Saturday, September 12, 2009

Major mood swing at our public schools

Massachusetts Charter Decisions Made to Rescue Governor from “Political Cul de Sac”

It’s a complex story out of Massachusetts with a simple payoff: The state secretary of education wants charter school authorizations to be based on political considerations, and not on their educational merits.
It begins with reporter Patrick Anderson of the Gloucester Daily Times using a public records request to find a February 5 e-mail from Secretary of Education Paul Reville, Gov. Deval Patrick’s school adviser, to Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester. Gov. Patrick, like many other governors, found religion in charter schools soon after the Obama administration made them a centerpiece of Race to the Top funding. But which charter school applications would be approved, and which rejected, seems to be less of an academic concern and more of a matter of political pressure. Here’s the full text of the e-mail:
Mitchell,
Hope all’s well and warm in AZ. I appreciated our talk today and your openness and flexibility. This situation presents one of those painful dilemmas. In addition to being a no-win situation, it forces us into a political cul de sac where we could be permanently trapped. Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we’ll get permanently labeled as hostile and they will cripple us with a number of key moderate allies like the Globe and the Boston Foundation. Frankly, I’d rather fight for the kids in the Waltham situation, but it sounds like you can’t find a solid basis for standing behind that one. I’m not inclined to push Worcester, so that leaves Gloucester. My inclination is to think that you, I and the Governor all need to send at least one positive signal in this batch, and I gather that you think the best candidate is Gloucester. Can you see your way clear to supporting it? Would you want to do the financial trigger even in light of likely stimulus aid?
Thanks for not seeing this as an independence issue. It really is a matter of positioning ourselves so that we can be viable to implement the rest of our agenda. It’s a tough but I think necessary pill to swallow. Let’s discuss some more tomorrow.
Paul
There has been plenty of editorializing about the e-mail itself, so I’ll just add a roundup of links and not add to it myself…
Editorial: Ed chief’s e-mail kills his, secretary’s and charter’s credibility
A political swirl on charter schools
Paul Reville must resign
Editorial: Charter chess
…but I’m also intrigued by the press play involved. The story was broken by a small local newspaper, in which the state newspaper of record (the Globe) is mentioned as one of Gov. Patrick’s “key moderate allies” that has to be appeased by approving the Gloucester application. Today, while others are calling for Reville’s head, the Globe published a puff piece headlined, “Seeking calm after charter school storm: Education chief focuses on reform.”
My favorite paragraph was this one:
Ironically, it was Reville who raised the alarm about the politicization of education six years ago, when Governor Mitt Romney proposed restoring the position of education secretary. Placing a gubernatorial appointee in charge of education, as well as other proposed changes, Reville told legislators, could allow political considerations to creep into decisions that should be based on the best interests of children.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Deflation - American Style


In economicsdeflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services.[1] Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below zero percent, resulting in an increase in the real value of money – a negative inflation rate. This should not be confused with disinflation, a slow-down in the inflation rate (i.e. when the inflation decreases, but still remains positive).[2]Inflation reduces the real value of money over time, conversely, deflation increases the real value of money. Money refers to the functional currency (mostly unstable monetary unit of account) in a national or regional economy.
Currently, mainstream economists generally believe that deflation is a problem in a modern economy because of the danger of a deflationary spiral.[3] Deflation is also linked withrecessions and with the Great Depression. Additionally, deflation also prevents monetary policy from stabilizing the economy because of a mechanism called the liquidity trap. However, historically not all episodes of deflation correspond with periods of poor economic growth,[4] while there are many examples of how strong rise in CPI immediately precedes or accompanies an economic downturn, such as Great Depression, the 1970-80's, and the 2008 economic crash.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

"At stake is not only union jurisdiction over hotels and casinos, but control of the only union-owned bank, the Amalgamated Bank, which had $4.47 billion in assets in 2008.[2]

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Three teachers robbed at gunpoint at a Moreno Valley elementary school

