Pennsylvania should be gearing up for "Public School vs Common Sense" feud

Friday Morning Coffee: It's A Snow Day.
Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Well, it took her a while, but Mother Nature finally got around to dumping a light coating snow on our Commonwealth's seat of government. Schools were delayed. Traffic was snarled. But undeterred, we called upon our New England upbringing, threw a couple of extra copies of "Going Rogue" on the wood stove, strapped on our mukluks, hitched up the dogsled and set out for Capitol Ideas World HQ with nary a backwards glance. And just like a certa...

Jerry Brown vs. the Parent Trigger Law?
Thu Jan. 6, 2011 12:26 PM PST Editors' Note: This education dispatch is part of a new ongoing series reported from Mission High School, where education writer Kristina Rizga is known to Students as "Miss K." Click here to see all of Mojo's recent education coverage, or follow The Miss K Files on Twitter or with this RSS Feed. After a week of depressing announcements about looming Budget woes, the California Teachers Association is celebrating some good news for a change. On Wednesday,...

Congratulations, you just bought 40,000 computers for kids in Detroit
In case you missed the news, the Detroit Public School system is purchasing 40,000 Laptops for all of the 6-12th grade Students in the district. On top of that, every single teacher in the district is receiving a computer. Also, 4,300 scanners and printers are being purchased. And if that’s not enough, the district is buying 500 desktop computers for 138 early childhood classrooms on the district. All told, the district is purchasing almost 50,000 computers, printers, and scanners with a t...

Schools chief nullifies raises
Because the Clark County School District faces a severe decline in state funding, new Superintendent Dwight Jones has rescinded the pay hikes his predecessor approved on his way out for his executive assistant and six administrators. Jones did not believe the seven employees were unworthy of the raises, which were supposed to take effect Monday. But he thinks the increases cannot be justified at a time when the district expects a state funding shortfall of $300 million for 2011-12, according to ...

Rendell defends bringing slots to Pa.
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, in an interview with the CBS show "60 Minutes," angrily defended his decision to bring legal slot machines to the state. Clips from the show to be aired Sunday show Rendell arguing that gambling addicts already have available casinos. He said that now, at least, Pennsylvania will benefit instead of Atlantic City, N.J. "You guys don't get that," Rendell snapped at interviewer Leslie Stahl, who interjected "I do get that." "You're simp...

Rendell Keeping Quiet On Rumors Of Project Money For Philly
HARRISBURG (CBS) - Philadelphia may be in line for $100 million in state money for private development projects courtesy of outgoing Governor Ed Rendell, although some of those projects could be short-circuited by the incoming governor. Governor Rendell’s spokesman, Gary Tuma, is playing it close to the vest when it comes to how much Philadelphia will get from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, saying the process continues in Rendell’s final days. “...

Tom Corbett has a fracking problem
The second-best surprise of the hours-away-from-ending Ed Rendell administration in Harrisburg (the first best, of course, being his nomination of me for a Pulitizer Prize in the new category of Weather Rants) was the Democratic's environmental record. He didn't seem especially "green" during his tenure as mayor of Philadelphia, but as Governor he was a strong advocate for Alternative Energy. He wasn't perfect, though -- while he was smart to realize the income potential of taxing th...

Education reform the union way
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in an inflammatory Speech last month, referred to United Teachers Los Angeles as the "loudest opponent and the largest obstacle to creating quality schools." In his enthusiasm to join the national chorus blaming Teachers Unions, he chose to ignore the myriad positive reforms teachers are making in L.A. schools with the support of our union leadership. We are UTLA representatives at schools in the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, or PLAS, which is affiliated with t...

Lower Merion High teacher suspended in student-romance allegation
An award-winning science teacher at Lower Merion High School has been suspended after one of his former Students told school officials that she had a romantic relationship with him while she was his student. Robert G. Schanne, 43, left the school after officials confronted him with the allegations last month, according to multiple sources who had been made aware of the details but said they were not authorized to publicly discuss them. Reached at home last month by The Inquirer, Schanne did not...

Improving teachers: Lessons learned
BUDGET, Curriculum, class size—none has a greater effect on a Student than his or her teacher. Given this, politicians might be expected to do all in their power to ensure that America’s teachers are good ones. For decades, they have done the opposite. The trouble begins long before a teacher enters the classroom. In Singapore, which recently came second in an international ranking of 15-year-olds’ skill in maths (America was 31st), the teacher-training programme accepts only s...

Firing Teachers for Non-Payment of Union Dues
While teacher tenure laws and teacher union contracts place many hurdles in the path of a School District trying to fire a teacher who is accused of incompetence or serious misdeeds against Students, there is one offense that might meet with little sympathy from the union: skipping out on paying union dues. In many teacher union contracts, skipping union dues is stipulated as cause for termination. In some of these cases, unions go as far as to say that they will even pay the school district&rs...;

Teachers Union Head Wishes Everyone Could Just Get Along
Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, has a piece up at HuffPo complaining that bad school reformers are causing all of this telegenic conflict. Collaboration is vastly preferable, says Weingarten, even if it doesn't make for heart-wrenching documentary footage. And collaboration has its place. But all of the instances of successful collaboration Weingarten cites are merely successes in creating collaborative projects. Because the district and the union had built a ...

