle Denniston, USAToday and the AP (via ABC News), yesterday the D.C. Circuit heard the first major test of the Citizens decision in a case involving a political advocacy group, SpeechNow.  As the USAToday article notes, the same Court last year struck down the $5000 cap on individual contributions by EMILY’s List, a group that supports abortion rights.

Several other Court cases made it into the news yesterday and this morning.  The BLT reports that Senator Arlen Specter has filed an amicus brief in Samantar v. Yousuf, a case testing whether foreign citizens can bring civil claims of torture in U.S. courts.  Senator Specter claims that Congress passed the statute at issue – the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 –to “provide redress for egregious acts that infringe human rights and are an affront to human dignity.” [Disclosure: Akin Gump represents the respondent in this case.]

As a guest on the Peter Jennings Blog, Lyle Denniston, the reporter for this blog, commented on the recent per curiam opinion in Porter v. McCollum, which promoted Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome for veterans as an argument against the death penalty in a capital case.

The Volokh Conspiracy again covers the Court’s denial of cert. in Noriega v. Pastrana, this time with a post by John Elwood on Justice Thomas’s restraint from commenting on the merits of the case in his dissent, which Elwood thinks may have been an attempt to win other Justices to his side before cert. was denied.

Justice O’Connor congratulated winners in Above the Law’s competition to play Do I Have A Right?, one of the online games at Justice O’Connor’s civic education program, Our Courts.

Briefly: The Christian Science Monitor analyzes the likelihood that the California Prop. 8 case will be appealed to the Supreme Court. Right Side News reports on the Court’s denial last week of a case that blocked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from asserting its power to override transmission decisions made by states.  The AP (via the L.A. Times) has a piece on the State of Delaware’s appeal to the Court of restrictions on its sports-betting lottery.

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Christina in the News.

From WHYY.

Changes are going to made in the way Delaware schools punish
students.  The move follows several punishments for minor infractions
at Delaware schools last year.  The state’s task force assigned to
examine school discipline policy has released its report on recommended
changes.

The punishment for Christina School District 1st grader Zachary
Christie drew national attention, including featured articles in the
New York Times and made the district and the state a punchline for late
night comedians.  Christie’s camping utensil was dubbed a dangerous
weapon by school officials, and he had faced 45 days in an alternative
school for bringing it to class.

Read the School Discipline Task Force report in its entirety.

In light of the reaction to that discipline, and its subsequent
reduction, the School Discipline Task Force is recommending more
flexibility for local districts when disciplining students.  Task force
co-chairman state Rep. Darryl Scott (D) says, “You want to be
consistent and fair with how you administer discipline, but you have to
want to do the right thing for the student.  The goal is not to unduly
subject children to the criminal justice system.”  The report
recommends increasing the age that an accused student would be turned
over to police from 9 years old to 12.

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Delaware School Discpline Task Force Report

The School Discipline Task Force, created by House Concurrent Resolution No. 22, was formed to examine how House Bill 85, passed in 1993, and other legislative initiatives have affected the school learning climate, education of students, school codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures. The objective of the General Assembly and the school administrators was to create a safe and positive school environment through House Bill 85, which mandated reporting of all in-school incidents and set uniform punishments for infractions.

Although the intent was laudable, the legislation established a one-size-fits-all disciplinary system that allowed little to no discretion for school officials and the justice system. After years of putting the legislation into practice, the negative impacts on the educational system became apparent. Students have been expelled from school and criminally charged for infractions that upon closer review did not merit such punishments. However, the law provided no ability for administrators or justice officials to address these situations on an individual basis. These unforeseen consequences took a toll on the school environment, education of the youth and the demand placed on the juvenile justice system.

Full Report: HERE.

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Lowery resigns as DSU trustee

State Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery has resigned from Delaware State’s board of trustees.

Lowery tells The Wilmington News Journal that she left the position because of an
increased workload, citing specifically her need to focus on the education goals of Gov.
Jack Markell.