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise
Education officials plan to re-evaluate security procedures after a gunman stormed a teacher's lounge at a Moreno Valley elementary school early Wednesday morning and robbed three teachers.
Officials want to enhance security procedures, including adding security patrols and closing certain access points to schools, said Superintendent Rowena Lagrosa, of the Moreno Valley Unified School District.
Box Springs Elementary School Principal Sam Stager said the man entered the open-access campus at 6:50 a.m., before students arrived. The man got into the teacher's lounge from a side or rear entrance where he robbed the teachers at gunpoint, demanding their purses, Stager said.
The women gave him their purses and he ran off the campus carrying a small handgun.
No one was injured and no arrests had been made as of Wednesday evening.
Police are not sure if he ran through the neighborhood or to a waiting car on Athens Drive, which runs past the school and homes, Stager said.
Moreno Valley police officers arrived within minutes after a school custodian called them but the suspect had already fled.
The three teachers were sent home for the day; substitutes took their places. The school district's crisis management counseling team was also called to the campus, Lagrosa said.
Parents were notified of the incident through an automated call system, Lagrosa said. Students were not told of the robbery and continued their normal school day.
"It's terrifying. We're a very close-knit community and school," Lagrosa said. "We're just in disbelief that this could happen. We want this to be a safe haven for our students and staff."
The Moreno Valley Educators Association was unavailable for comment.
Moreno Valley's elementary schools have a private security firm that patrols the area after hours until 6:30 a.m. One school resource officer patrols each of the district's middle schools and each high school has a full-time Moreno Valley police officer on campus.
Reach John Asbury at 951-763-3451 or jasbury@PE.com









Walk through any airport in America and the passengers know. Don't joke about bringing bombs on the plane. Enter any public school, and the students know, too. Don't talk about bringing a gun.
Schools, once thought of as the safest place for children, are no longer the impenetrable havens they once were. In an era where school shootings, beatings, rapes and campus riots have become not only reality, but for some the norm, campus safety is no joke.
Some experts say schools have become too vigilant. Others say not enough. And school officials nationwide are erring on the side of caution, taking any and all threats the only way they can seriously.
In San Bernardino, two second-grade boys at North Park Elementary School, the same school where a first-grader brought an unloaded gun to school last month, were disciplined this week for making drive-by threats despite the fact both are too young to drive.
At Victor Valley High School, a 16-year-old girl reported she was jumped by a dozen other girls this week on the way to class.
In the Coachella Valley, a 10-year-old girl was raped in the bathroom of her elementary school, an attack that has rattled school officials and caused major changes in the campus' day-to-day operations.


