Today’s Top Picks:
Failure of SB10 (the ACT/SAT-UBSCT swap) comes up in the Governor’s news conference.
http://goo.gl/81K8m (DN)
and http://goo.gl/XuDGy (SLT)
and http://goo.gl/Kwxx7 (KSL)
A transcript of the news conference
http://goo.gl/36ezz (UEN)
Utah Policy’s Bob Bernick takes a closer look at the proposed legislative fiscal notes.
http://goo.gl/TI42X (UPD)
A couple of USU types discuss the GEAR UP program there.
http://goo.gl/6y3KK (Huffington Post)
Washington Post looks at the migration of college to high school.
http://goo.gl/OBICF (WaPo)
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH
Guv may call special session to deal with high school tests, liquor licenses
Whooping cough continues to menace Utah Health » But officials hope the end of academic year brings a decrease in cases of pertussis.
First grade teacher gets plenty of laughs
National Geographic Bee 2012 : UT Finalist
Lone Peak named in Newsweek’s top 1,000 high schools
Abused girl defies odds and graduates with classmates
Nearly 400 seniors graduate from Provo High
CVHS grads face future with nervousness, excitement
Cedar High graduation focuses on memories
A new lease on life: Franklin County High graduate hopes to go into guidance counseling
South Weber Elementary students get lost in the land of Narnia
West Point Elementary School students prove their fitness skills
Teens Allowed To Text And Drive – In Simulator
Students get scholarships at Elks event
Students face charges after fight near Payson High School
Is this dress too short? Tooele teen gets national attention over dress-code drama
Cyprus High senior class raising money for new ‘C’ on hillside
Eagles gather for McTeachers’ Night
Can U.S. schools adopt education practices of top-performing nations?
9-year-old’s blog brings big changes to school lunches
School volunteer gets a High 5
USU hosting science academy for teens
Inside Our Schools
OPINION & COMMENTARY
Fighting Over Fiscal Notes
How Utah Aims to Equalize the Academic Disparity Between Have’s and Have-not’s
A thoughtful analysis of the Romney education plan
School districts and FERPA are eroding parental authority
Cash trumps education
Increase in cruelty, bullying by girls disturbing
Use Technology to Upend Traditional Classrooms
‘What Works’ Guide Offers Insights on Math Problem-Solving
Campaign Flashback: Romney Praised Obama on Choice, Merit Pay
Educators Use Mobile Devices More Than General Public
NCATE Accredits First ‘Nontraditional’ Program
NATION
College comes to high school
School Districts Cut More Nurses
FACT CHECK: Romney off on Obama’s love for unions
Romney faces tough questions from black leaders
Mitt Romney taps Idaho superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna as education adviser
Diane Ravitch
7-year-old’s suicide shocks Detroit community
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UTAH NEWS
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Guv may call special session to deal with high school tests, liquor licenses
SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert indicated Thursday he may call lawmakers into special session to put a new assessment test for high school students in place before classes start this fall.
…
The testing issue is more pressing because the state has dropped the Utah Basic Skills and Competency Test.
“In some form or fashion, we need to address that issue, and that should happen hopefully before the start of the next school year,” Herbert said.
A bill dealing with the testing issue failed in the final hours of the 2012 Legislature, apparently over concerns the tests were related to the controversial “Common Core” program, which involves a coalition of states developing a set of mathematics and language arts benchmarks for public education.
Herbert said adopting the ACT or another test to assess high school students “has absolutely nothing to do with Common Core. I know they’re sometimes connected, for whatever reasons, I’m not certain.”
Opponents of Utah’s participation in the Common Core program are also leery of Utah’s adoption of a national assessment test. Educators said the program and the test are unrelated.
http://goo.gl/81K8m (DN)
http://goo.gl/XuDGy (SLT)
http://goo.gl/Kwxx7 (KSL)
A transcript
http://goo.gl/36ezz (UEN)
Whooping cough continues to menace Utah Health » But officials hope the end of academic year brings a decrease in cases of pertussis.
Whooping cough continues to plague portions of Utah even as temperatures warm and children prepare to leave school.
Cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are now at 207 statewide, according to preliminary data, from January until the end of April. That compares to 115 during the same period in 2011.
Several school districts in northern Utah are among the areas that have seen a spike. The Davis County Health Department says 18 residents have been diagnosed with the disease so far, double the amount during the same span in 2011.