The school found out about Lowery’s decision late last week. The remainder of
Lowery’s term will be served by Wilmington attorney and Delaware State graduate Leroy
Tice.

Lowery was appointed to the school’s board of trustees in 2008 by former Gov. Ruth
Ann Minner. Eight members of the 15-member board are appointed by the governor.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Goals of Gov. Markell? Aren’t these the goals of a massive coalition of stakeholders?

UPDATE!

DSU officials found out about Lowery’s resignation — and Tice’s subsequent appointment — late last week.

“To say the least, we were shocked,” board Chairman Claibourne Smith said.

Lowery said she didn’t talk about her desire to resign with the full board
before informing the governor’s office of her decision.

“The governor makes those appointments, so his office deals with that,”
Lowery said. “I really did leave the board for all of the reasons I
said I was going to leave the board. As for the nuances of how it
happened, I’m just not that familiar with that”

That sounds very professional to me, not.

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Michelle Rhee is a Broadie Toadie. #DCPS #Rhee #fail #noclass #fireRHEE

By Bill Turque

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee faced mounting pressure Monday to explain her statement to a national business magazine that some of the 266 teachers laid off in last October’s budget cuts “had sex with children,” hit them or were chronically absent without authorization.

But after spending much of the day promising to elaborate on comments that appear in the February issue of “Fast Company”
magazine, Rhee spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway announced shortly before 6 p.m. that there would be no statement until Tuesday morning.

While Rhee remained silent, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray announced an inquiry into her claims, which he said he found “alarming and deeply troubling.” In a letter he sent late Monday, Gray set a Wednesday deadline for Rhee to provide each instance since July 1, 2007 — the beginning of the Chancellor’s tenure in the District — in which a teacher who sexually assaulted or hit a child was reported to the D.C. police department or Child and Family Services Agency, as required by law. Gray also wanted to know what actions were ultimately taken.

Gray sent a similar list of queries to Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and CFSA director Roque R. Gerald.

“If these accusations are true, then we must act swiftly to ensure
children are safe and perpetrators are investigated and brought to justice,” wrote Gray a possible Democratic primary challenger
to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty this year. “If they are found to be untrue, then these accusations may devastate the lives of many of the teachers who were laid-off in the middle of a school year and who are struggling to rebuild their careers in the midst of a recession.”

Full Post: HERE.

Before someone tells me that Rhee did not attend Broad Academy, this is why I say she is a Broadie Toadie:

Without further adieu:  Eli Broad hearts Michelle Rhee: A DCPS love story as told to an elitist audience in Aspen, CO

more about “FORA.tv – Transforming the System: An…“, posted with vodpod

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Thompson: Sausage Making #RTTT #duncan #hypocrisy

Georgia’s Race to the Top application (see pages,122,126,140,152, 156, 163, and 183) often reads like a growth prospectus for the New Teacher Project (TNTP) to expand into untapped territories.  When Oklahoma (p.109) contracts with the TNTP to train school leaders in “the art of of staffing schools” in critical needs schools, is that just a down payment on endless litigation costs comparable to those costs visited on the District of Columbia by the TNTP’s founder? D.C., of course, boosted its TNTP’s contract. Tennessee’s application (p.12) twice misspelled the name of the Democratic Party and then it assumed that William Sanders’ VAMs, designed for one set of of purposes, can meet the higher legal scrutiny required to fire up to 30% of the state’s  teachers. (p.93) ”Tennessee gave its districts a choice: They could either participate in all of our reform agenda as “participating” districts, as defined in the application, or they could decline to  participate entirely. There was no middle ground of ‘involved’ status.” (p.17)

SAME AS DE RTTT application: NO INVOLVED STATUS: HERE.

Full Post: HERE.