Since the tragic mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999 that left 15 dead and 23 wounded, schools have changed the way they view campus security.
Security cameras have gone up.
Visitors must sign in and out and wear badges.
Reports of terrorist threats, no matter how seemingly insignificant, are always investigated.
Herb Fischer, superintendent of schools for San Bernardino County, said any and all threats to student safety will be taken seriously by school officials. He also said schools are entering a new era of openness and striving to let parents know whenever dangerous or suspicious incidents occur.
"With heightened awareness of school-safety issues nationwide, I applaud them for that," Fischer said. "They are working to assure parents that our schools are being as open as possible and at the same time as cautious as possible."
A number of school safety summits sponsored by local legislators have been held in the past few months. The county Probation Office has developed a special gang-intervention plan and has made a commitment to work with all county schools, Fischer said.
Gary Underwood, police chief of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, said that since Columbine, the universal police doctrine for responding to a shooter on campus has changed.
In addition to surveillance cameras and controlling who has access to campus, stronger ties to school psychologists have been adopted in order to evaluate kids who may be troubled.
Controlling visitor access can be more difficult in Western states where schools are laid out in an open, sprawling fashion, as opposed to East Coast schools, which are typically built in one building with several levels.
Newer campuses typically have only one entry point, which is easier to police, as opposed to older schools, which may have several, Underwood said.
All threats taken seriously
Two second-grade boys at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino were disciplined this week for making threats off-campus about a drive-by shooting, district officials said.
District spokeswoman Linda Hill confirmed the students were disciplined but would not elaborate, citing student privacy laws.
"We want our parents to know the district takes any threat to students' safety seriously," Hill said.
School board trustee Tony Dupre, speaking from a conference in Las Vegas, said he was unaware of any incidents at the elementary school but that the district must respond swiftly to threats under the Education Code, even if no weapon is seen.
"We cannot take that lightly, and the student will be ultimately recommended for suspension or possible expulsion," Dupre said.
The district can be held liable if threats are made, it takes no action, and then a student later acts on the threats.
Trustee Elsa Valdez, whose 6-year-old granddaughter attends North Park, said that as a veteran educator, the incident involving the two boys disturbed her.
"We had to look into it," she said. "I was concerned about it. And if there were rumors here like at Beaumont, I would probably keep my granddaughter home as well. As a parent or grandparent, you can't afford to take any chances."
At Victor Valley High, a 16-year-old student claimed she was jumped by a dozen or so other students on her way to class. The school resource officer is investigating the attack, said sheriff's spokeswoman Shelley Williams.
"The girl claimed she was jumped by other girls, and we've investigated," said Principal Elvin Momon. "So far, it looks like two girls fighting and nothing more."
The community's issues sometimes end up on campus and educators don't know what they will get on a daily basis, he said. Administrators and campus security must listen to and look for signs that are out of the ordinary and be prepared to respond to almost anything.
But if someone says they'll bring a gun onto campus, all bets are off, Momon said
"We're gonna react," he said.
Doing things differently
At Palm View Elementary in Coachella, no student goes to the restroom alone. A school employee has been dispatched to monitor the bathrooms full time.
A 10-year-old girl reported that she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom during school hours within the last 10 days, said Principal Maria Grieve. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the incident, have no suspects yet.
"We have totally changed the way we do things," Grieve said. The school district is providing a full-time security guard for the campus. More yard supervisors have been added, and two will stay throughout the school day.
Parents have also volunteered to monitor the office door to ensure campus visitors sign in. That's in addition to it being monitored by a school secretary.
"There's been a shift in our society and parental responsibility almost to the point of us raising their children for them," Grieve said. "We have some parents who see us as a baby-sitting service. That's why more of them (children) are joining gangs. They want to belong to a family, and gangs become a substitute family."
Widespread campus violence
Violence has plagued the region's school campuses in the last six months, and it is not limited to shootings. Among the incidents was a fight at A.B. Miller High School in January in which 20 students were detained by police. Pacific High School has seen a spate of fighting since the beginning of the school year.
On Jan. 9, rumors kept roughly half of Beaumont High School's 1,500 students from coming to school after Internet-chatroom conversations indicated some students might bring firearms to school. A month later, shots were fired in a Beaumont neighborhood, causing a short lockdown at five nearby schools. Last month, Beaumont High School had its worst fight in recent history when a brawl broke out after a school assembly.
"We've become a society very afraid of violence, and it's hit close to home in this general area," said Karen Poppen, an assistant superintendent for the Beaumont Unified School District. "This is not just a school problem, it's a community problem. The question is how do we come together and how are we going to solve this?"
Last fall, the school district began working with Beaumont police, and training for district security officers has improved along with the level of security as a whole, Poppen said.
Earlier this month, interim Superintendent Nicholas Ferguson began holding community task force meetings to discuss issues like campus safety and student discipline.
Such problems are new for the district, Ferguson said.
"We're not accustomed to that kind of thing," he said.
Jerry Sturmer, director of educational safety and security for the Rialto Unified School District, said he has noticed more physicality between students and an increase in gang activity.
"We must react to violence," he said. " We need more resources, right now they are extremely limited."
Sturmer is frustrated about applying for a competitive five-year $500,000 state grant that would help with campus safety needs. Only 35 grants are being offered.
He is also angry that the federal government is cutting Safe and Drug-free schools money by 21 percent next year, money that pays for school resource officer anti-drug and anti-violence programs.
"Everybody says we need safe schools," he said. "But nobody wants to pay for it."   (So District Superintendents feel it necessary to lie and cover up. In the end making it harder to obtain the very financial help they needed in the first place );I, Praetorian