Unlike some other states, no one has died in Utah this year from the disease, which can be fatal particularly for children younger than 1.
http://goo.gl/XA6mp (SLT)
First grade teacher gets plenty of laughs
SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes being the class clown can be a good thing, especially if you are the teacher.
Abe Yospe, a first grade teacher in the Jordan School District, is not only an educator, he’s an entertainer too. A morning in his classroom includes a game show, complete with buzzers and teams to review what the students have been learning. Mr.Yospe plays Alex Trebek, and his students are the contestants.
He also cracks jokes as he teaches, in an entertaining, engaging and educational way.
http://goo.gl/IOeM0 (KSL)
National Geographic Bee 2012 : UT Finalist
Anthony Cheng is a 13-year-old 8th grader at Midvale Middle School in Midvale, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He represented Utah at the 2010 and 2011 National Geographic Bees and was on the U.S. team at the National Geographic World Championship in 2011. He performed a solo piano debut with the Utah Symphony.
http://goo.gl/BaaOF (YouTube)
Lone Peak named in Newsweek’s top 1,000 high schools
Lone Peak High School remains among America’s top 1,000 schools according to Newsweek Magazine.
Principal Chip Koop said it is an honor to be recognized as one of the top schools in the nation “particularly because Newsweek’s focus is college readiness.”
http://goo.gl/MXldg (PDH)
Abused girl defies odds and graduates with classmates
PROVO — Thursday night, there were 339 students who made up the class of 2012 at Provo High School’s graduation. On a cold January night 15 years ago, no one thought Amanda Peterson would be one of them.
KSL News reported the story that winter night: a child left critically injured her abuser on the run. The man was later captured and convicted, but Amanda will always suffer because of his crime.
http://goo.gl/KEaYR (KSL)
Nearly 400 seniors graduate from Provo High
Nearly 400 seniors from Provo High School enjoyed the payoff of four years of labor on their graduation night Thursday in the expansive space of the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University in Orem. The flash of white-and-green gowns stood out in contrast to the swath of yellow seats within the college’s gymnasium, crowded with friends and family armed with recording devices.
http://goo.gl/6GpJi (PDH)
CVHS grads face future with nervousness, excitement
CEDAR CITY – As 276 Canyon View High School seniors said farewell to their high school days, several of them expressed a mixture of nervousness and excitement as they contemplated their futures beyond Thursday night’s graduation ceremony at Southern Utah University’s Centrum Arena.
http://goo.gl/g3oaz (SGS)
Cedar High graduation focuses on memories
CEDAR CITY – Cedar High School’s graduating seniors shared memories and laughs at their commencement exercises Thursday at Southern Utah University’s Centrum Arena.
http://goo.gl/q0Q0O (SGS)
A new lease on life: Franklin County High graduate hopes to go into guidance counseling
DOWNEY — Taking care of others runs in Andrea Poen’s family.
The 18-year-old Franklin County High School graduate got a job at an assisted living center after finishing school and has hopes of becoming a guidance counselor like the ones who have helped her along the way.
http://goo.gl/tJZ5m (LHJ)
South Weber Elementary students get lost in the land of Narnia
SOUTH WEBER — Students at South Weber Elementary School spent a full day lost in the land of Narnia.
The fifth annual Journey to Narnia — held the day before school let out for the summer — wasn’t just about having fun. It was also about learning.
http://goo.gl/HnJt7 (OSE)
West Point Elementary School students prove their fitness skills
LAYTON — After months of training, Sandra Ellis’ physical education students from West Point Elementary School put their fitness skills to the test.
As part of Davis School District’s second annual Decathlon on Fitness, hundreds of elementary school students gathered at Northridge High School on Tuesday and Wednesday to compete in 10 fitness events. The contests ranged from cup stacking and jumping rope to push-ups and running.
http://goo.gl/JOqDQ (OSE)
Teens Allowed To Text And Drive – In Simulator
Distracted driving is becoming a huge problem.
So, to make a point, West High School Students were allowed to text and drive today – in a simulator.
While looking through virtual reality eye glasses, they were told to text and drive at the same time.
http://goo.gl/hceT4 (KUTV)
http://goo.gl/c1kNH (KSTU)
Students get scholarships at Elks event
ST. GEORGE – At the Dixie Elks Lodge’s annual Scholarship Dinner, 17 students received scholarships to attend college.
The total amount of scholarships awarded this year was $21,347. The following students and their parents and school personnel were honored at the dinner.
http://goo.gl/25qcv (SGS)
Students face charges after fight near Payson High School
PAYSON, UTAH – Two Utah County teenagers are facing charges after some high school hatred spills into the streets of a Payson neighborhood.
