Today’s Top Picks:

Trib looks at the financial picture of Utah’s school districts.
http://goo.gl/Gl2BO (SLT)

D-News looks at donations to schools.
http://goo.gl/R5JuI (DN)

Granger adds ninth grade to boost high school graduation rates.
http://goo.gl/ikI4U (SLT)

Open High School graduates its first class.
http://goo.gl/YZoea (DN)

More states have ESEA waivers than don’t.
http://goo.gl/Qk7Pe (NYT)
and http://goo.gl/M5P1Z (AP)
and http://goo.gl/IqeaF (ED)

And, by the way, ENR’s wife was right. Painting a basement is a very patriotic way to celebrate the Fourth. ENR fully exercised his freedom of speech while painting a long cement wall full of bubbles and divots, etc.

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

Districts face mixed money bag as budget deadlines loom
Education » Some have raised taxes, but funding for enrollment increases eases the pain.

Utah high schools change how they accept gifts, donations
Investigations spur districts to spell out policies on donations

Utah school says adding ninth grade will boost grad rates
Education » Granger is one of four Granite District schools looking at grade reconfiguration.

12 students graduate high school by skipping class

Math teacher shows excellence, wins Huntsman Award
Huntsman Award » Amy Hall wants kids to feel successful in subjects they find difficult.

Nebo district’s American Indian program seeing results

Local teacher ready to share lessons from trip to China

Real Food Rising program develops youths, produces produce for needy

Copper Hills High School students destroy watermelons in the name of science

JROTC program sees large growth

Utah social studies teachers lead congressional campaign
The two WVC social studies teachers run the show for 2nd District congressional hopeful.

Canyons School District students must register online

Murray schools require online registration

New logo concepts for East, Highland, and West high schools

Camp lets high schoolers bring video game characters to life
U. of U. summer camp lets high schoolers bring original video-game characters to life.

Rocks fans teach others how to sift for gold
Class » Volunteers help Utahns understand how to prospect while respecting laws, environment.

Retired driver’s ed teacher still keeps cars running

South Jordan’s Monte Vista Elementary raises $13K for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Fremont HS student creates duct tape prom dress

Career workshop for teens at Davis Applied Technology College

Water district sets up workshop for educators

Skyline, Olympus seniors win awards

S.L. math teacher wins presidential award

Alpine principal honored for leadership

Murray announces best teacher, employee

Siemens sponsors research competition

Sandy man charged with homicide in coach’s death

Acting students to present ‘Peter Pan’

Sidewalk project begins on route to Heritage Elementary in Ogden

Utah Kids Ready to Read

Rocky Mountain Elementary Library

Back-to-School immunizations

Kids born just 2 weeks early have lower reading and math scores

New options emerge to enrich gifted students’ education

OPINION & COMMENTARY

Rotten to the core

Fired school official gets a second chance

Common Core should be a guide, not a mandate

Weber School District Illegally Spends Taxpayer Money to Promote Bond

Utah Has Mixed Results in New School Funding Report

Independence days for schools

Digital learning sparks excitement at Utah Connections Academy

Last minute rule change spoils prom

Staples back to school sale

Honor Code

America Has Too Many Teachers
Public-school employees have doubled in 40 years while student enrollment has increased by only 8.5%—and academic results have stagnated.

Florida’s Gov. Scott Concerned About ‘Too Much’ Testing

The hardest jobs to fill (think plumbers)

The education blob

NATION

‘No Child’ Law Whittled Down by White House

GOP teachers balk at Obama-centric NEA convention

Romney’s record on education includes successes, failures
Test scores strong, partnerships weak

Hybrid programs aim to stem summer learning loss

Some states tie reading tests to grade promotion

Prominent Charter Networks Eye Fresh Territory

More public schools splitting up boys, girls

Providing Credit for Teacher Online PD Efforts
Educators are seeking ways to receive credit for nontraditional, online professional-development opportunities

LA schools superintendent shakes up district

U.S. High Schools Lax in Preventing Dating Abuse
Counselors say they lack training in prevention, assistance

Middle school principal charged in Denton County in case involving videotaping in a high school locker room

Finland Rethinks Factory-Style School Buildings

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UTAH NEWS
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Districts face mixed money bag as budget deadlines loom
Education » Some have raised taxes, but funding for enrollment increases eases the pain.

After several years of penny-pinching, Utah school districts are relieved to see a boost in funding from the Legislature, putting some on track to resume wage increases and rely less on rainy day funds.
But others are still grappling with where to find money to revamp school facilities and keep class sizes manageable.
School districts had to approve at least tentative budgets for the upcoming school year by the end of June. The State Office of Education is now reviewing those budgets, which don’t have to be finalized until mid-July.
Many districts appear to be less financially strapped than in recent years because lawmakers provided funds for student growth, said Bruce Williams, the state’s associate superintendent for business services and operations.
http://goo.gl/Gl2BO (SLT)

Utah high schools change how they accept gifts, donations
Investigations spur districts to spell out policies on donations

SALT LAKE CITY — It is a given. Public schools could use more resources.
So when a philanthropist comes along and offers money, goods or services to a public institution, it is a blessing. The reasons for donations vary, but the most common reason comes from an affiliation with a school, a school-sponsored program or surrounding community.
It seems simple enough that, as one woman speaking at a Provo School Board meeting in December said, “If rich people want to give money to the government, the government should take it and say ‘thank you.’ ”
But late last year that “blessing” started to get more complicated.
A series of events, and subsequent investigations and audits, at Timpview High School in Provo exposed the dilemma public school administrators have when they accept gifts.
http://goo.gl/R5JuI (DN)

Utah school says adding ninth grade will boost grad rates
Education » Granger is one of four Granite District schools looking at grade reconfiguration.

