THE DC TEACHER

A Teacher's View of Mayor Fenty's Takeover Plan

2007-03-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons why the American Federation ofTeachers insisted on revising our Constitution was to avoid another disaster like the one that led to our administratorship. The representative assembly amendment was added to give voting power to delegates who represented the voice of teachers in each of the 140 plus DC public schools. The fact that no vote was taken after delegates engaged in a lengthy exchange with Board president Robert Bobb and a previous meeting with Mayor Fenty is cause to be concerned .

When WTU members reflect on a former executive Board that either didn't attend meetings, didn't know waht was going on with the budget and spending or rubber stamped what Bullock and company wanted, they become nervous about one that votes on such a critical issues without a vote from the voting delegates! So much so, in fact, that Nathan Saunders, our current general vice president, cited them in his lawsuit against Bullock et al. I am leary of executive board members who want the power to make such a critical decision fo 4,200 plus teachers based on such a flawed and biased survey. It reminds me of the tactics used by Bullock over the years that cultivated a culture of silence,complacency and passivity among our members.

If executive board members read the Fenty proposal, theywould readily see that it is void of any substance that would improve accountability or academic achievement in our schools. It was quite evident that the individuals who 'briefly' constructed the comparisons of the two plans for the WTU newsletter either did not read the Mayor's proposal or did not comprehend it. How many surveys were collected? In a robo call to members, George Parker indicated that 60% of our members voted for the Mayor's proposal. Did any of the Executive Board members read Colbert King's article about the Mayor's plans after the takover, or the Council of Great City Schools' report on the two proposals? Both could be found at www.washingtonpost. com under Colby King's past editorials.

The fact is that the Mayor's proposal would;

- get rid of an elected school board,
- increase privatization of our public schools
- grow more charter schools to drain DCPS resources,
- change home rule charter,
- add more layers of bureaucracy that would make iteven harder for parents, teachers and students to haveany influence over decisions that affect them,
- dismantle new reforms outlined in the MEP and MFP
- challenge our collective bargaining agreement inways that we can't imagine!
- open the flood gates for aspiring school 'takeover' advocates who are politicians, real estate developers and members of the Federal City Council (which has pushed for gentrification and displacement of DC residents for years.

When we connect the dots in each of the above items,we could conclude that there would be little or no need for a teachers' union or any labor union for that matter. If this is what we want, then by all means, we should support the Mayor's plan. I didn't take the survey. But if I did, I would not have voted for either proposal. None of the teachers I've talked to at my school and others voted in favor of either proposal. Many of them are still asking, "What survey?" delegate at Turner ES informed me that none of theteachers at her school received the survey. Guy rightfully assessed the survey as "flawed". Iwould like to add that the process used to garner theopinion of the 4,200 members on the two proposals was also flawed. I would hope that the WTU executive board would be more interested in fully engaging WTU membersin critical decisions such as this one and less interested in promoting their self-serving, individual opinions. Unfortunately, gone are not the days of leadership without vision beyond the four walls of the executive board room. In closing, the question asked by several members, "Why did we have to support either proposal?", was never answered.

If the WTU leadership believe that the New DC Order is interested in saving the teachers union or any labor union, it had better wake up and smell the stench of a gentrified city and a privatized school system and realize that there is no place in such a system for a teachers' union.

Elizabeth Davis is WTU member and middle school teacher in Washington, DC.

2007-03-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com
Rank-and-file teachers deny voting for Fenty takeover
By Gary EmerlingTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished March 2, 2007

AdvertisementMembers of the Washington Teachers Union say they never voted to support Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's school takeover plan, despite Tuesday's endorsement of the proposal made by union leaders on behalf of the group's 4,200 teachers.

"The members who heard [union President George Parker] make that announcement, many of them were shocked," said Elizabeth Davis, a teacher at Hart Middle School in Southeast. "Why is it that the union leadership take it upon themselves to take a position that its members have not taken?"

Union leaders announced the endorsement during a Tuesday press conference that preceded Mr. Fenty's final public testimony before the D.C. Council in support of a mayoral takeover of the school system. According to a press release from the mayor's office, the union "put the endorsement vote to its membership who overwhelming[ly] voted in favor of Mayor Fenty's plan." However, teachers said delegates representing union members never voted at meetings held to query Mr. Fenty and Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb about their respective school-reform proposals.

"There were a number of people that really weren't on board with [the endorsement] in terms of the fact that we didn't like Fenty's plan," said Laureen Butler, a teacher at Spingarn Center at Spingarn High School in Northeast and a union delegate. "A number of us felt this was a ploy that 'OK, the school board's [plan] was totally unacceptable so we would have to go with Fenty.'

"Union Vice President Nathan Saunders said a membership vote in advance of the endorsement was not taken or required by union regulations. Mr. Parker and Mr. Saunders said endorsement decisions are the responsibility of the union's roughly two dozen executive board members, who did vote in favor of Mr. Fenty's proposal.

"We [worked] extensively in order to make sure our teachers were included and their opinions were heard," Mr. Parker said. "We're like any organization -- we're never going to please 100 percent of the people all of the time."

Mr. Saunders said the endorsement was made after an extensive feedback process, which included phone calls to union members inviting them to attend meetings with Mr. Fenty and Mr. Bobb. Union officials conducted and distributed an analysis and rating of both proposals. Officials rated Mr. Fenty's plan much higher than Mr. Bobb's plan. Officials also said the decision to endorse Mr. Fenty's plan was based in part on a "survey of our 4,200 members." Union leaders said yesterday that between 1,100 and 1,200 union members responded to the survey, with more than 60 percent supporting Mr. Fenty's proposal, more than 30 percent undecided and only 7 percent supporting the school board's proposal.

Kerry Sylvia, a teacher at Cardozo High School in Northwest, said teachers were only given about a day to respond to the survey, which contained limited options: Support Mr. Fenty, support Mr. Bobb, or remain undecided. In addition, the survey was only sent to e-mail addresses provided to members by the union, which Ms. Sylvia said many teachers do not use regularly.

"As far as a means of getting teacher input, I don't think they did it in a way that really accurately represents the opinions of the membership," she said. Mr. Saunders defended the endorsement. "A decision was made [and] we were very deliberate about the manner in which it was made," he said. "We've got some disheartened souls here, and that's OK. This is a serious minority position."

Ms. Davis said some union members are considering filing a complaint with the Public Employee Relations Board about how the decision to endorse Mr. Fenty's plan was reached. The debate has often been heated around Mr. Fenty's proposal, which would give the mayor's office direct authority over the 55,000-student system and shift the school board into a largely policy-setting role.

Some council members, however, have suggested amendments to Mr. Fenty's plan that would grant the school board more authority. Mr. Bobb -- who previously pledged to resign if a mayoral takeover is instituted -- did not return a call for comment yesterday on what action he will take if the Fenty plan passes.

Friends of Fenty Help Mayor Get Back on Democratic Track

2007-03-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

Join Friends of Fenty
Let’s help Mayor Fenty get back on the democratic track!
Figure 1 Map of Fenty's house
On Tuesday, March 13th, scores of residents will gather in front of Mayor Fenty’s home asking the Mayor to re-join the coalition that put him in office. We will ask the Mayor not to abandon the ideals contained in the City Charter. We will also ask the Mayor to join with us in drafting a consensus plan that will provide a world-class education for District students!

Democracy NOT Bureaucracy!
Rally at Fenty’s House
4712 17th St, NW (near 17th and Decatur)
Tuesday March 13th at 6:30pm

Sponsors: Friends of Fenty, Save Our Schools, DCPS Full Funding Coalition, Fix Our Schools

DC Area Writing Project to Host National Conference

2007-03-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

Urban Sites Network
NWP Urban Sites Network Conference
Improving Writing in Urban Schools: A National Agenda
April 20 - April 21, 2007 Washington, District of Columbia Host site: District of Columbia Area Writing Project
Join us in Washington, DC to help us further a national agenda to improve the teaching of writing in urban schools. The DC Area Writing Project (DCAWP) at Howard University is proud to serve as host for this year’s Urban Sites Network Conference in our nation’s capital.

As a network of writing project sites, the Urban Sites Network (USN) links urban teachers and writing project leaders across the country to improve the teaching of writing and learning for urban children. The Urban Sites Network, established in 1988, promotes site development among member projects, builds community and colleagueship among teacher leaders from urban school districts, large and small, and sponsors programs of national interest. USN takes a special interest in teacher inquiry and professional development and supports the sharing of promising classroom practices for the teaching of writing through online discussion forums, conferences and retreats, and minigrant programs, all of which broaden the fund of teacher knowledge and expand the dissemination of urban teacher research.

Register Now!
The deadline for conference registration is April 1, 2007. Download the registration information and form (PDF).
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings
Gloria Ladson-Billings is the Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the 2005–2006 president of the American Educational Research Association. Ladson-Billings’ research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. She also investigates Critical Race Theory applications to education. She is the author of the two critically acclaimed books, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children and Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms, and has published many journal articles and book chapters.
For more, read a profile of Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings.

Tell President Bush To Make Darfur A Priority

2007-01-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Next Tuesday President Bush will set out his top priorities for the year when he delivers his annual State of the Union address to Congress.
We need your help to make sure the President emphasizes the urgency of ending the crisis in Darfur in his speech.
Please click here to ask President Bush to highlight his plan for Darfur when he addresses the nation on Tuesday.
Tuesday's State of the Union address provides an opportunity to ensure that ending the genocide in Darfur is a central part of the President's agenda and a top priority for the new Congress.
But there is another, even more critical reason why we need your help to reach out to President Bush today.
Right now, infamous Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is making a bid to become the next president of the African Union (AU) -- the very same international organization of African nations whose peacekeepers are trying to stem the violence in Darfur.
President Bashir's own policies have already led to the death and displacement of millions of Darfuris. We must do everything we can to stop President Bashir from become President of the African Union or more innocent Darfuris will pay the price.
Please join us in contacting President Bush right now to urge him to make Darfur a priority in his speech and to do everything in his power to prevent President Bashir from taking control of the African Union.
Click here to send your letter to President Bush now.
Once you've sent your letter to the President, help us spread the word about this urgent effort by forwarding this message to your friends and family.
Thank you again for your support.
Best regards,
David RubensteinSave Darfur Coalition
P.S. Will you join us as we turn up the heat? Click here to join our Weekly Action Network and commit to taking one action each week to stop the genocide in Darfur.
Donate to Help Save DarfurHelp build the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur by supporting the Save Darfur Coalition's crucial awareness and advocacy programs. Click here now to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 175 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=269132050&url_num=5&url=http://www.SaveDarfur.org

President Bush's State of the Union address to Congress

2007-01-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

DC Teachers Can Help Save Darfur!

2007-01-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

2007-01-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

USIP is teaming up with International Crisis Group to present a unique look at the role of young people in building and sustaining peace. We often overlook the huge toll that war takes on the younger generation whose lives are profoundly affected by conflicts around the world. This program brings together educational experts with young adults who have lived through conflict and are working to prevent it. USIP is teaming up with International Crisis Group>> to present a unique>> look at the role of young people in building and>> sustaining peace. We>> often overlook the huge toll that war takes on the>> younger generation>> whose lives are profoundly affected by conflicts>> around the world. This>> program brings together educational experts with>> young adults who have>> lived through conflict and are working to prevent>> it. The program will>> feature Zlata Filipovich, whose diary from 1991-1993>> during the Balkans>> war awoke the conscience of people all around the>> world about life in>> the midst of violent conflict. Zlata has co-edited a>> new book with>> Melanie Challenger which traces the diaries of young>> people from WWI to>> Iraq. Both will speak, in addition to our own Yll>> Bajraktari, who>> founded a youth organization in Kosovo. Among the>> question we will>> explore:>>>> * What role can young people play in preventing>> international conflict?>> * How do the diaries of young people shed light on>> life during war?>> * Where can youth be most effective after a conflict>> is resolved and>> reconciliation begins?>> * What kinds of programs exist to bring youth into>> the peacemaking and>> peacebuilding field?>>>>>> Speakers>>>>>> * Zlata Filipovich and Melanie Challenger>> Co-editors of Stolen Voices: Young People's War>> Diaries, From World War>> I to Iraq>> * Ambassador Donald Steinberg>> Former USIP Fellow and currently Vice President of>> International Crisis>> Group>> * David J. Smith, Moderator>> Education Program, U.S. Institute of Peace>>>> Discussants will include young people who have>> experienced>> international conflict including:>> * Yll Bajraktari, Discussant>> Founder of The Forum, a youth organization in Kosovo>>>>>> RSVP>>>> To RSVP, please send your name, affiliation, daytime>> phone number, and>> name of the event to the Office of Public Affairs>> and Communications at>> rsvp@usip.org.>>>> Media Inquiries>>>> Please direct media inquiries to Lauren Sucher in>> the Office of Public>> Affairs and Communications at lsucher@usip.org.>>>>>> Of Related Interest>>>>>> * Youth and Violent Conflict>> National Peace Essay Contest, February 2007>> * International Conference on Muslim Youth in Europe>> and North America>> Summary, October 2006>> * Kosovo's Future: Between Hope and Reality>> Public Event, April 2006>> * Youth in Violently Divided Societies>> Senior Fellow Project Report, April 2003>> (Audio Available)>> * The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace>> Experience>> USIP Press Book, February 2000>>>>USIP is teaming up with International Crisis Group>> to present a unique>> look at the role of young people in building and>> sustaining peace. We>> often overlook the huge toll that war takes on the>> younger generation>> whose lives are profoundly affected by conflicts>> around the world. This>> program brings together educational experts with>> young adults who have>> lived through conflict and are working to prevent>> it. The program will>> feature Zlata Filipovich, whose diary from 1991-1993>> during the Balkans>> war awoke the conscience of people all around the>> world about life in>> the midst of violent conflict. Zlata has co-edited a>> new book with>> Melanie Challenger which traces the diaries of young>> people from WWI to>> Iraq. Both will speak, in addition to our own Yll>> Bajraktari, who>> founded a youth organization in Kosovo. Among the>> question we will>> explore:>>>> * What role can young people play in preventing>> international conflict?>> * How do the diaries of young people shed light on>> life during war?>> * Where can youth be most effective after a conflict>> is resolved and>> reconciliation begins?>> * What kinds of programs exist to bring youth into>> the peacemaking and>> peacebuilding field?>>>>>> Speakers>>>>>> * Zlata Filipovich and Melanie Challenger>> Co-editors of Stolen Voices: Young People's War>> Diaries, From World War>> I to Iraq>> * Ambassador Donald Steinberg>> Former USIP Fellow and currently Vice President of>> International Crisis>> Group>> * David J. Smith, Moderator>> Education Program, U.S. Institute of Peace>>>> Discussants will include young people who have>> experienced>> international conflict including:>> * Yll Bajraktari, Discussant>> Founder of The Forum, a youth organization in Kosovo>>>>>> RSVP>>>> To RSVP, please send your name, affiliation, daytime>> phone number, and>> name of the event to the Office of Public Affairs>> and Communications at>> rsvp@usip.org.>>>> Media Inquiries>>>> Please direct media inquiries to Lauren Sucher in>> the Office of Public>> Affairs and Communications at lsucher@usip.org.>>>>>> Of Related Interest>>>>>> * Youth and Violent Conflict>> National Peace Essay Contest, February 2007>> * International Conference on Muslim Youth in Europe>> and North America>> Summary, October 2006>> * Kosovo's Future: Between Hope and Reality>> Public Event, April 2006>> * Youth in Violently Divided Societies>> Senior Fellow Project Report, April 2003>> (Audio Available)>> * The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace>> Experience>> USIP Press Book, February 2000>>>>USIP is teaming up with International Crisis Group>> to present a unique>> look at the role of young people in building and>> sustaining peace. We>> often overlook the huge toll that war takes on the>> younger generation>> whose lives are profoundly affected by conflicts>> around the world. This>> program brings together educational experts with>> young adults who have>> lived through conflict and are working to prevent>> it. The program will>> feature Zlata Filipovich, whose diary from 1991-1993>> during the Balkans>> war awoke the conscience of people all around the>> world about life in>> the midst of violent conflict. Zlata has co-edited a>> new book with>> Melanie Challenger which traces the diaries of young>> people from WWI to>> Iraq. Both will speak, in addition to our own Yll>> Bajraktari, who>> founded a youth organization in Kosovo. Among the>> question we will>> explore:>>>> * What role can young people play in preventing>> international conflict?>> * How do the diaries of young people shed light on>> life during war?>> * Where can youth be most effective after a conflict>> is resolved and>> reconciliation begins?>> * What kinds of programs exist to bring youth into>> the peacemaking and>> peacebuilding field?>>>>>> Speakers>>>>>> * Zlata Filipovich and Melanie Challenger>> Co-editors of Stolen Voices: Young People's War>> Diaries, From World War>> I to Iraq>> * Ambassador Donald Steinberg>> Former USIP Fellow and currently Vice President of>> International Crisis>> Group>> * David J. Smith, Moderator>> Education Program, U.S. Institute of Peace>>>> Discussants will include young people who have>> experienced>> international conflict including:>> * Yll Bajraktari, Discussant>> Founder of The Forum, a youth organization in Kosovo>>>>>> RSVP>>>> To RSVP, please send your name, affiliation, daytime>> phone number, and>> name of the event to the Office of Public Affairs>> and Communications at>> rsvp@usip.org.>>>> Media Inquiries>>>> Please direct media inquiries to Lauren Sucher in>> the Office of Public>> Affairs and Communications at lsucher@usip.org.>>>>>> Of Related Interest>>>>>> * Youth and Violent Conflict>> National Peace Essay Contest, February 2007>> * International Conference on Muslim Youth in Europe>> and North America>> Summary, October 2006>> * Kosovo's Future: Between Hope and Reality>> Public Event, April 2006>> * Youth in Violently Divided Societies>> Senior Fellow Project Report, April 2003>> (Audio Available)>> * The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace>> Experience>> USIP Press Book, February 2000>>>>The program will>> feature Zlata Filipovich, whose diary from 1991-1993>> during the Balkans>> war awoke the conscience of people all around the>> world about life in>> the midst of violent conflict. Zlata has co-edited a>> new book with>> Melanie Challenger which traces the diaries of young>> people from WWI to>> Iraq. Both will speak, in addition to our own Yll>> Bajraktari, who>> founded a youth organization in Kosovo. Among the>> question we will>> explore:>>>> * What role can young people play in preventing>> international conflict?>> * How do the diaries of young people shed light on>> life during war?>> * Where can youth be most effective after a conflict>> is resolved and>> reconciliation begins?>> * What kinds of programs exist to bring youth into>> the peacemaking and>> peacebuilding field?>>>>>> Speakers>>>>>> * Zlata Filipovich and Melanie Challenger>> Co-editors of Stolen Voices: Young People's War>> Diaries, From World War>> I to Iraq>> * Ambassador Donald Steinberg>> Former USIP Fellow and currently Vice President of>> International Crisis>> Group>> * David J. Smith, Moderator>> Education Program, U.S. Institute of Peace>>>> Discussants will include young people who have>> experienced>> international conflict including:>> * Yll Bajraktari, Discussant>> Founder of The Forum, a youth organization in Kosovo>>>>>> RSVP>>>> To RSVP, please send your name, affiliation, daytime>> phone number, and>> name of the event to the Office of Public Affairs>> and Communications at>> rsvp@usip.org.>>>> Media Inquiries>>>> Please direct media inquiries to Lauren Sucher in>> the Office of Public>> Affairs and Communications at lsucher@usip.org.>>>>>> Of Related Interest>>>>>> * Youth and Violent Conflict>> National Peace Essay Contest, February 2007>> * International Conference on Muslim Youth in Europe>> and North America>> Summary, October 2006>> * Kosovo's Future: Between Hope and Reality>> Public Event, April 2006>> * Youth in Violently Divided Societies>> Senior Fellow Project Report, April 2003>> (Audio Available)>> * The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace>> Experience>> USIP Press Book, February 2000>>>>

GW University Wants DC Teachers

2007-01-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dear DCPS Teacher: The Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University is conducting research into the response of urban public school personnel to various education reforms that are taking place in the District of Columbia. This project is a joint effort between faculty and graduate students and has been approved by Georgetown University's Institutional Review Board.
You are invited to participate in a teacher focus group regarding education policy and practices in the DC public schools. We are asking for your input as to how these reforms have or have not affected you and your teaching environment. As a token of our appreciation for your participation, we are offering $75 American Express Gift Cards to participants. Your participation will be confidential and your name will neither be shared with anyone outside of the research team nor be published in any research report. Please contact me ASAP if you are available for a focus group on either
Saturday, February 10th, from 10:00am - 11:30am, or
Tuesday, February 13th, from 4:30pm - 6:00pm
at the Georgetown University Law Center. The Law Center is located at 600 New Jersey Ave. NW, near Union Station. If you are interested in participating in a focus group or if you have any questions, please send an email including your name, school, telephone number and/or mailing address to dbc26@georgetown.edu. Additionally, please contact me if you cannot meet during these particular times but are interested in participating in the future. Sincerely, Dean Campbell Georgetown Public Policy Institute Master of Public Policy Program
dbc26@georgetown.edu

Letter on 'School Takeover' from Gary Imhoff

2007-01-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Dear News Hounds: The news from the new city administration begins tomorrow. Yesterday's private inauguration was just a formality, and today's public inauguration wasn't that much more important. Mayor Fenty's speech at (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/070103.htm) was a collection of platitudes. I just posted it, and I have already forgotten it. Council Chairman Vincent Gray's speech (http://www.dcwatch.com/council/070103.htm) didn't say anything either, although it signals his desire for a return to 1960's-style liberalism and 1970's-style governmental social programs. But tomorrow the news begins. Tomorrow Mayor Fenty announces his plan to take over the schools. That's where the important money and property is. That's where there is a multitude of desirable land holdings that are ripe for divestment and dispersal to the insiders. That's where there is over two billion dollars in construction and renovation money ripe for the picking, money that the powers-that- be want to funnel to EdBuild, the Federal City Council creation that keeps a revolving door open for high-level city government officials (http://www.edbuild.org/). By the way, don't expect much reporting about EdBuild and its sweetheart insider deals from the Post or the Times (although V. Dion Haynes did have one story about it recently, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500546.html). This is an occasion on which we miss The Common Denominator, which would take on stories about who is profiting from sweetheart back-room deals. You may want to start subscribing to the Afro-American, since its reporter, Valencia Muhammed, is interested in covering the story. Fenty has prepared well for this, naming new appointees to the Board of Education who are primed to undermine its authority and power, asserting that his secret plan for improving education will speedily improve DC's schools, somehow. When I dealt with education affairs in some depth, a few decades ago, I formulated a personal rule: someone who referred to himself as a "teacher" probably had some idea of how to teach kids; someone who referred to himself as an "educator" would have theories about teaching, but no clue of what to do in a classroom; and someone who referred to himself as an "educationalist" was purely a quack. Fenty hasn't given us any reason to trust that he has a teacher's understanding of what DC's students need, any reason to believe that he really has a plan that will change for the better what goes on in the classrooms. I have no doubt that he has a plan for the city's assets, but I don't see what's in it for the kids. I suspect he's an educationalist. Gary Imhoffhttp://us.f348.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=themail@dcwatch.com

Yo' Adrian, Wrong Way!

2007-01-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

The following article was taken from Sam Smith's Progressive News Blog (City Desk)
"Like Wrong Way Corrigan who mistakenly flew from New York to Ireland when he was meant to be going to California, Adrian Fenty has his plane headed in the wrong direction.Even before his inauguration, Fenty made a number of errors that have raised serious apprehensions about what lies ahead. These include a planned takeover of the school system; the questionable appointment of Kathy Lanier as police chief without consulting even with members of his own team; and a suspiciously close involvement with the Federal City Council. The school system takeover is a terrible idea for a number of reasons:- It is a dagger aimed at the heart of home rule. An elected school board was DC's first modern victory in its struggle towards self government. Anthony Williams callously eviscerated it and now Fenty wants to destroy it. This makes him an enemy of home rule.- The excuse that the takeover will create a better school system has no basis in fact. For example, the NYC model has had extremely mixed returns which Fenty clearly doesn't understand as he has primarily listened to its advocates and not to its victims. Furthermore, there is nothing in Fenty's record that indicates sufficient knowledge of education to justify his coup against an elected board.- The concept essentially involves replacing democracy with a corporate system. While democracy is often flawed, it is inherently no more so than the failures of the self-appointed and is inherently a fairer system.- The very attempt displays a gross misunderstanding of education. Education is, at its heart, a personal relationship between teacher and student. The principals, bureaucracies and superstructures are there for support and logistics. Fenty, like so many, is treating education as a corporate organizational problem. This is doomed to failure because it reduces the key players - teachers and students - to the weakest position in a corporate bureaucracy when, in truth, they should be its most important participants.- A far better approach to school reform would be to reverse the course that Fenty proposes. Instead of tyranny at the top, permit the bottom to blossom. For example, you could make every high school and its feeder schools semi-autonomous systems with their own elected boards made of up teachers, parents and community. By having multiple systems at work in the city, you would quickly see which are effective and which are not. Working on the principle of subsidiarity (as used by the European Union, for example) government would function at the lowest practical level, which in a school system, is very close to the class room.- It seems highly likely that a primary reason for the takeover is to make valuable school properties more easily available to developers and/or campaign contributors. There is a name for this in urban politics; it is called corruption.
Finally, it appears almost certain that some sort of covert arrangement - perhaps implicit, perhaps more conscious - has been made between Fenty and the Federal City Council. In any case, the Council - a disingenuous polite front for local corporados - is clearly exercising far more influence in terms of appointments and policy than is good for the city. In DC, one doesn't have to make a pact with the devil; making one with the Federal City Council and its spiritual mentor, the Washington Post, produces much the same results without the theological hassles. It is not too late for Fenty to turn his plane around and head in the right direction. Showboating as Mr. Super Manager isn't going to fool people for long just as it didn't with Anthony Williams. What does work is getting a good team together that loves the city more than it loves campaign contributors, that is willing to stand up for the people of the city as opposed to those who just use the city to make a lot of money.It wouldn't hurt for Fenty to pay attention to the telling silence over the departure of Williams. It's hard to find anyone outside of the Board of Trade and the Washington Post who's really sad to see him go. And it's worth noting that, despite all his faults, Marion Barry was able to maintain a constituency well past his prime. Why? Because he had actually helped a lot of people when he wasn't destroying himself. If Fenty only pays off those who paid for his election, he will end up on the losing end. It he serves those who voted for him, he will turn into a winner.

The Mayor's Takeover of DC Schools

2007-01-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

What DC Teachers Ought to Know about Mayor Fenty’s Plan to Takeover DC Schools!
DC citizens voted for Adrian Fenty because he promised them that THEIR mandate would be HIS mandate, but he is already going around the people, straight to Congress and the Federal City Council (FCC), Terrence Golden and company, to rubber stamp his plan to take control of our schools! He’s already using the same tactics used by former Mayor Williams when he wanted to impose a school voucher program on DC citizens against their wishes! These are the facts;
Mayor Fenty is rushing to get his plan to takeover our schools approved by a City Council that has no representation in Ward 4 or Ward 7. These two seats were vacated by former Ward 7 Council members Vincent Gray (who became Council chair) and Ward 4 Council member Victor Reinoso ( who Mayor Fenty has decided to name as the new Deputy Mayor of Education)
Wards 7 has more public school students per capita than any other Ward in DC.
Mayor Fenty is asking Congress to rubber stamp his school takeover plan instead of putting it to the people for a referendum
Mayor Fenty knows that he has no mandate from the DC community for this power grab, because he never mentioned "take-over" to them until after his primary victory.
Mayor Fenty’s "take-over" plan is being fueled and driven by the Federal City Council (FCC) and other business-friendly interests who have lusted after our school properties and exploited our communities for decades. Even Washington Post columnist Colbert King has questioned how Fenty's selection of Victor Reinoso, a FCC employee with no serious experience as an educator or even as a manager, will help our public schools or the DC public school children.
DCPS does NOT need another layer of bureaucracy on top of what we already have.
The DC community fears that Fenty's populism may have been nothing more than a convenient campaign strategy.