Payson Police Lt. Bill Wright tells ABC 4 News a student who had attended Payson High in the past, but now attends Landmark High in Spanish Fork, showed up at a school function. What he described as “bad blood” between the Landmark student and a student at Payson was re-kindled. The two decided to fight each other just off campus near 580 West and 1050 South to avoid trouble with the school district.
Witnesses say about twenty to thirty students followed to watch the fight.
http://goo.gl/wOZF4 (KTVX)
Is this dress too short? Tooele teen gets national attention over dress-code drama
TOOELE — Ema Parker would rather not be in the spotlight.
And all the hemming and hawing over her hemline, the 14-year-old says, has been embarrassing.
“It’s shocking that I would get cornered for this, separated out from other people,” Ema said Thursday outside Tooele Junior High School.
http://goo.gl/l4Hde (DN)
http://goo.gl/73K6F (KSL)
http://goo.gl/lL2cw (KSTU)
Cyprus High senior class raising money for new ‘C’ on hillside
The senior class at Cyprus High School is trying to leave its mark in the biggest way possible.
The class is holding fundraisers to replace the rock C on the Oquirrh Mountains with a more permanent structure.
http://goo.gl/aMna1 (SLT)
Eagles gather for McTeachers’ Night
It was an evening full of fun and laughter, as well as good times and good food, when the Beaver Dam Elementary School staff came onboard to serve up meals for the 3rd annual McTeachers’ Night at McDonalds. As Beaver Dam students arrived with their families the evening of May 8, they were greeted by the school staff who had volunteered their time to serve up tasty meals with a smile.
http://goo.gl/OwqWH (SGS)
Can U.S. schools adopt education practices of top-performing nations?
Beverly Hills, California is famous for many things, not the least of which is its public schools. The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) is one of the top performing districts in California, and the country. In recent state and national reading and math assessments, the district’s students scored in the 80th percentile.
BHUSD students’ performance on international assessments is less than impressive. Its students rank in the 53 percentile in mathematics and reading when compared to countries such as Finland, China, Korea and Canada. Poor performance on international exams isn’t just a problem in Beverly Hills. Although Americans spend 50 percent more on education than other industrialized nations, they score 23rd in science, 17th in reading and 31st in mathematics of a total of 34 nations, according to data collected by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group that conducts international education comparisons.
American students’ lackluster performance on international exams raises concern among economists and policymakers who argue that the U.S. needs to raise its grades or risk economic stagnation.
http://goo.gl/Z3tIK (DN)
9-year-old’s blog brings big changes to school lunches
SALT LAKE CITY — A blog started by a 9-year-old girl has led to big changes at the girl’s school and has called attention to what students worldwide are being served at lunch.
Martha Payne in late April started a blog, called Never Seconds, with her father to rate her school lunches. The Argyll, Scotland, girl included in every post a picture of the day’s lunch and ratings based on taste, health and portion size.
http://goo.gl/64gVQ (KSL)
School volunteer gets a High 5
FARMINGTON — A mother who donates her time to helping teachers at an elementary school in Farmington wins this week’s High 5.
Lorraine Gregory has been volunteering at Farmington Elementary School for seven years. She was caught totally off guard when we showed up to surprise her.
http://goo.gl/8shAQ (KSL)
USU hosting science academy for teens
Utah State University is offering a week-long Biotechnology Summer Academy that integrates high school students in the daily work of a research laboratory. The academy is July 9-13 at the Center for Integrated BioSystems in Logan. Students are mentored by USU faculty, who work in various disciplines. The fee is $200, including five-days of room and board. Application deadline is June 18. Email questions to cibtraining@usu.edu or call 435-797-3504.
http://goo.gl/czQ8W (SLT)
Inside Our Schools
Desert Hills Middle
Millcreek High
Enoch Elementary
Fiddlers Elementary
North Elementary
South Elementary
Canyon View Middle
http://goo.gl/Qhyc1 (SGS)
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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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Fighting Over Fiscal Notes
Utah Policy Daily commentary by columnist Bob Bernick
A change is being discussed in the Utah Legislature that could have far reaching political ramifications.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and other conservative tax fighters are pushing for a new kind of legislative bill fiscal notes.
Now, before you fall asleep, I will admit that this is inside legislative baseball kind of stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important, even ground breaking.
Stephenson wants to change, first, tax bills’ fiscal notes to what is termed “dynamic scoring.”