Jerry Haslam, principal at Granger High School, has a problem. But he also has a solution.
Just 60 percent of Granger’s students are graduating, a rate that Haslam calls “not good.” In 2011, Utah’s statewide graduation rate was 76 percent.
But construction is under way on a new Granger High that can hold 2,400 students, a sizeable jump from the current enrollment of 1,650. By the 2013-14 school year, administrators hope to help fill the building by including ninth-graders.
“I want to see if I can do it. I want to see if I can improve the graduation rate and I think this format will do it,” said Haslam of the four-year high school model. “We’re trying to stabilize a student’s education as much as possible. It just makes sense to have them all four years of their high school experience.”
http://goo.gl/ikI4U (SLT)

12 students graduate high school by skipping class

WEST JORDAN — A funny thing happened to Angelique Cooper as she was on her way to becoming the next Marilyn Monroe.
She was getting ready to leave her apartment in Hollywood for an acting audition this past May when she opened her email and discovered she was valedictorian of her high school graduation class.
Angelique hit speed dial on her cell phone.
“Guess what?” she exulted when her mom came on the line back home in Utah. “I’m valedictorian!”
And not just any old valedictorian, but the very first valedictorian in the history of the Open High School Trailblazers, the state of Utah’s first all-online high school.
http://goo.gl/YZoea (DN)

Math teacher shows excellence, wins Huntsman Award
Huntsman Award » Amy Hall wants kids to feel successful in subjects they find difficult.

Amy Hall wants kids to realize math is not a daunting task.
The teacher with a decade of experience started out teaching high school, but decided she wanted to reach a younger age group.
“One of the main reasons that I decided to come to the junior high is there’s usually a disconnect or a turnoff in junior high,” Hall said. “By the time the students get to high school, they would really love or hate math.”
She wanted students to learn earlier that math is not impossible.
http://goo.gl/QMGjw (SLT)

Nebo district’s American Indian program seeing results

SPANISH FORK — When Nebo School District started its Title VII American Indian program 13 years ago, the graduation rate for American Indian students was 37 percent.
Two years ago, it was 94 percent.
“We have kept it above 88 percent for the last 10 years,” the program’s coordinator, Eileen Quintana, said Tuesday.
Nebo’s figures are leaps and bounds ahead of the national average, where just more than 50 percent of American Indian students graduate high school. National data show that the academic struggles of American Indian students begins as early as elementary school.
http://goo.gl/R343J (DN)

http://goo.gl/9oCG1 (KSL)

http://goo.gl/XY1FY (MUR)

Local teacher ready to share lessons from trip to China

As the sun rises each morning, residents all over China hear the music and greet the day with Tai Chi in the local parks and gathering places. Last week, Gay Beck, kindergarten teacher at Highland Elementary School, was among them. She and about 50 others spent 10 days on a cultural and educational exchange.
“I had so many ‘ah ha’ moments on this trip,” Beck said. “I think it is important for educators to learn and see the world. We need to help students understand that there is a big world out there, and we are just a small part of it.”
Beck said that beginning each day with Tai Chi at the Temple of Heaven was the perfect calm start to busy days. She said the Chinese people even had to help them cross the streets because the traffic was so “insane.”
http://goo.gl/e2fAo (PDH)

Real Food Rising program develops youths, produces produce for needy

SALT LAKE CITY — Like the gardens they tend, 10 teenagers taking part in Utahns Against Hunger’s inaugural Real Food Rising summer youth program are a work in progress.
They’re learning what it takes to make a garden grow, but they’re also acquiring important job and life skills. During field trips to community pantries and kitchens, they’re being schooled about the issue of hunger. More important, they are discovering how they can make a difference.
The experience has been eye-opening, said Sara Ma, a West High student.
In two weeks’ time, the students have learned to use a variety of tools and how to tend plants ranging from delicate herbs to hearty winter squash. They have also served at a food pantry and a dining hall that primarily feeds homeless people.
Ma said the group’s visit to the New Roots urban farm in West Valley City was particularly eye-opening.
http://goo.gl/7O8I  (DN)

Copper Hills High School students destroy watermelons in the name of science

WEST JORDAN — Students at Copper Hills High School learned about engineering and physics by dropping watermelons off the school’s roof Friday.
The challenge — to catch the watermelons intact using student-designed contraptions — was part of a special summer science program that offers a year’s credit for a five-week accelerated course.
Students tested 11 devices as simple as a garbage can filled with water to complicated wood and PVC pipe frames latticed with tarps, elastic cords and nylon netting.
http://goo.gl/IT5VR (DN)

http://goo.gl/TrNLJ (KUTV)

http://goo.gl/8ZBtH (KSL)

JROTC program sees large growth

ST. GEORGE — A high school program that promotes citizenship and youth leadership will nearly double its size when fall semester begins in Washington County.
The U.S. Air Force JROTC program is beginning its seventh year in the local school district and its growth to about 400 cadets means it will now be recognized as a “wing” with two separate units under the umbrella organization.
http://goo.gl/lxu2G (SGS)

Utah social studies teachers lead congressional campaign
The two WVC social studies teachers run the show for 2nd District congressional hopeful.

