Monday, March 14, 2011


Education Secretary Arne Duncan, AFT President Randi Weingarten and Head of School Administrators Association Dan Domenech Candidly Discuss the Promise and Cynicism Around Historic Collaboration Conference


Organizers of unprecedented labor-management gathering answer tough questions...


Mount Wilson, CA, March 15, 2011

Well folks, I called it in 2008. I wrote more than one article on economics and the REAL agenda behind "No Child Left Behind." I called it a foreseeable depression or deflationary spiral when then president "W" said there was no recession. A few days ago, Fontana USD pinked every single Counselor in order to save it's Football and Baseball Programs. For Now! This after telling the enraged public at the previous meeting that they wouldn't dismantle either. This week Moreno Valley USD  pinked approximately 318 teachers, counselors and administrators. We still haven't hit bottom. We are enjoying the short lived occurrence known in financial cycle theories as a "Dead Cat Bounce." It simply means more downside to come.

 The news out of Washington DC and Wisconsin is not only evidence of the last death throes of American Public Education (Free, Fair and Adequate) as we know it. Moreover, we are probably witness to a turning of the tide for collective bargaining, the idea that unions leveled the field between Workers and the Wealthy Modern Bosses - or corporate board members of today. Lastly the increasing erosion of that which made America the en vie of all the world - our working middle class. You watch what competition does. Education doe NOT manufacture a product. However, that is current measure of it's success. Education  by the standards of Dewey, Whitehead, and other philosophical leaders of the time measured education for the experience, the socialization (equalization) and the opportunity to become equal participants in our American experiment called democracy. No one listened in 2009 and it seems no one cares in 2011. Narcissism, entitlement and self centered apathy rule the day.  Today BAM Radio Network, the education station, released a pre-event interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, on the upcoming labor-management collaboration conference, Feb 15-16 in Denver, Colo. The aim of the conference is to find new ways to work together on behalf of students. In the segment, three of the conference organizers talk with RAW Education News Radio host Errol St. Clair Smith about their positive expectations for the unprecedented and potentially historic event. The three conference collaborators also addressed tough questions about community cynicism and fatigue with failed education reform initiatives. The program is available on demand at http://www.bamradionetwork.com or directly athttp://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=73&Itemid=190
The program can also be downloaded from iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/k-12-greatest-hits-the-best/id334633370
"This can be a turning point, literally for public education in this country," said, Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "If we can create the time and the space for folks to talk and listen, the examples are there…. For those who think we can't do it, the fact of the matter is it's being done today around the country. This is not some hope in the unseen or some imaginary vision. We have concrete examples, district after district, of remarkable breakthroughs," said Duncan.
The event is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, National School Boards Association, American Association of School Administrators, Council of the Great City Schools, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Funding to support the conference is being provided by the Ford Foundation.
When asked about the people who have become weary of failed education reform initiatives and have grown cynical, Randi Weingarten replied," You have to respect the cynics because they been through a lot…every three and a half nanoseconds we're trying something new and different that we pretend is going to work and then it doesn't. That's why they're cynical. But the bottom line is this, every teacher I know, every administrator I know, when you start focusing in what works for kids and you create a respectful, trusting, collaborative environment… then you see real motion on behalf of kids."
I, Praetorian

About RAW Education News Radio
RAW Education News delivers C-SPAN-like education news coverage for a new generation. The program aims to update the public affairs programming model by repackaging government affairs content into a format more suited for a growing generation of educators, advocates, journalists and education leaders with limited time and limited attention. The program is called "RAW" because, like the CSPAN model, the programming emphasizes content over glossy production values. Unlike C-SPAN, however, RAW Radio seeks to deliver more of what listeners want, in less time. The program is distributed across the BAM Radio Network.

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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"