Later, he believes that all bills’ fiscal notes can be drafted following this new method.
http://goo.gl/TI42X
How Utah Aims to Equalize the Academic Disparity Between Have’s and Have-not’s Huffington Post commentary by Yolanda Flores Niemann and Eric D. Packenham (Yolanda Flores Niemann, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Utah State University. Eric D. Packenham, is the Project Director and is accountable for all aspects of the Utah State University GEAR UP program.)
Americans take great pride in the promise reflected in our Declaration of Independence — the equal right to the pursuit of happiness for all persons. And we would rather not talk about the impact of socioeconomic status on our paths to happiness and success. But make no mistake: The impact of social class is stark. Even in the state of Utah, where student academic achievement surpasses that of many other states, income status is mirrored in academic outcomes.
Like the rest of the country, the State of Utah is undergoing demographic transformation that is having a massive impact on the educational system. As one of the youngest states in population age, the state’s educators are faced with an increasing number of new students with limited English-speaking abilities and different cultural and religious beliefs. As members of historically underrepresented groups, these students are overrepresented among the lower socioeconomic classes. Their parents often have low educational attainment levels. As a result, the number of low income schools where at least 50 percent of the student population qualifies for free or reduced lunch is growing. Schools are imploding with the consequence of these changing demographics. Perhaps more than ever before in our nation’s history, ensuring a quality education, and the contingencies thereof, is increasingly challenging.
http://goo.gl/6y3KK
A thoughtful analysis of the Romney education plan Deseret News commentary by columnist Mary McConnell
If you’re interested in learning more about Governor Romney’s education proposals, take a look at this thoughtful analysis by Michael Petrilli, the director of the Fordham Institute.
http://goo.gl/P6A6t
School districts and FERPA are eroding parental authority St. George Utah.com letter from Christel Swasey
Few people know what has been happening to parental authority over children and their data.
In January, without Congressional approval, federal regulations of FERPA (The Family Education Right Privacy Act) were altered to loosen parental consent rules, providing “more flexibility” for outside entities to get student data. See Fox Rothschild, LLC, Attorneys’ Education Practice Alert – FERPA Regulations Revised.
Last month, Wasatch District School Board coincidentally created similar flexibility for external agencies to get local data, where families had had protections before.
The data-seeking network is growing: our state built a longitudinal database with federal stimulus money; the Utah Educator Network partnered with the Data Alliance and Choice Solutions to build “seamless” sharing of data, both statewide and for entities outside Utah. Meanwhile, the federal government started asking for previously state-analyzed, aggregated academic data. See the Cooperative Agreement between U.S. Department of Education and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the State of Washington (fiscal agent), dated January 7, 2011, here.
The federal government is setting up technological and legal abilities to get dis-aggregated academic data, plus truckloads of far-from-academic data, about individuals and their families: living arrangements, biometric information, medical information, mental health, family income, bus stop times, nicknames, everything!
http://goo.gl/v2vPo
Cash trumps education
Salt Lake Tribune letter from Mary Barnes
Thank you, Janet Barnette, for your voice on the importance of arts in school (“Arts count,” Forum, May 22).
As a retired secondary school teacher, I loved my career, but it was sorrowful. It became clear that this country does not value education; never has, and never will.
Oh, there have been a lot of ideas put forth, and new names for those ideas — a “Nation at Risk,” “No Child Left Behind,” “Education Nation.” In the hierarchy of education, there have been those pointy heads who set out to convince this nation that our society and its leaders care. They don’t.
In a society where money instructs all, education will never be a priority.
http://goo.gl/7vtvS
Increase in cruelty, bullying by girls disturbing
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Linda Smithana
I am so glad a conversation has been opened about hazing and especially how mean girls can be. I have noticed an increase in cruelty and bullying on the part of girls. This is not just my opinion but that of several of my friends. My boy was playing on the playground at school when he was in 5th grade when a girl jumped on his back and stared hitting him. As he was trying to get her off, she told him she was a girl and there was nothing he could do about it. A friend’s boy was talking to a friend he had known for several years when she slapped him hard enough across the face that he saw stars. He asked why she had done it and she told him she felt like it. Another friend’s son was being bullied by a girl in junior high. She would push him to the ground and then start kicking him. The school did nothing and my friend had to take him out.
