Education News Roundoup: Oct. 30, 2012

Today’s Top Picks:

Latest school board races in the news: Granite and Washington.
Granite: http://goo.gl/YlgqC (SLT)
Washington: http://goo.gl/f918h (SGN)

Will the Winter Sports School become a charter school?
http://goo.gl/WlOL1 (SLT)

Indiana state superintendent race reviewed.
http://goo.gl/wuqMq (AP)

Kentucky consider charter districts.
http://goo.gl/nLycm (Louisville Courier-Journal) and http://goo.gl/1QV3Z (Ed Week)

And a discussion of the teaching profession hits the big time: Dear Abby.
http://goo.gl/x5fNN (Dear Abby)

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

Sex abuse conviction doesn’t stop Granite School Board candidate Richard W. Jones facing incumbent Dan Lofgren for 1 of 3 seats on Granite Board.

Washington County School Board: District 2 candidates tout experience, accountability

Report rates Utah’s teachers unions as ‘weak’
Education » Conservative think tank ranks state unions 39th in nation.

Park City private school for winter athletes looking to become public Park City District » Soon, the students may study and train for free – in a charter.

Cache schools to get scores from new assessment system next month

Layton students learn to love new games from around the globe

SUU Alumnae Awarded 2012 Teacher of the Year

Salt Lake City School District honors 2 teachers

Juan Diego students return to stage in honor of injured freshman

Skyline High students learn to avoid credit card pitfalls

Synergy from Merit Academy High School in Springville advancing in SchoolJam USA

OPINION & COMMENTARY

Sex ed option good idea

Liberty key to prosperity, not education

Rick Favero’s skills, honesty a good fit for Weber School Board

Handy, Tanner will bring strength to Ogden School Board

Scott Handy more concerned with union than students

Ask a teacher’s opinion about school board election

Beat obesity with P.E.

School Reform on the Ballot
Unions try to block choice and merit pay in Washington and Idaho.

Goals that blind us to the bigger picture

Teachers Have Enough to do Without Having to do it All

NATION

Ind. superintendent race a showdown over ed policy

School ads group can’t hide
Secretive Education Voters of Idaho must disclose its donors, judge rules

Kentucky pushes for school innovation using charter-style freedom

Audit shows Oklahoma state Education Department used a “front organization” to host a conference Oklahoma State Auditor Gary Jones said the state Education Department under state Superintendent Janet Barresi used personnel in a questionable and likely inappropriate manner to solicit and spend more than $200,000 for an education conference in 2011.

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UTAH NEWS
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Sex abuse conviction doesn’t stop Granite School Board candidate
Richard W. Jones facing incumbent Dan Lofgren for 1 of 3 seats on Granite Board.

Like many of the state’s largest school districts, the Granite Board of Education must balance ongoing challenges to steer its growing district of 67,736 students into the future.
Three seats are up for grabs. Candidate Connie Anderson in District 2 and Sarah R. Meier in District 4 are both running unopposed.
In the District 1 race, where a wealth of education issues could be at the forefront, one aspect continues to draw attention as Election Day nears: Candidate Richard Wagner Jones is a registered sex offender.
That means if Jones prevails in the election as the board member to represent constituents in the Holladay area over incumbent businessman Dan Lofgren, he’ll face barriers in visiting the schools he’d represent.
http://goo.gl/YlgqC (SLT)

Washington County School Board: District 2 candidates tout experience, accountability

WASHINGTON COUNTY – Three positions are up for election on the Washington County School Board this year. The open seats are for Districts 1, 2, and 3 of the seven school board districts in the county.
St. George News contacted the school board candidates and asked each questions concerning what they would like to see improved in the school district, as well as what is their primary focus for running for the school board. Their answers have been received through interviews and email. In this article, the candidates for District 2 are featured.
http://goo.gl/f918h (SGN)

Report rates Utah’s teachers unions as ‘weak’
Education » Conservative think tank ranks state unions 39th in nation.

Utah’s teachers unions are relatively weak compared with others across the country, according to a report released Monday by a Washington D.C.-based, conservative think tank.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute ranked Utah’s teachers unions 39th in the country, labeling them as “weak.” According to the report, Utah’s unions ranked low when it came to resources, membership and perceived influence. They ranked more highly, 25th in the country, when it came to involvement in politics. The report also ranked unions on bargaining scope and state policies.
http://goo.gl/zfW21 (SLT)

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

Park City private school for winter athletes looking to become public
Park City District » Soon, the students may study and train for free – in a charter.