Changing times
Ever since Columbine and 9/11, in some ways school officials have "sometimes overreacted," said Valdez, a professor of race and ethnic relations at Cal State San Bernardino.
"We've all been told all the signs were there, but no one paid attention," she said. "Are these kids going to go and carry out what they say they will? Who knows?"
Children are bombarded every day with violent images on television, movies and video games, and society is becoming desensitized to violence, Valdez said.
Times have changed.
Students in the '60s and '70s would get into trouble, fighting and drinking beer and smoking, but it was different from today, Valdez said.
"You didn't ever hear about the same type of vicious crimes like shootings and rapes," she said. "And there was never anybody getting raped in the bathroom."
Staff Writer Mike Cruz contributed to this report.

No comments:

This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out?

What's taking so long? This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out? "Hell has a special level for those who sit by idly during times of great crisis."
Robert Kennedy

The Art of SETTING LIMITS, Its not as easy as it looks.

Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.


There are many ways to go about setting limits, but staff members who use these techniques must keep three things in mind:
Setting a limit is not the same as issuing an ultimatum.
Limits aren’t threats—If you don’t attend group, your weekend privileges will be suspended.

Limits offer choices with consequences—If you attend group and follow the other steps in your plan, you’ll be able to attend all of the special activities this weekend. If you don’t attend group, then you’ll have to stay behind. It’s your decision.
The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.
Through limits, people begin to understand that their actions, positive or negative, result in predictable consequences. By giving such choices and consequences, staff members provide a structure for good decision making.
Setting limits is more about listening than talking.
Taking the time to really listen to those in your charge will help you better understand their thoughts and feelings. By listening, you will learn more about what’s important to them, and that will help you set more meaningful limits.
Download The Art of Setting Limits

SYSTEMATIC USE OF CHILD LABOR


CHILD DOMESTIC HELP
by Amanda Kloer

Published February 21, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT
category: Child Labor
Wanted: Domestic worker. Must be willing to cook, clean, work with garbage, and do all other chores as assigned. No contract available, payment based on employer's mood or current financial situation. No days off. Violence, rape, and sexual harassment may be part of the job.

Would you take that job? No way. But for thousands of child domestic workers in Indonesia, this ad doesn't just describe their job, it describes their life.

A recent CARE International survey of over 200 child domestic workers in Indonesia found that 90% of them didn't have a contract with their employer, and thus no way to legally guarantee them a fair wage (or any wage at all) for their work. 65% of them had never had a day off in their whole employment, and 12% had experienced violence. Child domestic workers remain one of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking and exploitation. And while work and life may look a little grim for the kids who answered CARE's survey, it's likely that the most abused and exploited domestic workers didn't even have the opportunity to take the survey.

In part, child domestic workers have it so much harder than adults because the people who hire children are more likely looking for someone easy to exploit. Think about it -- if you wanted to hire a domestic worker, wouldn't you choose an adult with a stronger body and more life experience to lift and haul and cook than a kid? If you could get them both for the same price, of course you would. But what if the kid was cheaper, free even, because you knew she wouldn't try and leave if you stopped paying her. Or even if you threatened her with death.



Congress Aims to Improve Laws for Runaway, Prostituted Kids

by Amanda Kloer

categories: Child Prostitution, Pimping

Published February 20, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT

The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:

Shelter: Lack of shelter is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of runaway and homeless youth. Pimps will often use an offer of shelter as an entree to a relationship with a child or a straight up trade for sex. In the past couple years, at least 10 states have made legislative efforts to increase the number of shelters, extend shelter options, and change state reporting requirements so that youth shelters have enough time to win trust and provide services before they need to report the runaways to the police. Much of the new federal legislation would make similar increases in the availability and flexibility of shelter options.

Police Reporting: Right now, police are supposed to enter all missing persons into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database within two hours of receiving the case. In reality, that reporting doesn't always get done, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to search for missing kids across districts. This hole is a big problem in finding child prostitution victims and their pimps, since pimps will often transport girls from state to state. The new bill would strengthen reporting requirements, as well as facilitate communication between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"