It’s not unusual for teachers to pick up summer jobs to subsidize their less-than-stupendous salaries.
But at least two West Valley City teachers’ summer jobs this year will extend far beyond the season — to Election Day in November.
“September and October are going to be the longest two months of my life, and I know that,” said Brandt Shaw, a Monticello Academy teacher, of his summer job in politics. “But I believe in it.”
Shaw, along with fellow Monticello Academy teacher Alan Seim, are practicing what they teach this summer. The two social studies teachers are leading the congressional campaign of Jay Seegmiller, the Democratic candidate for Utah’s 2nd District, with Seim as campaign manager and Shaw as field director.
http://goo.gl/6EAeb (SLT)

Canyons School District students must register online

SANDY — The back-to-school registration process has changed for all regular Canyons School District schools.
Beginning this summer for the 2012-13 school year, all elementary and secondary students will be required to register for school online. Teacher assignment and class schedules will not be available to students until the online registration process has been completed and all fees paid.
http://goo.gl/wvixo (DN)

Murray schools require online registration

MURRAY — The Murray City School District will provide online registration for the 2012-13 school year for elementary and secondary students. No packets will be mailed to students’ homes.
The online registration will only process mandatory forms. Additional/optional forms will be accessible on the website, but these must be printed and delivered to the school.
http://goo.gl/PrciM (DN)

New logo concepts for East, Highland, and West high schools

SALT LAKE CITY — The district has announced new brand identity concepts for East, Highland, and West high schools. The district communications department has worked closely with the schools to develop a series of logo concepts to be used in all school communications.
This process will also include new websites with mobile users in mind. The district aims to share these concepts with the community and various stakeholder groups to receive feedback on each item.
http://goo.gl/PSuPH (DN)

Camp lets high schoolers bring video game characters to life
U. of U. summer camp lets high schoolers bring original video-game characters to life.

At the University of Utah’s new technology facilities, 30 students are creating life.
One student, 17-year-old Michael Jacobsen, has spent the last three weeks crafting a creature with a majestic wingspan. Another, Banning Day, is using her final day perfecting the shape of her character’s eyes.
The students are part of the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Summer Camp, a creation of professor Mark van Langeveld, the director of the technology track at the school.
http://goo.gl/9iC16 (SLT)

Rocks fans teach others how to sift for gold
Class » Volunteers help Utahns understand how to prospect while respecting laws, environment.

Kaye Lee Brady has always been a collector, particularly of rocks and shells. And just more than a year ago in her rock hunting adventures, Brady struck gold—in the form of her now-husband, Kelly.
“He took me to a rock [club] meeting, and we’ve been rock crazy [together] ever since,” said Brady, a nonprofit director by day. “That we were rock collectors … that was the first thing that threw us together.”
The two married in 2011 and, along with other ambitious rocks aficionados, formed a club called Rockhounders Outreach for Community Knowledge, in which they now both serve as officers. The group teaches presentations about the value, safety and how-to of rock and mineral collecting, including a community education course through Granite Peaks about gold prospecting.
“My husband and I were members of another club that wasn’t satisfying our needs, [as] we wanted to get out and teach the youth,” Brady said. “Our [club’s] main focus is teaching … and we’ve had a wonderful response.”
Taught at Hunter High School on Thursday evenings, the gold class has run monthly for about six months, with the most recent course on June 14 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
http://goo.gl/j6BdH (SLT)

Retired driver’s ed teacher still keeps cars running

OGDEN — Delyle Jensen was surprised to see a familiar face when he walked into an Ogden School Board meeting to accept an award and thanks for his 51 years of service.
Jensen saw school board president Don Belnap, now 53, who was once a nervous teen learning to drive in Jensen’s driver’s ed car.
“He was a nice little guy,” said Jensen, 83. “He was very attentive, and learned well. I was surprised to see him there at the meeting. I didn’t know he was the school board president.”
Jensen’s son David, was not shocked by the coincidence.
“Dad probably taught half of Utah to drive,” he said.
The elder Jensen was honored with this spring with the 2012 Service to Education Award at the State Driver’s Education Conference, and lauded again at a recent school board meeting.
http://goo.gl/WNCRm (OSE)

South Jordan’s Monte Vista Elementary raises $13K for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Whipped-cream pies were the cherry on top, so to speak, for nearly 1,000 students at South Jordan’s Monte Vista Elementary.
Those students raised more than $13,000 for the Utah chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes of Utah children with life-threatening conditions. It was the top amount raised among the state’s 30 schools or youth programs who participated in the foundation’s Kids For Wish Kids program.
http://goo.gl/SA59c (SLT)

Fremont HS student creates duct tape prom dress

PLAIN CITY, Utah – A Fremont High School student designed and made a prom dress entirely out of duct tape in hopes of winning a scholarship.
Sheridan Moore used 25 rolls of Duck brand duct tape and spent 45 hours creating a prom dress and matching suit as part of the “Stuck at Prom” contest.
Sheridan’s dress has already earned her some scholarship money and a spot in the National Top 10. If she receives the most votes, Sheridan will win even more money for college.
http://goo.gl/AXYfE (KSTU)

Career workshop for teens at Davis Applied Technology College

KAYSVILLE — Davis Applied Technical College is inviting area teens to test out careers by taking four-day workshop sessions, some starting Monday.
Workshops open to teens age 14 through 18 are offered in Web and graphic design areas including Photoshop or Dreamweaver; in energy technology; in plumbing; and in architectural and engineering design.
http://goo.gl/rDGmT (OSE)

Water district sets up workshop for educators

Children know that water is important in their lives. They know they need it to drink, bathe, water plants and to play in on a hot summer day. But do they know how to answer:
http://goo.gl/kt7cL (SGS)