Believe me, the list goes on. What are boys supposed to do, tell on these girls and be made fun of because they couldn’t handle a girl? Girls and boys should be treated equally in this matter and a boy shouldn’t have to feel he is not “macho” if he reports a girl who is bullying him.
http://goo.gl/3Aoxw
Use Technology to Upend Traditional Classrooms Education Week op-ed by Justin Reich, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, at Harvard University
The most impressive technology-rich classrooms don’t look like classrooms. Instead, they look like creative businesses on deadline—like advertising agencies pulling together a big campaign, architectural firms drawing up blueprints, or software companies developing new programs.
I recently visited a middle school science class as students toiled away on science fair projects using a classroom wiki: a widely adopted collaborative Web platform. As I watched, students uploaded graphic displays of their data, commented on each other’s hypotheses, and recorded video journals of their progress. The room buzzed with activity, as each of these young knowledge workers made contributions to their collective endeavor. When students got stuck, other students jumped from their desks to help. The teacher circulated through the classroom like a project manager, answering questions, providing feedback, holding students accountable to deadlines, and providing just-in-time instruction.
In “creative agency” classrooms such as this one, learning technologies enable students to collaborate with peers, pursue their interests, publish their work to the world, and take greater responsibility for their own learning.
http://goo.gl/sXYCf
‘What Works’ Guide Offers Insights on Math Problem-Solving Education Week commentary by columnist Erik Robelen
Teachers struggling to help improve students’ mathematical problem-solving skills have a new resource from the federal What Works Clearinghouse.
After poring over a wide range of studies, a panel of experts in math and education research compiled five core recommendations for math instruction in grades 4-8, along with suggested steps for implementation and tips to overcome potential roadblocks.
The core recommendations are:
• Prepare problems and use them in whole-class instruction;
• Assist students in monitoring and reflecting on the problem-solving process;
• Teach students how to use visual representations;
• Expose students to multiple problem-solving strategies;
• Help students recognize and articulate mathematical concepts and notation.
http://goo.gl/aTYPQ
A copy of the report
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide.aspx?sid=16
Campaign Flashback: Romney Praised Obama on Choice, Merit Pay Education Week commentary by columnist Alyson Klein
During his education speech yesterday, Gov. Mitt Romney hit President Barack Obama really hard for being in the pocket of the teachers’ unions.
“The President can’t have it both ways,” Romney said. “He can’t talk up reform while indulging groups that block it. He can’t be the voice of disadvantaged school kids and the protector of special interests.”
But, as my colleague Sean Cavanagh points out, one of Romney’s main education surrogates, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—who wrote the foreword to the campaign’s white paper on education—has actually said very nice things about Obama’s willingness to challenge the unions.
“I am very, very encouraged, and excited that the president has taken on a core constituency of his party, which is the teachers’ union,” Bush said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
http://goo.gl/qWh96
Educators Use Mobile Devices More Than General Public Education Week commentary by columnist Ian Quillen
School principals and district administrators are more likely than the general public to be adopters of smartphones and tablet computers, according to a new report based on data from the 2011 Speak Up survey.
Principals and administrators are also more likely to use those devices than the teachers and librarians they oversee, the report says, though teachers are also more frequent users of those tools than the general public.
Further, technology use habits were found to effect both sets of populations’ outlook on using those devices in education.
http://goo.gl/GpNKy
A copy of the report
http://goo.gl/hpZw6
NCATE Accredits First ‘Nontraditional’ Program Education Week commentary by columnist Stephen Sawchuk
In a first, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education has given its blessing to a non-higher-education-based preparation program, the Denton, Texas-based iTeachU.S.
iTeachU.S. is approved to recommend teachers for licensure in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. All of the coursework is conducted online, and candidates access it at their own pace. Upon entering the classroom as a full-time teacher of record, each candidate is assigned a field-experienced supervisor, generally a retired teacher from the local community who works with the teacher’s mentor.
“We thought it was important to establish the credibility factor,” said Diann Huber, the founder and president of iteachU.S., about her decision to apply for NCATE accreditation. “When states approve alternative programs, they meet minimum standards. I wanted to show we really take the responsibility of certifying educators so seriously that, even though we are online and trying to be cutting edge, we have not sacrificed the integrity and the rigor of our education program, and the way to demonstrate that was to have the national accreditation.”
iteachU.S.’s accreditation is currently for 18 months, not the full seven-year period; it will still undergo a full visit from NCATE teams.
http://goo.gl/jZYZT
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NATIONAL NEWS
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College comes to high school
Washington Post
As college finals approached, Leah Pope studied more than ever for philosophy. Hallie Lappin pored over her notes for criminal justice, and Andrew Lloyd reviewed the semester’s work in speech class.