Park City » For nearly two decades, skiers, snowboarders and lugers have sought out the private Winter Sports School, tucked in the mountains of Park City, for a chance to polish their athletic skills and chase dreams of Olympic glory while attending high school.
It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come cheap: The school — which caters to teen athletes with its summers-on, winters-off schedule — charges nearly $17,000 a year in tuition.
But by this time next year, the small, private institution could be a free, public school.
The Winter Sports School and the Park City School District are working on a proposal to turn the private school into a charter school.
http://goo.gl/WlOL1 (SLT)

Cache schools to get scores from new assessment system next month

A new way of assessing student progress in schools has come to Utah, and parents and students will soon be able to see new ratings for local schools.
http://goo.gl/zNNqy (LHJ)

Layton students learn to love new games from around the globe

LAYTON — Students from all walks of life find themselves immersed in worlds of strategy and adventure in an unusual after-school club at North Layton Junior High School.
Math teacher Stephen Olson began teaching at the school in September and found it devoid of the traditional chess club.
He took the opportunity to begin such a club and even expand it to encompass all types of board games.
His board game club now attracts a variety of students, who have become friends despite their other interests.
http://goo.gl/uFufu (OSE)

SUU Alumnae Awarded 2012 Teacher of the Year

Southern Utah University alumnae Angela Wilson was recently named the 2012 Teacher of the Year by the United States Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Schools, qualifying the 2010 SUU graduate as one of just four finalists for the 2012 National Teacher of the Year.
http://goo.gl/u5jMh (KCSG)

Salt Lake City School District honors 2 teachers

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City School District and the Salt Lake City Board of Education have announced JoAnn Bussell as the 2013 District Teacher of the Year and Nikki Orton as the 2013 District Special Education Teacher of the Year.
Bussell teaches third grade at Emerson Elementary School, and Orton is a special education teacher at West High School.
http://goo.gl/eGHHN (DN)

Juan Diego students return to stage in honor of injured freshman

DRAPER — The cast of Juan Diego Catholic High School’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” returned to the stage Monday for the first time since a student on the show’s tech crew was critically injured in a fall Friday.
The final performance of the play was described as a “tribute opening” for injured freshman Pete Benda, school spokeswoman Molly Dumas said. Friday and Saturday shows were canceled in the wake of Benda’s accident.
http://goo.gl/kBmvf (DN)

http://goo.gl/OBLiU (KSL)

Skyline High students learn to avoid credit card pitfalls

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 3,500 students at Skyline High School are gaining financial skills in honor of “Get Smart About Credit Day.”
In a hands-on presentation full of great visuals, teens are learning how to look beyond credit card marketing and how to read the fine print.
http://goo.gl/CU984 (KSTU)

Synergy from Merit Academy High School in Springville advancing in SchoolJam USA

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) today announced that Synergy from Merit Academy High School in Springville has made it to the semi-finals round of this year’s SchoolJam USA, a national teen battle of the bands aimed at encouraging teens to play music and support their school music programs.
Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, fans can vote daily for Synergy along with several other teen bands from across the U.S. at www.schooljamusa.com. The band that gains the most votes will automatically receive $1,000 for their school music education program.
http://goo.gl/oWAA5 (SLT)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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Sex ed option good idea
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner editorial

We support state Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, in his effort to pass a bill that would allow parents the option of receiving sex education training in order to teach their children sex education at home.
A lot of parents, for various reasons, are concerned about their children being taught sex education in a public school.
This seems to us to be an excellent option. Parents can take an active role in the subject and their children will not suffer by being denied the needed lessons on sex.
http://goo.gl/nmGXE

Grondahl cartoon
http://goo.gl/DbkgU

Liberty key to prosperity, not education
Deseret News letter from Alyson Williams

Barack Obama rose to be president of the United States in spite of the fact, as he light-heartedly admitted to Jay Leno, that he struggles with high school math. In contrast to this reality, Obama, our governor and our current state school board all want us to believe that if we care about the success of the rising generation, we must not resist the unprecedented tracking of our children and the concentration of all educational doctrine into the hands of a few.
The end will justify the means, we are told, and these conditions are necessary to truly improve education and the future of our nation.
http://goo.gl/VqXBN