Skyline, Olympus seniors win awards

Raichelle Aniceto of Skyline High School and Laura Slusser of Olympus High School have each received $10,000 merit-based college scholarships, payable in four installments over four years, from Northrop Grumman Corp. for academic achievement and community involvement. This fall, Aniceto will study aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Slusser is planning to major in electrical engineering at the University of Utah.
http://goo.gl/ENPJX (SLT)

S.L. math teacher wins presidential award

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah teacher has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Vivian Shell, who teaches at the Salt Lake Center for Science Education, is one of 97 mathematics and science teachers in the country named by President Barack Obama as awardees.
http://goo.gl/6flEs (DN)

http://goo.gl/EBwzf (PDH)

http://goo.gl/Cf31N (KTVX)

Alpine principal honored for leadership

Garrick Peterson, principal at Lakeridge Junior High School in the Alpine School District for the past six years, was recently honored by the University Council for Educational Administration with its Excellence in Educational Leadership Award. Lakeridge has become a national model for professional learning communities and school improvement and Peterson is credited with making significant contributions to preparing students to become administrators.
http://goo.gl/6Jx8s (SLT)

Murray announces best teacher, employee

Stacy Parker, a Utah studies and U.S. history teacher and student-body adviser at Hillcrest Junior High School, is Murray’s teacher of the year. Parker has been teaching at Hillcrest since 2006. Trudy Gerrard, head custodian at Liberty Elementary, is the district’s classified employee of the year. She has worked in Murray since 1981 and has been head custodian at Liberty since 1993.
http://goo.gl/6bYRW (SLT)

Siemens sponsors research competition

Registration is under way for the 2012 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for high-school students. The competition provides scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 to budding scientists who have done original research in team and individual categories. Registration and submission instructions are available at www.collegeboard.com/siemens. Deadline for entries is Oct. 1, 3 p.m. MST.
http://goo.gl/mheKi (SLT)

Sandy man charged with homicide in coach’s death

A Sandy man was charged with automobile homicide after he allegedly drove his SUV into a car that was stopped at a South Jordan stoplight, causing the car to burst into flames and killing a Cottonwood High School football coach.
In charges filed Tuesday, police wrote that Blake Timothy Molder, 23, was driving a Chevrolet Blazer north on Bangerter Highway at about 3 a.m. on June 23, when he drove into the back of Michael Gallegos’ car, which was stopped at a red light at 9800 South. The car caught fire, and witnesses were unable to help Gallegos, 39, an assistant football coach at Cottonwood High School. Gallegos died at the scene.
Investigators found no skid marks behind the crash site and determined Molder did not brake as he approached Gallegos. They estimated Molder’s speed to be 95 mph; the speed limit in the area is 60 mph.
http://goo.gl/MGwik (SLT)

http://goo.gl/Tkql6 (DN)

http://goo.gl/Cjhxu (KTVX)

Acting students to present ‘Peter Pan’

OGDEN — Summer acting students from the Ogden School District will present “Peter Pan” this week at Ogden High School, 2828 Harrison Blvd.
http://goo.gl/3Hddx (OSE)

Sidewalk project begins on route to Heritage Elementary in Ogden

OGDEN — The city will welcome students and parents of Heritage Elementary back to school with an exciting addition.
Construction of the sidewalk on the corner of Gwen Street and along Wall Avenue is underway. The project will connect missing portions of the sidewalk along Wall Avenue and provide a safe path for pedestrians. The project is scheduled to be complete around the middle of August.
http://goo.gl/1fx6R (OSE)

Utah Kids Ready to Read

The Utah Kids Ready to Read is a program designed to help parents prepare children for kindergarten. Beginning with infants, parents are taught daily things they can do with their children to help them succeed in school. Anna Gilmer will teach the classes beginning September 27, 7:15 p.m., in the library. There will be seven more classes, each on the fourth Thursday of the month. Limited space. Please call the library to pre-register for this class at (801) 766-6513.
http://goo.gl/w47fD (PDH)

Rocky Mountain Elementary Library

Rocky Mountain Elementary, 55 S. 500 E., will be open July 10 and July 17 from 10 a.m. to noon for students to check out books. For more information call (801) 610-8117.
http://goo.gl/IpKXY (PDH)

Back-to-School immunizations

Children entering kindergarten or seventh grade are required by law to receive standard immunizations before classes begin again. Each student must have proof of receiving the immunizations in order to attend school. Kindergartners need to have shots for DTP/DTaP/DT, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A and Varicella (chickenpox). For seventh graders, the same immunizations are required, along with a Tdap booster. For questions about your child’s immunization status, contact your child’s health care provider, the Utah County Health Department of the Immunization Hotline (801-851-7025), or see www.UtahCountyHealth.org/immunizations.
http://goo.gl/l67DQ

Kids born just 2 weeks early have lower reading and math scores

Children born just two weeks early exhibit lower academic performance in reading and math, according to a new study published this month in Pediatrics.
“The evidence from this study would suggest that elective induction of birth should be approached cautiously,” said lead study author Dr. Kimberly Noble, assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “The data suggest that children born at 37 or 38 weeks may have problems with reduced school achievement later on.” Noble encourages parents to be cautious before choosing an early birth for non-medical reasons.
http://goo.gl/0LO2k (DN)

New options emerge to enrich gifted students’ education

Liam Goodowens takes gymnastics and is learning hip-hop dance. The 6-year-old from Florida also likes playing with friends and going to classic rock music concerts with his dad. Liam even enjoys school. In fact, he wishes that it were more challenging. “They feed me peanuts all day. I like peanuts and I get full, but what I really want is one big juicy hamburger,” he said.
No, he isn’t talking about school lunch. Rather, Liam uses the metaphor to describe the experience of being a profoundly gifted child in a mainstream kindergarten classroom.
http://goo.gl/byNiw (DN)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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Rotten to the core
Salt Lake Tribune commentary by columnist Paul Rolly