All are high school students.
They have had early experiences of college life, taking full-on college courses as high school seniors in Montgomery County to get a glimpse of what lies ahead: fewer scheduled hours of class, more independent work and less hand-holding from instructors.
They reflect a growing interest in many areas of the country to go beyond work that is college-level and try college itself.
http://goo.gl/OBICF
School Districts Cut More Nurses
Wall Street Journal
LOS ANGELES — The battle for shrinking school-budget resources has a new front: the nurse’s office.
School nurses, a fixture in many American schools for more than a century, are being cut from Philadelphia to San Diego, as public schools struggle to provide basic services while continuing to slash budgets. Los Angeles has cut its number of school nurses by 13% since 2008, and more nurses and thousands of other employees are on the chopping block as the district faces a $390 million budget deficit.
The cutbacks come as nurses are increasingly being pressed to serve a student body with a growing number of complex, chronic health problems—from diabetes and life-threatening allergies to asthma and obesity, according to school officials, parents and nurses.
http://goo.gl/nCM5M
FACT CHECK: Romney off on Obama’s love for unions Associated Press
When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney decried President Barack Obama as beholden to the nation’s teachers’ unions and unable to stand up for reform, he glossed over four years of a relationship that has been anything but cozy.
Obama has promoted initiatives that encourage districts to tie teacher evaluations to student performance and to expand the number of charter schools – actions the teacher unions have long been against, and which Romney himself promoted Wednesday in a speech in Washington outlining his education platform.
He also painted a bleak picture of a country where millions of kids are getting a “third-world education” and whose international standing has fallen far behind, an assertion frequently used by politicians and debated by academics, though the most recent tests show that U.S. student scores haven’t changed significantly and remain about average.
Here are some of Romney’s statements on education, and how they line up with the facts:
http://goo.gl/vEccq
Romney faces tough questions from black leaders Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Mitt Romney struggled to find support for his education proposals while campaigning at an inner-city school Thursday, one day after declaring education the “civil rights issue of our era.”
The visit, the first by the likely Republican presidential nominee to such a school, came as he begins to court a broader cross-section of the electorate he needs to defeat President Barack Obama in November. In a speech Wednesday, Romney proposed expanding charter schools, which are privately run but funded by taxpayers, and creating a voucher-like system in which poor and disabled students could attend private schools, also using public money.
But if praise was what he was looking for, Romney had a hard time finding any at the Universal Bluford Charter School in West Philadelphia, a largely African-American neighborhood facing economic, educational and social challenges. Romney wants to deny a second term to the nation’s first black president, whose photograph hung in one of the school’s hallways.
During a round-table discussion, teachers and local education leaders rejected some of Romney’s education prescriptions, including his assertion that class size doesn’t matter. Romney also identified two-parent families as one of three keys to educational success, along with good teachers and strong leadership.
http://goo.gl/Emhx8
http://goo.gl/PbaMl (Inquirer)
Mitt Romney taps Idaho superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna as education adviser
(Nampa) Idaho Press-Tribune
BOISE — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s new education plan resembles Idaho’s Students Come First reforms, according to state Superintendent Tom Luna.
Romney named Luna to his 19-member education policy advisory group this week and unveiled his education reform plan Wednesday. Luna said he has already been working with members of the advisory group informally through conference calls and email.
“If you look at what Gov. Romney rolled out yesterday and Students Come First there are many similarities,” he said. For example, he said, Romney’s plan calls for eliminating teacher tenure, investing in technology and paying teachers based on performance.
http://goo.gl/PZupB
Diane Ravitch
Charlie Rose
Diane Ravitch on “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education.”
http://goo.gl/yQIKv
7-year-old’s suicide shocks Detroit community Detroit Free Press
Peering through the keyhole of a locked door in her family’s home near Detroit’s New Center, a 14-year-old girl saw the unthinkable: her 7-year-old brother hanging from a bunk bed with a belt around his neck, a police report says.
The girl alerted her mother and called 911. The mother and a neighbor forced their way into the room, took the boy down, and called 911, too.
The 7-year-old, whom the Free Press is not naming, had been depressed about being bullied by other kids at school and in his neighborhood, and about his parents’ recent separation, the boy’s mother told police, according to the report.
“It’s just a tragedy on so many levels,” Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said Thursday, calling the situation “unfathomable.”
He said the department is investigating the child’s death, but as of Thursday afternoon, it appeared the situation is “exactly as presented” — a suicide.
http://goo.gl/o2ikV
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