Rick Favero’s skills, honesty a good fit for Weber School Board
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Maloy H. Hales

I would like to take a moment to introduce Richard Favero (Rick), a candidate for the Weber School Board, to those who have not had the privilege to get to know him personally. I have known Rick for over 18 years. He is an outstanding neighbor, concerned and involved community member, and a great leader among youth and adults. His honesty and integrity is impeccable.
http://goo.gl/BMGlx

Handy, Tanner will bring strength to Ogden School Board
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Karen B. Lofgreen

It has been many years since a credentialed teacher served on the Ogden City School Board. Having taught in the public school sector and also as a teacher of teachers at the university level, I know the importance of school board members who value the total dynamics of the classroom.
http://goo.gl/gU8hV

Scott Handy more concerned with union than students
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Kenneth W. Burton

As I have read newspaper articles, flyers, websites, and other information regarding the individuals running for the Ogden School Board, District 5, I find two very distinct differences between the candidates. Shane Story has been serving for the past four years on the school board.
http://goo.gl/vf0tA

Ask a teacher’s opinion about school board election
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Kathy Johnson

I hope the voting public is discernible enough to recognize that an overabundance of signage may be just an act of desperation. Please don’t assume that a sign in your nice neighbor’s yard means support for an individual. It may be evidence that they are just that–nice neighbors, too nice to say no to the request.
http://goo.gl/tk09f

Beat obesity with P.E.
(Provo) Daily Herald letter from Dakota Carl

I hear a lot about child obesity. Why are kids so obese today? Kids are obese because they only get one day a week of physical education in school. My parents had P.E. five days a week when they were in school. Kids were more active when my parents were young because P.E. set good exercise habits. They also had three recesses during the school day to keep them active. In my school, we only have a half-hour lunch break to eat and play. The rest of the time we sit at a desk. If you want to stop childhood obesity, kids need more exercise time during school.
http://goo.gl/cjcJj

School Reform on the Ballot
Unions try to block choice and merit pay in Washington and Idaho.
Wall Street Journal editorial

The education reform movement has been gaining speed across the country, and a pair of important ballot initiatives next week in Washington and Idaho will either extend or retard that progress.
Evergreen State voters will decide on Initiative 1240, which would allow up to 40 charter schools over a five-year period. A mere 40 charters sounds very modest in a state with 2,345 public schools. But Washington is one of only nine states that has no charter schools, and three times—in 1996, 2000 and 2004—the Washington Education Association and its union allies have used their dues money and scare tactics to defeat charter initiatives.
The losers have been Washington students, about one in four of whom fails to graduate from high school in four years. That puts the state 37th in the nation for high school completion. Fewer than half of fourth and eighth graders were proficient on national reading and math tests in 2011.
http://goo.gl/0tqNd

Goals that blind us to the bigger picture
Washington Post commentary by columnist Charles Lane

President Obama is campaigning on a promise to recruit 100,000 new science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers by 2022. That works out to roughly seven STEM teachers for each of the 14,561 public school systems in the United States.
Also, you should know that the California State University system reported in May that the Golden State alone will need 33,000 STEM teachers in the next decade — a third of the total Obama proposes to recruit.
Obama’s idea is intuitively plausible: Economic growth depends on a skilled workforce; math and science teachers provide those skills; yet many students get math and science lessons from teachers who lack specific training. Ergo, we need more credentialed STEM teachers.
Is this true? Yes and no.
http://goo.gl/kycwJ

Teachers Have Enough to do Without Having to do it All
Dear Abby commentary by Jeanne Phillips

DEAR ABBY: “Chaplin, Conn., Reader” (Aug. 16) suggested that teachers should be sharing life lessons with children. Unfortunately, many people in our society believe it — including parents. Students come to us with ever-increasing deficits in many non-curricular areas. But it is not the job of public educators to teach them the importance of families, helping grandparents, caring for household pets, etc.
If these things come up in the course of the day and there is a need to address them, we try to clarify any misconceptions. But taking time to prepare and teach a lesson on any of these small but important subjects is no longer an option. The demands placed on teachers today are vast and complex. Just getting parents to follow through at home on school responsibilities is a job in itself. Many of them don’t seem to think they need to help their kids be successful in school. — SEEN IT ALL IN MICHIGAN
DEAR SEEN IT ALL: Thank you for your comments. The letter from “Chaplin, Conn. Reader” brought a huge number of responses on this issue, primarily from teachers:
http://goo.gl/x5fNN