If nothing else, the conspiracy theorists in Utah are a lively bunch. Like the Energizer Bunny, they never give up.
A group called the Utah Education Coalition, which nobody seems to have heard of, is buying a free lunch Tuesday for all the members of the Utah Legislature and their spouses. The lunch is being held at the Cheesecake Factory at City Creek Center and all the legislators have to do for the free lunch is to listen to a lineup of speakers from noon to 2 p.m.
Most of the speakers, according to the invitation, are from conservative think tanks, while one is from a Washington, D.C., law firm.
Subject: The Common Core, which has long been a rallying cry for Utah’s right wing. They hate it, believing it to be a secret plot to corrupt our innocent schoolchildren.
The Common Core is a math and language arts curriculum developed by educators and state officials from several dozen states as a way to bring commonality to curriculum so that children moving from one state to the other will be even with their new peers.
But the right wing knows there is something nefarious there. They know that it’s a government conspiracy designed by President Obama to take over the hearts and minds of our little ones.
And they have proof, based on their own imaginings.
http://goo.gl/JBGFM

http://goo.gl/Pwdpt (Marketwire via MarketWatch)

Fired school official gets a second chance
Salt Lake Tribune commentary by columnist Paul Rolly

An elementary vice principal in Granite School District who was fired and prosecuted for hitting a child, and tampering with a witness who saw the incident two years ago, will once again be an assistant principal in the district.
Rosselis Cabanillas was employed at Granger and Stansbury elementary schools when, according to charging documents, she slapped an 11-year-old boy, leaving a red mark on his cheek. She then allegedly told a teacher who witnessed the slap: “You didn’t see that. It didn’t happen.”
She eventually entered guilty pleas in 3rd District Court to one count of witness tampering, a third-degree felony, and one count of child abuse involving physical injury, a class A misdemeanor.
Judge Randall Skanchy held the pleas in abeyance for 12 months then dismissed the case after Cabanillas fulfilled the terms of the plea agreement, including a mental health evaluation and taking anger management and cognitive-restructuring classes.
She had her license revoked at the time by the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, but the license was recently re-established. Now, she will be the assistant principal at the new Elk Run Elementary School in Magna.
http://goo.gl/sIgcI

Common Core should be a guide, not a mandate
Deseret News op-ed by Lynn Stoddard, a retired educator

There’s a story about a neglected, unkempt boy, Teddy Stoddard, whose mother had died the year before. For Christmas he gave his fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Thompson, a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. One day when Thompson wore the perfume, Teddy stayed after school long enough to tell his teacher, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mother used to smell. After the children left, Mrs. Thompson cried for at least an hour. On that day she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, and she began to teach children.” (You can google “Teddy Stoddard” for the full story).
What does this story tell us about raising children? What does it mean that Thompson quit teaching the curriculum and started to teach children? Does it mean she no longer taught school subjects? If we read between the lines, we can discover the magic touch of extraordinary teachers. Thompson discovered what was most important about her profession.
One difference between average, ordinary teachers and great, extraordinary ones may be this — Average teachers try to make students fit the prescribed curriculum. They dutifully try to make students alike in knowledge and skills. On the other hand, great teachers modify, adjust and help students choose curriculum to fit their unique needs. They make curriculum fit their students.
http://goo.gl/RwUOA

Weber School District Illegally Spends Taxpayer Money to Promote Bond
Utah Taxpayers Association commentary

On Tuesday, June 26, many Weber County residents will be on vacation. Others will be playing with their children and
grand children. If the past is any indication, only a few Weber County residents will cast ballots to decide who should be the Republican nominee for president, U.S. Senator and Utah Attorney General. Even fewer residents will vote on the Weber
School District’s $65 million bond. That is just the first reason Weber taxpayers should vote AGAINST this bond.
For decades the Utah Taxpayers Association has worked with the Legislature to prevent school districts, cities and counties from holding bond elections on any date other than the November general election. Inevitably, the cities, school
districts, and counties claim that they need the June primary election, so they can fix damage in case of an emergency like earthquake or flood. Reluctantly the Legislature has permitted bond elections in June, though they have been very clear that
the June option should only be for actual emergencies.
Now the Weber School District hopes the very small proportion of the public who vote next Tuesday will approve a
tax increase for every property owner in their respective areas. That’s the real rub with placing bond elections on the June
ballot. Voter turnout in a June election is between 11% and 48% of the turnout in the November election. It is wrong to allow a tiny minority of voters to raise taxes on all their neighbors.
http://goo.gl/Sg90q

Utah Has Mixed Results in New School Funding Report
Utah Taxpayers Association commentary

A new report shows Utah leading the way in funding distribution and coverage of public education dollars. These
results come from the Education Law Center and Rutgers University’s 2nd National Report Card, asking “Is School Funding
Fair?”
The report looked at four measures of fairness in public education funding: distribution, coverage, level and effort.
Funding distribution was measured by determining the distribution of funding across local districts within a state, relative to student poverty. Utah received an “A” grade for its distribution. Utah is one of only 17 states that have progressive
funding systems, meaning they provide greater funding for high poverty districts than to low-poverty districts. What this really means is that education funding in Utah is more equitable, so that students in the Park City School District (very high property values) are funded at similar levels as students in the Tintic School District (low property values). Utah, New Jersey and Ohio were the most progressive in terms of distribution.
Utah also performed well when coverage was measured.
http://goo.gl/Sg90q