Fenty's plan complicates instead of simplifies the chain of command.
The new Deputy Mayor (Victor Reinoso-hand-picked by the Federal City Council a.k.a. Terrence Golden), will be co-equal to the school Superintendent, and will also oversee the Charter School Authority -- giving out unlimited funds to start new schools and will supervises the State Education Agency that will be holding the purse strings of public construction money that was supposed to go to modernize DCPS buildings.
If the Deputy Mayor and the Superintendent are at odds, who will the Mayor support—the Superintendent who must educate all the special needs kids and those who have been kicked out of charter schools as "not fitting their profiles", or will the winner be the Deputy Mayor, hand-picked by the Federal City Council, and his portfolio of charter schools who have many influential friends: FOCUS, Mary Landrieu, the Kimsey Foundation, the Walmart Foundation, etc. who believe that no matter which city or which students, public education would be better managed by the private sector.
DCPS and our public school students cannot win with this structure. Our neediest students are in DPCS. There is no equivalent of the well-financed FOCUS (Friends of Charter Schools US) to lobby the mayor, council, and Congress on behalf of our neediest students. All we parents have is the vote, and that is being compromised by Fenty's plan. Residents used to have a council member and a board of education member to contact to advocate for students' needs and under-funded DCPS initiatives. In the new scenario there will be only a council member, controlling the purse strings and tempted to hand out contracts and other favors to campaign contributors.
Our neediest citizens and our current DCPS students will notbe served at all well by the proposed structure. The charter schools of the city appear to be well-sheltered and well-served in this proposed structure, and their unfettered expansion -- by default --spells the demise of DCPS, the safety net we count on for all of our kids.
We did not ask for a complicated "take-over" plan when we supported Adrian Fenty. We told him we want a public school system that works. Fix the schools Adrian—it's not as complicated as you think.
“Mayor Fenty, Here is what you have a mandate to do:
Reinstate career and technical (formerly vocational) education
Rehire all the teachers, maintenance workers, and custodians laid off when the city had no money to adequately staff our schools, but was building a new $600 million convention center
Reinstate art and music at all our public schools.
Put a moratorium on new and expansion charter schools. We have more than enough schools. Fix them now! Stop marketing lifeboats when the ship is sinking.
Put the same time, energy, and money into the public school system, jobs, housing, healthcare, and recreation that Mayor Williams and the last Council put into convention centers, baseball stadiums, condos, and hotels.
Help Save Our Schools! Visit the Save Our Schools (SOS) website at www.saveourschoolsdc.org to learn more about our work and find out about our next meeting and what YOU can do to help.

DON'T LET THE FEDERAL CITY COUNCIL CONTROL OUR CITY!

2006-12-30T00:24:00.000-08:00

DON'T LET THE FEDERAL CITY COUNCIL CONTROL OUR CITY! COME TO THESE IMPORTANT EVENTS:Inauguration Day Press Conference to Claim Fenty'sVictory as Our Own SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 6 pm DC Convention Center, 801Mt. Vernon PlaceThe Federal City Council has pulled the strings ofmayors from Marion Barry to Tony Williams, pushing itsagenda of displacement,gentrification andprivatization. Before even taking office Adrian Fenty has started working behind the scenes with theFCC. We elected Mayor-elect Fenty, not the FCC! Come help us getour people's agenda back on the table!(PLEASE NOTE THE DATE CHANGE FOR THIS EVENT TO MATCHTHE NEW DATE OF FENTY'S INAUGURAL BALL.) "Your Economy Is Hurting Our Community"Thursday, January 25, 6:30 pmBethlehem Baptist Church, 2458 MLK Jr Ave SE (acrossfrom the Anacostia metro station)Teach-In, with speakers from affordable housing,health care, public education, and public libraries onhow the Federal City Council has affected theirparticular struggle, and their demands for the newadministration and practical vision for ourcommunities."No More Golden Rule" Demonstration to protest FCChead Terry Golden's hold on our elected officialsTuesday, February 13, 5:30 pm For the location contact: info@saveourschoolsdc.org or202-521-0377 For more information: www.saveourschoolsdc.org, info@saveourschoolsdc.org, 202-521-0377

The Katrina Factor

2006-12-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

by Michael Tisserand -The Nation In September 2005 electoral threats blossomed throughoutpost-flood New Orleans, painted on abandonedrefrigerators and scrawled across boarded windows. Amongthe most prominent was the line that appeared on a NewOrleans grocery store, right by the location whererescuers dropped off survivors from the Lower NinthWard. "Next time we are to vote for somebody who cares,"it read.More than a year later, we now enjoy the fullopportunity to see if that somebody might be a Democrat.Yet early signs are not promising. During the first national campaign since Katrina, few speeches made bycandidates of either party addressed the ongoing struggles of evacuees and the perilous condition of anAmerican city, or the critical issues of race, povertyand the environment that were so horrifically illustrated when the dirty water started rising. Yes, ahandful of midterm campaigners did remind voters aboutjust what happened in New Orleans, among them KeithEllison, elected to the House from Minnesota's FifthDistrict, who promised that the country will no longertolerate "victims of natural disasters being left on therooftops to rot." Ron Dellums, the mayor-elect ofOakland, told a meeting of African-American journaliststhat "Katrina was a metaphor for everything wrong in urban America." But most seemed to follow the scriptthat Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, laid out in an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune.Katrina didn't show up in ads, he acknowledged, but itcame up in conversations on the campaign trail. It's as if this year, Katrina was the subliminal issue. Either that, or it served mainly as cement shoes for thePresident. "It's about Katrina; it's about the conductof the war.... This Administration is marked by gross incompetence," said new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her post election wrap-up chat with The News Hour'sMargaret Warner. For New Orleans, the most dangerous outcome of the midterms would be if voters receive the message thatKatrina was a terrible thing, a Republican blunder, butit's now over. Nothing could be further from the truth.The mental health infrastructure in New Orleans remains shattered, depression is a local epidemic and the suicide rate has officially tripled. Incredibly, someresidents of public housing are still unable to entertheir own homes, while the Department of Housing andUrban Development moves to demolish more than 5,000public housing units. Unchecked insurance costs are preventing others from selling, buying or repairing property. Federal dollars are flowing to corporate bailouts and disaster profiteers, not to affected citizens, revealed an August analysis by CorpWatch, a San Francisco-based organization that previously investigated profiteering in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Stafford Act and other federal regulations are resulting in inhumane living conditions in evacuee shelter parks, including the notorious "Renaissance Village" in the town of Baker, near Baton Rouge, where entertainer Rosie O'Donnell spent the past year battling red tape just to establish a community center for the park's thousands of inhabitants. "Even in prisons, they have running tracks," O'Donnell told Nightline. Another sign that Katrina is an ongoing disaster: Too often the only recourse for flood victims and activist groups is to go to court. In November a federal judge ordered the Bush Administration to continue to provide housing to evacuees, calling the Federal Emergency Management Agency's notification system "Kafkaesque"--only the latest indication that Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff should be sent down the Rumsfeld road for his mishandling of Katrina. Democratic leaders must now loudly make the case for post-Katrina reconstruction they didn't make during the midterms. They should start by immediately launching anindependent accounting of what went wrong with the Army Corps of Engineers' levees. So far, we have had one investigation by the Corps itself, and several independent investigations that seriously challenge the Corps's own reckoning. As Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal has pointed out, the real danger is that the Corps's faulty study will become the blueprint for repairs. A year ago, when Nevada's Harry Reid was theSenate minority leader, he stated unequivocally that theDemocratic Party supported Category 5 levee protection."The President seems to have shelved his grand plans for reconstruction," he said in November 2005. Now Reid is in a better place to roll out those plans himself. As the new Congress presses for levee investigation and funding, it should also prioritize restoration of coastal Louisiana's wetlands. Without the wetlands buffer, levees aren't worth the dirt and concrete it takes to build them. An August study by a coalition of national and Louisiana environmental organizations,titled One Year After Katrina: Louisiana Still a Sitting Duck, calls on Congress to convene hearings immediately on the problem of the vanishing American coastline, and to complete all necessary wetlands projects within ten years. Coastline restoration could be partially funded by provisions in the Domenici-Landrieu revenue-sharing measure, which would provide a steady stream of dollars to Louisiana from Gulf oil drilling. (The Dems must insure that this bill is not, however, transformed intoa ticket to expand drilling elsewhere.) In addition, the new majority must heed environmentalists' calls to close the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, the ill-considered shipping channel that helped destroy wetlands and acts as a live wire for hurricane surges.The new Congress should also take on the Stafford Act'srequirements that FEMA-sponsored housing be temporary. Such regulations don't anticipate the massive, long-term displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens caused by disasters like Katrina. The National Urban LeaguePolicy Institute's report Katrina: One Year Later spellsout other needed reforms, including the rehabbing ofFEMA, flood insurance overhaul and Army Corps reform.Meanwhile, the Children's Defense Fund has proposed aDisaster Relief Medicaid bill to address the healthneeds of families after a disaster. This, too, should bea Democratic issue. Finally, the destruction of public housing in New Orleans must be immediately halted, until the quality of the current and proposed housing, and the effect on exiled New Orleans communities, can be fully considered. More than anything, Democrats must set themselves apart by keeping their promises to Katrina survivors. At anAugust press conference in New Orleans, party leaders pledged that the first 100 hours of the new Congress would include bills to assist New Orleans by streamlining insurance, creating more affordable housing options and restoring the coast. But Pelosi's recentlyreleased "New Direction for America" didn't include one mention of post-Katrina needs. Such omissions offer cold comfort to New Orleanians who wonder if some leaders have stopped thinking of their home as an American city at all. [Michael Tisserand's book Sugarcane Academy: How a NewOrleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created aSchool to Remember will be published by Harcourt in July2007.]

Beware of China-Africa Economic Ties, Mbeki Warns

2006-12-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

Beware of China-Africa Economic Ties, Mbeki Warns By Austine Odo African countries have been warned against a new possible form of colonization resulting from China's heavy investment thrusts into several parts of Africa. South African President, Thabo Mbeki who gave the warning, says Africa must guard against falling into a "colonial relationship" with China. His comments come as fast-growing China is continuing to increase its push for raw materials across Africa. China is currently pushing heavy investments into Africa, many Chinese firms are handling several projects in Nigeria, including those in energy, telecommunications and the railway. But Mr Mbeki was quoted by the BBC yesterday as saying that African nations must strive for their relationship with China to be based on equal trade. Last month, China hosted an Africa summit attended by 50 African leaders including Mr Mbeki. His warning about the risk of a colonial relationship with China was given to a student congress in Cape Town. Mr Mbeki said that if Africa just exported raw materials to China while importing Chinese manufactured goo-ds, the African continent could be "condemned to underdevelopment" . He said that this would simply mean "a replication" of Africa's historical relationship with its former colonial powers. China, which expects annual trade with Africa to total $100bn (£53bn) by 2010, has long said that it wants its growing trade relationship with Africa to equally benefit both sides. In addition to its growing trade with Africa, China has promised $5bn (£2.5bn) in loans and credit for African nations. However, critics have said China is too happy to support repressive African regimes. Mr Mbeki's latest comments appear to be a hardening of his position on the subject. On a recent visit to Beijing he said he understood that the Chinese leadership recognised Africa's concerns about its increasing trade relationship with China, and wanted to help lift the continent out of poverty. (With BBC News)

King Baba Kamau at the Roots Activity Learning Center?

2006-12-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, January 6, 2007, from 2:30pm-5:00pm, at
Roots Activity Learning Center, 6222 North Capitol
Street, NW, the friends, Roots family and Community
family of King Baba Kamau will be honoring his legacy,
works, words and deeds through cultural presentations
and spoken words by students and alumni, and a special
guest lecturer.

At the program we will also launch the "Kamau Robinson
Leadership Institute Lecture Series" with the first
speaker, renowned scholar/historian, Runoko Rashidi.
The leadership lectures are tailored specifically for
youth and will be designed to enhance their leadership
skills. They will feature guest speakers, both
individuals and organizations, who will present varied
aspects of leadership development for Black youth. It
will be tailored to Roots Middle School students,
present and alumni, who wish to participate. The Kamau
Robinson Leadership Lecture Series will be free of
charge and will take place once monthly on a Friday,
4:00pm to 5:30 pm at Roots. We will work closely with
the school's administration, particularly the Middle
School teachers, students and parents in presenting
guest lecturers. At the conclusion of each year's
lecture series, each student will receive a
certificate of completion from the Institute.

Several members of the King BaBa Kamau & Queen Mother
James Div. 332 of the UNIA-ACL,, teachers, parents and
ADACI are coordinating the first event on Saturday,
January 6th, 2007.

We welcome your participation and support.

Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of
the event.

We will also be taking up a goodwill collection, the
proceeds of which will go towards a small honorarium
for the guest lecturer.

For further information, please contact Mama Eurica
Axum (parent) at (202) 230-1086.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all on
Saturday, January 6, 2007.

PEACE AND BLESSINGS

Who Is EdBuild?

2006-12-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

The following is a letter from a concerned DCPS parent who has kept a watchful eye on policy decisions impacting DC public schools over the years. Ms. Arlotta is the co-founder of Save Our Schools. In her letter to Mayor-elect Fenty, she questions the DCPS Board of Education's decision to give EdBuild, a newly established organization, oversight of the $3 billion fund to , renovate and modernize more than one-hundred crumbling DC public schools. Dear Mr. Fenty: Please turn your attention to the Board of Education tomorrow when contracts given to EdBuild to manage property, renovate buildings and provide teacher training are voted on. This contract was pushed through in the last month with hardly any notice to an organization that has barely been in existence for a year. All of their efforts are predicated on co-location with charter schools, which is extremely problematic, to say the least. While I am sure Neil Albert, as the former Executive Director of EdBuild, has briefed you on this so-called partnership, I find little to be in favor of such an action. A partnership should be just that - a partnership- but in this instance, it looks like we're just paying EdBuild out of our precious modernization funds and not really reaping much in benefit for our city's school children. Please let me know if you are in favor of the EdBuild takeover. Sincerely, Gina Arlotto, DCPS Parent Save Our Schools Co-founder

The Launch of the Save Our (Public) Schools Website

2006-12-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

Announcing the Launch of the Save Our Schools Coalition website. Andrew The Save Our Schools (SOS) Coalition website is an incredible toolkit for both DC communities and other cities fighting the privatization of public schools. So, spread the word to all your networks! SOS has forged a powerful alliance with the "Accountablity Alliance," a growing coalition of activists and regular folks working for affordable housing, health care, public education, and public libraries. These organizations have acknowledged that they can no longer afford to work separately--and the mayoral election has provided them with opportunity and a chance to unite around common needs and visions and against a common target (greedy, gentrifying business interests, embodied by Terry Golden and his Federal City Council).

Here's what the coalitions have decided, and what they need to communicate to their growing networks and beyond, "We need to claim Adrian Fenty's victory as our own--his overwhelming landslide was a vote against the business-friendly development and gentrification of the Williams administration. But now that he's in, Adrian seems to be listening to Terry Golden and the Federal City Council....just like Williams and Marion Barry before him. Don't let the Federal City Council snatch away our victory. How much does the DC community knw about Tery Golden??? Let's remind Adrian Fenty why DC voters supported him and demand that he support DC voters and their communities, our children, and our right to a future in DC, (not the likes of Terry Golden, the profiteers and privatizers of public education. How many DC residents are aware that Terry Golden IS the the Federal City Council? How many DC residents are aware of the history of the Federal City Council (FCC) ?? To that end, we are planning three significant, inter-connected actions between now and February that will focus on exposing the Federal City Council's role in rampant gentrificiation, charter proliferation, library closures, etc. engaging and involving more residents in our work, and demanding that Fenty deliver the goods to people who are tired of benefits endlessly deferred.
Listing of major events below also include specific tasks by volunteers so far. We need your help, your neighbor's help, and your grandmother's help---so pass the word and tell folks to help hand out flyers and attend the events below:
#1
What:Innauguration Day Press Conference to Claim Fenty's Victory as Our Own,
When: Tuesday, January, 2, 6 pm
Where: DC Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place
We'll also be handing out "Who's Down with the FCC/You know, Fenty" Fact Sheets and advertising our next action, below
Room, 2548 University Pl NW, 7 pm)
#2
What: "Your Economy Is Hurting Our Community" Teach-In, with speakers from affordable housing, health care, public education, and public libraries on how the F. City Council has affected their particular struggle, and their demands for the new administration and practical vision for our communities
When: Thursday, January 25, 6:30 pm
Where: TBA In addition to a tutorial, this teach-in will build for the next event:
#3
What: "No More Golden Rule" Demonstration outside Terry Golden's Home
When: Tuesday, February 13, 6 pm
Where: 4869 Glenbrook Rd. NW

It is critical to get more folks involved--so please, make some personal phone calls. If you can get to an ANC, Civic Association, or church meeting between now and January 2nd, take flyers, fact sheets, and ask people to join efforts to Save Our Public Schools!

2006-12-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

Sandinistas to Eradicate Illiteracy December 21, 2006, Prensa Latina http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=565180EE-B036-4F77-B058-09F0D0A0F9B2)&language=ENManagua The Sandinista government goal will be to eradicate illiteracy in Nicaragua, and for this purpose will use the Cuban teaching method (Yo Si Puedo), announced here future Education Minister Miguel de Castilla Wednesday. The Educator reported studies are underway to determine how many illiterate people are in the country, and "From those results, we will distribute the work," expressed the official. According to De Castilla, outgoing Education Minister support has not been particularly strong, but the project boosted bythe Popular Education Association Carlos Fonseca Amador will end 2006 with 70,000 people taught in 100 of the 153 Nicaraguan municipalities. He stressed the Cuban teaching method complies with the context of every single region of the country, and is totally apolitical. He also disclosed the promotion and recovery of public schools, which means total guarantee of free education in Nicaragua.

BLOOD DIAMONDS: Big on Carnage, Small on Insight

2006-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

BLOOD DIAMONDS: Big on carnage, small on insight By Eugene Hawkins From Clarity Press Inc. Edward Zwick's film, Blood Diamonds, shocks the viewer with scenes of senseless carnage and violence, but it offers little insight into the sad and tragic civil war in Sierra Leone. The destitute West African country has endured centuries of enslavement and economic, social and political exploitation by European whites (the Portuguese, the Spanish,the British) and their corrupt local African cohorts in government.When insurrection finally broke out in 1991, the RevolutionaryUnited Front had a valid and just cause. The country's population was locked in poverty and underdevelopment while outsiders pillaged its rich natural resources, aided by the dominant local Lebanese trading community. While therevolutionary movement itself was ultimately corrupted by its ceaseless quest to control the diamond trade and its brutal tactics to achieve political power, the film's simplistic portrayal of the RUF as violent drug-crazed thugs and robot-like child soldiers discounts the legitimacy of the struggle and discredits its participants. Of equal importance and a central contradiction within the film itself is its duplicitous presentation of the so-called Kimberly Process, which seeks to trace raw diamonds from discovery down through the marketing process, in order to certify that they are not so-called "blood diamonds" -- those used to finance and fuel African insurrections. This just happens to correspond nicely to the diamond cartel's efforts to maintain high world prices by restricting supply. The Kimberly Process offers little to the poor and dispossessed majority of Sierra Leoneans and does nothing to respond to their developmental needs. Eugene Harkins is the author of Where Witch Birds Fly, a novel on the civil war in Sierra Leone _____________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interestto people on the left that will help them tointerpret the world and to change it.

Blood Diamond: A Film Review

2006-12-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

Blood Diamond: A Film Review By Dr. Barbara Ransby, PhD December 21, 2006, Black Commentator http://www.blackcommentator.com/211/211_blood_diamond_ransby_ed_bd.html I went to this film with high expectations. It is touted as apart of the growing genre of socially conscious Hollywoodproductions that have a positive message. In this case themessage is that our frivolous attachment to the world's mostexpensive gems is one that fuels violence and friction indesperate and impoverished African countries like SierraLeone. That good message however, is loudly drowned out by themany bad ones. And the bad messages are not about thediamonds but about the people of Africa. I walked away fromthis movie with the thundering of non-stop explosions andgunfire still ringing in my head but feeling that I had justseen a dressed-up, high tech Tarzan flick with LeonardoDiCaprio as a modern-day Johnny Weissmuller. In scene afterscene the African population serves as backdrop for the mainstory about love and ambition involving two whiteprotagonists, a young liberal reporter (Jennifer Connely) anda tough ruthless diamond smuggler and former mercenary(DiCaprio). In a recent review in the New Yorker, David Denbyactually praised the movie because it did not make westerners(aka whites) feel guilty about the problems of Africa. That'sbecause it blames ruthless bloodthirsty black â€˜rebels' whoprey upon helpless, voiceless black peasants.DiCaprio, a bitter racist who clings fondly to good old daysof pre-independence Zimbabwe, where he grew up, is the hero ofthe movie. He calls himself Rhodesian in open defiance ofblack majority rule that came with the end of the Apartheid-like system in Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe) in 1980. And in afit of rage he lashes out at his reluctant black collaborator,Djimon Hounsou, as a 'kaffir,' the African equivalent of then-word. His goal in life is to steal, swindle or otherwiseprocure enough diamonds to buy his way out of Africa, a placehe sees as God-forsaken and doomed. When there is no otherway out, he finally redeems himself in a gesture of generosityat the end.Of course, good fictional characters, like real people, arealways complex so I don't have an issue with Danny Archer,DiCaprio's character, and DiCaprio's acting is phenomenal.What is absolutely indefensible, however, is the simplisticone-dimensional portrayal of almost every single blackcharacter. Each and every one is either a blood-thirstymindless killer and pillager or a childlike noble savage andfeeble victim. The talented Hounsou is the later. He is castas hapless, helpless and clueless in the land of his birth.He is a big innocent good guy who would not know whether torun toward or away from the gunfire if DiCaprio did not pullhim in the right direction. OK, he is a rural fisherman soperhaps he would not know how to navigate the city streets ofSierra Leone's capital, but in the rugged terrain of thejungle he is equally naÃ¯ve and perpetually confused. In aclassic scene that captures the contradictions of the movie,Hounsou puts his and DiCaprio's lives in danger by acting withthe impulse of a two-year old in the face of armed opponents.Moreover, there are no black women in Africa that utter morethan two sentences, either 'help me, help me,' as one is beingkidnapped or a proposition to offer sexual services to the'big white man who is all alone' in the city. There is noblack agency in this film, except for one school master whotries to rehabilitate child soldiers only to be shot by one ofthem five minutes after he appears on screen. Viewers areleft to conclude the age-old racist stereotype that Africa islost without European sympathy, know-how and might.This genre of film advertises itself as something more thanbanal entertainment. It promises to raise awareness andconsciousness about serious problems in the world. At the endof the credits there are a set of statistics that drive homethat the subject of the film is real and serious. Thenarrative and storyline, however, distorts more than itilluminates the real players involved. For every childsoldier and blood-thirsty rebel there are compassionate socialworkers and reformers, intellectuals, writers, and oppositionpoliticians. There are Africans who are tough and tender,savvy and sinister and the whole range of personalities andmotivations that we see in any other group. Among blacks inAfrica, 90% of the continent of sub-Saharan Africa, we seemore diversity than among the handful of whites. Hounsou'scharacter however does not show the intelligence andcreativity that so many Africans have exhibited in response toinhumane conditions. Real people who have fought to savetheir country from violence and internal chaos like humanrights activist FannyAnn Eddy who was tortured and killed in2004 for her outspoken actions on behalf of lesbians, gays andwomen. But that tradition of African self-help and self-determination does not appear in this movie. This producerand director, Edward Zwick could not somehow see beyond theone-dimensional types and simple binaries we have been fedthrough television for generations. After African Queen, TheConstant Gardener, the Interpreter, and now Blood Diamond, andwith the notable exception of Hotel Rwanda, when willHollywood be able to make a movie about Africa that actuallyacknowledges the full humanity of black African people?[BC Editorial Board member Dr. Barbara Ransby, PhD is anHistorian, writer, and longtime political activist. Dr. Ransbyis currently an associate professor at the University ofIllinois at Chicago in the Departments of African AmericanStudies and History.]

Help Save MLK Library

2006-12-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King Memorial Library will not be turned into Condos and Strabucks by outgoing Mayor Tony Williams and lameduck Councilmembers. Without your support and lobby efforts this could not have been possible. This struggle will continue in the new year with the new council but hopefully logic and all positive options will be weighed before jumping to help developer buddies! The DC Council has twice rejected Mayor Anthony Williams proposed legislation to build a new central library at the old Convention Center site. This provides an opportunity to renovate and revitalize the larger and better located Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (MLK) and reinvest money in our neighborhood libraries. We urge Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty, the DC Council, and the DC Public Library Trustees to join us in holding public discussions on rehabilitating MLK.
PETITION in brief:
Whereas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library (MLK) is:
the only structure dedicated by the District of Columbia to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
a landmark building, the only Mies van der Rohe structure in the District and his only stand-alone library,
a building that was left incomplete when first built and can now be updated,
a building subsequently neglected and allowed to deteriorate,
a building that can be adapted for the needs of a 21st century library,
a building that can be restored and redeveloped for less money than a new central library, with savings invested in the neighborhood libraries,
a building located within 2 blocks of all 5 Metro lines,
a building for which the public was not allowed to pursue discussions about renovation during “listening sessions” held by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Libraries.
Therefore we, the undersigned, petition for public consideration of options to renew MLK as the District’s central library.
SIGN THE PETITION VIEW THE PETITION SEE PUBLIC SIGNATURES
Charter Signatories
Committee of 100 of the Federal City
DC Library Renaissance Project
DC Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia
Empower DC
Literary Friends of DC Public Library
Community Empowerment Operations
THE PETITION: Whereas, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library (MLK) at 901 G Street, NW, in Washington, DC, is the District’s only memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and has served in that role since it opened in 1972;And whereas, the MLK library is the only example in the world of a library designed by acclaimed master modernist architect Mies van der Rohe;And whereas, it was designed expressly as a library, and the best use of restored buildings has almost always proven to be as originally intended;
And whereas, the MLK building was never completed to the architect’s specifications; and the MLK building readily lends itself to rehabilitation;
And whereas, it would cost less to restore, renovate and rehabilitate MLK than to build new according to the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia;And whereas, MLK’s location within two blocks of all five District Metro lines is optimal for that of a central library that serves the city at large;
And whereas, the people’s investment in MLK’s location 34 years ago has yielded a busy and prominent crossroads today;
And whereas, a public discussion of the central library question has not been had because library listening sessions held by the Mayor’s Task Force on Libraries disallowed discussion of MLK in spite of citizen requests to do so;
And whereas, members of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Libraries were told that a new library on the old convention center site was already decided, when it was not; and council members have been misled by Trustees and Mayor Williams to think that MLK cannot be renovated, when that is not the case;
And whereas, the last eight years have seen the purposeful neglect of the MLK building by Mayor Williams and his appointed Board of Library Trustees in order to convince the staff and public that the building cannot be fixed instead of stewarding the building as their oath of office required;
We, the undersigned, join the DC Library Renaissance Project and the Committee of 100 of the Federal City in calling for the preservation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library as the District’s central library, and do hereby call for an open and informed process of public consideration of options for the renovation and renewal of the historic MLK building as a library for the 21st Century.

Volunteers Needed for ANC Swearing-In Ceremony

2006-12-23T19:56:00.000-08:00

Volunteers are needed for the ANC Swearing-In Ceremony at the Convention Center on Tuesday, January 2, 2007 at 11:00 AM. (Ceremony is at 12:00 Noon)

Attire will be Black and White

Training for Volunteers will be on Saturday, December 30, 2006 at the Convention Center at 10 AM Detail of Room TBA

Call June Robinson, Manager, at the Vincent C. Gray Transition Office (202) 730 - 1515 or on her cell phone at (301) 728-2229

Parent Watch Forum on Mayoral Control with Parent and Community Representatives from Chicago and New York City

2006-12-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Parent Watch Forum on Mayoral Control with Parent and Community Representatives from Chicago and New York City

Mayor-elect Fenty’s interest in taking a greater role in the DC Public schools has sparked considerable controversy. Any change toward mayoral control of the public schools in DC would also be expected to change the way public school facilities are managed, maintained and modernized. Recent discussion at the December 13 Parent Watch Forum at Kelly Miller Middle School provided important insights from parent and community activists in Chicago and New York City who talked about their experiences with increased centralized municipal control of the school system. Parent Watch hopes to have a video of the session posted on the YouTube website soon.

Wanda Hopkins and Julie Woestehoff from Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) in Chicago talked about changes within the Chicago Public School System. After Mayor Daly was given control of the school system a decade ago there was a controversial series of school closings and initial brief upturn in test scores which have since proved disappointingly flat. A twelve page pamphlet titled “School Reform Chicago-Style” outlines PURE’s approach to more effective change and points to the importance of parental involvement and Local School Councils - - elected school governance bodies analogous to LSRTs (Local School Restructuring Teams) within DCPS. Other school districts such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg were suggested as more appropriate models for the District.

Leonie Haimson, a NYC public school parent and founder of Class Size Matters, a non-profit group based in New York City, along with Eugenia Simmons-Taylor and Monica Avuso, parent leaders from District 4 East Harlem and District 28 in Queens, talked about school reform after Mayor Bloomberg took over the public schools four years ago and appointed Joel Klein Chancellor. In her statement “Mayoral Control: Are We Better Off Now?”, Ms. Haimson described New York City’s school reorganization as very swift with a startling lack of either transparency or public input and very little to show in improved test scores or graduation rates.

For more information see http://www.classsizematters.org/washingtontrip.html and www.pureparents.org. Please see www.21csf.org in the Data Shop box for copies of “School Reform Chicago-style” and “Mayoral Control: Are We Better Off Now?”.