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NATIONAL NEWS
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Ind. superintendent race a showdown over ed policy
Associated Press via Education Week

INDIANAPOLIS — A traditionally sleepy race for Indiana’s top elected school position has turned into a referendum on education policies that are endorsed by conservatives across the country.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, a Republican, earned a national reputation by helping Gov. Mitch Daniels push through a 2011 legislative agenda that included tying teachers’ pay to student performance, limiting teacher union contracts to wages and benefits and expanding charter schools and what has become the country’s largest school voucher program.
“This is definitely being watched nationally as a referendum on reform. If Tony Bennett can push this kind of aggressive reform agenda and win, it will give a big lift to other politicians eager to enact similar reforms,” said Mike Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.
But Bennett is under siege from teachers who think they’re unfairly being blamed for failing schools. The loudest voice belongs to his opponent, Democrat Glenda Ritz, a veteran educator who claims Bennett’s agenda is a thinly veiled attempt to replace public schools with for-profit operations — regardless of results.
http://goo.gl/wuqMq

School ads group can’t hide
Secretive Education Voters of Idaho must disclose its donors, judge rules
Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review

BOISE – A secretive group that underwrote more than $200,000 in TV campaign commercials in favor of three Idaho school reform ballot measures must disclose its donors by Wednesday, a 4th District judge ruled Monday afternoon.
Judge Mike Wetherell ordered Education Voters of Idaho to disclose its donors by 3 p.m. on Halloween.
“Voters are entitled to know who is standing behind the curtain,” the judge wrote in his 19-page decision. “Idaho voters passed the Sunshine Initiative to give themselves the right to see who is trying to influence their vote.”
The group is considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
http://goo.gl/25YB3

http://goo.gl/bmXZh (Idaho Statesman)

Kentucky pushes for school innovation using charter-style freedom
Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal

In some Kentucky public schools, a raft of state regulations, along with institutional lethargy, can stymie educators from trying innovative ideas to boost achievement, educators say.
But what if schools were freed to teach students in radical new ways — allowing them, for example, to shift the school day, learn outside the classroom and trade in written tests for presentations that demonstrate learning.
That’s the idea behind the Kentucky Board of Education’s “Districts of Innovation,” a program created by the General Assembly that, starting next year, will give an initial group of 10 or more public schools freedom to experiment without having to meet every state rule.
“These will look and feel more like charter schools,” said David Cook, director of innovation at the Kentucky Department of Education, who spoke to educators in Louisville on Friday about the program. “The idea is to allow them to innovate without the fear of being slapped for it.”
http://goo.gl/nLycm

http://goo.gl/1QV3Z (Ed Week)

Audit shows Oklahoma state Education Department used a “front organization” to host a conference
Oklahoma State Auditor Gary Jones said the state Education Department under state Superintendent Janet Barresi used personnel in a questionable and likely inappropriate manner to solicit and spend more than $200,000 for an education conference in 2011.
(Oklahoma City) Oklahoman

Employees with the state Education Department set up a nonprofit that was a “front organization” to solicit private donations to fund a state education conference in 2011, according to an audit released Monday by the state auditor’s office.
The nonprofit had three board members. One was Ashley Hahn, who is an employee of the Education Department. The others were Hahn’s uncle and friend. Although the board never met or adopted bylaws, paperwork filed with the Oklahoma Secretary of State indicates the board did meet. The paperwork contains only Hahn’s signature and the handwritten names of the two other board members.
State Superintendent Janet Barresi is not the first in her office to be criticized by the auditor’s office for how they handled funds. An audit released earlier this year detailed how Barresi’s predecessor, Sandy Garrett, had used a “slush fund” hidden within a nonprofit to fund the education conferences.
http://goo.gl/OsNYe

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CALENDAR
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USOE Calendar
http://tinyurl.com/5x9oh9

UEN News
http://www.uen.org

November 1-2:
Utah State Board of Education meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://www.schools.utah.gov/board/Meetings/Agenda.aspx

November 8:
Utah State Charter School Board meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://1.usa.gov/Axtt5K

November 13:
Executive Appropriations Interim Committee meeting
1 p.m., 445 State Capitol
http://www.le.utah.gov/Interim/2012/html/00002224.htm

November 14:
Education Interim Committee meeting
2 p.m., 30 House Building
http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2012&Com=INTEDU

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