Independence days for schools
Deseret News commentary by columnist Mary McConnell

A few weeks ago one of the commentators on this blog noted that I have a “libertarian” view of education. I’ve thought about this some, and decided that this label is partly true. But only partly.
What’s true is that I believe that competitive markets almost always produce better goods for consumers, even as they make life more difficult for producers. That’s what just about any introductory economics textbook teaches. (I always ask my economics students why, as future entrepreneurs, they want to grow up to be monopolists). And that’s the lesson countries like Britain learned the hard way when they first nationalized, then privatized, industries such as railroads, coal and steel.
When public schools are run as a government monopoly, they’re too often run to benefit producers at the expense of consumers.
http://goo.gl/h8t0Z

Digital learning sparks excitement at Utah Connections Academy
Sutherland Institute commentary by Multimedia Reporter Alexis Young

Thanks to digital learning, more children in Utah are gaining access to the highest-quality teachers and curriculum possible. Watch this video report on Utah Connections Academy to learn how this digital learning program is benefiting students:
http://goo.gl/71aRG

Last minute rule change spoils prom
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner commentary by Caitlynn Kindall, a senior at Ogden High

“The day I ask you to prom is the day that pigs fly.”
It was the day that pigs flew — we had mastered the perfect plan and gotten away with it. We’d been hearing the announcements at school, the posters were hung and everyone was buzzing with talk of day activities, dresses, dates, corsages and more. Prom was coming.
First things first — a date must be asked and who I would ask was a given; my boyfriend and I have been together since I was a sophomore and he was a senior. So my best friend and I pulled out all the bells and whistles for a creative, surprising way in which to ask my boyfriend to the dance. We posted a sign on his bedroom door that said, “The day I ask you to prom is the day that pigs fly!” and then we filled his room with floating pig balloons.
I thought that I had it made for our prom. I didn’t have to worry about my date saying no or bailing, I had a gorgeous dress and everything was falling into place with our group.
http://goo.gl/RXoiG

Staples back to school sale
Salt Lake Tribune commentary by columnist Lesley Mitchell

Staples will have crayons, school glue and ballpoint pens for one penny with any $5 purchase starting Sunday, July 8, along with pencil boxes and mechanical pencils for only 25 cents. The office-supply chain will have a variety of other discounted school supplies, too.
http://goo.gl/dBp5m

Honor Code
New York Times commentary by columnist DAVID BROOKS

Henry V is one of Shakespeare’s most appealing characters. He was rambunctious when young and courageous when older. But suppose Henry went to an American school.
By about the third week of nursery school, Henry’s teacher would be sending notes home saying that Henry “had another hard day today.” He was disruptive during circle time. By midyear, there’d be sly little hints dropped that maybe Henry’s parents should think about medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many of the other boys are on it, and they find school much easier.
By elementary school, Henry would be lucky to get 20-minute snatches of recess. During one, he’d jump off the top of the jungle gym, and, by the time he hit the ground, the supervising teachers would be all over him for breaking the safety rules. He’d get in a serious wrestling match with his buddy Falstaff, and, by the time he got him in a headlock, there’d be suspensions all around.
First, Henry would withdraw. He’d decide that the official school culture is for wimps and softies and he’d just disengage. In kindergarten, he’d wonder why he just couldn’t be good. By junior high, he’d lose interest in trying and his grades would plummet.
Then he’d rebel. If the official high school culture was über-nurturing, he’d be über-crude. If it valued cooperation and sensitivity, he’d devote his mental energies to violent video games and aggressive music. If college wanted him to be focused and tightly ambitious, he’d exile himself into a lewd and unsupervised laddie subculture. He’d have vague high ambitions but no realistic way to realize them. Day to day, he’d look completely adrift.
This is roughly what’s happening in schools across the Western world. The education system has become culturally cohesive, rewarding and encouraging a certain sort of person: one who is nurturing, collaborative, disciplined, neat, studious, industrious and ambitious. People who don’t fit this cultural ideal respond by disengaging and rebelling.
http://goo.gl/xKvPl

America Has Too Many Teachers
Public-school employees have doubled in 40 years while student enrollment has increased by only 8.5%—and academic results have stagnated.
Wall Street Journal op-ed by ANDREW J. COULSON, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom

President Obama said last month that America can educate its way to prosperity if Congress sends money to states to prevent public school layoffs and “rehire even more teachers.” Mitt Romney was having none of it, invoking “the message of Wisconsin” and arguing that the solution to our economic woes is to cut the size of government and shift resources to the private sector. Mr. Romney later stated that he wasn’t calling for a reduction in the teacher force—but perhaps there would be some wisdom in doing just that.
Since 1970, the public school workforce has roughly doubled—to 6.4 million from 3.3 million—and two-thirds of those new hires are teachers or teachers’ aides. Over the same period, enrollment rose by a tepid 8.5%. Employment has thus grown 11 times faster than enrollment. If we returned to the student-to-staff ratio of 1970, American taxpayers would save about $210 billion annually in personnel costs.
Or would they?
http://goo.gl/8uAoH

Florida’s Gov. Scott Concerned About ‘Too Much’ Testing
Education Week commentary by columnist Andrew Ujifusa