The booklet handed out at the Parents Watch meeting included sheets from their web site. Two of the links are:

http://www.pureparents.org/data/files/interactive.pdf Interactive versus didactic instruction

http://www.pureparents.org/data/files/LSCsimproveschools.pdf Local School Councils Improve Schools

New Luke Moore High School Opens

2006-12-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

New Luke Moore High School Opens

Congratulations to Principal Reginald Elliot and the students, faculty and staff at Luke C. Moore Academy High School who moved into a modernized and expanded building in mid-October. Luke C. Moore is an historic school originally built in 1891 with additions in 1903 and now, 2006. It is near the Brookland Metro station at 1001 Monroe St., NE.

The new school is more than twice the size of the old one with a media center, cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasium. Where the old school was cramped with 225 students in 26,911 square feet, the modernized Luke Moore is already at capacity with 360 students in 65,530 square feet.

The school was in swing space for three years at the former Evans Middle School on East Capitol St. at the District’s far eastern corner. Enrollment growth during re-location is a testament to the strength of the school’s city-wide alternative education program.

DCPS Capital Improvement Plan and Budget

2006-12-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

DCPS Capital Improvement Plan and Budget
(an excert from the 21st Century School newsletter)
DC law requires every city agency to submit a 6 year capital improvement plan/budget, typically referred to as a CIP, each fall. A CIP is essentially meant to be a detailed (i.e., facility-by-facility) 6-yr. capital spending and work plan for implementing an approved and longer range Master Facilities Plan (MFP).

DCPS administration released a truncated FY 2008 – 2013 CIP proposal in late November without specific project budgets. The proposal includes three different timeline options for implementing and completing the above mentioned MFP: 7, 10, or 15 years. The 7-year option appears to be considerably cheaper than the longer options ($2.7 billion, versus $2.9 billion for the 10-year and $3.6 billion for the 15-year), due to inflation and other factors, but it would also present a much greater management challenge for DCPS in terms of procurement, overseeing projects and their quality, and moving students around to accommodate construction. It would also require inordinately large funding allocations from the District for those few years.

The Board of Education held a public hearing on the newly proposed CIP on December 4th, and 21CSF presented testimony. Please visit the 21st Century Schools website at (www.21csf.org) on the publications page for this testimony. Hopefully, a detailed CIP will be available to the public soon. And as with the MFP, the Administration is continuing to revise the CIP.

2006-12-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Better Buildings: Better SchoolsIssue 39 (November/December 2006)
Monthly news on DC Public School facilities from the 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), a Washington DC based, nonprofit - working to build the public will and capacity to improve urban public school facilities. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please email: newsletter@21csf.org

Happy Holidays and thank you for your support of public education!

Contribute to Community Engagement in the Rebuilding of Public Schools in New Orleans Donate

This holiday season, please take a moment to think of the thousands of children in New Orleans and areas affected by Hurricane Katrina that still do not have access to adequate public school buildings.

Out of 124 public school buildings in the city:
32 school buildings sustained minor damages
74 buildings were badly or severely damaged and
18 school buildings were totally destroyed

This past year 21st CSF reached out to parents in New Orleans to see how we might help in rebuilding their public school facilities. Please join us in contributing to a new parent founded not-for-profit in New Orleans that is dedicated to eliminating deplorable shool building conditions for all public school children.

All 2006 contributions to the 21st Century School Fund will support parents working to reopen high quality public schools in New Orleans. To donate, please click above or visit www.21CSF.org

Master Facilities Plan – Update and 21CSF Concerns

The Master Facilities Plan (MFP) outlines how DCPS plans to allocate, use, and improve school buildings, offices, and other facilities to support high-quality teaching and learning in the District, and is also intended to follow the priorities laid out in the 2006 Master Education Plan approved by the Board of Education. The proposed MFP was released to the public this past September, and recommends:
(1) full-scale modernizations or school replacements;
(2) priorities for modernizing high schools and middle schools with most neighborhood elementary schools many years in the future;
(3) reducing DCPS inventory by an additional 2 million sq. ft. of space through closings and consolidations (1 million was eliminated this year); and
(4) four to six prekindergarten-8th grade demonstration schools.

21CSF has a number of concerns with the MFP that has been submitted to the Board of Education for approval:
There is no plan to address the current inadequacies, health and safety or other substandard conditions in schools;
The plan poorly aligns to educational requirements of schools, for example, there is no technology plan, secondary school boundaries are not coordinated with feeder patterns, and there are no educational enhancement priorities except as part of whole school modernization;
The enrollment projections are unsubstantiated;
It is a boiler plate plan, without the creativity that comes with working with local school communities who know their neighborhoods and schools; and
The swing space recommendations are premature and do not reflect individual local school engagement or planning required to make good decisions about project implementation.

Please see our website (www.21csf.org) in the publications section for our testimony.

The Administration is continuing to revise the MFP to reflect feedback, and a new version was to be submitted to the Board on December 18th. Public roundtables on this new version are tentatively scheduled for early January, and the Board will be deliberating at their Committee of the Whole meeting on January 10th.

Scholarship Opportunity for Single Moms

2006-12-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Scholarship Opportunity for Single Moms

If you know someone who may be interested pass it along. A full scholarship for a single mom; housing provided for mom and up to two kids.The Sister Thea Bowman Foundation has four scholarships for African-American single mothers and their child to attend the College of St. Mary in Omaha , Nebraska . The Foundation will grant $30,000.00 over aperiod of four years to the College of St. Mary on behalf of each student. In return the College of St. Mary will match that grant with an additional $24,000.The student must be an African-American single mother who has completed high school. She must be from low income housing. She must be able to gain admission to College of St. Mary . She need not be Catholic. Each student will have an African-American mentor during her course of study at the College of St. Mary . Each student will also have an African-American host family from Omaha who will also serve as mentor. Each mother may take up to two children with her to the College of St. Mary . The cut off age for thechild is nine. Each mother will live in a dorm with other single mothers and their children. This dorm has been especially renovated to accommodate mothers and their children. If interested, please contact Mary Lou Jennings
Executive Director of the Sister Thea Bowman Foundation
marylouj11@aol.

2006-12-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

Charter Schools 'Not A Panacea,' report says A decade after their introduction in Florida, charter schools look more like traditional schools than engines of change, an education report said. BY TANIA deLUZURIAGAtdeluzuriaga@ miamiherald. com
Charter schools are filling a unique niche in the state's public school system, but their academic results don't differ much from those of traditional public schools, says a report issued Tuesday by the Florida Department of Education.
''The charter school movement continues to hold great promise for many students,'' says the report, which marks the 10-year anniversary of Florida's charter school movement. ``However, a decade of progress ! makes it clear that charter schools are not a panacea; they are not for everyone.''
More than 330 charter schools have opened across the state since 1996, when the Legislature authorized their creation, including 58 in Miami-Dade County and 48 in Broward County.
Today, Florida ranks third in the nation for number of charter schools operating and second in the nation for number of students enrolled in charter schools -- more than 92,000, and more than half are minorities.
''We said from the very beginning that charter schools would not become a white flight, upper-middle- class option for families to exit the school system,'' said former Education Commissioner Frank Brogan, who is now president of Florida Atlantic University.
ONE OF A KIND
Charter schools are schools that get public funding but are free from many of the other laws that dictate traditional public schools, allowing them to take a one-of-a-kind approach to teaching children.
''The original claims were that charters would be innovators,' ' said Henry Levin, who directs the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. ``They were supposed to show public schools what to do.''
Though the report touts the opportunity for charter schools to experiment with new teaching methods and organizational structures, very little of that is being done in the real world, said Michael Bell, who oversees charter schools for the Miami-Dade school district.
''I think that what we're seeing is a clone of us,'' he said.
Part of the reason is that people's motives for opening charter schools have changed over time. While many charters sought to provide something different, several districts -- including Miami-Dade -- used charters as a way to alleviate overcrowding.
And with millions of dollars in state funds flowing to charter schools, for-profit companies sprung up to help ''manage'' charter schools, often costing schools hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. For example, Academica, South Florida's largest charter school management company, earns more than $1 million a year for managing schools in Miami-Dade.
When it comes to academic performance, state data show that charter schools and traditional public schools students are achieving at about the same level.
''Little to no difference is found in the average learning gains of charter school students and traditional public school students,'' the report says.
Traditional public school students have outperformed their charter school counterparts on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test since 2001, though the gap has recently narrowed.
''What is clear is that charters are not a revolutionary answer to the problem of lagging test scores, particularly for poor or minority students,'' Levin said.
SOME SUCCESS
But there have been success stories. Liberty City Charter School, with 100 percent minority students and 76 percent from homes below the poverty level, was given an ''A'' grade by the state last year. The knowledge that unsatisfied parents can vote with their feet pushes school officials to provide the best school possible, principal Katrina Wilson-Davis said.
''You know what happens when they don't like it? They walk out,'' she said. ``It forces us to constantly evaluate ourselves. Our livelihood depends on us having a satisfied base.''

Judge Scuttles Mayor's School Takeover Plan

2006-12-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Judge Scuttles Mayor's School Takeover Plan Howard Blume, Times Staff Writer A judge today nullified legislation giving MayorAntonio Villaraigosa substantial authority over theLos Angeles Unified School District, astunning setback to Villaraigosa' s plans -- already inprogress -- to assume direct control of dozens of Los Angeles schools.The mayor, at a news conference this afternoon, saidhe has instructed lawyers for the city to appeal theruling. He said he would also ask that the CaliforniaSupreme Court hear the appeal directly."We will not be set back," Villaraigosa said. He added: "We refuse to be deterred by the forces ofthe status quo." The ruling was a sweeping victory forthe school district and puts in question the mayor'seducation agenda, which was embodied in thelegislationbefore the court.Under Assembly Bill 1381, Villaraigosa would haveratified the hiring and firing of futuresuperintendents through a Council of Mayors that hewould have dominated. And he would have had directauthority over three low-performing high schools andthe elementary and middle schools that feedinto them.Judge Dzintra Janavs found the entire law defectiveand ordered public officials "to refrain fromenforcing or implementing" any part of it." The statute makes drastic changes in the local governance of the LAUSD, giving the mayor a role thatis unprecedented in California," she noted inher ruling, adding that the law "completely deprivesthe LAUSD governing board of any ability to control orinfluence the actions or decisions" in schoolsdirectly under the mayor's control. That was a primary goal of the legislation, but the judge rejected that intent as contrary to theCalifornia Constitution on numerous grounds.Fundamentally, she said, the Constitution forbidstransferring authority over schools to entitiesoutside the public school system. She cited a 1946 constitutional amendment that"specifically removed municipal authority over schooldistricts and appears to reflect thepeople's determination to separate municipal functionsfrom school functions due to the variety of conflictsthat arise between their respective interests." The mayor's side argued that the Legislature had broadauthority to designate the mayor, or anyone else, as avalid education agency to oversee schools. The judge disagreed, siding with the district'slawyers."The mayor of Los Angeles [and] the members of theCouncil of Mayors are not 'authorities' within thepublic school system or 'officers of the publicschools,' " Janavs wrote in a decision issuedmidafternoon. She also concluded that the new law violated the LosAngeles City Charter and the state Constitution byemasculating the school board's authority andby putting Villaraigosa in conflicting managementroles.School district officials were elated with the ruling,but measured in their reaction. "We're anxious to move forward," said district generalcounsel Kevin Reed, who helped argue the case lastweek. "We have believed from the day Mayor Villaraigosa wassworn in that it was important to work with him," Reedsaid. "We always thought this vehicle was the wrongway to do it. We continue to invite and look forwardto a true partnership with him."

Is Public Education Working? How Would We Know?

2005-12-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

by Robert Freeman

Imagine you're five feet eight inches tall. When you change the unit of measurement to yards, you're 1.9 yards tall. Are you shorter because the number is smaller? No. Or go to centimeters. Now you're 173 centimeters tall. Does the larger number make you taller? Of course not. Yet this is the effect we experience trying to judge the quality of public education in the U.S. There are so many different standards, all competing for mindshare with the public, it's almost impossible to know what's right any more.

There are state standards. And in some states, such as California, there are multiple state standards. There are the new federal No Child Left Behind standards. There are the National Assessment of Educational Progress standards. The Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The frequently heralded International Math and Science Test standards. Advanced Placement exams for more advanced students. And so on.
Some of these standards, like those of the No Child Left Behind Act, are new. We don't really know yet whether they're actually telling us what they say they are. These things take years, maybe decades, to shake out. Some tests, such as the International Math and Science tests compare apples to oranges, testing small groups of elite students in other countries against the broad average of students in American public schools. Predictably, elites do better than averages. If you test athletes against the general public, guess who is more physically fit?
So what is a parent or a citizen to do? It is a ritual incantation of American civic discourse that public education is critical to the future of our country. How, then, can we be so confused? How can we know if public education is working or not?

Part of the problem is that over the last two decades an intense lobby has emerged that wants to turn public education over to private industry, make McStudents of the nation's youth. It has operated a not-so-stealth campaign to disparage public education and to try to convince Americans that it isn't working. This campaign has mounted a relentless, mantra-like vilification of public schools: schools are failing; teachers are lazy; education bureaucracies are unresponsive; students are being cheated; America is at risk. Sound familiar?

Some of this lobby's motivation is ideological: they dislike anything that smacks of government control, the more so if the service is effective, for such examples repudiate the theological superiority of all things private. Some of its motivation is directed toward right-wing social engineering: they want to control the curriculum that future generations of American students must absorb. And much of it is simply economic: these "prophets of profit" want to get their hands on the $500+ billion that is spent every year in the U.S. on public K-12 education.
This isn't, per se, bad. We do, after all, live in at least a quasi-capitalist society where the pursuit of profit isn't a social evil. But it's the bashers' hypocrisy that rankles. They don't declare any of these motives openly. Rather, they talk of such vaguely incongruous motives as "empowering minorities" and "streamlining" education. These, of course, are the same corporate zealots who brought the "magic of the market" to a formerly vibrant public health system. They are the pious do-gooders (remember Enron?) who bestowed energy privatization on California, the better to reap the "efficiencies" of competition. They are the same bleeding-heart altruists who profess wanting to "save" social security by turning it over to the tender mercies of the financial services industry.

So again, how would we know if public education is working or not? Probably the most reliable, broad-based, long-term tool for measuring the quality of public education is the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The SAT has five strengths that make it the most useful measure of American educational progress.

First, it has been in place for over four decades so it reveals trends that span multiple generations of students, teachers, and schools. Second, it is given to high school juniors and seniors so it reflects the cumulative success (or failure) of the entire K-12 educational system, not just performance in a single year. Third, the same SAT is administered across the entire country so it compensates for the variation in how different states test and account for educational progress. Fourth, the SAT cuts through the "grade inflation" that has become a standard fixture of all educational systems over recent decades. Finally, the SAT measures not just a single, narrow skill but a broad range of intellectual development, from cultural knowledge and logic, to specific academic content, computation, and communication.

Because of its long history, its nationwide reach, and its comprehensive nature, SAT results transcend the negative one-off anecdotes commonly bandied about to disparage public education. No other instrument even comes close to equaling these strengths as a singular measure of national educational progress.
So what do the SAT's tell us about the performance of public education in America?

Last year's SAT scores were the highest in 30 years. English scores were the highest in 28 years. Math scores were the highest in 36 years. The scores were at record levels for all ethic groups: whites; Asian-Americans; African-Americans; Native Americans; and Latinos. And they were achieved by the broadest test-taking pool in testing history. Forty-eight per cent of the nation's 2.9 million high school seniors took the test--a record. Thirty-six percent of the test takers were minorities, another record.

Thirty years ago, only the most elite 15 percent of students took the test. And remember, elites usually test better than averages. So the fact that scores have gone up while the test-taking pool has gotten both larger and more diverse may be the most powerful performance indicator of all. These scores are a huge victory for those who have believed in and fought so hard for public education.

Even more impressive, public schools have accomplished these new highs while confronting some of the greatest obstacles they have ever faced. Consider just a few of these almost Herculean challenges:
Most mothers left home in the past 30 years to join the workforce. No more Mrs. Cleaver at the door with warm cookies, milk, and help with the homework when Beaver comes home.

Over the past decade, American schools have absorbed the largest wave of immigrants in history. Most of these immigrants spoke no English when they came to this country. Many had little if any comparable educational preparation in the countries they left
.
Schools have been saddled with vastly expanded responsibilities in recent years, much of it wholly unrelated to general academic performance. This includes broadened mandates for everything from sex and drug education to increased demands for help with learning and physical disabilities.

As a nation, we have almost completely surrendered students' socialization to television. By the time they are 18 years old, children have watched 450,000 commercials! Meanwhile they spend only 9 percent of their time in the classroom.

Millions of the best teachers have left teaching for other fields. This is especially true with women who used to have few career options (nursing, teaching, etc.) but who can now go into law, medicine, engineering, business, etc. Despite all of these challenges, and throughout one of the most vitriolic, unremitting campaigns of character assassination in American history, public education has delivered the highest performing group of graduates in over a generation.

Against this record, those who would "privatize" public education have virtually nothing to show for their decades of hucksterish claims. In trial after trial, experiments with educational vouchers (the most popular form of school privatization) have proven a bust. Voucher programs in Milwaukee, New York, Washington D.C., and in Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio have shown no long-term gains in student achievement. And this, despite in some cases skimming the cream off the top of local student populations-recruiting only the best students while keeping problem or special-needs children out.

For example, the longest-running evaluation of a publicly funded voucher program ever conducted, by Indiana University of the Cleveland, Ohio program, found that "student academic achievement presents no clear or consistent pattern that can be attributed to program participation." In other words, the results are no different than those for public schools. This is especially surprising because the program participants were more white, more wealthy, and more stable than students in the local population. If privatized education can't make it with this kind of free pass, it's not going to make it.

Besides educational failure, the economic failure of the privatization model is reflected in the dismal fate of the country's largest company providing such services. Edison Public Schools lost over $350 million dollars trying to perfect the McStudent formula. Yet, after repeatedly failing to deliver on its promises and continually losing contracts, it was finally forced to be de-listed by NASDAQ. It has converted itself back to a private company and no longer publishes its financial information.

Nor do "charter schools" fare any better than voucher schools. Charter schools are self-governing public schools frequently run by private corporations. They were conceived as a way to "liberate" public schools from conventional constraints in hiring, curriculum, and administration. But in August, after the most extensive examination in the history of the country, the Department of Education published data showing charter school students lag public schools students in almost every category of performance. In math, fourth graders were a full half year behind public school students.

Given this record, it comes as no surprise that voucher and charter advocates have started changing their story. No longer do they claim superior results (not that they ever actually delivered them). Instead, they begrudgingly claim that improved public school performance is due to the threat of competition from privatization. This, of course, is conveniently unprovable but sounds a lot like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise. Meanwhile, support for public funding of private schooling has plummeted. In the past year, the number of Americans favoring such programs dropped from 46 percent to 38 percent according to a recent Gallup Organization poll. Why the change of attitude?

It seems the prospect of millions of American families turning their children over to someone whose main motive is to make a profit off of them has lost its appeal. Or perhaps they saw what privatization did for energy costs in California or to the healthcare system nationwide and don't want to take a similar chance on their most precious assets. Whatever the reason, the once bright luster of privatizing the nation's schools is fading. Not that the hucksters will give up. There is too much at stake in their ideological, social engineering, and economic agendas. But neither should they be given a free pass any more to disparage public education the way that they have.
To be sure, public education still faces tough challenges. Schools remain underfunded. Teacher pay continues to fall behind that of other professions. American spending on education as a percent of GDP lags that of many third world countries. Inner-city schools still score lower than schools in more affluent suburbs. And the Orwellian-named No Child Left Behind Act is a thinly disguised formula to make schools fail artificial and unattainable standards-the more readily to justify their privatization.

But the question of whether public schools can deliver should no longer be open for debate. The only question is whether we have the courage to now properly fund public education so that it can take our children and our society to even higher levels of achievement. I believe we can because I know that we must. Public education is not only the most important democratizing institution in America today. It is the foundation of our economic future as well. It never really went away. But still, it's good to have it back.

Robert Freeman writes about economics, history and education. His email address is robertfreeman10@yahoo.com.
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"How to Get There from Here"

2005-12-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

A Teach-In on Designing a Strategic Plan

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

You have a great and worthy goal - better health care, reparations, world peace, affordable housing, DC statehood, etc., - but how you get there from here is not clear! Want to learn or increase your knowledge of strategic planning and how to win some smaller victories along the way?

Please join instructor Nadine Bloch, long-time organizer and activist, at our next teach-in. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

WHEN: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 AT 6:30 PM
WHERE: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN
633 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC
(across from the Navy Memorial (green/yellow subway); 70, P6, 54 30 bus lines).
WHY: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!"

Refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm.
Workshop is free, however, a small donation will be accepted.

Anise JenkinsStand Up for Democracy in DC Coalition
202-232-2500 ext 2
FREE DC! STATEHOOD
www.FreeDC.org

The New Breast Cancer Stamp

2005-12-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the new Breast cancer stamp? It's gorgeous! All right EVERYONE, let's do this! We need you who are great at forwarding information to your e-mail network. It will be wonderful if 2005 is the year a cure for breast cancer is found! The notion that we could raise $35 million just by buying a book of stamps is powerful! As you may be aware, the US Posta l Service recently released its new"Fund the Cure" stamp to help fund breast cancer research.

The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland. It is important that we take a stand against this that devastates many of our mothers, sisters, and friends. Instead of the routine 37 cents for a stamp, this one costs 40 cents. The additional 3 cents goes to breast cancer research. A "normal" book costs $7.40. This one is only $8.00.

If all stamps are sold, it will raise an additional $35,000,000 for this vital research. Just as important as the money, is our support. What a statement it will make if the stamp outsells the lottery this week. What a statement it will make that we care. You can help by doing two things: 1. Go out and purchase these stamps. 2. E-mail your friends to do the same. We all know [too many] women and their families whose lives are turned upside-down by cancer. It takes so little to do so much in this drive. I think we can all afford the additional 60 cents the new book costs. Please help & pass this on. If you want to see a picture of the stamp, send an email request to lizday_1951@yahoo.com.

Apartheid School Facilities in DC

2005-12-09T01:17:00.000-08:00

DC's Disgusting Double Standards
By Elizabeth Davis, DCPS teacher and member of the DCPS Full Funding Coalition

As a veteran DCPS teacher who has taught in seven of the one hundred and fifty plus DC public schools, I was shocked and awed by the Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation’s decision not to move the School Modernization Act forward this week.

Of the seven schools to which I’ve been assigned over the course of thirty years, six of them are in Ward 7 and 8 and all seven of them would be on the city's ‘Condemned: Do Not AdmitHumans’ list if they were residential properties. Six of the seven schools are over sixty-fiveyears old and severely in need of renovation. Their infrastructures are so old that they are incapable of supporting internet access, and in many cases, the limited technology already purchased by the schools.

I have become so frustrated with the school slogans that I put up on my classroom walls that proclaim “Children First” and “Their Future is Now”, only to invite them into classrooms, restrooms, hallways and cafeterias that resemble condemned storage warehouses.I’ve been waiting for more than thirty years to teach in a school facility that has airconditioning when it’s 98 degrees outside or heat when it’s 38 degrees in the winter months.

I’ve longed to be able to leave my classroom in the evening without having to cover books, computers or student work stations with plastic to catch the falling plaster or water from leaking roofs; to sit in a cafeteria without being surrounded by 55 gallon garbage cans placed strategically around the tables to catch the water from gaping holes in the ceilings. I’ve waited for this dream to come to fruition for myself and my students for more than thirty years in school buildings that are fifty and sixty-five years old.

John Philip Sousa, the middle school to which I am currently assigned, is one of the five subjects of Brown v. Board. It was built during the ‘separate but equal’ era. The hundreds of students attending Sousa today are poor and black. They would not have been able to attend Sousa when it was a new, state-of-the-art facility. Unfortunately, given the inadequate funding offered by the city to fix schools and the rate of gentrification in DC, this history may repeat itself. The dwindling funds which the Mayor and the Council has proposed over the years to modernize these schools would require me and my students to wait for another fifty-five years to experience a safe, healthy, clean, modern learning environment. We had high hopes that the Education Committee would move the proposed Modernization Bill forward and finally provide the funds needed to modernize DC public schools during our life time. We had hoped that the Committee members would somehow muster the political will to give DC children public school facilities of which we could all be proud.

Whenever I attend DCPS Board meetings or Council meetings, I marvel at the state-of-the-art facilities housing the meetings and the offices of the elected officials. On the rare occasions when some of my students are able to accompany me, I always observe their reactions upon entering the Wilson Building or the DCPS headquarters. While their eyes and mouths are saying ‘wow’, their hearts are asking ‘why?’ Why is my school crumbling around my head while the Mayor, the Council and the school Board are meeting in comfortable, cushioned, air-conditioned or warm, Board rooms; making decisions about the substandard conditions under which I’m forced to learn?

Why the double standard?”After the Education Committee’s decision, I find myself asking the same questions. What Council members would be willing to send their own children to these schools? What fiscally responsible elected official would not want the same standards that they have for their own work environments for children's learning environments? Where is the political will to protect the children of DC? When will elected officials follow through with the bogus campaign promises made to their constituents about public education? Why are DC's elected officials so willing to put a baseball stadium, a spy museum and hotels above the needs of public education in the District? Where is the community outrage?

The DCPS has proclaimed that our 'children are first' and 'their future is now'but, now that I think about it, the city has never proclaimed such. When Jonathan Kozol wrote about apartheid schooling in the United States, I’m sure that he included the public schools of the District of Columbia, because they have surely become the shame of the nation’s Capitol.
--------------------------------------

What can DCPS teachers, students, parents and public school advocates do to encourage the city to fix our crumbling schools?

Ø Demand that the Council's Committee on Education provide the funds needed for modernizations at every school.

Ø Attend the next City Council Education Committee's hearing on this on this legislation to express the impact of crumbling school facilities on quality teaching and learning.

Ø Let the Council know that public education supporters care about the condition of our school facilities.

Go to the www.FixOurschools website to send a message to DC Councilmembers about the School Modernization Bill.

Don’t tolerate the city giving $600 million to build a baseball stadium or a hotel conference center and peanuts to fix our crumbling schools. Your presence is needed!
Elizabeth Davis, Concerned DCPS Teacher

The Status of Teacher Pay Raises

2005-12-09T01:11:00.000-08:00

Budget May Exclude Teacher Raises, Unions Fear
by V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer

Several District officials and school activists say they fear the D.C. school system is about to embark on another chaotic budget season by putting together a spending plan without having reached contract agreements with its employee unions.

Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who will submit a budget for fiscal year 2006 to the school board next month, is still negotiating three-year labor agreements with the unions representing teachers, principals, bus drivers and teacher's aides. The unions' last contracts with the school system expired in September 2004.
School officials last week declined to say whether any money for employee pay raises would be included in Janey's budget proposal, explaining that they could not comment on any matters related to ongoing collective bargaining. But in the past, they have avoided budgeting for raises during contract talks, saying that doing so would reduce their leverage in the negotiations.

Education advocates say they are worried that the scenario of the last two budget cycles is about to be repeated. In each of those instances, the superintendent and school board did not budget the full cost of employee raises and the mayor and D.C. Council -- to prevent the withholding of the raises or other drastic cuts -- agreed to a last-minute bailout of the school system.

"You can't just sit on the whole thing and hope in the end that the unions will cave or the mayor will come up with more money," said Mary Levy, who is director of the Public Education Reform Project for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and has studied the school system's financial structure.Levy said school leaders should either complete labor negotiations before the start of the budget process, so they would know exactly how much money to budget for raises, or factor collective bargaining agreements into the school funding formula."This is a fixable problem," she said.

Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who chairs the council's education committee, said there would be "strong resistance" among her colleagues to provide emergency funding again. "The school system should negotiate a contract it can afford, not go out of its budget," she added.

Patterson and others also said the school system is violating a law passed by the council in 2002 that requires agencies to complete collective bargaining with public employee unions before submitting a budget.
She said many city government agencies are in compliance with the law, reaching agreements with unions before the budget season and, in some cases, even before the old labor pact has expired. But she said the school system has regularly broken the law, which is not enforced.

"The school system never got itself into the same cycle" as city government, Patterson said. "They didn't have strong people in labor relations."Rudolph F. Pierce, a lawyer who is acting as the school system's chief negotiator, declined comment on Patterson's allegation that the law is being violated. Pierce did say that tight resources are a factor in the slow pace of negotiations with the various employee unions.Janey "wants to have good relations with the members of the bargaining units," Pierce said. "The difficulty is in giving employees what they want and doing it within the constraints of the budget."

School board member Tommy Wells (District 3) said he thinks Janey is committed to ensuring that employees are paid fairly, adding that the superintendent spent months working to fix payroll problems that were preventing hundreds of teachers from receiving back pay. Still, he said, "this is very serious and we've got to have negotiated contracts for our employees." Teachers and other workers, he said, need to be "energized" to support the changes in curriculum, textbooks and academic standards that Janey is implementing. "Dr. Janey has to identify where the funding is coming from or whether something is going to be cut."