Teacher Tenure Reform Coming to Illinois?
It’s the beginning of a new year, and Illinois isn’t wasting any time getting Education Reform off to a good start. Teacher tenure reform is currently on the hotplate of Illinois lawmakers, with the House being set to vote on a measure January 12. The proposed Legislation would “link teacher tenure to Student Test Scores,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Under Illinois’s current system, “new teachers are offered tenure after three years on the job unless there are seri

Bourbonnais man killed by bus is mourned as a hero
The trip to the Circle K convenience store across the street from school was a treat for Thomas J. Dunn Jr.'s Student, usually a reward for good behavior or some incremental improvement in the everyday skills that could bedevil an autistic teenager. A trip to buy a soft drink was a life skill, too. During the year-and-a-half Dunn had been paired with the 19-year-old student at Camelot Therapeutic Day School in Bourbonnais, the teen had made significant strides. It was clear to everyone at Came...

Los Angeles Number One In Charter School Enrollment
Last year the Los Angeles Unified School District had 65,000 Students enrolled in Charter Schools, more than any other district in the country, the Los Angeles Times reported. One in ten LAUSD Students goes to school in a charter school, publicly supported but independently run schools that are not subject to the same regulations that Public Schools must abide by. By straight percentages though, New Orleans Public School System and the District of Columbia Public Schools lead the country with a ...

Gov. Christie signs 'Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights'
Source: NJ.com Trenton — Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill advocates say gives New Jersey the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation. Christie signed the “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights,” according to a Press Release from Garden State Equality, the state’s largest Gay Rights organization, which advocated for the bill. The new law is intended to eliminate Loopholes in the state’s first anti-bullying law, passed in 2002, that encouraged School Districts to set up anti-bullying pro

Teen Stabbed in Neck at Bronx Public School
A 16-year-old was stabbed in the neck at P.S. 12 in the East Tremont section of The Bronx, police said. The youth was taken to Jacobi Hospital, police said. His condition remains unknown. Please check back for more information on the breaking story. First Published: Jan 5, 2011 9:46 AM EST Print ...

Wilmette Teachers Reject Salary Freeze
In the face of a $5.1 million District 39 Deficit. As many in Illinois wake up to a proposed 75% income Tax Increase, a tax on Internet sales, and a Corporate Tax from 4.8% to 8.4%, the highest of all the states, we get more in your face behavior from our PUBLIC SERVANTS. Oh no, they think they're not as well paid as their neighboring teachers--well, you know somebody has to be below average. Do your bleepin math. Could it be Wilmette teachers are less experienced? Younger? That's probably a go...

Corbett names head of general services
Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is turning to a woman who currently works for him in the Attorney General's Office to head up the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. Corbett announced Thursday that Sheri Phillips would be his nominee to become secretary of the agency that manages state purchasing, many capital projects, government buildings and facilities, and other aspects of State Government. The 49-year-old Harrisburg woman has been director of management services for the Attorney General's O...

Neighborhood Schools Bill for JCPS on track for senate vote
Related: Neighborhood Schools Bill up for discussion in Frankfort JCPS board hires firm to find new superintendent JCPS superintendent up for review, some parents critical of performance Candidates for JCPS School Board to meet with public tonight (WHAS11) – A bill that would force Jefferson County Public Schools to replace its Controversial Student assignment plan with neighborhood schools is expected to be approved by the Kentucky Senate on Friday, after a contentious Senate Education...

AR-Lt. Gov: Halter Looks To Cook For Ethics Post
Seems that Arkansas’s leading progressive voice and outgoing Lt. Gov, Bill Halter — the man who both led the way in creating the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and made economic Populism “sexy” again - is taking care of a little more official bidness before leaving office next week. His office has just announced the appointment of former Democratic State Representative and AR-01 Congressional Candidate David Cook to a seat on the Arkansas Ethics Co...

Tastykakes suffers toothache of unionization, public financing
Philadelphians may lose a sweet economic powerhouse in the Tasty Baking Company if the company is unable to find some sugardaddy to keep it going, which may be thanks to both unionization and government entanglements. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the treat manufacturer's decision to move facilities in order to expand operations resulted in biting off more Debt than it could chew: The $100 million Debt used to build and move into the new plant, coupled with a failure to gain all expect...

What we need is merit pay for politicians
Kevin Falcon is “a proud British Columbian” and MLA from Vancouver who wants to lead the B.C. Liberal party. He’s one of five Candidates (with others reportedly in the woods) hoping to replace Gordon Campbell, who is stepping down as premier amidst the ruins of the government’s introduction of the HST. Mr. Falcon’s web site emphasizes listening. “Listening. Learning. Leading,” it says. He has already made one proposal: a plan to pay teachers according to...

Legislation would block school boards from funnelling public money to election campaigns
Sometimes a single sentence can send special-interest groups into a frenzy. The latest example: House Bill 2002, sponsored by State Representative John Kavanagh, which would prohibit governmental entities from using Taxpayer Dollars to pay dues to groups that attempt to influence ballot outcomes. It makes sense: state and local governments are forbidden from using public funds to support or oppose Ballot Measures. But the Arizona School Boards Association, though composed entirely of entities su...

Former delegate indicted on bribery, extortion
Former Del. Phillip A. Hamilton was indicted by a federal Grand Jury Wednesday on Bribery and Extortion charges for seeking a paid job at Old Dominion University while introducing Legislation to fund the position. The Newport News Republican, once one of the Most Powerful members of the General Assembly, was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2009 amid an ethics inquiry into the matter. He had been in office for 21 years and was vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Neil H. Ma...