A lot of the recent news stories on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, including one I wrote recently, focused on the fact that scores on the writing FCAT were so poor—far below even the expectations of officials who predicted the scores would drop based on tougher standards—that the state board of education lowered the “cut score” retroactively to allow more students to pass the test.
Perhaps with that recent, sour memory in mind, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, told the Associated Press today that he wants to make sure Florida’s students aren’t over-tested. Not surprisingly given the writing FCAT debacle, Scott noted that the state got more parent complaints than usual this year about the FCAT.
While he couched his statement carefully by stressing that “parents and taxpayers expect measurement” of student performance to identify the best schools, Scott also said: “We have to have a good measurement system but we have to make sure we don’t have too much of it.”
http://goo.gl/YvfG8

The hardest jobs to fill (think plumbers)
Washington Post commentary by columnist Valerie Strauss

Reformers who think that students should be studying subjects that will help them fill empty jobs should be pushing for more vocational education in the skilled trades.
There has been a big push in recent years to improve education in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — so much so that you might think those are the only sectors in the economy trying to find skilled workers.
It turns out that those areas do not top the list of jobs most difficult to fill, at least not according to the 2012 Talent Shortage Survey by the ManPower Group, a worldwide workforce solutions company.
According to the results of the seventh annual survey, the most difficult jobs to fill in the United States right now are in the skilled trades, including plumbing and carpentry.
Engineers are second on the list of top 10 most difficult jobs to fill; also on the list are nurses, teachers, sales representatives and drivers.
http://goo.gl/HpCAh

A copy of the survey
http://www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/

The education blob
Orange County (CA) Register commentary by JOHN STOSSEL, host of “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network

Since progressives want government to run health care, let’s look at what government management did to K-12 education. While most every other service in life has gotten better and cheaper, American education remains stagnant.
Spending has tripled! Why no improvement? Because K-12 education is a virtual government monopoly – and monopolies don’t improve.
In every other sector of the economy, market competition forces providers to improve constantly. It’s why most things get better – often cheaper, too (except when government interferes, as in health care).
Politicians claim that education and health care are different – too important to leave to market competition. Patients and parents aren’t real consumers because they don’t have the expertise to know which hospital or school is best. That’s why they must be centrally planned by government “experts.”
Those experts have been in charge for years. School reformers call them the “Blob.”
http://goo.gl/0CiN4

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NATIONAL NEWS
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‘No Child’ Law Whittled Down by White House
New York Times

In just five months, the Obama administration has freed schools in more than half the nation from central provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified.
On Friday, the Department of Education plans to announce that it has granted waivers releasing two more states, Washington and Wisconsin, from some of the most onerous conditions of the signature Bush-era legislation. With this latest round, 26 states are now relieved from meeting the lofty — and controversial — goal of making all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. Additional waivers are pending in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
“The more waivers there are, the less there really is a law, right?” said Andy Porter, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.
http://goo.gl/Qk7Pe

http://goo.gl/M5P1Z (AP)

http://goo.gl/IqeaF (ED)

GOP teachers balk at Obama-centric NEA convention
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — It had all the trappings of a re-election rally: thousands packing a convention center, Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president.
“You are our knight in shining armor – Sarah C., Norman, Okla.,” read one inscription.
But this Obama love fest in Washington was not a campaign event. The nearly 9,000 gathered were teachers in town for the National Education Association’s weeklong annual convention.
For the Republican teachers in attendance, the digs at their political views were impossible to overlook.
http://goo.gl/fFSO6

Romney’s record on education includes successes, failures
Test scores strong, partnerships weak
Washington Times

Mitt Romney kept academic standards high, pushed for more charter schools and took other steps during his time as Massachusetts governor to keep the state in the top tier of student performance — but he stumbled in his efforts to institute merit pay for teachers, revamp the tenure system and other aims.
Critics contend that the presumptive Republican nominee for president gave great speeches and PowerPoint presentations outlining his goals, but in a state dominated by Democrats and with an education establishment closely tied to labor unions, he failed to build the political partnerships necessary to advance major legislation.
After his four years at the helm of the Bay State, Mr. Romney left behind an education system that remains the envy of most other states, though opinions are divided about how much of an impact he actually had.
http://goo.gl/hNHlg

Hybrid programs aim to stem summer learning loss
USA Today

BALTIMORE – It’s 2:30 p.m. on a glorious summer day and 9-year-old Taylor Bradford is indoors, lying face-down on a sleeping bag … with a book. Elbows out, her dangling black braids weighted by colorful plastic barrettes, she scans a worn paperback copy of Corduroy, a classic children’s story, then quickly finishes it and jumps up to find another.
In the next room at Langston Hughes Elementary School, Brittney Witt, also 9, is gluing tissue paper onto a Styrofoam picture frame as she learns about primary colors. Two doors down, students are busy making up rhymes about green vegetables.
O, summer school, where is thy sting?
Actually, cities across the USA are rethinking it.
http://goo.gl/m1WGv

Some states tie reading tests to grade promotion
USA Today

Fourth grade is when young people stop learning to read and start reading to learn, says Marcus Winters, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
Even so, because less attention is placed on developing reading skills past the third grade, Winters said, students who have not mastered the skill by then struggle to keep up and fall further behind each year.
To address that issue, Ohio and North Carolina passed legislation in the past month requiring third-graders to pass a reading test before advancing to fourth grade. They join four other states — Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida — with similar policies, said Jaryn Emhof of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Emhof said more states, including Mississippi and New Mexico, are considering similar laws.
The policy has critics, including psychologist Sylvia Rimm, who says she believes third grade is too late to hold students back. She says if a problem is noticed, a child should should be held back earlier, when they are less likely to experience emotional pain for repeating a year.
http://goo.gl/dvsJK