In 2004, before Janey took office, the school board said it could not afford a 9 percent raise in the last year of the teachers' union's three-year contract. Some teachers threatened to walk off their jobs, and the council eventually approved $14 million to fund the raise.

In the spring, Janey said the system would be forced to lay off hundreds of teachers if it added money to the budget to pay for the step increases for teachers called for in the previous agreement. In May, the council allocated an extra $19.8 million.This year's contract talks have dragged on for several months, and representatives from the two largest employee groups, the teachers and bus drivers, said they are disappointed by the lack of progress.

On Nov. 16, the school board rejected a new contract from the union representing 1,400 bus drivers and attendants for special education students. Board members said the contract was improper because it was not negotiated by Janey, as their policy requires, but by David Gilmore, who was authorized by a federal judge to run the special education transportation program as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by parents.Gilmore said he took control of the negotiations because school officials were "offering a zero-based salary and no performance raise." He said he will ask the judge to force the school board to approve the contract.

George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers' Union, which represents about 4,500 teachers, said contract talks with the school system, which began in February, have been stalled since June. "We presented a compensation package in June and we're still waiting for a response to that or a counter offer," Parker said."I don't think teachers are in the mood to hear that money is not available," Parker added. "The city has a surplus, and teachers are working very hard."

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

Charter Schools: When Zero Tolerance Makes Zero Sense

2005-12-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

"Tough-as-Nails"-Hero-Charter School Principal-of-the-Day
The Oakland (CA) Tribune:

OAKLAND — If you mess up at the American Indian Public Charter school in Oakland's Laurel district, everybody will know.One boy learned that lesson the hard way last week, when school Director Ben Chavis brought him in front of the entire school and called him a thief.Chavis told a few hundred students in grades 6 through 9 that the boystole a radio and some money.

Embarrassment, Chavis says, is a good form of discipline."He loves his hair," Chavis told the school. "I'm gonna shave it alloff. He'll be bald tomorrow."The next day, Chavis said he made good on his threat to cut the boy'shair — with permission from the boy's father.

For more on this cozy little place and the mystique of the iron-balls principal slapping African-American boys around and getting cheeredfor it, see the San Francisco Schools blog:http://tinyurl.com/85cby And for another Oakland charter item, also on the blog:http://tinyurl.com/as77h

PUBLIC PROPERTY ACTION ALERT!

2005-12-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

PUBLIC PROPERTY ACTION ALERT!

The Council Committee on Government Operations is holding a hearing on the disposition of publicly-owned properties December 19th.

THE CITY HAS GIVEN AWAY OUR PROPERTY IN THE PAST FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONDOMINIUMS AND PRIVATE PROFIT.

PLEASE CALL and EMAIL members of the Committee on Government Operations and tell them;

PUBLIC PROPERTY SHOULD BE USED FOR PUBLIC BENEFIT
(such as recreation, senior centers, affordable housing....)
P
UBLIC PROPERTY SHOULD BE LEASED NOT SOLD – NO MORE GIVE-AWAYS!
ATTEND THE HEARING ON DEC 19TH – THIS IS IMPORTANT!

The Committee Members Are:
Carol Schwartz – 724-8105Phil Mendelson – 724-8064Jim Graham – 724-8181Adrian Fenty – 724-8052Vincent Orange (cmte chair) – 724-8028*also call Linda Cropp (council chair) – 724-8032
schwartzc@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, afenty@dccouncil.us, vorange@dccouncil.us, lcropp@dccouncil.us

QUESTIONS? Call Empower DC – 202-234-9119Let them know what response you get!Parisa B. NorouziCo-Director/OrganizerDistrict of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment Project(Empower DC)1419 V St, NWWashington, DC 20009(202) 234-9119

Empty Schools Reflect Slow Pace of New Orleans Recovery

2005-12-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

Empty Schools Reflect Slow Pace of New Orleans Recovery
By Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post

Christina Simmons, all smiles and flashing smart eyes, is a rare spark. It isn't because of her 3.8 grade-point average and high test scores, though those certainly set her apart in one of the country's worst-performing public school districts. And it isn't because she actually likes going to class.Christina, 15, is a rarity because she is here at all, waiting and waiting for someone to teach her. Two and a half months after Hurricane Katrina, while the recovery effort lurches along, no public schools are open and nearly an entire generation of New Orleans public school students -- students who populated the renowned, high-stepping marching bands that wow crowds during Carnival season -- has vanished.

Administrators, like frustrated detectives, are struggling to find them.Now, they're paying for public service ads in far-flung cities, and papering evacuee centers with fliers. A school system that served 55,000 students before Katrina's assault on this city has registered only 4,400 for the oft-delayed reopening, now scheduled for Dec. 14, of five schools in the little-damaged Algiers neighborhood. Classes are planned for eight days before breaking for the holidays. The rest of the students are out there somewhere, their returns uncertain at best, unlikely at worst.''
The seeds are dispersed in the wind," said school nurse Caroline Thibodaux, now unemployed.

The schools may be the best barometer of the health of New Orleans' recovery, and the prognosis is not good. Although some private and parochial schools have reopened, the locked doors at the city's 117 public schools -- schools that were overwhelmingly attended by black students and overwhelmingly poor -- stand as testimony to the economic and racial divide of a recovery effort sliding into its toughest hours, the daunting challenge of coaxing tens of thousands of residents back to a city that cannot house or educate them.

The 40 or so administrators, the few public school employees who are still on the payroll after a systemwide furlough, are now crowded into kid-size computer desks at an elementary school. Messages -- from the sad, the frustrated, and the confused -- blink onto their screens. The mother of an honors student enrolled in another school district says: ''Her teacher has stated to the class that if he has to take in another Katrina student he is going to scream."Certainly, the tens of thousands of parents and students who haven't surfaced can be excused. Only the most persistent -- only the Christina Simmonses -- are here.

Between 30 and 40 percent of New Orleans schools -- many of them crumbling, sadly beautiful art deco hulks even before the storm -- will probably have to be bulldozed, said Sajan George, a managing director of the private firm hired by the state to oversee the school system's finances this spring.The school system probably will have more than $1 billion in insurance claims, he said.

The school system is in such disarray that to assess damage, workers have had to break into some schools, smashing windows or drilling through doors, because no one with keys can be found. And, in the end, many of the schools will cease to exist because they will be closed for years for repairs.Enrollment figures are low citywide, in dry neighborhoods and wet ones, but are worst in the most damaged parts of town.

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company --

Katrina's Lesson

2005-12-09T00:24:00.000-08:00

"The following editorial raises many critical questions around the future of traditional public schools in the wake of both Katrina and the Bush administration. It also raises some issues which are directly related to the fight in D.C. to win full funding for traditional public schools and to provide the children of poor and working class families with the quality education they deserve." -Roger Newell, Teamsters' Strategic Campaigns & DCPS Full Funding Coalition

KATRINA'S LESSON
By The Editors of Rethinking Schools<www.Rethinkingschools.org

In early September, Hurricane Katrina's 140-mile-per-hour winds swept through New Orleans and exposed this nation's underbelly of racial and economic inequality.

As the whole world watched, the waters surged and the levees were breached, leaving a broiling mass of human suffering in the hurricane's wake. And although Katrina's damage was overwhelming, much of the devastation in the Gulf came from a slower, more preventable surge of racism and poverty.

A vast number of Katrina's casualties were poor and black people. As evacuation was left to the free market, those without cars and money were stranded as the floodwaters rose. The disaster laid bare the effects of Bush's brand of capitalism, which features the privatization of public services. The neglect of the levees, the profiteering of commercial interests, and the destruction of wetlands all helped turn natural disaster into horror.

New Orleans was the shining example of just what the free market could do. Despite a thriving tourist trade, the city's poverty rate is double the national average, hovering at nearly 30 percent. This means that about 130,000 of its 445,000 residents are poor. The poverty rate for children is significantly higher at 40 to 50 percent. Although firm numbers are difficult to pin down, it is estimated that between 66 and 84 percent of the poor are African American.

Even though the spotlight has been on New Orleans, that city is just a microcosm of what is happening everywhere in the United States. As Nicholas D. Kristof pointed out in his New York Times column, "The Larger Shame Behind New Orleans," the Census Bureau recently reported that the number of people living in poverty in the United States increased by 1.1 million people from 2003 to 2004. We've experienced a 17 percent increase in the number of poor people in the last five years, the fact that the federal government regularly underestimates the number of poor notwithstanding.

For the first time since 1958, the U.S. infant mortality rate has increased, and almost a third of the children in the United States did not have health insurance at some point during the last year.

The neglect of the levees, the wetlands, and ultimately of New Orleans' residents, is an inevitable by-product of the tax-cutting, infrastructure-starving, war-waging policies that have eroded government capacity and the public sector for several decades. It also represents a foreshadowing of other environmental and social disasters that may await us in an overdeveloped and under-planned economic system.

Katrina's Children

New Orleans' schools were also caught up in a flood of racism, poverty, and neglect long before Katrina arrived. There are 60,000 children in New Orleans public schools, and 96 percent of them are African American. Last year, about 10,000 of those children were suspended at one point or another, and almost 1,000 of them were expelled. Half of the high school students in New Orleans don't graduate.

The district had to borrow money last year to pay the salaries of its teachers. Today, New Orleans' schools are closed indefinitely and, according to Reuters, 7,000 city teachers and other staff "will not get paid for periods after Hurricane Katrina because there is almost no money left in the city's strapped school system."

Hyper-segregation, such as that found in New Orleans, means poor children of color receive unequal and inadequate educations. In his new book, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America [See excerpt], Jonathan Kozol reminds us that our schools are still rife with extreme racial segregation. Children in highly segregated urban schools have worse facilities, lower paid and less-trained teachers and staff, access to fewer classroom and school resources, and are regularly subjected to scripted, dumbed-down curricula. New Orleans is no exception.

Now, according to current estimates, nearly 400,000 students who have been displaced from schools in Louisiana and Mississippi are expected to enroll in schools around the country. According to the Department of Education, at least 28 states and Washington, D.C., are receiving Katrina's victims. This massive influx of new students into schools, many of which are already struggling under No Child Left Behind mandates, further stretches the meager resources for public education. And at least two of these states, Texas and Utah, propose teaching some of the displaced Gulf Coast school children in shelters rather than in their own public schools.
Consistent with the continual budget cuts, privatization, and overall shrinking of public services, Bush recently announced the allocation of $488 million to help families displaced by Katrina place their children in private schools-specifically those families whose children were already in private schools before Katrina hit. This smells like a back-door approach to get public funding for private schools and would essentially create the first national school voucher plan.

The public sector, which is supposed to serve all people, especially the poor, has been under attack by Bush and his supporters. It is the height of cynicism to turn the failed government response to Katrina, which demonstrated the need to improve and expand the public sector's capacity to deal with such disasters, into a reason to undermine the public sector-in this case public schools. Why not put that money into the already financially strapped public schools that serve evacuee children?

The federal government's inability to address poverty in a meaningful way, coupled with its drive to privatize and shrink social services, implies dire consequences for education in this country. As Jean Anyon points out in her book Radical Possibilities [See review, page 54], federal policies around issues such as livable wages, affordable housing, health care, and transportation, play key roles in the educational achievement of children in public schools. The formula is simple: Children with shelter, enough food to eat, health care, and parents who are not forced to work two poverty-wage jobs just to make ends meet, generally do better in school.

There is no silver lining to a disaster like Katrina, but where there is resistance there is hope. In a widely circulated statement, the organization Community Labor United issued a warning: "The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night, scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other cities while federal relief funds are funneled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants. We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans." This coalition of progressive New Orleans-area organizations is demanding popular oversight of the rebuilding process and that resources be distributed equitably. [Visit the Quality Education is a Civil Right website, www.qecr.org, to donate to the People's Hurricane Fund.]

This kind of democratic response is inspiring. We need a similar challenge to apartheid schooling-and all our country's apartheids: in jobs, health care, housing, and transportation. We need to shore up support for an infrastructure that suffered long before Katrina blew in. As the residents of the Gulf work to rebuild their lives and homes, the need for a strong public sector has become greater than ever-so that this horrific spectacle is never repeated.
Fall 2005

"We the People" Trolley Tours for DCPS 8th Graders

2005-12-09T00:17:00.000-08:00

We the People Trolley Tours for DCPS 8th Graders

A consortium of educators from several of the DC historicalsite --- the National Park Service Memorials & Monuments, the White HouseHistorical Association, the Capitol Historical Society, the Supreme Courtand the National Archives, have written a grant to provide a free tourexperience for 8th graders in DC schools with the goal of teaching about andbringing alive the United States Constitution. The tour is free! Itincludes door-to-door transportation, lunch at the Longworth House Office Building restaurant and free teacher materials.
They have been funded for a pilot study and are currently seeking teacherswho would like to have their classes participate. For a description of the tour, please contact Dee Hoffman at the Children's Conciergeat 301-309-6601.orSandra Dee HoffmanChildren's Concierge, LLC877-888-5462301-309-6601sdhoff@childrensconcierge.com

Can Eastern High School Be Saved?

2005-09-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

The Future of Eastern High School

Eastern High School is not part of the Superintendent's Master Plan. Here's what we already knew [about Eastern];

q Eastern is not on the list of high schools scheduled for modernization.

q Central Office has never hired a permanent principal since the opening day debacle last September. The school continues to operate with an interim principal

q SEED Public Charter Boarding School is brokering a land deal with Congress and the City to build a 600-student residential campus on Kingman Park, right in Eastern's backyard. I have just now spoken with someone in the Eastern community who has added more details:

q All the high school bands except for Eastern’s received money from DCPS Special Programs to purchase new instruments.
q Eastern has had to cancel its trip to California for a Battle of the Bands competition due to lack of funds.

q The new assistant. principal at Eastern, Ms. Durham, came from Walker-Jones Elementary, from which she was removed for having false credentials.

q Eastern's administration is turning away new ninth graders, even though their enrollment is at an all-time low of some 700 students

Unofficially, everyone agrees that Eastern will be turned into condos.
Can Eastern High School be saved? I still believe that Eastern could be restored to its former greatness, and I believe that Ward 6 deserves and needs a quality, open-enrollment, comprehensive traditional public high school. What is happening at Eastern is emblematic of what's happening throughout our city.

Lee Glazer, Co-Founder of the Save our Schools Campaign in DC

Were DC Schools Ready to Open

2005-09-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

DC VOICE's READY SCHOOLS PROJECT

DC VOICE and collaborators have been involved in the READY SCHOOLS PROJECT 2005- focused on documenting the systemic supports in place for the opening of school this year. Over 50 community volunteers are being trained to conduct checklist interviews with 50 school principals. The checklist will cover school staffing, training on the new standards, teaching and learning conditions, facilities, and parent and community involvement.

The next phase of the READY SCHOOLS PROJECT involves focus groups with parents on these same issues, to be sure their voices are heard. It would be great if you and/or others would be willing to participate.

Parents can attend the following focus group meeting;

Elementary School(ES)parents: Mon., Sept. 26th @ THE ARC: 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE
ES parents: Wednesday, Sept. 28th @ DC VOICE: 1436 U St., NW, Suite 401
ES parents: Thursday, Oct. 6th @ SE Library: 403 7th St., SE
MS/JHS parents: Tuesday, Sept. 27th @ MLK Library: 901 G St., NW
HS parents: Monday, Oct. 3rd @ DC VOICE: 1436 U St., NW, Suite 401

Each focus group should take about 90 minutes, and includes food and childcare. I have also attached a project overview for more information.

Thanks!
Corae Briscoe
Community Engagement and Policy Coordinator
DC VOICE
Phone:(202) 986-8549
Fax: (202) 986-1243

DC Teachers are Invited to Arthur Ashe Foreign Policy Library

2005-09-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

You are invited to attend the

ARTHUR R. ASHE, JR.
FOREIGN POLICY LIBRARY
12TH ANNIVERSARY RECEPTION
Mistress of Ceremonies
Diane Weathers
Editor At Large, Essence Magazine
Our Featured Guest:
Maryse Condé
Critically Acclaimed Novelist, Playwright, Critic and Scholar
Will share her considerable insight into contemporary social
issues—reading from the heart and engaging us in a provocative and lively
discussion.

Saturday, October 1, 2005
3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
General Reception
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Mimi’s American Bistro
2120 P Street, NW
Washington, DC

Business or Traditional Attire

Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 28, 2005
202.223.1960 ext. 116/ events@transafricaforum.org
For more information visit
http://www.transafricaforum.org/calendarmain.html#ashelibanniv
PDF version
http://www.transafricaforum.org/documents/2005LibrAnniv_000.pdf

A Council Bill to Establish An Incentive Grant for DC Teachers

2005-09-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Councilmember Kathy Patterson introduced the following bill...
...to establish an incentive grant for teachers in the District of Columbia to achieve certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards; and to allow District of Columbia school teachers to deduct from gross income expenses paid for classroom materials and supplies and tuition paid for post-graduate education and professional development.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Quality Teacher Incentive Act of 2005”.

Title I – National Board Certification Incentive Grant
Sec. 101. Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, the term:
(1) “Eligible teacher” means a full-time classroom teacher who:
(A) Holds a standard professional certificate or an advanced professional certificate;
(B) Is currently employed by the District of Columbia Board of Education or a District public charter school and has held this employment for at least three years;
(C) Meets the eligibility requirements and applies to be a candidate for National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
(2) “National Board Certification” means a certificate issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).
Sec. 102. National Board Certification Incentive Grant.
(a) Grants.
(1) General. From amounts appropriated for this program, the Mayor shall award grants to eligible teachers who apply for and complete the National Board Certification process. The grant award shall be used to pay toward the fee for the National Board Certification.
(2) Maximum grant amounts. An eligible teacher shall receive a grant amount of $1,500.
Sec. 103. Administration of the Grant Program.
(a) General. The State Education Office shall administer the program on behalf of the Mayor, including the creation and collection of application forms.
(b) Application Form. The State Education Office shall create an application form that shall request at least the following information from teachers seeking a grant award:
(1) Name; date of birth; social security number; permanent mailing address; ward of residence if a District resident; email address; phone number; name and address of school employer; dates of employment; subject area taught; degree and major of undergraduate and post-graduate education; date of application for National Board Certification candidacy; proof of payment of NBPTS application processing fee.
(c) Return of grant award. In the event that a teacher recipient of the grant award does not complete the National Board Certification process, obtain the National Board Certification, or leaves employment with the District of Columbia Public Schools or the District public charter school before achieving the National Board Certification.

Title II – Quality Teaching Tax Incentives
Sec. 201. Section 47-1803(b) of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended by adding a new subparagraph (2) to read as follows:
“(2) An individual who is a classroom teacher who holds an advanced professional certificate, who teaches in a public school in the District of Columbia, who is a resident of the District of Columbia and who has taught in the District of Columbia for the full academic year prior to the year in which they are applying for the deduction may deduct, up to a maximum of $500, from gross income expenses paid for basic classroom materials and supplies necessary for teaching.”
Sec. 202. Section 47-1803(b) of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended by adding a new subparagraph (3) to read as follows:
“(3) An individual who is a classroom teacher who holds an advanced professional certificate, who teaches in a public school in the District of Columbia, who is a resident of the District of Columbia and who has taught in the District of Columbia for the full academic year prior to the year in which they are applying for the deduction may deduct, up to a maximum of $1,500, from gross income tuition and fee expenses paid for post-graduate education, professional development, or professional certification necessary to become a highly-qualified teacher, to improve teaching credentials, or to maintain professional certification.”

Title III – Fiscal Impact Statement
Sec. 301. The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)).

Title IV – Effective Date
Sec. 401. This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1- 206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.

The Loss of Sandra Feldman, Former AFT President

2005-09-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

On September 21st, WIN aired a story about the loss of former AFT president Sandra Feldman. Here is an excerpt from our coverage:

"Labor is mourning the death late Sunday night of Sandra Feldman, former president of the American Federation of Teachers. Feldman began her career in education as a second grade teacher in New York City, and was president of the city's United Federation of Teachers for eleven years before moving to the presidency of the 1.3 million-member national union in 1997."

This story is being broadcast on radio stations across the country. Listen to the rest of the story at http://www.laborradio.org/files/lo/winsheadlines.ram, or read the text version at http://www.laborradio.org/node/1509. (It's free!)

The Opening of Bushboys and Poets Bookstore

2005-09-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Busboys and Poets Books

Progressive books to activate your mind and communityBusboys and Poets Books, operated by Teaching for Change, is Washington, DC's newest source for books and films that encourage children and adults to question, challenge and re-think the world beyond the headlines. The bookstore is in the Busboys and Poets restaurant, performance space, and coffeehouse, which features a dynamic events schedule. Busboys & Poets is a new venture of peace activist Andy Shallal of Mimi's and Cafe Luna. We carefully select every title to ensure access to: ·

High quality progressive politics, poetry & literature ·
Anti-bias children’s books ·
Young adult literature with real-world themes ·
Multicultural titles for pre-K–12 teachers & parents ·
Independent publishers ·
People’s history...African American, Latino, Asian-American, Arab-American, women and more!

Busboys and Poets is located at 2021 14th St. NW, Washington, DC two blocks from the Cardozo/U Street Metro. The bookstore General Manager is Don Allen. Hours for bookstore are 10am – 11pm. Restaurant will be open for longer hours – call to check, as the hours will be extended gradually – 202-387-POET..

Upcoming Events Note in particular for September the book signing by Jonathan Kozol (September 17) and the launch of Teaching for Change’s new publication, Caribbean Connections: Dominican Republic (September 30). For a full calendar of events and updated information, visit: Teaching for Change. For additional equity focused events for educators at other locations, such as the Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, and a free children’s concert by Jose Luis Orozco, click here.

September 20, 2005: Passion v. Arrogance: A Dana and Goliath Story of Wine, Women, and Wrong by Margaret Broderick at 6:30 pm

September 21, 2005: Taught by America by Sarah Sentilles, Author reading and book signing, 6:30pm

September 22, 2005: We are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories from Immigrant Communities after 9/11 by Tram Nguyen, foreword by Edwidge Danticat, Author reading and book signing, 6:30pm

September 23, 2005 Pacifica Radio Fundraiser with Michael Eric Dyson, Amy Goodman, and more. (Langston Room)

September 25, 2005 Open Mic - "For Peace and Justice" Sponsored by DC Poets Against the War (Langston Room)Please bring your poems of protest and hope to share with the community. www.poetsagainstthewar.org 3 pm

September 27, 2005: Truth, Torture, and the American Way: The History and Consequences of U.S. Involvement in Torture by Jennifer Harbury, Author reading and book signing, 6:30pm

September 29, 2005: Book Release party for It's a Sprawl World After All by Douglas Morris 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

September 30, 2005: Caribbean Connections: The Dominican Republic book launch, featured speakers include book editors, Zenaida Mendez (President and Founder of the National Dominican Women’s Caucus and Racial Diversity Programs Director at the National Organization of Women) and a poetry reading with high school students and community members, 6:30-8:30 pm

October 5, 2005: Stand Up: Student Organizing in DC, Film Viewing, testimonials from teachers and students, group discussions, 6:45 pm. Co-sponsored by Teaching for Change, SALSA and the Youth Education Alliance.

October 6, 2005: "The Legacy Tour" featuring the poets of Moore Black Press including Etan Thomas and Jessica Care Moore.

October 9, 2005 Open Mic - "Nine on the Ninth" Hosted by Busboys and Poets "Poet-in-Residence:" Derrick Brown(Langston Room) 9pm

October 25, 2005 Film - Race is the Place Hosted by the Independent Television Service (ITS) An award-winning documentary film on racial stereotypes and artists' responses to them. (Langston Room) 7pm www.itvs.org This event is free and open to the public.

October 26, 2005 Tribute to Langston Hughes Hosted by Kim Roberts, Editor Beltway Poetry QuarterlyLangston Hughes published his first poems here in Washington, DC and also conducted his first public readings here. Please join us in honoring Hughes and enjoying several of his poems read by contemporary poets. (Langston Room) 6:30pm

October 27, 2005: Octavia E. Butler, The Fledgling, Author reading and book signing, 6:30 pm

November 7, 2005: James Loewen, Sundown Towns (author of Lies My Teacher Told Me), author reading and book signing

November 11, 2005: Fraud: How The Bush Machine Manipulates The Media And The Truth by Paul Waldman, Author reading and book signing, 6:30 pm
December 4, 2005: Howard Zinn

The Mayor's Web Log

2005-09-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

The latest post on the Mayor's blog (http://blog.mayor.dc.gov/index.aspx) is about his support for schools:

It couldn't hurt to try to engage him on his commitment, in a quasi-public forum. Apparently, the mayor's press people decide whether or not specific responses are published.

The blog entry..

"On August 18th, I graciously received a check from Kaiser Permanente to allow us to extend the use of pools to promote health in the city. (Yes, I know we need a big effort to expand the number of lifeguards.) Anyway, during the event a constituent sang a refrain I’ve heard so often lately. “Why don’t you stand up and do something about the state of the schools?”

My answer to her and to our city continues to be the only responsible one: I will fully support Superintendent Janey, giving him every opportunity to improve student outcomes. Where a case can be substantiated for greater resources and help, I have been and will be there. But I don’t see any value in standing on the sidelines offering color commentary on the state of the schools. And standing on the sidelines I am.

I’m not complaining, but yes, the citizens, through the council, have made the considered judgment that they don’t want ultimate authority for the schools to lie with the mayor. Logically, and consequently, they therefore don’t want responsibility to lie there as well. This is not just a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of good management of our school system.

The buck must stop somewhere and I think that place is the Office of Superintendent. And I think Clifford Janey is definitely up to the job."

Mayor Anthony Williams

Councilmembers Patterson and Fenty to Meet with Ward 6 Democrats on Funding and Repairs of Schools

2005-09-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Ward 6 Democrats' meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 27 begins at 7 p.m. at the Eastern Branch Boys & Girls Club, 261 17th St. SE. (at Mass. Ave.). The panel discussion on funding repair and renovation of school facilities will begin about 7:15 p.m. with Tom Sherwood as moderator.

Panelists include Councilmember Kathy Patterson, who serves as Chair of the Council's Committee on Education, Recreation and Libraries. The DCPS School Modernization Act of 2005 was referred to her committee in July.

Other panelists are Ward 6 school board member Tommy Wells; Jordan Spooner, Deputy Director of the 21st Century School Fund; Mark Dixon, parent coordinator at Terrell Jr. High and ANC6D chair; and Marc Borbely of Fix-Our-Schools and ANC6A Commissioner.

We will learn about the deliberations in the Council on proposals to provide a reliable, adequate and steady stream of income for the development of what the 21st Century School fund calls "high performance school buildings" and we will find out if proposals are being considered to include other services (ambulatory health centers, etc..) in neighborhood school buildings.

Jan Eichhorn, President
The Ward 6 Democrats
202-547-8855

DOE's Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps

2005-09-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the formation of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps. The corps will consist of effective teachers and practitioners who will provide on-site technical assistance and regional workshops for teachers and districts over the next 12 months. This team is an expansion of the Teacher-to-Teacher Workshops that have been offered in cities across the nation for the past two summers.

We are looking for teachers and school leaders who are using scientifically based research strategies and have data to demonstrate effectiveness. Trainers will share the research underlying these practices and their experience with implementing them in classrooms and schools. The goal of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps is to support district level professional development efforts by providing demonstrations by expert teachers and administrators of ways to improve academic performance through increased content knowledge and improved pedagogical skill. Participants should leave sessions with ready-to-use strategies and an understanding of why and when those strategies are effective.

Members of the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps will be eligible to participate in workshops for teachers during 2005 and 2006. They will also be eligible to make presentations at the Department's summer workshops in 2006 and work with interested districts in ways that align with and support continuing district efforts during the school year and summer. Sessions in each site will be aligned to districts' academic goals and student data. It may be that a district's needs are best met with monthly in-service for its literacy coaches. It may be that a district wants the corps to work with secondary math teachers on several districtwide in-service days. Or, it may be that a district wants a series of Saturday offerings for its science teachers.

The members of the corps will also support participants through e-mail mentoring, e-Learning presentations, webcasts and follow-up visits, some of which have already begun with the Teacher-to-Teacher workshop providers.

To apply for this corps, you must submit a complete proposal, which should include your PowerPoint presentation and handouts. You may be asked to modify the presentation content or format for particular audiences (teachers, administrators or trainers) and district goals. In order to be considered for the Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps, your proposal must be received by October 10, 2005. Please visit our Web site at http://www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative for additional information about submitting your presentation.

If you are selected, the U.S. Department of Education will provide travel, accommodations, and a $1,000 honorarium for planning, preparation and participation for each training event. You will have the flexibility to determine the level of your participation in workshops scheduled around the country during 2005 and 2006.