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Two Christina Schools Named State Title I Distinguished Schools Christina Has Received 5 National and State Recognitions in the Past 3 Years

WEEK
AHEAD: Governor Markell to Unveil Budget, Launch Tool to Find
Fugitives, Test Drive the New XH150 Hybrid, and Celebrate Innovative
Research and Education

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 9:00 a.m.: Governor Markell will attend
the signing of the Collaborative Research and Development Agreement
(CRDA) between the University of Delaware and the US Army at Aberdeen
Proving Ground.  The event will take place at the Roselle Center for
the Arts, University of Delaware, Orchard Road, Newark.

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 10:45 a.m.:  The Governor will help announce
a new tool for law enforcement to help locate wanted fugitives and
spread the word about emergencies, recruitment and PSAs.  The event
will take place just north of Rt 896 on I-95 northbound.  We can
provide more detailed directions on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1:30 p.m.:  Gov. Markell will test drive the
new XH150 electric hybrid car from AFS Trinity near Haslet Armory in
Dover.  More information to come on Monday.

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 10:30 a.m.:  The Governor will discuss
efforts to make government more efficient through better real estate
practices.  The location will be announced next week.

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2:00 p.m.:  Gov. Markell and Sec. Visalli
will unveil the proposed 2011 budget at the Tatnall Building, 3rd
Floor, William Penn Street, Dover.

Friday, Jan. 29, 2:00 p.m.:  Gov. Markell will help cut the
ribbon for Junior Achievement of Delaware’s Innovation Hub, located at
522 South Walnut Street, Wilmington.

Friday, Jan. 29, 3:30 p.m.:  Gov. Markell and Secretary
Lillian Lowery will present the Title I Distinguished School Award to
Maclary Elementary School, 200 St. Regis Drive, Newark.

Two Christina School District elementary schools, R. Elisabeth Maclary Elementary School and Joseph M. McVey Elementary School have been named Title I Distinguished Schools by the Delaware Secretary of Education and the Delaware Title I Office. Delaware

recognizes schools in the state that have used their resources to meet
the needs of children. The purpose of the Delaware Title I
Distinguished Schools Recognition program is to identify schools that
are taking extra steps to ensure that all have access to effective
instructional strategies and challenging academic content. The award
also recognizes that a school has demonstrated success in ensuring that
all children, particularly those who have educational or social
challenges, make significant progress towards learning that content,
and ultimately succeeding in school.

In 2008, Gallaher Elementary School was named a National Distinguished
Title I School, and in 2007, Wilson Elementary School and McVey
Elementary School were both named NationalDistinguished
Title I Schools. This year’s recognition of two Christina schools
brings Christina School District’s total national and state Title I
awards to 5 in the past three years.

“We are extremely proud that two schools in Christina have received the

Title I Distinguished School recognition again this year,’ said

Christina Superintendent Dr. Marcia Lyles. “Maclary and

McVey have earned their place among the best Title I schools in the

nation and the state, and are proving their commitment to student

achievement each and every day.”

Last Updated:Monday, 25-Jan-2010 10:22:56 EST

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Wilmington child poverty rate nearly double Delaware average

The issues in our schools are just the tip of the iceberg……

The latest numbers from the Kids Count Fact Book 2009 show that nearly 25% of Wilmington children are living in poverty, compared to about 13% of kids statewide.

The Kids Count book is a 110 page snapshot of how Wilmington children are faring with statistics on everything from reading scores
to juvenile crime.  Wilmington Mayor James Baker (D) says, “Every figure in [the book], no matter what the percent or the number represents a person, and I don’t think sometimes we see it that way because we’re used to throwing around statistics.”

Those statistics show that 24.2% of the city’s children were living in poverty as of 2008.  That number has likely increased due to the
downturn in the economy in 2009, says Kids Count policy analyst Janice Barlow.  “We all know that the recession has hit us pretty hard.  Many businesses within the city and the state as a whole are closing their doors.Barlow says the city’s rising unemployment has sent more of Wilmington’s kids into poverty than is reflected in the book.

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From Andrew Sullivan’s Blog: 1-24-2010

This quote:

“Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself,” – Thomas Merton, “Letter To A Young Activist”

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