Prominent Charter Networks Eye Fresh Territory
Education Week

A handful of prominent charter school networks that have won praise for their academic performance and unorthodox models are expanding to new parts of the country, in some cases after receiving recruiting pitches from state and local officials determined to bring proven operators into their communities.
Until now, organizations such as Aspire Public Schools and Rocketship Education, both headquartered in California, and BASIS Schools, Inc., of Arizona, which have been held up as worthy of emulation, have focused their work within their states’ boundaries.
But in recent months, those organizations and others have announced plans for incremental growth, the success of which could determine whether they venture into other cities and states in the years to follow.
http://goo.gl/motT7

More public schools splitting up boys, girls
Associated Press

MIDDLETON, Idaho — Robin Gilbert didn’t set out to confront gender stereotypes when she split up the boys and girls at her elementary school in rural southwestern Idaho.
But that’s exactly what happened, with her Middleton Heights Elementary now among dozens of public schools nationwide being targeted by the American Civil Liberties Union in a bitter struggle over whether single-sex learning should be continued. Under pressure, single-sex programs have been dropped at schools from Missouri to Louisiana.
“It doesn’t frustrate me,” Gilbert said of the criticism, “but it makes the work harder.”
While Gilbert’s school is believed to be the only one in Idaho offering single-sex classes, the movement is widespread in states like South Carolina, which has more than 100 schools that offer some form of a single-gender program.
http://goo.gl/PhfTU

Providing Credit for Teacher Online PD Efforts
Educators are seeking ways to receive credit for nontraditional, online professional-development opportunities
Education Week

Educators seeking professional-development opportunities these days can choose from a vast menu of technology-related options that range from bite-size to entrée. But those who create and use this type of PD say they’re still struggling with how to officially recognize teachers’ efforts, particularly when it comes to the small-dose, on-demand versions available.
Teachers often need to rack up professional-development credits toward recertification, or to fulfill job-evaluation requirements. But acknowledging the growing segment of professional development that can range from a webinar to a Twitter session raises difficulties.
“This is a darn good question as we all struggle with the new technology and how it’s being applied to professional development,” says Segun C. Eubanks, the director of teacher quality for the 3.2 million-member National Education Association. “A wider variety of options makes this issue more important.”
http://goo.gl/PToha

LA schools superintendent shakes up district
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Faced with a shocking case of a teacher accused of playing classroom sex games with children for years, Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy delivered another jolt: He removed the school’s entire staff – from custodians to the principal – to smash what he called a “culture of silence.”
“It was a quick, responsible, responsive action to a heinous situation,” he said. “We’re not going to spend a long time debating student safety.”
The controversial decision underscores the 51-year-old superintendent’s shake-up of the lethargic bureaucracy at the nation’s second-largest school district. His swift, bold moves have rankled some and won praise from others during his first year of leadership.
http://goo.gl/eNyjc

U.S. High Schools Lax in Preventing Dating Abuse
Counselors say they lack training in prevention, assistance
HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

Although dating violence is a recognized problem for U.S. teens, a majority of high school counselors say their school provides no training or guidelines for dealing with abusive romantic relationships, a new study finds.
Prior research has found that between 10 percent and 30 percent of teens have been physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend, according to background information in the study. And dating abuse has been linked to suicidal thoughts, weight gain, sexually transmitted diseases and other physical and mental health problems, the researchers noted.
But preventing dating abuse and assisting victims are not priorities for U.S. high schools, the new study concluded.
“We found that the majority of schools don’t have a protocol to deal with incidents of teen dating abuse,” said lead researcher Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani, an assistant professor of community health education at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
“This means that most of the school counselors would not know what to do. This is also true for school nurses,” he said.
http://goo.gl/HEbfS

Middle school principal charged in Denton County in case involving videotaping in a high school locker room
Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram

DENTON _ The principal of Wayside Middle School in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw district was booked into the Denton County Jail Monday in a case involving a video recorded in a girls locker room last winter.
Principal Wendee Long, who is currently on administrative leave, was booked into the Denton County Jail Monday. She was indicted last Thursday on two felony charges dealing with improper photography or visual recording, according to the Denton County District Attorney’s office.
“She was indicted last Thursday by our grand jury in a two-count indictment,” said Jaime Beck, first assistant district attorney.
Long faces one count of improper photography or viusal recording, Beck said. That state jail felony carries a minimum of 180 days in a state jail or up to two years in that type of facility and fines up to $10,000.
The second charge is unlawful interception, use, or disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications. The latter charge is commonly known as wiretapping, Beck said.
http://goo.gl/JdFJM

Finland Rethinks Factory-Style School Buildings
Education Week

Washington – Education watchers have dissected Finland’s educational leadership on international tests from practically every angle, but a new traveling exhibit at that nation’s embassy here suggests one more: that the buildings themselves support student achievement.
Finnish students consistently have placed among the top countries on the Program for International Student Assessment, which gauges 15-year-old students’ ability to understand and transfer concepts in reading, mathematics, and science. For example, in the most recent mathematics assessment, in 2009, Finnish students scored 54 points higher than their American peers on a scale of zero to 1,000. Pasi Sahlberg, the director general of the Center for International Mobility and Cooperation at Finland’s education ministry, attributes the nation’s academic achievement to a three-fold approach: quality of the academic curriculum, equity in educational access, “and the third one is the environment. How the environment and design of the school is supporting students’ learning. When we combine these three things we can say something about the overall goodness of the school system.”
School design has become of increasing concern to American and international educators alike, as buildings age and research emerges on the effects of schools’ physical structure on student health, safety, and motivation.
http://goo.gl/QUMkZ

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