Guidelines

· We are looking for presenters who weave content and pedagogy together.
· Presentations in the content areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, arts, history, civics and foreign language are of particular interest.
· We are interested in research-based classroom strategies that help teachers to differentiate instruction, to teach successfully in inclusive or mainstream classrooms, to work well with English-language learners, to use technology to help meet standards, to use data to increase student achievement, and to take advantage of learning strategies that improve student behavior. Sessions on pedagogy must be embedded in a content area; they should not be stand-alone presentations.
· We are also interested in sessions on school leadership, professional learning communities, analysis of student work, teacher evaluation strategies, strategic planning, assessment and the use of data.
· Each presentation should include relevant research.
· Each presentation should include evidence that your work has made a difference in student achievement.
· Each presentation should be interactive and use principles of adult learning.
· Each presentation should be 90 minutes long; however, you may be asked to adapt It to fit the needs of a district.
· If you work directly with students, you must be highly qualified according to your state's definition in order to participate. Please include proof of this with your application.
All presentations will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education.

More information on the Department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is posted on the Web at http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/about/information.html. You may also wish to view workshop sessions from our e-Learning at http://www.paec.org/teacher2teacher/. Forward any questions to teacherquality@westat.com or call (888) 831-1338

Teachers Coming to Terms With Computers

2005-09-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Study: Teachers coming to terms with computers
Dinesh C. Sharma, Special to CNET News.com

Teachers are increasingly incorporating computers into their workdays, but more for administrative record-keeping than as teaching tools, according to a study released Monday.

The majority of U.S. teachers are comfortable using computers for daily tasks like e-mail, attendance and posting information about classes on school intranets, according to CDW Government, which provides advice on technology to schools and government agencies.

Seventy percent of middle- and high-school teachers use e-mail to communicate with parents, while just over half use intranets to take classroom attendance. About 54 percent integrate computers into their daily curriculum, the survey found.

That pattern may arise from the nature of the training available to teachers, which has tended to focus on administrative rather than instructional applications, the study notes. A good portion of teachers--more than 85 percent--say they are trained on the Internet, word processing and e-mail software, but 27 percent say they have had little or no introduction to integrating computers into lessons. Thirty-one percent said they had no technology training in 2004 or 2005.

Still, overall use of technology in schools this year has grown among elementary and secondary teachers compared with last year, CDW Government said. The survey, conducted by Scholastic subsidiary Quality Education Data, sampled 1,000 public school teachers in March and April.

Of those surveyed, more than 61 percent of teachers said there were not enough computers in their classrooms.

Additionally, elementary-school teachers are more likely to use computers in instruction than their middle- or high-school counterparts, by a margin of 12 percent, the survey said. Elementary teachers are nearly 20 percent more likely to have access to computers in the classroom, as opposed to having the equipment in a computer lab or media center.

"Closing the gap between administrative use and instructional use appears to be more a question of where computers are located, as opposed to just the number of computers available," Chris Rother, vice president for education at CDW-G, said in a statement.

The Rehnquist Death

2005-09-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Rehnquist Death
by David Corn
www.davidcorn.com.

I confess: I have a hard time saying William Rehnquist, rest in peace. Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist, who died on Saturday night, spent much of his adult
life trying to restrict the rights of American citizens
and to empower further the already-powerful. He rose to
prominence as a right-wing attorney who decried the
Earl Warren court for being a hotbed of judicial
activism (left-wing judicial activism, as he saw it).
He then became, as a Supreme Court justice, a judicial
activist of the right-wing sort, overturning laws made
by Congress (that protected women against domestic
violence, banned guns near school property, and
prohibited discrimination against disabled workers) and
steering the justices into Florida's vote-counting mess
in 2000 (an act that only coincidentally--right?--led
to George W. Bush's presidency). In that case--Bush v.
Gore--Rehnquist, for some reason or another, placed
aside his much heralded belief in state sovereignty,
which led him on other occasions to grouse about limits
on the abilities of states to execute criminals. When
it came to states frying prisoners, he advocated a
hands-off approach. In vote-counting, he was all for
intervention.

But let's be clear: in recent years there has been no
other Supreme Curt justice who had a personal history
so loaded with racism--or, to be kinder than is
warranted, tremendous insensitivity to racial
discrimination--as did William Rehnquist. As a law
clerk for Justice Robert Jackson in the early 1950s--
when the Court was considering the historic Brown v.
Board of Education school desegregation case--Rehnquist
wrote a memo defending the infamous 1896 decision,
Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the separate-but-
equal doctrine. Rehnquist noted, "That decision was
right and should be reaffirmed." In other words, he
favored continuing discrimination and racial
segregation. During his 1971 confirmation hearings,
after he was nominated to serve as an associate justice
on the Supreme Court, he said that memo merely
reflected Jackson's view not his own. But few
historians have bought that shaky explanation.

It's not hard to conclude that Rehnquist was on the
wrong side of history and then lied about it--
especially given actions he took later. In 1964,
Rehnquist testified against a proposed ordinance in
Phoenix that would ban racial discrimination in public
housing. As The Washington Post notes in today's
stories on his death, Rehnquist wrote at the time, "It
is, I believe, impossible to justify the sacrifice of
even a portion of our historic individual liberty for a
purpose such as this." In other words, people are not
truly free if they are not free to discriminate. In his
1971 hearings, Rehnquist repudiated that stance. But
did he really mean it? Twelve years later, he was the
only justice to say that Bob Jones University--that
hotbed of racial discrimination and religious bigotry--
had a legal right to keep African-Americans off its
campus.

"He Lived for The Law"--that's how AOL headlined the
story on Rehnquist's death. But it's not that Rehnquist
had a blind spot on race. He was an active proponent of
discrimination. Yet this fellow--without truly making
amends--became chief justice of the highest court of
the land. Only in America.

What will George W. Bush do now? Elevate Antonin Scalia
to chief justice? Appoint someone who's not already on
the court to the job? Will he wait until after the
hearings on John Roberts to name his pick? That would
be good politics. It would be foolish to add any other
factor to the Roberts confirmation process, which, from
a White House perspective, is going rather well. In the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, might Bush look to
Edith Clement, a conservative federal appellate judge
from New Orleans? Or how about Janice Rogers Brown, an
African-American woman and sharecropper's daughter who
is now a far-right California state judge (who seems to
hate the federal government)? After all the recent talk
about poor black people being shafted in New Orleans by
the US government, Bush might enjoy standing in the
Oval Office with Brown and talking about her personal
story.

No doubt, Bush will make a selection that's better for
him than the country--and he will announce his choice
at a time and in a manner that best serves his
administration. In the meantime, as Rehnquist's impact
on America is considered, it ought not be forgotten--
particularly at a time when we see how the poor of New
Orleans have been neglected--that Rehnquist was at
times all too willing to forget about the rights of
those less fortunate than he.

A Former DCPS Teacher Comments on Sports and Resistance in the U. S.

2005-09-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Popular sportswriter and commentator Dave Zirin's new
work chronicles sports and resistance in the United
States, uncovering the hidden history of radical
politics in the multi-billion dollar world of
professional sports both in the past and now. This is a
book for sports fans who hate politics, activists who
hate sports, and athletes themselves.

Dave Zirin's new book What's My Name Fool? Sports and
Resistance in the United States"

You can receive his column Edge of
Sports, every week by e-mailing edgeofsports-
subscribe@zirin.com. Contact him at
whatsmynamefool2005@yahoo.com.

The Superdome: Monument to a Rotten System

2005-09-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

By Dave (What's My Name Fool) Zirin
(a former DCPS Teacher)

There is nothing 'unnatural' about the disaster of New
Orleans. When politicians smirk at global warming, when
developers look at our wetlands and dream of mini
malls, when billions are flushed in the name of war and
tax-cuts, when issues of poverty and racism don't even
register in Presidential debates, all it takes is wind,
albeit 145 mph wind, to expose a sturdy super power as
a house of cards.

Nowhere is this personified more painfully than in a
monument to corporate greed that has rapidly become the
earth's most damnable homeless shelter, the Louisiana
Superdome.

The Superdome is perhaps the most unintentionally
appropriate name since Mr. and Mrs. Cheney looked at
their newborn son and said, 'Dick.' It was birthed in
1975 with pomp and bombast, as the largest domed
facility in the world. It was also funded entirely on
the public dime. In a case of brutal foreshadowing that
would shame a B horror flick, the dome was constructed
on an old cemetery for the poor. The burial grounds
were dug up and discarded with a promise that the
Superdome would the centerpiece of a New Orleans
'Central Business District' that would benefit all.
The results are certainly now in plain, ugly view. This
past week, 25,000 people, walked through its doors,
many for the first time. They entered a stadium where
tickets go for 90 bucks a pop, season passes cost
$1,300 and luxury boxes can run for as much as
$109,000. The arena boasts of having a capacity that
can comfortably seat 72,000 people, with 9,000 tons of
air conditioning, and 88 massive restrooms. But for the
25,000 that can't afford the oxygen, there has been no
air conditioning and bathrooms without electricity,
running water, or working toilets. Feces and garbage
now pack the upper decks. The traumatized people
finally emerging tell of dead bodies on the 50 yard
line. One man even committed suicide, throwing himself
off the upper deck. Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco
called the Superdome shelter strategy an "experiment",
when asked if it could hold the storm or the flood.
Chuck D's line about Housing Projects comes to mind
when he said, 'What is a project but another word for
experiment?'

Saints' receiver Joe Horn has looked at the place where
he has set receiving records and said that football
couldn't be farther from his mind. "It's devastating to
us. I've cried three or four times. Seeing kids without
any food, elderly people dying and the government
saying that help is on the way - that's the most
shocking part.'

He's right. That is the most shocking part. Leading
this carnival of disgrace is 'Mr. Shock and Awe'
himself, George W. Bush. Everyday, President Bush doles
out comments that signal his removal from any basic
notion of humanity. Perhaps the most galling, "The
good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now --
that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic
Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of
Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house --
there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking
forward to sitting on the porch."

But happy visions of mint juleps with Trent, while
Mamie and Prissy tighten Scarlett's corset, just will
not sell. The discussion instead, from right wing
editorial pages in New Hampshire and Mississippi to an
vocal, angry, Civil Rights community, is about the
racism, profiteering and vile hypocrisy at the heart
of this system.

As Norman Solomon wrote, 'The policies are matters of
priorities. And the priorities of the Bush White House
are clear. For killing in Iraq, they spare no expense.
For protecting and sustaining life, the cupboards go
bare The problem is not incompetence. It's inhumanity,
cruelty and greed.'

Frederick Douglass said it even better a century ago in
his speech, 'What to the Slave is the 4th of July,'

'[Y]our national greatness, swelling vanity; your
denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your
shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your
prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with
all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him,
mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy
- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a
nation of savages.'

I would amend the great Mr. Douglass just to say that
we are not at present a nation of savages. The unreal
outpouring of both aid and the furious call for answers
are not the actions of beasts. But it is now clear that
savages rule our lives. The echoing cry from the Gulf
Coast is that we deserve better than living under a
system that weeps over spilled oil, and rolls its eyes
at our spilled blood.

Katrina Reveals the Separate But Equal Eduacation System

2005-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

KATRINA UNVEILS "SEPARATE BUT EQUAL" EDUCATION

The Wall Street Journal reports that Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will ask Congress to waive a federal law that bans educational segregation for homeless children.

The Bush administration is arguing, along with states like Utah and Texas, that providing schooling for evacuees - who, in this case, are likened to homeless children - will be disruptive to public school systems, so they want to have sound legal backing for creating separate educational facilities for the 372,000 schoolchildren displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The State of Mississippi is opposed to waiving the Act because they argue the law helps evacuees enroll in schools without red tape.
[WSJ, "Schooling Evacuees Provokes Debate," 9/14/05]

Virginia L. Simmons Paralegal,
Disability Rights Project
Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
11 Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036

Tel: (202) 319 - 1000 ext 123

2005 DC Schools Summit on Nutrtion & Physical Activity

2005-09-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

The D.C. Action for Healthy Kids is sponsoring

2005 DC Schools Summit on Nutrtion & Physical Activity

September 26, 2005, 9:00-3:30 pm
at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, in Washington, DC.
sponsored by D.C. Action for Healthy Kids

Cost? Free.

Who should attend? Principals, Teachers, Health & Physical Education Staff, School Nurses, Food Service Directors, Special Education Coordinator, Parent-Teacher Organization Representatives
Goals:

Learn how to implement a healthy school environment for better learning and compliance with No Child Left Behind

Obtain new resources to promote a healthy environment in your school
Mobilize to take action towards ending childhood and adolescent overweight by improving nutrition and physical activity in schools

Using the CDC School Health Index, develop an action plan for your school
To register: Fill out the registration form and fax it back!
http://www.dchunger.org/pdf/2005summit.pdf

Auditor to scrutinize DCPS problems

2005-09-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Auditor to scrutinize DCPS problems
By MICHAEL NEIBAUER Examiner Staff Writer

In a new effort to root out waste and inefficiency in public schools, the District's inspector general will install a full-time audit team within the administration to scrutinize the system's most complex problems, from security and capital projects to contract billing and grant management.

The four-member, $300,000 audit shop was introduced as part of the inspector general's recently released fiscal 2006 audit plan, which lays out the IG's tentative schedule for the year. Having auditors based with school administration will "enable the audit team to aggressively follow up on past recommendations and advise school officials of the actions needed to resolve recurrent deficiencies," says the plan.

"We're saying schools are an ongoing problem and everybody knows that," said Cheryl Ferrara, deputy assistant inspector general for audits. "We've identified risk areas. We see that schools are such a vulnerable risk area and we thought we should put in place a lot of audit emphasis there."

She added: "We just make the recommendations. It's their job to accept them."

The IG's office is no stranger to the school system, having audited aspects of it numerous times in previous years. But this is the first time it will have staff dedicated to the effort, augmenting the schools' internal compliance office, which tends to look at day-to-day issues rather than the larger, systemic problems.

"My hope is that it will add to the credibility of the [school] system, add to its transparency, send a message that it is in fact a new day at DCPS, and send that message internally and externally," said Board of Education Member Victor Reinoso.

Robert Rice, special assistant to Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, said the IG and schools are establishing a partnership. Janey, Rice said, participated in talks to establish the audit team and "was willing to give it a try."
"We recognize if things come up it makes you kind of squirm, but our intent is to deal with those issues," he said.
Iris Toyer, chair of Parents United for the DC Public Schools, said she hoped the audit wouldn't be a "paper exercise."
mneibauer@dcexaminer.com < mailto:mneibauer@dcexaminer.com>

The Anacostia Watershed Society

2005-09-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Anacostia Watershed Society has changed the start date for its teacher training. It will now be starting next week on Sept. 20.

Details on the training are attached. There is still room if the new schedule works! We will have classroom sessions and 2 outdoor experiences.

This is a great time of the year to explore the Anacostia River! If you are interested please fax or e-mail the attached registration back to me and don't worry about the deposit.

Ric Zeller, Environmental Educator
Office 301-699-6204 Cell 240-988-9673
Fax 301-699-3317
Anacostia Watershed Society,
4302 Baltimore Ave, Bladensburg, MD 20710-3317
www.anacostiaws.org

"Grants for Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development"

2005-09-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

National Endowment for the Humanities supports projects that improve specific areas of humanities education and serve as national models ofexcellence.

Projects must draw upon scholarship in the humanities and use scholars and teachers as advisers.

NEH is especially interested inprojects that offer solutions to problems frequently encountered by teachers.

Maximum Award: $1000-$100,000. Eligibility: Any U.S. nonprofitorganization or institution with 501(c)3 status; state and local government agencies are also eligible.

Deadline: October 14, 2005.http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/teachinglearning.html

For DCPS Science Teachers: The Wonders of Wetlands

2005-09-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

News from Garden Resources of Washington ....

September 19, 2005: WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, sponsored by Environmental Concern --

If you are interested in joining the wetland revolution - don't let these unique opportunities pass you by. Plan to be at the Lightstone Foundation in Moyers, West Virginia for the "WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands" (with follow-up Facilitator training) and "POW! The Planning of Wetlands Facilitator Workshop".

Join Environmental Concern for a fun day of learning about wetlands and leave with activities to use with your students! Environmental Concern and the CSU Watershed Institute would like to invite you to a unique one -day workshop based on the award-winning environmental curriculum, WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands. WOW! is an instructional guide for educators that provides a resourceful and creative collection of wetlands activities, information and ideas.

The guide includes: hands-on multi-disciplinary activities in lesson plan format, extensive background information on wetlands, ideas for student action projects and wetland resource guide. Correlated to national and state science standards so schools can combine science curriculums with actual environmental stewardship, WOW! has been called "the most comprehensive introduction to wetland issues and definitions" by the North American Association for Environmental Education.

This workshop will be a fun, hands-on exploration of wetland education activities. Come dissect a cattail, dipnet for aquatic insects, and play nutrient tag! Come Explore the Wonders of Wetlands! Audience: Formal and non-formal educators; Cost: $25.00
--------------

Optional: September 20, 2005: Follow-up WOW! Facilitator training -- Learn how to teach others about the Wonders of Wetlands and lead trainings in your own community. Join a nationwide network of environmental educators and receive book discounts and on-going support from Environmental Concern. Audience: Formal and non-formal educators; Cost: Course is FREE!
--------------------

October 5-7, 2005: POW! The Planning of Wetlands Facilitator training -- The POW Facilitator workshop is designed for those interested in working with schools and communities to build schoolyard habitats as areas for outdoor education. You will leave this course with:

The knowledge to effectively design, construct and monitor a wetland:
Choosing appropriate plants,
Balancing water budgets,
Creating design specs,
Building a project budget,
Designing a monitoring plan,
The tools to effectively work with school administration officials and facility managers.,
Funding ideas and sources, and
The ability to involve students and teachers in the project through a variety of dynamic and engaging hands-on activities.

See Environmental Concern's website for example of schoolyard wetlands designed through the POW! Method: http://www.wetland.org/educ_sucess.htm. Audience: Environmental education specialists, consultants, natural resource professionals; Cost: $25.00 includes POW! books
For more information or to register - contact Suzanne Greene at (410) 745-9620 or at wow@wetland.org. Suzanne Greene, Environmental Concern, PO Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663, (410) 745-9620

For Science Teachers: The Wonders of Wetlands

2005-09-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

News from Garden Resources of Washington ....

September 19, 2005: WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, sponsored by Environmental Concern -- If you are interested in joining the wetland revolution - Don't let these unique opportunity pass you by. Plan to be at the Lightstone Foundation in Moyers, West Virginia for the "WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands" (with follow-up Facilitator training) and "POW! The Planning of Wetlands Facilitator Workshop".

Join Environmental Concern for a fun day of learning about wetlands and leave with activities to use with your students!

Environmental Concern and the CSU Watershed Institute would like to invite you to a unique one -day workshop based on the award-winning environmental curriculum, WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands. WOW! is an instructional guide for educators that provides a resourceful and creative collection of wetlands activities, information and ideas. The guide includes: hands-on multi-disciplinary activities in lesson plan format, extensive background information on wetlands, ideas for student action projects and wetland resource guide.

Correlated to national and state science standards so schools can combine science curriculums with actual environmental stewardship, WOW! has been called "the most comprehensive introduction to wetland issues and definitions" by the North American Association for Environmental Education. This workshop will be a fun, hands-on exploration of wetland education activities. Come dissect a cattail, dipnet for aquatic insects, and play nutrient tag! Come Explore the Wonders of Wetlands! Audience: Formal and non-formal educators; Cost: $25.00
--------------

Optional: September 20, 2005: Follow-up WOW! Facilitator training -- Learn how to teach others about the Wonders of Wetlands and lead trainings in your own community. Join a nationwide network of environmental educators and receive book discounts and on-going support from Environmental Concern. Audience: Formal and non-formal educators; Cost: Course is FREE!
--------------------

October 5-7, 2005: POW! The Planning of Wetlands Facilitator training -- The POW Facilitator workshop is designed for those interested in working with schools and communities to build schoolyard habitats as areas for outdoor education. You will leave this course with: The knowledge to effectively design, construct and monitor a wetland: Choosing appropriate plants, Balancing water budgets, Creating design specs, Building a project budget, Designing a monitoring plan, The tools to effectively work with school administration officials and facility managers., Funding ideas and sources, The ability to involve students and teachers in the project through a variety of dynamic and engaging hands-on activities.

See Environmental Concern's website for example of schoolyard wetlands designed through the POW! Method: http://www.wetland.org/educ_sucess.htm. Audience: Environmental education specialists, consultants, natural resource professionals; Cost: $25.00 includes POW! books
For more information or to register - contact Suzanne Greene at (410) 745-9620 or at wow@wetland.org. Suzanne Greene, Environmental Concern, PO Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663, (410) 745-9620

2005-09-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

TIMIDITY NO ANSWER TO RACISM IN KATRINA DEBACLE

By Adrienne Washington-----------------------------------------------------------
In polite dinner conversation, religion and politics are taboo. But if you really want to set someone's stomach to boiling, mention the topic of racism in America.

Racism and its Siamese sister, classism, are simply not acceptable issues to discuss in mixed company, let alone to mass audiences. Black or white, we prefer to tiptoe around the testy topic for fear of offending the "other," the oppressed or the oppressor.

Now is not the time for timid niceties. Now is the time when "the best of us must help the rest of us," as the Rev. Al Sharpton said. First, we must honestly face what we try too hard to hide.

Witness what happened to rapper Kayne West during NBC's fundraising telecast for Hurricane Katrina victims. He created a firestorm of gasps and denials when he went off script and said that "[President] George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Too harsh? Alabama-born Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race."

As unbelievable as it may seem, Miss Rice will never be able to convince folks who now see her as the symbolic face of successful blacks leaving brethren behind. As evidence, I received an e-mail making the rounds that asked every black person in America to immediately go out and purchase two copies of Mr. West's CD to show appreciation for the "young brother's courage."

Mr. West simply said aloud what far too many outraged black Americans have whispered to one another after it took Mr. Bush and his "Badministration," as one of numerous e-mailers wrote, a full week to provide basic necessities to the predominantly black and poor storm victims in New Orleans. These were the same government officials, they furiously note, who managed to get aid to unsuspecting tsunami victims around the globe in less than two days.

"If a tragedy of this magnitude had occurred in the Palm Beach area or any other resort, I do not believe the response would have been so delayed," said the Rev. Donald Eugene Braxton, pastor of the historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Yesterday, members of his Northwest congregation were busy collecting diapers, antacids, clothing, toiletries, school supplies and undergarments for distribution on the Gulf Coast.

Is it any wonder that these citizens, like the working poor all across America, felt abandoned long before a powerful storm blew off the cover of their ignored and invisible lives?

Now these Americans feel abused by their own government and by the press that concentrated on the despicable minority of "looters." The black Internet grapevine was ablaze last week, for instance, with one troubling and discriminatory press item that depicted two photographs of hurricane victims wading in water in what appeared to be the same location. Each was carrying a loaf of bread from a nearby grocery store. However, in one caption the black man was characterized as "looting," while in the other, the white woman was characterized as "finding" her goods.

Blacks such as Pamela Cousins of Prince George's County were also livid about the press dubbing predominantly black hurricane victims "refugees." She was so incensed that she looked up the term in the dictionary to find it means "people voluntarily running from war, religious persecution or government oppression."

Barely containing his rage during a belated Congressional Black Caucus press conference on Friday, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat, said "these are not refugees; these are American citizens," to give public voice to the offense and insensitivity the denigrating moniker represented to black Americans. Blacks were livid and worried that "refugee" conjured an image that set apart the evacuees and could marginalize their circumstances and need for help.

Thank goodness that the vast majority of private citizens, churches and nonprofit groups see this horrific, historic calamity through colorblind lenses. Here we find hope for America.

Still, after characterizing the unprecedented human degradation he witnessed in the New Orleans arena as "the hull of a slave ship," the Rev. Jesse Jackson added that "the issue of race as a factor will not go away." Why? Because black Americans are angry. They are not just angry at an unresponsive government that forced a quarter of a million poor black residents of New Orleans to wallow in their own feces. They are angry at a society that they don't trust to treat them equal even in the face of disaster, destruction and death.

Blacks are so distrustful of their government that some New Orleans evacuees are circulating the conspiracy theory that their poor neighborhoods were flooded deliberately to keep rich areas such as the French Quarter and the Garden District dry. The anger rose in black Americans the way the floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina rose in the 9th District of New Orleans. Yet, unlike the evacuees, who were displaced and had nowhere to go, a mobilized black America is finding a place to put that understandable anger into action.

While it was welcome to witness whites and blacks helping each other, black Americans, like those at Metropolitan AME Church, are realizing that it is their greater responsibility and task to provide assistance to the masses of displaced Gulf Coast victims.

"To whom much is given, much is required," is the new mantra making the Internet rounds as scores of black Americans sound the call from anger to action. One such fundraiser named after this biblical scripture scheduled last night at the downtown jazz club H.R. was sponsored by the law offices of Donald Temple in conjunction with radio D.J. Tom Joyner's efforts (www.blackamericaweb.com).

Hurricane Katrina's devastating aftermath undoubtedly provided a much-needed global wake-up call with its demonstrative exposure of what the foreign press dubbed "Third World America." It also provided a poignant wake-up call to black Americans who might think they have "made it."

The long-term loss wrought by Hurricane Katrina will be even greater if those difficult issues of race and class that surfaced during these dark, angry days are swept up and pushed back into Lake Pontchartrain along with the storm's debris.

TIMIDITY NO ANSWER TO RACISM IN KATRINA DEBACLE

2005-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

TIMIDITY NO ANSWER TO RACISM IN KATRINA DEBACLE
By Adrienne Washington, The Washington Times

In polite dinner conversation, religion and politics are taboo. But if you really want to set someone's stomach to boiling, mention the topic of racism in America. Racism and its Siamese sister, classism, are simply not acceptable issues to discuss in mixed company, let alone to mass audiences. Black or white, we prefer to tiptoe around the testy topic for fear of offending the "other," the oppressed or the oppressor. Now is not the time for timid niceties. Now is the time when "the best of us must help the rest of us," as the Rev. Al Sharpton said. First, we must honestly face what we try too hard to hide. Witness what happened to rapper Kayne West during NBC's fundraising telecast for Hurricane Katrina victims. He created a firestorm of gasps and denials when he went off script and said that "[President] George Bush doesn't care about black people." Too harsh?
Alabama-born Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race."

As unbelievable as it may seem, Miss Rice will never be able to convince folks who now see her as the symbolic face of successful blacks leaving brethren behind. As evidence, I received an e-mail making the rounds that asked every black person in America to immediately go out and purchase two copies of Mr. West's CD to show appreciation for the "young brother's courage."

Mr. West simply said aloud what far too many outraged black Americans have whispered to one another after it took Mr. Bush and his "Badministration," as one of numerous e-mailers wrote, a full week to provide basic necessities to the predominantly black and poor storm victims in New Orleans. These were the same government officials, they furiously note, who managed to get aid to unsuspecting tsunami victims around the globe in less than two days.

"If a tragedy of this magnitude had occurred in the Palm Beach area or any other resort, I do not believe the response would have been so delayed," said the Rev. Donald Eugene Braxton, pastor of the historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Yesterday, members of his Northwest congregation were busy collecting diapers, antacids, clothing, toiletries, school supplies and undergarments for distribution on the Gulf Coast. Is it any wonder that these citizens, like the working poor all across America, felt abandoned long before a powerful storm blew off the cover of their ignored and invisible lives?

Now these Americans feel abused by their own government and by the press that concentrated on the despicable minority of "looters." The black Internet grapevine was ablaze last week, for instance, with one troubling and discriminatory press item that depicted two photographs of hurricane victims wading in water in what appeared to be the same location. Each was carrying a loaf of bread from a nearby grocery store. However, in one caption the black man was characterized as "looting," while in the other, the white woman was characterized as "finding" her goods.

Blacks such as Pamela Cousins of Prince George's County were also livid about the press dubbing predominantly black hurricane victims "refugees." She was so incensed that she looked up the term in the dictionary to find it means "people voluntarily running from war, religious persecution or government oppression."
Barely containing his rage during a belated Congressional Black Caucus press conference on Friday, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat, said "these are not refugees; these are American citizens," to give public voice to the offense and insensitivity the denigrating moniker represented to black Americans. Blacks were livid and worried that "refugee" conjured an image that set apart the evacuees and could marginalize their circumstances and need for help.

Thank goodness that the vast majority of private citizens, churches and nonprofit groups see this horrific, historic calamity through colorblind lenses. Here we find hope for America.

Still, after characterizing the unprecedented human degradation he witnessed in the New Orleans arena as "the hull of a slave ship," the Rev. Jesse Jackson added that "the issue of race as a factor will not go away." Why? Because black Americans are angry. They are not just angry at an unresponsive government that forced a quarter of a million poor black residents of New Orleans to wallow in their own feces. They are angry at a society that they don't trust to treat them equal even in the face of disaster, destruction and death.

Blacks are so distrustful of their government that some New Orleans evacuees are circulating the conspiracy theory that their poor neighborhoods were flooded deliberately to keep rich areas such as the French Quarter and the Garden District dry. The anger rose in black Americans the way the floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina rose in the 9th District of New Orleans. Yet, unlike the evacuees, who were displaced and had nowhere to go, a mobilized black America is finding a place to put that understandable anger into action.

While it was welcome to witness whites and blacks helping each other, black Americans, like those at Metropolitan AME Church, are realizing that it is their greater responsibility and task to provide assistance to the masses of displaced Gulf Coast victims.

"To whom much is given, much is required," is the new mantra making the Internet rounds as scores of black Americans sound the call from anger to action. One such fundraiser named after this biblical scripture scheduled last night at the downtown jazz club H.R. was sponsored by the law offices of Donald Temple in conjunction with radio D.J. Tom Joyner's efforts (www.blackamericaweb.com).

Hurricane Katrina's devastating aftermath undoubtedly provided a much-needed global wake-up call with its demonstrative exposure of what the foreign press dubbed "Third World America." It also provided a poignant wake-up call to black Americans who might think they have "made it."

The long-term loss wrought by Hurricane Katrina will be even greater if those difficult issues of race and class that surfaced during these dark, angry days are swept up and pushed back into Lake Pontchartrain along with the storm's debris.

Building African Libraries

2005-09-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Building African Libraries Project

The library project of the Sunrise School in Accra, Ghana is underway. This project is a book and fund raising drive that, through our efforts, will provide much needed reading and study materials for the children of the Sunrise School, ages 6 - 14 years, grades 1 - 9.

Every child deserves a quality education, and access to books is essential to the development and expansion of young minds. We are all children of Africa and its future is not only in our hands, but in the hands of its young people. Education of Africans is crucial to our fight for liberation, not only of the continent, but of all Africans globally.

No library anywhere in our world should be empty, especially not a school library, and especially not in Africa. Unfortunately, far too many libraries in the birthplace of humanity are just that, empty, and frankly, given our resources, this tragedy is inexcusable. This is a small effort that has the potential to make a huge impact in the lives of some of our children. If we are truly serious about the sovereignty of our people, mentally, physically, and politically, we can pull together and make this project a success.

On behalf of the Building African Libraries committee, I would like to thank all of you in advance for your generosity and undying dedication to the future of Africa.

Please send all of your book and fund donations to:Hamara HoltP.O. Box 764College StationNew York, NY 10030. Please address all checks and money orders to: Building African Libraries Foundation
Receipts will be kept for every donation ( books and funds ), and will be issued in triplicate - one to Dr. Rashidi, one to our Foundation board (BAL), and one to the donor. We will be working with the National Heritage Foundation, and they will also keep records of each donation.

Your receipt from the BAL Foundation, and your cancelled check will provide proof of your donation. All donations over $250 will be issued a charitable receipt directly from the NHF as well.
All book donations should be appropriate for children ages 6 - 14.

We are seeking books on history, literature, science, math, etc. Textbooks and storybooks would be greatly appreciated as well ( please keep in mind the age range of students when selecting your book donations).

In love of Africa,
Runoko Rashidi and Hamara Holt

Powerful Women Making A Difference

2005-09-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

D.C. COMMISSSION FOR WOMEN
Presents

Powerful Women Making a Difference

WHEN: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
WHERE: Bethlehem Baptist Church
MLK and Howard Road,, S.E. WDC
TIME: 6:30 pm

Guest Speakers:

Karen Smith, Principal of Ballou Sr. High School
Hannah Hawkins, Director of Children of Mine Center
Jacqueline Massey, Wheeler Creek Estates
Guest Soloist: Myrna Summers

DC Housing Needed for 3 New Orleans Students

2005-09-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

DC Housing Needed for Three Students Stranded
from New Orleans

I'm looking for housing near Howard University for three Xavier University students who now can't return to their college in New Orleans. Howard is allowing them to apply and hopefully, attend college there beginning next week, but there is no dorm space left.

We have found a place for them to stay for a few days at least until early next week, but need longer term housing so they can attend school here. I'm working with the Howard housing to track down some place for these students to live but, in case we run into a wall and can't find space, can anyone recommend places to go for student rentals in the vicinity of Howard? They will not be able to return to New Orleans for at least a semester and perhaps a whole year.Another problem is that these students have only the clothing on their backs or only one change of clothing. Any recommendations would be great.

Anna Reid Jhirad
Marigold Productions
3009 Daniel Lane, NW
Washington, DC 20015
(202) 537-0308

The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America

2005-09-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hear Jonathan Kozol
acclaimed author of
Savage Inequalities,
on the release of his new book,
The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America

Saturday, September 17, 2005
2-4PM
Blair High School Auditorium
51 University Boulevard
Silver Spring, MD 20901
This event is brought to you by the
Center For Teacher Leadership

and co-sponsored by the
Equity in Education Coalition in Montgomery County
Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA-MSTA-NEA)
Prince George’s County Educators’ Association (PGCEA-MSTA-NEA)
Progressive Maryland
NAACP Parents Council
Blair Students for Global Responsibility
Montgomery County Education Forum

Book signing following presentation. Book sales by Busboys and Poets Books of Teaching for Change.

The Mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina Protest

2005-09-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

Black Voices for Peace & The National Black Environmental Justice Network

is Co-Sponsoring:

MISMANAGEMENT OF HURRICANE KATRINA PROTEST

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9, 2005

12:00PM-2:30PM

LAFAYETTE PARK IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE

Join Black Voices for Peace and The National Black Environmental Justice Network as we demand accountability from the State and Federal Goverment and the Bush Administration and to protest the mistreatment of hurricane Katrina victims.

For more details call (202) 265-4919

The DC Schoolyard Greening Consortium’s 2nd DC Schoolyards Tour

2005-09-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

The DC Schoolyard Greening Consortium’s 2nd
DC SCHOOLYARDS TOUR
Saturday, OCTOBER 15th, 2005
9AM - 3PM
LIMITED SEATING – SIGN UP EARLY! $15/person before September 30th
$20 for late registrants
Bus transportation & lunch providedSpecial prize for any school with 3 or more teachers attending the tour!

You’ll See: Five DC schoolyards used for various teaching purposes and in different stages of development:

Bertie Backus Middle School: Former patches of grass are now woodlands, ponds, paths, flower gardens, and rain gardens, through partnerships with the DC Watershed Protection Division, Environmental Concern, and the National Wildlife Federation.

A new wetland habitat is being added just in time for the tour.
Cardozo Senior High School: Started in 2002 in response to the events of 9/11, the Peace Garden has been used by both history and science teachers. In the past year, students planted new trees and a sculpture was donated by a group of international artists.

Horace Mann Elementary School: The schoolyard has been transformed from an underutilized patch of asphalt into an outdoor learning center used regularly by students and staff. It has six theme beds, including a butterfly garden, herb garden, and sensory garden.

Roosevelt Senior High School: With a small start in 1999, this schoolyard now includes a greenhouse, pond with a solar pump, composting area, vegetable garden, butterfly garden, and a native garden. Students installed the gardens themselves and routinely manage upkeep.

Sharpe Health School: This once-plain courtyard is now a series of wheelchair accessible theme gardens for students with special needs. It has a gently rolling hill, a bridge, sensory gardens, edible gardens, an alphabet garden, and native plantings.

* You’ll Learn: How to get started, tips for teaching outdoors, curriculum connections, funding opportunities, and more!
* Who Should Attend: PreK-12th grade teachers of all subjects, principals, librarians, counselors, administrators, PTA members, after-school program staff, school volunteers, parents, community members, etc.
* Questions? Call Ashley Lidman at 202.833.4010 x120 or email alidman@caseytrees.org. For information about the DC Schoolyard Greening Consortium, its citywide email list-serve, teacher trainings, and other resources for ‘greening’ schools, visit www.dcschoolyardgreening.org.
Please arrive promptly by 9:00 am at Horace Mann Elementary School, 4430 Newark Street NW, Washington, DC 20016.

Street parking is available. See www.maps.yahoo.com for driving directions, www.wmata.com for public transportation information.

To Register: Mail a $15 check payable to DCEEC, with the registration form, before Sept 30th to: Ashley Lidman, DC Schoolyard Greening Consortium, c/o Casey Trees, 1425 K Street NW #1050, Washington, DC 20005 ($20 after Sept 30th)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - clip & mail this form with your check - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DC Schoolyards Tour Registration
PLEASE PRINT
Name: ___________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Daytime Phone: ___________________________________________
Evening Phone: ___________________________________________
Email: ___________________________________________________

Tell Bush to Accept Cuba's Offer to Send Doctors to the Hurricane Victims

2005-09-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Urgent Alert - Take Action Now!
Tell Bush & Congress:Accept Cuba's offer to send doctors to the hurricane victims!

Given the grave humanitarian situation in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and other Southern states, I believe the U.S. government must accept the humanitarian offer of the Cuban government to send 1,100 doctors with 26.4 tons of medications and diagnosis kits from Cuba to the Gulf region.

Cuba's doctors, nurses and professional healthcare staff are world renown for their medical expertise and their ability to provide assistance even in the most difficult conditions, and have traveled throughout the Americas and the world providing care to those in need.

There is no excuse to allow people to suffer and die needlessly when help is available.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has set up an easy-to-use way to send Bush and Congress a message. Use the link below to tell them: "Accept Cuba's offer to send doctors to the hurricane victims!"

On the evening of September 2, Cuban President Fidel Castro reiterated Cuba's offer (first made on August 30) to send doctors and medical equipment to provide desperately-needed assistance to those who have become the victims of both Hurricane Katrina and of the Bush administration's meager and dilatory response.
Specifically, Cuba is offering to send 1,100 medical doctors with 26.4 tons of medications and diagnosis kits at no expense to the U.S. (they will even bring their own food and water). There is now a dire need for medical attention in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and in other Southern states.

The Cuban doctors, nurses and professional healthcare staff are world renowned for their medical expertise and their ability to provide assistance even in the most difficult conditions, and have traveled throughout the Americas and the world providing care to those in need.

The people of Cuba, even with far less resources than the United States, have survived extreme hurricanes and flooding because the government mobilizes to put people first, evacuating hundreds of thousands and providing necessary food, water and medical care immediately.

These doctors and the medicine and equipment stand ready to fly to Houston and can arrive within hours as soon as they get permission - permission that thus far has not been given by the U.S. government. In their public statements about countries that have offered assistance, the Bush administration has not even acknowledged this offer from Cuba.

Bush's racist and cavalier conduct towards the dying and suffering in New Orleans has been criminal. For him to withhold this medical support from people in need is cruel and outrageous. He will let even more people die needlessly just to support his right-wing political agenda against Cuba.

You can send a letter to Congress and Bush today demanding that the U.S. allow the Cuban doctors to enter the country and begin assisting in the relief efforts! A.N.S.W.E.R. has set up an easy-to-use mechanism to facilitate sending a quick email to George W. Bush and the Congressional Representative in your District and Senators in your state with your demand. We have provided a sample letter, but you can customize your message to get your point across. Please take a moment now, by clicking here, to send a message to Bush and Congress. (http://www.pephost.org/CubaAidAlert)

Cuban President Fidel Castro reiterates medical care offer to the American people in his remarks during the TV round table,September 2, 2005, 6:00 pm:
"Our country is ready to send, in the small hours of morning, 100 clinicians and specialists in Comprehensive General Medicine, who at dawn tomorrow, Saturday, could be in Houston International Airport, Texas, the closest to the region struck by the tragedy, in order to be transferred by air, sea or river to the isolated shelters, facilities and neighborhoods in the city of New Orleans, where the population and families are that require emergency medical care or first aid.

"These Cuban personnel would be carrying backpacks with 24 kilograms of medications, known to be essential in such situations to save lives, as well as basic diagnosis kits. They would be prepared to work alone or in groups of two or more, depending on the circumstances, for as long as necessary.

"Likewise, Cuba is ready to send via Houston, or any other airport of your choosing, 500 additional specialists in Comprehensive General Medicine, with the same equipment, who could be at their destination point at noon or in the afternoon of tomorrow, Saturday, September 3rd.

"A third group of 500 specialists in Comprehensive General Medicine could be arriving in the morning of Sunday, September 4. Thus, the 1100 said medical doctors, with the resources described tantamount to 26.4 tons of medications and diagnosis kits, would be caring for the neediest persons in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

"These medical doctors have the necessary international experience and elementary knowledge of the English language that would allow them to communicate with thepatients.
"We stand ready waiting for the US authorities' response."

Send your letter to Bush & Congress!(http://www.pephost.org/CubaAidAlert)
Please circulate widely. Ask your friends and family to send a letter too!

FREE: Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

2005-09-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

News for Teachers!
Make Use of the (FREE) Federal Resources for Educational Excellence Website

The Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) web site (http://www.ed.gov/free/index.html) makes it easy to find teaching resources on federal government Web sites.

The site was developed with the cooperation of more than 35 federal agencies and is updated each week with new materials and highlights.
FREE offers quick access to more than 1,500 resources in the arts, sciences, history and other subjects from the Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian, NASA, the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.

Here's a sample of what you'll find at FREE.

Constitution Resources -- Resources for teaching and learning about the U.S. Constitution. View high-resolution images of the Constitution from the National Archives, read the biographies of the founding fathers and much more (http://www.ed.gov/free/constitution/index.html).
Born in Slavery -- 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery with 500 photos of former slaves (http://memory.locgov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html).

Our Documents -- 100 milestone documents in U.S. history, including speeches, treaties, Supreme Court cases, patent designs and Constitutional amendments (http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/cfapps/free/displaysearch.cfm?searchword=%22our+documents%22).

Nationalatlas.gov -- Make a map of your state or community by selecting features to display: cities, roads, rivers, population, crops or water quality. Find an aerial photo of your neighborhood (http://nationalatlas.gov/).
Explore Themes in American Art -- 10 genres of American art: landscapes, portraits and more (http://www.nga.gov/education/american/aasplash.htm).

Exploring Earth -- 100 animations and images illuminating key concepts in earth science, including coal formation, nuclear fission and hurricanes
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/navigation/visualization.cfm

Mathematics Across the Curriculum -- Materials for teaching math in art, history, literature and music, as well as science, engineering and other disciplines traditionally associated with math (http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~matc/eBookshelf/index.html).

More information about the U.S. Department of Education's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is available at our web site: http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/about/informationhtml.

Help Students Apply to City At Peace

2005-09-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

City at Peace!

Looking for youth who want to...
use their voices and ideas to make change
become leaders and meet other teens
learn how to communicate more effectively

Apply to City at Peace!

City at Peace is a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding, conflict resolution, positive community change and prevention of violence and self-destructive behaviors using the performing arts. Now in its tenth year, City at Peace provides an outlet for self-directed young people who are interested in engaging deeply around issues that affect their lives. We seek teenagers who are interested in using their ideas and creativity to promote community change and welcome young people with backgrounds in community service, arts, activism, student government, conflict resolution and peer mediation as well as young people who are still finding their places. More information about our program can be found at www.cityatpeacedc.org.

In our most recent independent evaluation, 88% of participants reported that City at Peace improved their leadership skills, 51% of participants reported that City at Peace improved their abilities to solve conflicts and 87% of participants had an increased drive to make a difference in their community. The average participant’s GPA rose by .15 during participation in the program. Young people learn how to collaborate intensively in diverse groups, solve problems, deal with interpersonal issues and group conflict, and clearly explain their ideas, gaining teamwork, communication, and expressive skills in the process. Participants are also challenged to question their assumptions about other groups, share their cultures, and act as peacemakers within their communities. Our new weekly tutoring program will allow participants to receive academic assistance if they need it, and will also provide an opportunity for other teens to engage in teen-to-teen academic support work. Many of our participants win community service awards because of their intensive and meaningful work.

What will you have to do?

Our application process is non-competitive and fun! You will write about
your life and interests, participate in improvisation exercises, learn a
short dance routine, and sing. Come dressed to move. We are looking for
teenagers ages 13-19 who are leaders or who want to become leaders.
You should be willing to try out new things, interested in learning, and
excited about promoting positive community change. You must be
willing to work with us almost every Wednesday and Saturday for the
entire school year.

What is City at Peace?

City at Peace teaches young people how to resolve conflicts, prevent
interpersonal and self-directed violence, and promote intercultural
understanding using the performing arts. Participants receive intensive
leadership development, communication and performance training. The
program is free, challenging, and full of interesting, dedicated teens. If
you have something to say to the world, this is the place for you.

When: Saturday, September 17th, 1pm
THIS IS THE FINAL 2005 APPLICATION SESSION!
Where:1328 Florida Avenue NW, Washington DC
4 blocks from the Metro…
Second floor, first door on the left.
The offices are between the intersection of 13th & 14th Streets, NW.
Call us or check out our website www.cityatpeacedc.org for directions.

From the Metro: Take the Green Line to U Street – Cardozo. Exit on the
13th Street side. Walk several feet forward to the intersection of 13th Street
and U Street. Walk up 13th Street – the letter streets you pass should be
going up (V, W). Walk up 3 blocks to Florida Avenue. Go left.

Participants had these things to say upon program completion:
“I liked learning from a tight, diverse community of people my age.”
“I have learned to accept me for me.”
“I don’t think it’s so hard anymore to stand up for what I believe in.”
“Within my school I make my voice heard because now I know how.”
“I’ve gotten to see how my art can be used in a way that really moves people to make change.”

Interested young people must come to our final application session on Saturday, September 17th at 1pm. Applicants are judged based on their willingness to try new things, their interest in engaging deeply with people who are very different from themselves, their dedication to promoting violence prevention in the DC area, and their ability to seriously commit to participating in the program for an entire school year. They must be between 13-19 years old and willing to meet every Wednesday evening and Saturday.

The application session will take place at the City at Peace offices at 1328 Florida Avenue NW. Our offices are Metro and disability accessible

Thank you very much for your time and for sharing our information with your teens!
Please contact us at 202-319-2200 / ekugler@cityatpeacedc.org

SCHOOLING THE EVACUATED CHILDREN

2005-09-03T04:45:00.000-07:00

Houston-Area Schools to Enroll Evacuated New Orleans Children
By Christina A. Samuels

In buses and in cars, by the dozens and by the hundreds, the students left homeless by Hurricane Katrina’s devastation are arriving in Houston.

When Texas officials announced Aug. 31 that the state would provide a haven for Louisiana residents in the 45,000-seat Astrodome, emergency coordinators thought they might have to absorb 5,000 children into Houston-area schools. Then, the count rose to 8,000.

“Today, we just don’t know,” John E. Sawyer, the superintendent of the Harris County Department of Education, said Sept. 1. The department is coordinating the efforts of the 26 independent school districts in the Houston area, all of which may see students from the storm-damaged regions, at a cost that is still unknown.

The Astrodome will house the New Orleans residents who rode out the hurricane in that city’s Super-dome.
Even before the New Orleans evacuees arrived, Houston-area school districts were seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina. A spokesman for the 55,000-student Aldine district said a teacher rounded up 10 children from her neighborhood who had fled the storm before it hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

In the 12,000-student North Forest district, in northeast Harris County, 650 out-of-town students showed up to register the day the Texas education commissioner made her announcement, Mr. Sawyer said.
And the day after the announcement, a group of teenagers and children in a school bus they had apparently commandeered showed up ahead of the rest of the Superdome refugees, seeking shelter. The passengers on the renegade bus were accepted into the Astrodome, according to news reports.
Able to Help

The students will be accepted for enrollment under the federal law governing the education of homeless children, which waives residency requirements. Districts have set aside policies such as those requiring full immunization records or setting specific pupil-teacher ratios. Teachers who retired within the past several years have been called and pressed into service, said Gayle Fallon, the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers.

Authorities first thought they might hold classes for the evacuees in the Astrodome itself, Mr. Sawyer said. Now, it appears likely that after a short period in the stadium, the Louisiana residents will be moved to smaller shelters around the city and children will enroll in nearby schools.

Most of the evacuated students will be absorbed into the Houston district, the state’s largest, with an enrollment of about 209,000.

“We have the resources to do it,” said Terry Abbott, the spokesman for the Houston district. “We feel like we’re really going to be able to help these kids.”

How Schools Have Dealt With Natural Disasters

2005-09-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

A Look Back at How Schools Have Dealt With Natural Disasters
By Erik W. Robelen

Here are examples of the impact on schools from previous hurricanes and other natural disasters.

2004: HURRICANE CHARLEY
Areas Hit: Florida, South Carolina

Last year was a bad one for hurricanes, with Florida suffering four, including Charley. The storm caused 10 American deaths and caused an estimated $15 billion in damages, making it the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

Most Florida districts lost only a few days of class time, but some systems were closed for a total of nearly three full weeks of classes. Gov. Jeb Bush signed a series of executive orders allowing schools flexibility on the required 180-day school schedule, teacher contracts, and other state laws. Districts also asked for leniency in other areas, including state testing and accountability requirements. The state granted some extensions for the testing. Some districts asked that they not be rated under the state accountability program in 2004. The state responded by creating a “hurricane grade appeal” process, in addition to the normal appeals process, for schools that met certain criteria. A successful appeal would require, among other criteria, that the district show that the hurricanes directly contributed to a lower school rating.

1999: HURRICANE FLOYD
Areas Hit: Much of the East Coast, starting in North Carolina

Floyd took a heavy toll, with 56 U.S. deaths and damages of $5.8 billion, but it may be memorable to some educators as an example of overreaction.
More than 2 million students missed school because of closures for at least part of the week of the September storm, which was especially notable for its heavy rains, leading to flash floods. But a few days later, some school leaders debated whether it had been right to shut their doors so early, since many areas did not see any serious problems. Still, some places, such as North Carolina and New Jersey, suffered substantial flooding.

1994: NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE
Areas Hit: Southern California

The costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, causing damages estimated at some $50 billion, wasn’t a hurricane, but the earthquake that hit Southern California on Jan. 17, 1994. The earthquake measured 6.6 on the Richter scale and caused 57 deaths.

It also hit area school systems hard, with schools in 43 California districts damaged.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District, early estimates suggested half of schools were harmed, at a cost of $700 million in 1994 dollars. Classes there resumed after being closed six days. But some repairs were slow in coming. Three years later, major renovations at one Los Angeles high school, for example, were on hold pending negotiations between local and federal officials. Among the points of dispute were whether to rebuild the school’s gymnasium or simply fix it.

1992: HURRICANE ANDREW
Areas Hit: Florida, Louisiana

The costliest hurricane in U.S. history, Andrew caused damages of $43.7 billion and led to 23 U.S. deaths. It was rated a Category 5 hurricane, the most severe.

Nearly all of the 287 schools in the Miami-Dade County, Fla., district sustained some damage. The public school system opened schools two weeks late. U.S. Army, Navy, and National Guard troops, as well as district personnel, helped with repairs. Ten schools were deemed too badly damaged to open. Their students were reassigned to other schools. Some 3,000 students enrolled in nearby Broward County schools. In Louisiana, schools opened as much as 11 days late.

1989: HURRICANE HUGO
Areas Hit: U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, North Carolina

Hugo caused 21 deaths on the U.S. mainland, plus five in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. damages were estimated at $12.3 billion.
The hurricane caused tens of millions of dollars of damage to hundreds of schools in the Carolinas, and forced more than 200,000 students to miss some school days. In Charleston, S.C., alone, school damage was estimated at $50 million in 1989 dollars.

Disaster assistance to schools was poor, a federal study found two years later. Districts affected, as well as California districts affected by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, received disaster aid late or not at all because of a lack of coordination by federal and state agencies, the U.S. General Accounting Office concluded in a 1991 report.

1969: HURRICANE CAMILLE
Areas Hit: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio

Camille, a Category 5 hurricane, was the strongest hurricane to directly strike the United States in the 20th century. It caused 256 U.S. deaths and $8.9 billion in damage, much of it in the Gulf Coast regions hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Camille has the unusual distinction of getting caught up in the debate over the desegregation of Southern schools. The New York Times reported in August of 1969 on disagreements within the federal government over whether 16 segregated school districts in Mississippi should get money to repair and rebuild facilities.

Note: All damage estimates are in inflation-adjusted dollars, except where otherwise noted.
SOURCES: National Hurricane Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Southern California Earthquake Center, University of Southern California; Education Week
Web Only

Katrina's Victims Were Largely Black and Poor

2005-09-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy

By David Gonzales

The scenes of floating corpses, scavengers fighting forfood and desperate throngs seeking any way out of NewOrleans have been tragic enough. But for many African-American leaders, there is a growing outrage that manyof those still stuck at the center of this tragedy werepeople who for generations had been pushed to themargins of society.

The victims, they note, were largely black and poor,those who toiled in the background of the touristhavens, living in tumbledown neighborhoods that werelong known to be vulnerable to disaster if the leveesfailed. Without so much as a car or bus fare to escapeahead of time, they found themselves left behind by afailure to plan for their rescue should the dreaded dayever arrive.

"If you know that terror is approaching in terms ofhurricanes, and you've already seen the damage they'vedone in Florida and elsewhere, what in God's name wereyou thinking?" said the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, pastorof Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. "I think a lotof it has to do with race and class. The people affectedwere largely poor people. Poor, black people."

In the days since neighborhoods and towns along the GulfCoast were wiped out by the winds and water, there hasbeen a growing sense that race and class are theunspoken markers of who got out and who got stuck. Justas in developing countries where the failures of ruraldevelopment policies become glaringly clear at times ofnatural disasters like floods or drought, many nationalleaders said, some of the United States' poorest citieshave been left vulnerable by federal policies.

"No one would have checked on a lot of the black peoplein these parishes while the sun shined," said MayorMilton D. Tutwiler of Winstonville, Miss. "So am Isurprised that no one has come to help us now? No."

The subject is roiling black-oriented Web sites andmessage boards, and many black officials say it is aprime subject of conversation around the country. SomeAfrican-Americans have described the devastation wroughtby Hurricane Katrina as "our tsunami," while noting thatthere has yet to be a response equal to that whichfollowed the Asian tragedy. Roosevelt F. Dorn, the mayor of Inglewood, Calif., andthe president of the National Association of BlackMayors, said relief and rescue officials needed to actfaster.

"I have a list of black mayors in Mississippi andAlabama who are crying out for help," Mr. Dorn said."Their cities are gone and they are in despair. And noone has answered their cries." The Rev. Jesse Jackson said cities had been dismissed bythe Bush administration because Mr. Bush received fewurban votes.

"Many black people feel that their race, their propertyconditions and their voting patterns have been a factorin the response," Mr. Jackson said, after meeting withLouisiana officials yesterday. "I'm not saying thatmyself, but what's self-evident is that you have manypoor people without a way out."

In New Orleans, the disaster's impact underscores theintersection of race and class in a city where fullytwo-thirds of its residents are black and more than aquarter of the city lives in poverty. In the Lower NinthWard neighborhood, which was inundated by thefloodwaters, more than 98 percent of the residents areblack and more than a third live in poverty. Spencer R. Crew, president and chief executive officerof the national Underground Railroad Freedom Center inCincinnati, said the aftermath of the hurricane wouldforce people to confront inequality.

"Most cities have a hidden or not always talked aboutpoor population, black and white, and most of the timewe look past them," Dr. Crew said. "This is a moment intime when we can't look past them. Their plight iscoming to the forefront now. They were the ones lessable to hop in a car and less able to drive off." That disparity has been criticized as a "disgrace" byCharles B. Rangel, the senior Democratic congressmanfrom New York City, who said it was made all the worseby the failure of government officials to have planned.

"I assume the president's going to say he got badintelligence, Mr. Rangel said, adding that the danger tothe levees was clear. "I think that wherever you see poverty, whether it's inthe white rural community or the black urban community,you see that the resources have been sucked up into thewar and tax cuts for the rich," he said. Outside Brooklyn Law School yesterday, a man sellingrecordings of famous African-Americans was upset at thefailure to have prepared for the worst. The man, whosaid his name was Muhammad Ali, drew a damningconclusion about the failure to protect New Orleans. "Blacks ain't worth it," he said. "New Orleans is ahopeless case."

Among the messages and essays circulating in cyberspacethat lament the lost lives and missed opportunities isone by Mark Naison, a white professor of African-American Studies at Fordham University in the Bronx.

"Is this what the pioneers of the civil rights movementfought to achieve, a society where many black people areas trapped and isolated by their poverty as they were bysegregation laws?" Mr. Naison wrote. "If Sept. 11 showedthe power of a nation united in response to adevastating attack, Hurricane Katrina reveals the faultlines of a region and a nation, rent by profound socialdivisions."

That sentiment was shared by members of other minoritygroups who understand the bizarre equality of poverty. "We tend to think of natural disasters as somehow even-handed, as somehow random," said Martín Espada, anEnglish professor at the University of Massachusetts andpoet of a decidedly leftist political bent who is PuertoRican. "Yet it has always been thus: poor people are indanger. That is what it means to be poor. It's dangerousto be poor. It's dangerous to be black. It's dangerousto be Latino."

This Sunday there will be prayers. In pews from the GulfCoast to the Northeast, the faithful will come togetherand pray for those who lived and those who died. Theywill seek to understand something that has yet to befully comprehended. Some may talk of a divine hand behind all of this. Butothers have already noted the absence of a human one.

"Everything is God's will," said Charles Steele Jr., thepresident of the Southern Christian LeadershipConference in Atlanta. "But there's a certain amount of common sense that God gives to individuals to prepare for certain things." That means, Mr. Steele said, not waiting until the eve of crisis. "Most of the people that live in the neighborhoods that were most vulnerable are black and poor," he said. "Soit comes down to a lack of sensitivity on the part of people in Washington that you need to help poor folks.It's as simple as that."

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02discrim.html

Contributing reporting from New York for this articlewere Andy Newman, William Yardley, Jonathan P. Hicks,Patrick D. Healy, Diane Cardwell, Anemona Hartocollis,Ronald Smothers, Jeff Leeds, Manny Fernandez and ColinMoynihan. Also contributing were Michael Cooper inAlbany, Gretchen Ruethling in Chicago, Brenda Goodman inAtlanta and Carolyn Marshall in San Francisco.

"Strengthening Title I to Help High Poverty Schools."

2005-09-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Drawing on data from five large school districts, this report reveals that the nation's main program for educating the disadvantaged, Title I, is hampered by loopholes that prevent it from fulfilling its mission.

The study found that despite Title I language requiring that aid reach schools in impoverished neighborhoods, in practice the grant flows into district funding systems favoring the rich. The new research documents how current rules allow the federal funds intended for low-income schools to be shifted -- sometimes inadvertently -- to affluent schools within the same district. This stems from a practice that was scrutinized by lead author, Marguerite Roza, a research assistant professor at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs, and her colleagues at the Center on Reinventing Public Education. In almost every school district, experienced teachers are not only far better-paid than novice teachers, but they are far more likely to work in wealthier parts of town. However, district accounting practices typically fail to show this hidden subsidy for affluent students. Instead, most districts count costs as if salaries were the same in every school. This means poor children often get shortchanged.

"This study," Roza said, "is an opportunity to show how the core principles of Title I can be rescued." The findings led to two basic recommendations for how to strengthen Title I to better serve disadvantaged children: 1. Require districts to account for salary differences between schools. Districts are currently allowed to average the salaries.2. Require districts to provide equitable resources, in actual dollars, to each school before Title I funds are brought to bear.These reforms would not only improve the distribution of the $13 billion annually spent on Title I, but also would start to leverage a more fair and effective distribution of the rest of the nation's $455 billion in annual school spending.

For more information, contact Roza at (206) 612-0810 (cell) or margroza@u.washington.edu. The Center on Reinventing Public Education can be reached at (206) 685-2214 or www.crpe.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Legal challenges could force districts to change practices that under-fund schools serving poor and minority childrenA new working paper from two Center on Reinventing Public Education legal analysts examines the legal bases for complaints against unequal spending, including the education and equal protection clauses of state constitutions and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

This paper, Addressing Funding Inequities Within Districts, builds from recent research into school district spending practices that shows that schools serving poor children often do not receive equitable funding. These sub-district resource disparities raise serious questions about the legality and fundamental fairness of district allocation practices.Borrowing principles from inter-district finance equity litigation the authors, Kelly Warner-King, J.D. and Veronica Smith-Casem, J.D., show that legal challenges based on state constitutional education clauses and equal protection law have the potential to force districts to change their budgeting practices by enforcing the rights of students to equal resources and educational opportunities.To read the full report, please visit www.crpe.org.

For more research on district spending practices, please see two recent CRPE working papers by Marguerite Roza, PhD., also available on our website: Strengthening Title I To Help High-Poverty Schools: How Title I Funds Fit Into District Allocation Patterns and Many a Slip `Tween Cup and Lip: District Fiscal Practices and Their Effect on School Spending

The full report is at www.crpe.org.

Nominate An Outstanding Special Education Teacher

2005-09-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Council for Exceptional Children
“The Voice and Vision of Special Education”

Nominate a Teacher for Disney's American Teacher Awards

Nominate an outstanding special education teacher for Disney's American Teacher Awards. Honorees receive $10,000, funds for their school, professional development, a black-tie gala, and participation in other award events. Special and gifted education teachers are included in a special category.

You can nominate a teacher (or yourself) by going to www.DisneyHand.com or calling 1-877-282-8322. It only takes a couple of minutes and nominations are anonymous.

The deadline for nominations is Oct. 15, 2005.
CEC has many exemplary teachers. Let’s help them be recognized for their achievements!
CEC is a member of the Selection Committee for the Disney American Teacher Awards. We are proud to contribute to this program that recognizes and promotes excellence in teaching.

1110 N. Glebe Rd, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201-5704 (P) 800.224.6830 (TTY) 866.915.5000 (F) 703.715.8412 www.cec.sped.org

Working Families Are Devastated by Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

PLEASE HELP!

No drinking water. No food. No electricity. No homes to return to. No workplaces to go back to. No schools for the children.

Most of us cannot imagine the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane left behind massive, unprecedented and enduring needs. Immediate needs for rescue, safe drinking water, shelter and food are staggering. The longer-term needs—help for working families whose livelihoods were washed away, for the injured and for survivors—are hard to imagine.

Those of us fortunate to be outside the hurricane's path must help—and we must help now. The AFL-CIO's Union Community Fund has established a special Hurricane Relief Fund that will target help where it's needed most by working families. We are working with the labor federations in affected states and with relief organizations to make sure your contributions help brother and sister union members whose lives have been turned upside down. Please click on the link below to makeyour tax-deductible contribution now:
https://secure.ga3.org/08/UCF_Katrina_Relief

Please give, and please give generously. We must match this human disaster with our compassion, and match our caring with contributions that will make a difference for traumatized working families now and during the long rebuilding process.

Caring about each other is what marks us as union members and working family activists. Let’s put our values to work right now.

As an activist for working families, you take actions every day to help improve the living standards of working people like yourself. This is a moment when your commitment is put to the test. Will you respond by opening your heart AND your wallet? Please click on the link below to send your tax-deductible contribution to this hurricane relief fund for working families:

Please act now. And forward the link bleow to urge others you know to contribute as well:
https://secure.ga3.org/08/UFC_Katrina_Relief

Thank you for doing your part for working families during this national tragedy.
In solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIOSept. 1, 2005

P.S. Please forward this e-mail to your co-workers, friends and family.
The Union Community Fund—labor’s charity for working families and communities in distress—is nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity.

Donations to the Union Community Fund are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

How DC Teachers Can Take Immediate Action to Help Katrina Victims

2005-09-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

There are over 4,800 DC teachers living in Maryland, Virginia and DC. We must begin to raise our voices in the name of social justice.

THE DC TEACHER and ACORN are asking all DC teachers to call their members of Congress and ask them to pressure the Administration and FEMA to save the people at the Superdome.

Thousands of New Orleans residents at the Superdome are stranded and without water. According to many news reports, people are dying from dehydration while 82 buses sit outside the Superdome. There are confusing reports about why they are not evacuating people.

We know for certain that there are ACORN members and their families in the Superdome. They need water. We do not know why FEMA is not bringing water. We also heard there was water available at the Ritz Carlton Hotel nearby, but we can't enter the city or reach folks there.

Please call your Members of Congress and ask them to pressure the Administration and FEMA to save the people at the Superdome. You can call toll-free 1-800-643-9557 and ask to speak to your representative.

Your immediate action right now can save lives.

"TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED"

2005-09-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

An urgent call to action for Katrina victims!

All of us are horrified by the recent events in natural disasters in Louisiana and Mississippi. In an effort to show our support for our brothers and sisters, a group of us are co-sponsoring an emergency fundraiser. We are also urging our community to raise our voices in advocacy of fairness and equality in the relief effort.
Temple Law Offices and HR 57 Center for the Preservation and Conservation of Jazz and Blues have initiated efforts to host this event on Monday night, September 5, 2005 from 6:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. at HR 57, 1610 14th St. NW. Visit Jazz @ HR57.org. (Very casual attire). We need your help to get the word out given the shortness of time to publicize this event.

Our main objective is to provide needed help!!! The urgency of the situation requires our urgent response!! While the crisis at hand transcends race, many poor black people are seriously victimized. We who can must ensure equality and the delivery of immediate services. We can ill afford to sit around and celebrate Labor Day while the poorest among us suffer.

Almost like a nightmare, New Orleans has become American's Haiti and a double standard seems to be evolving relative to the response given to the many innocent victims there.

Please support this cause and even consider doing your own event.
BOTTOM LINE: Our goal is to raise $100,000. Checks may be made out to:
BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM (Tom Joyner's effort to support housing for displaced familes)
AMERICAN RED CROSS W/REQUESTS FOR DESIGNATIONS TO AFFECTED AREAS.
(Indicate on check)

We will collect checks and forward them directly to relief efforts. If you are unable to attend please send checks attention Temple Law at 1229 15th Street, NW. Washington DC. 20005.

We are also urging those who can to adopt a family in crisis. Small contributions will go a long way. Organizations and friends, as well as Mayors and Congressmen from Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, can assist in identifying families in crisis, especially in the less popular yet highly victimized communities. Money, clothing, and spiritual and moral support will go a long way. Prayer works.

Co-hosts for Monday's event include: Ms. Africa International, The Booker T. Washington Foundation, Inc., Gilda Ali, Daryl Avery, George Banks, Johnny Barnes, Johnny Bonds, Everett Bellamy, Marsha and Thomas Blanton, Tanya Calloway, Celeste Johnson, Dr. Valda Crowder, Mark Dickson, Jean Durr, Carole Dyson, Flow Insider (Al Flow), Roger and Linda Glass, HR 57, Cedrick Hendricks, Tahira Hughes, Phines Jones, Levis Port Café, Courtenay Miller, Iris Mc-Cullum Green, Carla Labat, Billy Martin, Charlie Partridge, Ike Robinson, S&H Consulting, Sheryl Scruggs, Donald Temple, Elena Temple, John Walker Turner, Marvin Turner, Ubiquity Alumni, E. Diane White, WYZ Girls Entertainment, and Christian Anderson-Young.
In closing, we find ourselves in crisis once again dependent on others for basic and fundamental needs. If they don't provide aid, then many of those in need will go without because we haven't done with our resources and blessings what we need to do. Where are the institutionalized African-American centered relief efforts ? We simply can not wait for disasters to define our responses.

This call for action is directed to the all, but especially to the the leadership of trade associations, churches, fraternities and sororities, civil rights groups, colleges and universities, and community based organizations. They must mobilize their members to collectively and collaboratively raise monies and direct them to those who are in the greatest need. Now is the time!

As the Reverend Al Sharpton said, "The best of us can help the rest of us." Thank you in advance for your contributions and support.

Aluta Continua,
Donald M. Temple, Esq.

Budget cuts delayed New Orleans flood control work

2005-09-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

By Andy Sullivan
Washington Reuters

Bush administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements onthe levees, floodgates and pumping stations thatfailed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina'sfloodwaters, agency documents showed on Thursday.

The former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,the agency that handles the infrastructure of thenation's waterways, said the damage in New Orleansprobably would have been much less extensive hadflood-control efforts been fully funded over theyears.

"Levees would have been higher, levees would have beenbigger, there would have been other pumps put in,"said Mike Parker, a former Mississippi congressman whoheaded the engineering agency from 2001 to 2002. "I'mnot saying it would have been totally alleviated butit would have been less than the damage that we havegot now.

"Eighty percent of New Orleans was under water afterKatrina blew through with much of the flooding comingafter two levees broke. A May 2005 Corps memo saidthat funding levels for fiscal years 2005 and 2006would not be enough to pay for new construction on thelevees. Agency officials said on Thursday in aconference call that delayed work was not related tothe breakdown in the levee system and Parker toldReuters the funding problems could not be blamed onthe Bush administration alone. Parker said a projectdating to 1965 remains unfinished and that any recentprojects would not have been in place by the time thehurricane struck even if they had been fully funded."If we do stuff now it's not going to have an effecttomorrow," Parker said. "These projects are huge,they're expensive and they're not sexy." White Housespokesman Scott McClellan said the administration hadfunded flood control efforts adequately.

Tensions over funding for the New Orleans leveesemerged more than a year ago when a local officialasserted money had been diverted to pay for the Iraqwar. In early 2002, Parker told the U.S. Congress thatthe war on terrorism required spending cuts elsewherein government. Situated below sea level, New Orleansrelied on a 300-mile network of levees, floodgates andpumps to hold back the waters of the Mississippi Riverand Lake Pontchartrain.

Levees were fortified after floods in 1927 and 1965,and Congress approved another ambitious upgrade aftera 1995 flood killed six people. Since 2001, the ArmyCorps has requested $496 million for that project butthe Bush administration only budgeted $166 million,according to figures provided by the office ofLouisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio,voting record). Congress ultimately approved $250million for the project during that time period.Another project designed to shore up defenses alongLake Pontchartrain was similarly underfunded, as theadministration budgeted $22 million of the $99 millionrequested by the Corps between 2001 and 2005. Congressboosted spending on that project to $42.5 million,according to Landrieu's office. "It's clear that wedidn't do everything we could to safeguard ourselvesfrom this hurricane or from a natural disaster such asKatrina but hopefully we will learn and be moreprepared next time," said Landrieu spokesman BrianRichardson.

The levee defenses had been designed to withstand amilder Category Three hurricane and simply wereoverwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina, said senior projectmanager Al Naomi. "The design was not adequate toprotect against a storm of this nature because we werenot authorized to provide a Category Four or Fiveprotection design," he said. A study examining a possible upgrade is under way, hesaid.

How to Contact Katrina Relief Organizations

2005-09-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Links to organizations working on the crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi: Hurricane

Katrina Relief Organizations at ;
http://www.transafricaforum.org/KatrinaRelieflOrganizations.html

BlackAmericaWeb.com at http://www.blackamericaweb.com/relief/

Katrina AIDS Alliance Emergency Fund at http://www.blackamericaweb.com/relief/

DC RESPONDS TO HURRICANE DISASTER

2005-09-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

The DC Armory may be housing up to 400 families who are victims of Hurricane Katrina, reports the Community Services Agency's Kathleen McKirchy. "While we don't know details yet, here is what we are putting together from the local labor community to be ready."

1. Organize a drive at your local for the following: a. Personal Care Items: deodorant, shampoo, soap, emery boards, pre-moistened wipes, feminine care items, Kleenex, paper towelsb. Baby Care Items: disposable diapers, baby wipes, NEW baby bottles, NEW baby blankets, unopened bottled water in baby bottlesc. Child Items: coloring books, crayons, toys, books, games, NEW clothes/shoesd. General: NEW t-shirts, underwear, sweat pants, NEW canvas bags, suitcases.

2. Make a contribution to the Community Services Agency, earmarked for "hurricane relief". Send checks to 1925 K Street NW, Suite 410, DC 20006, or go to http://www.dclabor.org/index.php?display=Contribute&pid=534 to make secure on-line donations. We will use the funds directly for hurricane victims once we ascertain need.

3.Volunteer for pick-up and delivery of items, or help distribute items at the DC Armory once we know what's up: call Kathleen, Jackie or Silvia at the Community Services Agency, 202 857-3410, or email kmckirch@dclabor.org

4. Please DO NOT collect canned food at this time - there are no ways to get it anywhere nor ways to open cans and prepare food.

STAY TUNED TO http://www.dclabor.org FOR LATEST UPDATES!
SPECIAL THANKS TO TEAMSTERS LOCAL 639 WHICH HAS VOLUNTEERED ITS LOCAL UNION HALL IN DC FOR A STAGING AREA FOR COLLECTED SUPPLIES!
Labor Cares- Labor Shares!

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit the Council as the source.

Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members. JOSLYN N. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT.
Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:
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DC TEACHERS NEEDED TO HELP KATRINA HURRICANE VICTIMS!

2005-09-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

How DC Teachers Can Help Katrina Hurricane Victims: Temporary Workers Needed!
FEMA is hiring temporary workers at $15.00 an hour to help Katrina Hurricane victims by taking calls at its Hurricane Relief Center.

A job fair isBeing held today and tomorrow at the Best Western in College Park, MD. If you or anyone you know wants some TEMPORARY, FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENTWith FEMA , call 1-301-698-1070.

They need at least 400 - 450 people. (Info from radio and e-mail)

“We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

Peace and Love,
Michelle Chisley, MA Minister*Educator*Trainer

301/333-9589

7 Things You Should Know About...Blogging

2005-08-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) "7 Things You Should Know About..." series provides concise information on emerging learning practices and technologies. Each brief focuses on a single practice or technology and describes what it is, how it works, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use ELI's "7 Things You Should Know About..." briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview, either for yourself or for colleagues who are pressed for time.

Video Blogging

A videoblog, or vlog, is a Web log (blog) that primarily utilizes video rather than text or audio. Videoblogging offers a richer experience than text blogging by combining movies, sound, still images, and text. New technologies make images and video easy to produce, so anyone with a digital camera or camera-equipped cell phone and Internet access can create a vlog. Based on the popularity of blogs and podcasts, and growing access to video tools, videoblogging is likely to increase in popularity among faculty and students. The ability to easily create video segments and quickly post them online makes videoblogs a potential tool for recording lectures, special events, and so forth. Videoblogs can also be used for personal __expression and reflection. As a result, they are being incorporated into e-portfolios and presentations. The use of videoblogs for digital storytelling may be one way to encourage strong student participation in e-portfolio projects. More>>

Wikis

Wikis are Web pages that can be viewed and modified by anyone with a Web browser and Internet access. Described as a composition system, a discussion medium, and a repository, wikis support asynchronous communication and group collaboration online. Their inherent simplicity gives students direct access to their content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative activities. Their versioning capability allows them to illustrate the evolution of thought processes as students interact with a site and its contents. Wikis are also being used as e-portfolios, highlighting their utility as a tool for collection and reflection. They may be the easiest, most effective Web-based collaboration tool in any instructional portfolio. More>>

Podcasting

"Podcasting" refers to any software and hardware combination that permits automatic downloading of audio files to an MP3 player for listening at the user's convenience. Part of the appeal of podcasting is the ease with which audio content can be created, distributed, and downloaded from the Web. Barriers to adoption and costs are minimal, and the tools to implement podcasts are simple and affordable. Podcasting allows education to become more portable than ever before, giving educators another way to meet today's students where they live and learn—on the Internet and on audio players. More>>

Clickers

Interaction and engagement are often limited by class size and human dynamics (a few students may dominate the conversation while most avoid interaction). Interaction and engagement, both important learning principles, can be facilitated with clickers. Clickers can also facilitate discipline-specific discussions, small work-group cooperation, and student-student interactions. Clickers-plus well—designed questions-provide an easy-to-implement mechanism for enhancing interaction. Clicker technology enables more effective, more efficient, and more engaging education. More>>

Social Bookmarking

"7 Things You Should Know About... Social Bookmarking" addresses a community-or social-approach to identifying and organizing information on the Web. Social bookmarking involves saving bookmarks one would normally make in a Web browser to a public Web site and "tagging" them with keywords. The community-driven, keyword-based classifications, known as "folksonomies," may change how we store and find information online. More>>

Thanks to Danilo Baylen Ed.D (TL, Florida Writing Project) for disseminating this information though the National Writing Project Tech Liaisons listserve
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MARIA ANGALA, DCAWP Tech Liaison

COMPUTER FAULTED IN SCHOOL MIX-UP

2005-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Students Find Errors in Schedules

By V. Dion HaynesWashington
Post Staff WriterWednesday,
August 31, 2005; B01

A number of returning D.C. secondary school students have found mistakes in their class schedules, a situation that school officials attributed yesterday to the conversion to a new computer system.

Some students, for example, were assigned courses they already had taken or were not placed in courses they need to graduate. But officials said the problems are not as serious as last year, when hundreds of students at Eastern Senior High School in Northeast Washington were turned away on opening day because their schedules had not been completed. Eastern's principal and two other officials were fired immediately over that incident.
About 5 percent of the student schedules at the secondary level were affected by this year's glitches, said the school system's chief accountability officer, Meria J. Carstarphen.

Maria Tukeva, principal of Bell Multicultural Senior High School in Northwest Washington and assistant superintendent for senior high schools, said all the scheduling problems should be cleared up by today.
"Scheduling is real complicated at the high school level. It's the most complex jigsaw puzzle you'll encounter," Tukeva said, adding that the majority of scheduling problems involved student transfers.

Last year's class schedules at Eastern were not completed on time because administrators had trouble entering data into a computer. This year, administrators at Eastern and other high schools used a new computer system but again encountered data-entry problems.

"If you're someone who learned how to do schedules on the old system, it's a learning curve," Tukeva said. "Your speed in doing it might be affected."

At Woodson Senior High in Northeast, "some students had schedules that didn't include all the courses they wanted to take," Principal Aona Jefferson said yesterday. "Students that failed a class had to make sure they had the right class."

Nathan Saunders, vice president of the Washington Teachers' Union, said union leaders have been helping officials at a few schools try to work out the kinks.

School officials are "aggressively tackling the problem," Saunders said. "That's a difference from the past."
In correcting the problems, Carstarphen said, "We made people go back and check it not once, but twice and three times."

The new computer system, called D.C. STARS, is designed to handle a variety of data, including records on attendance and grades, which previously were compiled by hand. The system ultimately will be used to calculate graduation and dropout rates based on following a ninth-grade class over four years and determining how many of the students stayed and how many left, a method that experts say is best. Currently, the school system determines the rates based on the number of students who stay and leave during a one-year period.

Mark Roy, a community member of the school restructuring team at Eastern, said students and administrators at the school were frustrated by this year's scheduling problems.

"STARS was billed as a Lexus," Roy said. "You look at it -- this ain't nothing but a Hyundai."
Despite the glitches, school officials said they prefer the new system.

"It's easy to manipulate and it's Web-based," Jefferson said, adding that the problems can be attributed more to people's failure to enter information correctly rather than to a defect in the computer program.
"I really like STARS," Jefferson said. "We just need more practice on it."

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

DC SAT Scores Lowest In Nation

2005-08-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050830-103030-6569r.htm
By Tarron Lively
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 31, 2005

The Class of 2005 in the District had the lowest overall average SAT score in the country, while its counterparts in Maryland and Virginia remained steady in the verbal and math sections, test scores released yesterday by the College Board show.

D.C. high schools had the lowest overall average score -- 968, according to the College Board, which owns and administers the SAT. Maryland stayed steady at last year's total of 1026, while Virginia's cumulative score was 1030, up six points from last year. The national average was 1028, up two points from last year. The highest possible score is 1600.

Among the states nationally, Iowa had the highest cumulative score with 1204, followed by Illinois with 1200 and North Dakota with 1195. Georgia and South Carolina each had the lowest score of 993. The District's score of 968 was up from 965 last year. The average verbal score was 490 out of a possible 800 points, up a point from 489 last year. The average math score was 478, up from 476 the previous year.

The national average verbal score was 508, and the average math score was 520. D.C. school officials would not comment yesterday, saying they were analyzing the scores. Most local jurisdictions had not received their data from the College Board yesterday or received it too late for officials to properly review it and comment. Students in Virginia achieved the largest math increase in the country.

The average math score was 514, a five point increase from last year. The average verbal score was 516, up from 515 the previous year. "Virginia is producing students who are confident of their academic abilities and are better prepared for college," said state Superintendent Jo Lynne DeMary. "Students who 10 years ago might not have taken the SAT I or [Advanced Placement] courses are now reaching higher."

Students in Maryland held solid across the board, with its math and verbal averages unchanged from last year, at 511 in the verbal section and 515 in the math section, test scores showed. The averages for graduating black students are up since last year, officials said. The average verbal score increased four points to 434, while the math score increased three points to 426. Nearly 17 percent more black students took the SAT than last year, and black students accounted for 24 percent of students who took the test.

"We are seeing the results of our intense effort to close achievement gaps, particularly between our African-American and white students," said state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. About 1.48 million students took the SAT. The Class of 2005 earned the highest-ever marks on the math section. Though the 2-point gain from last year was modest, the latest scores are part of a 25-year trend of gradual improvement. Nevertheless, significant gaps between racial groups remain.

"These results provide further evidence that we as a nation must do more to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and the workplace," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "While I'm encouraged that the SAT results show an improvement in math scores, the data shows that we still have achievement gaps to close and reading skills to improve."

The College Board also released its first glimpse of data on the new version of the SAT, which features a writing section with an essay, and which members of the Class of 2006 began taking last spring. Those students appeared to find the new section the hardest, with average scores of 516, compared with 519 in critical reading (the new name for verbal) and 537 in math.

Officials said those scores would likely decline when the final scores for the class are released next year. Students who take the test as juniors are generally more highly motivated and do better than average.

*George Archibald contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
Copyright © 2005 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

School Security Pact Said In Error

2005-08-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

A panel of judges, citing lapses in the way the District awarded its school security contract, is ordering city officials to rebid the contract or to re-evaluate the offers submitted by the two finalists.

The D.C. Contract Appeals Board has ruled that city officials failed to follow contracting rules and disregarded information in awarding the two-year, $30.1 million contract to D.C.-based Hawk One Security Inc. That contract took effect July 1.

Among other problems, the board said that there were questions about whether Hawk One had enough management experience.

Hawk One won the contract held by Watkins Security Agency of D.C. Inc. In turn, Watkins filed a protest with the appeals board, challenging the award and citing widespread bidding improprieties. "If the contracting officer determines that Watkins should have received the award, the contract with Hawk One should be terminated and award made to Watkins," the judges wrote.

The board's ruling was handed down late Monday as students headed back to school. The decision throws into doubt which private security company will ultimately protect tens of thousands of students this school year. D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement spokeswoman Janis Bolt said yesterday the ruling would have "no immediate impact" on the current contract with Hawk One.

Miss Bolt said Hawk One will continue to provide security while contracting officials review the ruling and re-evaluate the best and final offers for the security contract. Attorneys representing Watkins were pleased with the ruling. "The board said in its ruling that the District just did not follow the rules," said Dirk Haire, an attorney for Watkins. Previously, Watkins officials have said the District steered the contract away from Watkins. The company said it was being used as a scapegoat for lapses in the city's contracting process.

Watkins held the security contract from 2003 until July. The company filed an earlier protest that criticized how the District handled the bidding process. It deposed several city officials in connection with the case. In one deposition, a Metropolitan Police Department official who oversaw the contract selection panel said she asked her superiors not to assign her the task because she lacked experience. The ruling is the latest in a string of setbacks in the District's handling of school security. The D.C. Office of the Inspector General recently found that the Metropolitan Police Department was licensing some security guards who had lied about their criminal backgrounds. Police officials have since said they are cracking down on that problem and have dismissed several security guards.

The Contract Appeals Board is currently made up of Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan D. Zischkau, Administrative Judge Warren J. Nash and Administrative Judge Matthew S. Watson, a former D.C. auditor. The board consists of a chairman and up to four members who are licensed to practice law in the District. The members must be D.C. residents who are experienced in procurement and contract law, and they are appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the D.C. Council.

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com <http://www.washingtontimes.com>

How DC Teachers Can Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

This week millions of Americans fled Hurricane Katrina. Across the South families abandoned their homes and businesses, not knowing what would be there when they returned.

Many stayed behind and suffered devastating loss and injuries -- nearly a hundred have died that we know of, and hundreds of thousands need our help.

America is at its best when we realize that we are one community -- that we're all in this together. That means that each one of us has the responsibility to do what we can to help the relief effort.
The Red Cross is a great place to start:
http://www.redcross.org

They are already moving people and resources into the region to help. Donations will provide clean water, food, and shelter for disaster victims. The Red Cross web site also has important information for victims and their relatives across the country.

Many local Red Cross chapters are organizing volunteers to travel to affected areas -- doctors and nurses to provide medical care, workers to build shelters, first responders to assist in rescue operations.
You can find your local chapter here to learn what you can do:
http://www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp

We are still learning the full story of the devastation, but there is no time to wait. Please do something now.
Thank you.

This message is from Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Helping DC Teens to Go to College

2005-08-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Helping Teens Succeed in Washington, D.C.

What is Helping Teens Succeed? What do we do?

College Transitions

Helping Teens Succeed (HTS) is a nonprofit organization solely dedicated to increasing the number of low-income students enrolling in post-secondary education. We do this by offering our College Transitions course free of charge to public and charter high schools to incorporate into their senior year curriculum. This year-long class walks students through the many complicated tasks needed to select and get into any type of higher educational institution. The class is in the school, as part of the students’ regular class schedule. The class also boosts academic skills and provides information needed to be successful in freshman year.

How the class works

When a principal decides to adopt the College Transitions class for his or her school, HTS provides books and supplies for every student and agrees to train and support the teacher and the class for a full year. The books include the Fulfilling the Dream: Going to College textbook, workbook and teacher’s manual which were specially developed by HTS for this class of low-income students who will likely be the first in their families to go to college. The school agrees to commit a teacher (usually an English teacher) for one period of the day—part of the teacher’s regular class load—and to schedule 25-30 students into the class.

HTS and the College Transitions teachers work cooperatively with other college access personnel in each school, such as counselors and DC-CAP advisers.

In the class, which is one of the students’ regularly scheduled classes, students work on the following:
· Intensive SAT prep
· Career exploration and planning
· College selection and application
· Time management and college-level study skills
· College-level reading, research and writing
· Financial aid, FAFSA and scholarship applications

One H.D. Woodson High School student said, “The book and the workbook, (Fulfilling the Dream: Going to College) truly broke down for me in depth what I needed to do complete my applications and get ready for college. That really helped me focus and be organized to get the applications sent.”

Spingarn High School principal Reginald Burke expressed his view, “This class really gives our students the support they need to make the transition to college. Lots of programs come in and offer help, but it’s often cosmetic. That’s not the case with the support Helping Teens Succeed has given our students and the teachers who are teaching the class.”

“I’m really excited about this class. I love teaching it.”
~H.D. Woodson teacher P.G’Dora Chase

Contact us:

Like more information? Feel free to contact:

Brenda N. Harvey, Director,
Helping Teens Succeed of Washington, D.C.
Phone 202-246-7357
harvey150@aol.com

Teachers Beware of Harmful Email

2005-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

VERY IMPORTANT WARNING!

Please Be Extremely Careful especially if using internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and so on. This information arrived this morning from Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point presentation "Life is beautiful. pps".

If you receive it, DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! Delete it
immediately. If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: "It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful", subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it
to you gain access to your name, e-mail and password.

This is a new virus which started to circulate onSaturday afternoon. WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING
POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS. AOL has already confirmed the severity, and
the antivirus software's are not capable of destroying it. The virus has
been created by a hacker who calls himself "life owner". PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS and PASS IT ON
IMMEDIATELY

Kweisi Mfume Announces His Rn for the Senate

2005-08-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Mfume Stressing Antiwar Stand
Senate Hopeful Seeks Contrast With Rival for Democratic Nomination
By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer

Maryland Democrat Kweisi Mfume is making a play for the antiwar vote in his bid for the U.S. Senate with a fundraising solicitation this week that calls for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and with a major speech on the issue planned for next month.

In an e-mail solicitation, Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP leader, called the fighting in Iraq "a war without justification and apparently without end" and compared it to the Vietnam War. "It's time to get out," Mfume wrote, urging a timeframe for withdrawal.

Kweisi Mfume wants to highlight differences between his and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin's positions on the Iraq war. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

"Maryland Democrat Kweisi Mfume is making a play for the antiwar vote in his bid for the U.S. Senate with a fundraising solicitation this week that calls for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and with a major speech on the issue planned for next month.','John Wagner') ;In an terview, he said that by highlighting his views on Iraq, he is trying to draw the first in a series of contrasts with Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, another candidate for the Democratic nomination. The Baltimore area lawmaker has raised far more money than Mfume and racked up more endorsements in the race to succeed Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D), who is not seeking reelection.
Cardin voted against the 2002 resolution authorizing the war but has since voted for its continued funding and has stopped short of calling for a pullout. He contends that advertising a timeline for withdrawal would put troops in danger.

"I can understand what Kweisi's doing, but I don't think there's much of a distinction here," Cardin said. "I voted against the war. . . . I have spoken out consistently that the president has mismanaged this war. We shouldn't have been there, and I've said that since day one."

Mfume argued that their differences are significant, however. Ben Cardin is a friend of mine, but on this central issue of the war in Iraq, we disagree," he said. "I think it's time to be talking about an exit strategy."
Joe Trippi, a political consultant advising Mfume, argued that there is also a contrast in emphasis.
Iraq is the featured issue on Mfume's campaign Web site. Cardin's Web site presents his views on eight issues, including homeland security. But it makes no mention of the Iraq war.

Mfume's push on Iraq comes at a time of growing criticism of the Bush administration from members of both major parties. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) recently called on President Bush to bring the troops home by the end of next year. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) is among those who have compared the situation to Vietnam.
Thomas F. Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, said Mfume appears to be trying to capitalize on the public mood to attract white liberal voters in particular. Mfume starts with a political base of black voters in Baltimore, the area he represented in Congress, a base he needs to broaden to win.
Mfume's emphasis on the war is also reminiscent of the 2004 presidential candidacy of Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who rode antiwar sentiment among primary voters to become the Democratic front-runner for a long stretch. Trippi was Dean's campaign manager for much of that period.

Mfume said that his opposition to the war is deep-rooted and that his views probably will be the centerpiece of a Sept. 12 speech reintroducing himself as a Senate candidate one year before the primary.
Cardin predicted that the war would be a much larger issue in the general election. Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who has formed an exploratory committee for the Senate race, is widely expected to be the Republican nominee.
A spokesman declined to comment on Steele's views on Iraq. "The lieutenant governor is focused on his official duties and making a decision about whether or not this race makes sense for him and his family," Dan Ronayne said.

Besides Mfume and Cardin, community activist A. Robert Kaufman of Baltimore is a candidate for the Democratic nomination. Several other Democrats are considering entering the race as early as next week.

DCPS Schools That Failed to Meet AYP

2005-08-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

The federal 'No Child Left Behind Act' (NCLB) requires the D.C. Public School System (DCPS) identify schools that have failed to meet the school system's criteria for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two consecutive years.

DCPS is required to provide studentsattending them with the opportunity to enroll in other schools that have met these academic goals, or, alternatively, provide affected students with tutorial services.

For information on why a particular school failed to meet NCLB criteria, contact its principal or visit the DCPS website at www.k12.dc.us. Here is an alphabetical list of all schools that have failed to meet under NCLB standards.

*Backus MS, 6-85171 S. Dakota Ave., NE 20017
*Brightwood ES, PK-61300 Nicholson St., NW 20011
*Bruce-Monroe ES, PK-63012 Georgia Ave., NW 20001
*Francis JHS, 7-92425 N St., NW 20037
*Gage-Eckington ES, PK-62025 3rd St., NW 20001
*Gibbs ES, PK-6500 19th St., NE 20002
*Hine JHS, 7-9335 8th St., SE 20003
*Jefferson JHS, 7-9801 7th St., SW 20024
*Ludlow-Taylor ES, PK-6659 G St., NE 20002
*MC Terrell, PK-63301 Wheeler Rd., SE 20032
*Plummer ES, PK-54601 Texas Ave., SE 20019
*Reed LC, HS-62200 Champlain St., NW 20009
*Savoy ES, PK-62400 Shannon Pl., SE 20020
*Stuart Hobson MS, 5-8410 E St., NE 20002
Aiton ES, PK-6533 48th Pl., NE 20019
Amidon ES, PK-6401 Eye St., SW 20024
Anacostia SHS, 9-121601 16th St., SE 20020
Ballou SHS, 9-123401 4th St., SE 20032
Bancroft ES, PK-51755 Newton St., NW 20010
Bell SHS, 9-123145 Hiatt Pl., NW 20010
Benning ES, PK-6100 41st St., NE 20019
Bowen ES, PK-6101 M St., SW 20024
Browne JHS, 7-9850 26th St., NE 20002
Cardozo SHS, 9-121200 Clifton St., NW 20009
Cook, JF ES, PK-630 P St., NW 20001
Cooke, HD ES, PK-6300 Bryant St., NW 20001
Coolidge SHS, 9-126315 5th St., NW 20011
Dunbar SHS, 9-121301 New Jersey Ave., NW 20001
Eastern SHS, 9-121700 East Capitol St., NE 20003
Eliot JHS, 7-91830 Constitution Ave., NE 20002
Emery ES, HS-61720 1st St., NE 20002
Ferebee-Hope ES, PK-63999 8th St., SE 20032
Fletcher-Johnson EC, PK-84650 Benning Rd., SE 20019
Fletcher-Johnson EC, PK-84650 Benning Rd., SE 20019
Garfield ES, HS-62435 Alabama Ave., SE 20020
Garnet-Patterson MS, 5-82001 10th St., NW 20001
Green ES, HS-61500 Mississippi Ave., SE 20032
Harris, PR EC, PK-84600 Livingston Rd., SE 20032
Hart MS, 6-8601 Mississippi Ave., SE 20032
Houston ES, PK-61100 50th Pl., NE 20019
Johnson JHS, 7-91400 Bruce Pl., SE 20020
Kenilworth ES, PK-61300 44th St., NE 20019
Kramer MS, 6-81700 Q St., SE 20020
Lincoln MS, 6-81800 Perry St., NE 20018
M.M. Washington SHS, 9-1227 O St., NW 20001
MacFarland MS, 6-84400 Iowa Ave., NW 20011
McGogney ES, PK-63400 Wheeler Rd., SE 20032
Meyer ES, PK-52501 11th St., NW 20010
Miner ES, PK-6601 15th St., NE 20002
Moten ES, 4-61565 Morris Rd., SE 20020
Noyes ES, HS-62725 10th St., NE 20018
Powell ES, PK-51350 Upshur St., NW 20011
PR Harris EC, PK-84600 Livingston Rd., SE 20032
Raymond ES, PK-5915 Spring Rd., NW 20010
Ron Brown MS, 6-84800 Meade, NE 20019
Roosevelt SHS, 9-124301 13th St., NW 20011
Shadd ES, PK-55601 East Capitol St., SE 20019
Shaw JHS, 7-9925 Rhode Island Ave., NW 20001
Slowe ES, HS-6 1404 Jackson St., NE 20017
Sousa MS, 6-83650 Ely Pl., SE 20019
Spingarn SHS, 9-122500 Benning Rd., NE 20002
Stanton ES, HS-62701 Naylor Rd., SE 20020
Terrell, R.H. JHS, 7-9100 Pierce St., NW 20001
Thomas, PK-6650 Anacostia Ave., NE 20019
Truesdell ES, PK-6800 Ingraham St., NW 20011
Tubman ES, PK-63101 13th St., NW 20010
Tyler ES, PK-61001 G St., SE 20003
Van Ness ES, PK-61150 5th St., SE 20003Walker Jones ES, PK-6100 L St., NW 20001
Webb ES, PK-61375 Mt. Olivet Rd., NE 20020
Wilkinson ES, PK-32330 Pomeroy Rd., SE 20020
Wilson SHS, 9-123950 Chesapeake St., NW 20016
Winston EC, PK-83100 Erie St., SE 20020
Winston EC, PK-83100 Erie St., SE 20020
Woodson SHS, 9-125500 Eads St., NE 20019

*The schools identified with anasterisk symbol made their AYP targets in school-year 2004-2005. However, they must meet thesetargets two years in a row before they can be removed from the list.
PK-# is Pre-Kindergarten to grade, ES is Elementary School, MS is Middle School, JHS is Junior High School HS is High School, SHS is Senior High School

"Field Tripping" Opportunities for DC Teachers

2005-08-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC is rich with resources for teachers to expand the boundaries of their classrooms. The Smithsonian Museums offer DC teachers unlimited opportunities to create classrooms without walls. The following websites will allow teachers to see what activities ans resources are available to teachers who want to enhance standards-based lessons for their students. Allow your students to explore learning "outside of the box" (your classroom!)

WEBSITES FOR SMITHSONIAN’S AFFILIATE MUSEUMS

African American Culture Program (American History Museum)
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African American Heritage at the Smithsonian
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African American History and Culture, Anacostia Museum and Center for
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African Art Museum
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African Art Museum Conservation Department
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African Art Museum Library
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Air and Space Magazine (Air and Space Museum)
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Air and Space Museum
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Air and Space Museum Archives
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Air and Space Museum Library
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Albert Einstein Planetarium (Air and Space Museum)
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American Art Magazine (American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery)
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American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
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American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery Library
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American Art, Archives of
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American Gardens, Archives of
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American History Museum
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American History Museum Archives Center
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American History Museum Library
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American Indian Museum
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Amphibians & Reptiles (Natural History Museum)
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Anacostia Museum
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Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture Library
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AnthroNotes (Natural History Museum)
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Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives
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Anthropology Department (Natural History Museum)
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Anthropology Library
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Architectural History and Historic Preservation Division
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Archives Center, American History Museum
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Archives of American Art
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Archives of American Gardens
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Archives, Air and Space Museum
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Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Arctic Studies Center (Natural History Museum)
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Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art
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Arts and Industries Building (changing exhibitions)
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Asian art. See Freer and Sackler Galleries
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Asian Pacific American Program
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Associates, Smithsonian
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Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)

DC Teachers Can Become New Leaders for DC Schools

2005-08-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

DC Teachers are Invited to Become New Leaders for New Schools

New Leaders for New Schools -- a national nonprofit that fosters high academic achievement for every child by attracting, preparing and supporting the next generation of outstanding school leaders for our nation's urban public schools -- will release its 2006-2007 online application in September at www.nlns.org.

Today, more than 200 New Leaders will be in schools serving over 100,000 students in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, Memphis, New York City and California's Bay Area. You can join them by applying for our Principal Residency program. We are looking for candidates who have a record of success in leading adults, proven knowledge of teaching and learning, a relentless drive to lead an excellent urban school and, most importantly, an unyielding belief in the potential of all children to achieve academically at high levels.

To learn more and meet a current New Leader, join us for an information session this fall. Information session dates and locations will be posted online at www.nlns.org. This year's priority deadline to apply is November 15, 2005. If you have any questions, call or e-mail Hilary Darilek at 202.785.8894 or hdarilek@nlns.org.

Breakaway Union Leaders Outline Strategy

2005-08-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Unions that broke away from the AFL-CIO hope to rebuild the tattered labor movement by targeting workers in growing industries such as healthcare, waste management and security. "We want to identify jobs that can't be shipped overseas," Teamsters President James Hoffa said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday.

The targeted industries, which also include food service and businesses that cater to retirees, account for 30 million to 45 million workers, said Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. He said workers in these industries, which employ a large number of immigrants and minorities who do not have college degrees, aren't paid fairly for their work, Stern said."We are living through the most profound transformative economic revolution in world history as we go from a manufacturing to a service and information economy and from a local and national economy to an international economy," Stern said.

The AFL-CIO was not adapting to the new economy with its global reach, fast-growing industries in service, health care and security, the labor leaders said."The AFL-CIO is the United Nations and we're NATO," Stern said, reflecting the belief of the breakaway union leaders that the labor federation was not adapting quickly enough to the changes. It's critical for labor to organize whole sectors of the economy to avoid industries competing to see which one can pay the lowest wages, Stern said."We're talking about organizing wholesale, not retail," Stern said. "It requires a different thinking."The breakaway unions say they will have millions of dollars in annual fees they aren't paying to the AFL- CIO to use in organizing their own core industries. "The AFL-CIO was not working," Hoffa said. "We had less people in the labor movement. The numbers were going down, not up. We're more nimble and we don't have the big bloated bureaucracy."Stern said the Northwest Airlines strike was an example of what has gone wrong in the labor movement, with multiple unions not having sufficient clout to reach an agreement.

The labor leaders said the movement needs to do a better job of educating workers and consumers about the importance of boosting wages and keeping jobs in America. He also said a key to the new labor strategy is to do more organizing overseas.The labor movement is changing to a global effort because companies now have a global presence, Stern said.The Teamsters and SEIU broke away from the AFL-CIO in late July, saying the labor federation was spending too much time on politics and not enough on recruiting new members.

The United Food and Commercial Workers broke away soon after that, meaning three of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO representing more than 4 million workers were leaving the federation of more than 50 labor unions that had numbered 13 million workers.Several others, including the Laborers, Unite Here and the United Farm Workers have joined the breakaway unions in the Change to Win Coalition, but those three are still in the AFL-CIO. The Carpenters' Union, which left the AFL-CIO in 2001, has also joined the new labor coalition.Hoffa said the new labor group plans to hold a one-day convention in St. Louis on Sept. 27. The new group will focus more on organizing and less on party politics, which Hoffa and Stern say was too much at the center of the AFL-CIO operation. The new groups say they will support politicians who back labor, rather than backing one party's politicians."We are spending our money talking to workers and not Democratic politicians and hoping they'll save us," Stern said. "Workers can't wait for a magical transformation of our country." But Stern and Hoffa acknowledged they face a difficult task rebuilding labor's strength.

When the AFL-CIO formed 50 years ago, union membership was at its zenith, with one of every three private- sector workers belonging to a labor group. Now, less than 8 percent of private-sector workers are unionized. "Corporate America is incredibly strong, people are out to bury us right now," Stern said. "We're trying to climb out of a hole that took an awful long time to dig, but we're going to climb out."

On the Net: Change to Win Coalition: http://www.changetowin.orgTeamsters: http://www.teamster.org Service Employees International Union:http://www.seiu.orgAFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org

DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE TO DC TEACHERS

2005-08-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

DC TEACHERS CAN GET DISCOUNTS FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

Just a reminder to some and a notice to new teachers, you can get discounts at the following locations for supplies you might need to buy on your own for school. Be sure to bring your DCPS Teacher ID with you to qualify.

Office Depot: 5% off supplies & 10% off printing/copying services (Ask to join the Star Teacher Program)...and a FREE ream of paper when you bring in an empty Hewlett-Packard ink cartridge (at Connecticut Ave/Van Ness location, at least) - one ream per visit.

Kinko's: 20% off copying (after you make the copies, show your teacher ID at the desk)

Borders Books & Music: 20% off classroom materials

Hope this helps ease the expenditures you make for extra classroom materials.

Carey Hartin

Sprucing Up the Schools

2005-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Spruced-Up Schools Brighten Outlook Ketcham Elementary Offers Showcase for $6 Million D.C. Maintenance Effort
By Lori Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 25, 2005; B05

Principal Joyce Grimes bubbled with grateful enthusiasm as she marched through the halls of Ketcham Elementary School in Southeast Washington yesterday, pointing out new lights, gleaming floors, and walls freshly painted in ivory and yellow.

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and a horde of news photographers trailed behind her, witnesses to the $157,500 makeover.

"It all looks like this: beautiful," Grimes gushed. "Makes you want to come here and learn."
When school opens Monday morning in Washington, students at more than 100 public schools will be greeted by similarly spruced-up classrooms, thanks in large part to an extra $6 million that the mayor and D.C. Council budgeted for long-neglected maintenance projects. Across the city, walls have been plastered, lights have been replaced, restrooms have been deep cleaned and leaks have been fixed -- in some cases for the first time in years.

"We have over 700 projects implemented over the summer, touching over 100 school facilities," Cornell S. Brown Jr., director of facilities management for D.C. schools, said during a news conference at Ketcham. Not every project will be finished by Monday, he said, but everything is on track to be completed by Oct. 1.
And, yes, he said to applause, "every school will open on time next week."

In a system long plagued by aging facilities and bureaucratic bungles on opening day, this summer's performance has been encouraging, said some parents and organizations that monitor the schools.
The superintendent, Clifford B. Janey, and his team seem to be producing "more action, getting things done with greater alacrity," said Nancy Huvendick, D.C. programs director at the 21st Century School Fund. And the mayor's decision to provide extra money for the schools from the city's budget surplus this year was "crucial," said Huvendick, who has a child at Woodrow Wilson Senior High.

Darlene Allen, president of the D.C. PTA, said it would have been "exhilarating" if all the work had been completed by Monday morning. "But it is on schedule, and that's a positive thing," Allen said. "There have been extraordinary efforts to make sure some problems that have plagued us in the past have been taken care of."
Brown said the extra $6 million more than doubled his annual maintenance budget and dwarfed the approximately $800,000 the school system had to get classrooms ready last summer.

Still, many of the city's 147 public schools need major renovations. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), who has introduced a bill aimed at raising $1 billion to modernize school facilities, called the $6 million "a drop in the bucket."

"I think even the mayor will admit that the schools have been so neglected that we're really talking about peanuts in terms of making them look like we want to educate children," said Fenty, a candidate for mayor who has held news conferences recently to call attention to conditions at some public schools.
Yesterday, Williams scoffed at Fenty's comments.

"Council members pointing out things that need to be improved? That's helpful," he said sarcastically. "It's easy to get stories about what's left to be done. This is a story about what good has happened. And I think it's worthy to note."

Williams added: "I can go around and show you some hole in the roof somewhere or some bathroom that still needs to be done. You know: Details at 11."

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

Renovating Old DC Schools

2005-08-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

D.C. school renovated as it nears 100 years old
By Derrill HollyASSOCIATED PRESSPublished August 25, 2005

Some 96 years after its first students walked through the doors, a renovated John H. Ketcham Elementary School will reopen Monday to welcome 418 D.C. students for a new school year.

The D.C. Public Schools offered principal Joyce Goche-Grimes more than $160,000 for upgrades and improvements, but she chose to use the money for what she considers more than cosmetic improvements. "The building has always been clean, but it has never been as bright and well-lighted as it is today," Miss Goche-Grimes said yesterday before taking Mayor Anthony A. Williams and two members of the D.C. Council on a tour of the building and an addition built in 1971.

"This is a good, safe, bright, happy environment where children can learn," said Miss Goche-Grimes. Many of her 52 staff members have said upgrading the building's 19th-century design to 21st-century standards is expected to make a real difference. "These types of improvements have been made to many schools in the District," said Cornell Brown, a D.C. schools official.

Last year, the school system had only $850,000 for minor summer improvement projects. Work this year also included plastering, plumbing and floor repairs in more than 100 buildings. In March, the D.C. Council allocated $6 million under Mr. Williams' "Ready Schools" initiative to help cover maintenance costs not included under the school system's capital improvement budget.

"Ketcham has used its money for all the things we need to be doing on the short term while we're working on the long term," Mr. Williams said. "It's dollars well worth the spending," said D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson. The Ward 3 Democrat said the one-time allocation could be followed by a major school facilities bill later this year.

The Washington Times
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Funding and Fixing Our schools

2005-08-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Schools Make Headway on Renovations Repair Work Favored Over Construction
By Lindsay RyanWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, August 25, 2005; DZ03

A year ago, pigeon dung was piled six inches deep on parts of the floors in the vacant Nichols Avenue Elementary School, which closed down in the early 1980s. Beneath a sagging, broken roof, vines covered a dilapidated facade adorned only with shattered or boarded-up windows and doors. A grand portico with columns, a skylight on the second level and wrought iron staircases betrayed the former beauty of the turn-of-the-century building.

As the first public school for black students in Hillsdale, the 104-year-old facility had been a neighborhood focal point during its heyday, according to Jane Levey, a historian with Cultural Tourism D.C. But a year ago, it "almost looked like a haunted house," said Jennifer Hill-Flowers, 40, who has lived in Southeast Washington her entire life.

The structure at 2427 Martin Luther King Ave. SE was not alone among school buildings that had fallen into disrepair. Many D.C. public schools were constructed in the World War II era or the 1970s and are in dire need of work, said school board member Jeff Smith (District 1). Some of those built three decades ago are actually in worse condition than those from the 1940s because of shoddy construction, said Smith. During the 1990s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was in charge of D.C. public school facilities, lack of regular maintenance worsened the problem, Smith added.

Several school construction or renovation projects are either underway or in the pipeline for completion in fall 2006 or later. However, the broad focus of the D.C. Public Schools capital budget, which dropped to $147 million this year from $174.9 million last year, will shift from full-scale modernization to repair or replacement of aging electrical systems, leaky roofs, air conditioning and heating, and other building basics in the next couple of years, according to Cornell S. Brown, executive director of facilities management for the school system. "You can't build new schools in two buildings when 140 buildings are in need of renovation," Brown said.

Next month, the former Nichols Avenue Elementary building is reopening -- gutted, renovated, and outfitted with state-of-the-art classrooms -- as the new home of Thurgood Marshall Academy, a charter high school launched in 2001. Hill-Flowers, whose two daughters attend the school, watched the metamorphosis of the vacant building with pleasure as she drove by every morning on the way to work. And as she enters her senior year, Britnee Flowers, 16, is excited to move to a school she can call her own after several years in a church annex where the cafeteria flooded inches deep during hard rains, soaking her books.

"It was just a really grim-looking building," Hill-Flowers said. "It looks brighter over there already."
Thurgood Marshall is one of a handful of charter schools and traditional public schools reopening in new or revamped facilities during this school year.

None of the newly renovated traditional public school buildings will be completely ready this fall. An addition at Brightwood Elementary in Northwest will open even as the old part remains under renovation. A new building for Bell Multicultural Senior High and Lincoln Middle in Northwest and an enlarged, renovated facility for Thomson Elementary in Northwest are expected to open in the second half of the year, school system officials said.

Last March, the D.C. Board of Education approved Superintendent Clifford B. Janey's plan to scale back major renovations in favor of more modest repairs. Janey developed the new proposal in response to city officials' decision to cut funding by tens of millions of dollars over the next few years.

"Too much has been spent on too few projects for too long," and delays have led to high maintenance costs on old facilities even as their replacements are being built, said Jordan Spooner, deputy director of the 21st Century School Fund, an organization dedicated to improving urban public school facilities. Spooner expressed optimism about the current plan for public schools.

But others were not entirely pleased with the change. "We are disappointed that we can't go through with these wonderful plans that had a lot of community buy-in," said Amy Friend, a parent of two public school students, who worked for years on a proposal to modernize Alice Deal Junior High School. Friend said that she understood the choices D.C. Public Schools made, given the budget constraints, but that without more money from the city council, students and teachers who are "desperately in need of new facilities" are forced to make difficult choices about which parts of the modernization they can manage to salvage.

Under Janey's plan, full-scale renovation work will be confined to seven senior high schools: Anacostia, Cardozo, Coolidge, Roosevelt, School Without Walls, Wilson and H.D. Woodson.

"Our high schools are pretty spread throughout the [city], and they are what a lot of people relate to the school system through," Smith said. "Everyone knows their neighborhood high school," and the whole community sees any improvements that are made there, he said.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

DCPS Full Funding Campaign Continues

2005-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Council, Schools Explore Funding
By D'Vera Cohn Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 25, 2005; DZ03

Seeking to improve their often-contentious relationship, D.C. Council members and school officials are working together on efforts to find new funding sources, improve facilities and streamline the budgeting process. The council added more money to the school system's capital budget this spring, and members promise more is to come.

Approving a proposal that originated with Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), the council allocated $12.2 million in debt service to finance more than $100 million for school construction. The money, which is likely to be available next spring, will go for school construction projects that the school system deems high priority, including those related to special education and vocational education.

That is only a down payment on what the school system needs if it is to upgrade its aging buildings. D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi told the council last month that $2.8 billion is needed to modernize 130 schools but that the D.C. capital improvement plan assumes funding of $640 million through 2011.
Some of the city's 147 schools have not had a basic paint job in more than a decade, and others need more fundamental improvements. The council's Committee on Finance and Revenue approved a bill last month that would infuse $1 billion into the school system's capital construction budget beginning in fiscal 2007 by selling bonds backed by proceeds from the D.C. Lottery, even though some oppose using lottery revenues for that purpose.

The legislation was sponsored by D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4). But the council members who chair the finance and education committees, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), respectively, say that lottery money already is set aside for other uses and that another source of funding must be found.

"My view is that the lottery funding is a good source of funding, but I'm certainly open to another one," said Fenty, who is running for mayor in 2006. "My ultimate goal is to fix the schools."

Patterson said she hopes to meld some features of Fenty's bill into a broader piece of legislation that she will introduce in the fall, which would include an as-yet-unnamed dedicated source of money and ensure that it be spent effectively. One option, according to an Education, Libraries and Recreation Committee staff analysis, would be to give the schools a larger share of the overall city capital budget.

"The idea is to have a dedicated funding source for at least 10 years so the school system knows what its capital funding from the city will be and can plan accordingly," Patterson said. In addition, "that would help strengthen the lobbying we do on Capitol Hill" for more federal money for school repairs, Patterson said.

Gandhi told the council that "the District cannot continue to address the needs for improved school facilities on its tax base alone" and "this funding is a federal responsibility." One of his arguments is that other big cities rely on substantial funding from their states, an option not available to the District.

Patterson said she has dropped her earlier proposal to create a trust fund to finance school construction because of opposition from the D.C. Board of Education, which wants to expand the school system's ability to manage construction rather than create a new entity to do it. Patterson said the school system has made several recent hires that show "they've made some headway" in that direction.

Patterson also has floated the idea of requiring the school system to present a three-year operating budget, so as to reduce the energy expended and friction produced by their having to propose and approve a budget each year. Some council members oppose the idea, and Patterson said it is still a "work in progress."
"We would welcome legislation designed to strengthen our work. We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at the D.C. Council," said school Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, adding that he supports the proposals aimed at providing more construction money and establishing a three-year budget.
Janey said he'd like to see the council go further.

"There needs to be some discussion about this school district becoming a truly independent school district," he said. "It would be nice to have some bonding authority. That would require us having earned the respect of public officials [that the system is fiscally responsible]

"We're not there yet, but we're heading in that direction."

Staff writer V. Dion Haynes contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company