My Stance on Education in the Western Side of the County

This post stems from a question I received on my Facebook Page.
 

"Why are the schools on the western side of the county rated the worst. Is because the board sends the worst of the worst there?"

I'm perplexed by this question.  Lackey's engineering program is highly respected.  Smallwood's and Lackey's MESA teams placed high in the county competition every year.  In fact, Lackey took first place this year.  The top place fifth grader in the county math competition was from Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy.  There are other significant achievements I could list, but i would rather you tell me why you feel the way you do.

My Stance on the School Calendar

This post stems from a question I received on my Facebook Page.

"What about how to add more snow days/inclement weather days to the school calender? When we don't have enough, we have to add days to the school year. How about adding them now and if we don't need/use them school ends sooner? Just a thought."

The state requires 180 days per school year of student instruction.  We currently have four inclement weather days (we use to have 5) built into the calendar. If they are not used, they will be deducted from the end of the school year. If you look at your school calendar for the month of June, you see the four days indicated.  We had an unusual winter by any ones standards and that harsh weather caused conditions requiring the use of more than four inclement weather days.  In my ten years on the board (if my memory serves me correctly), this is the first year, other than 2002 when we had the tornado, that these four days were not sufficient.  In 2002 we applied for a waiver and was granted the waiver of making up the additional days because 1) we had a state of emergency in Charles County, and 2) it happened at the end of April (hence after Spring Break) and there wasn't any other days to use to make it up.  (all of our snow days were used). This year, we used our four snow days at the end of the year and had to make up additional days.  Even though we applied to the state for a waiver, because we still had Spring Break days to use, we were denied.

All in all, i know its unfortunate for those planning vacations, etc but our overall goal is to educate the students.  In all future calendars, the Spring Break section of the calendar will be more clearly identified as "TENTATIVE" or "PENDING". 

My Stance on the Teaching of Creationism & Evolution

Time and time again this topic has been a political "hot button" for education campaigns.

As it relates to the public school setting, I support the teaching of evolution in science and creationism in a study of world religions or even world history involving different cultures and religions. The public school setting is a diverse community—there are devout Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, pagans, atheists and agnostics. Students, as well as staff, should be educated on and respect the varying belief systems. No one should ever be condemned, embarrassed, or bullied because of what he or she does, or does not, believe in.    I believe all of these belief systems contribute to the study of world history – wars have been fought and cultures have changed.

My Stance on Common Core Curriculum

My stance on the highly controversial "Common Core Curriculum" is not necessarily black and white because I believe there is alot of misconception. In addition, the old saying of "you can't believe everything you read on the internet holds quite true. The numerous emails. links, videos, etc., i have received against the Common Core Curriculum, cite other states, other systems, etc. We (CCPS) cannot be held accountable for the how and why the standards are implemented in other areas, or the curriculum they are teaching. Hopefully, my explanation below will help clarify. If it doesn't, I'll try again and as always I'm open to suggestions.
To start with, I was one of the board members voting "No" from the the very beginning for the Race To the Top grant back in March of 2010.  This grant obligated CCPS to proceed and implement, with the assistance of federal funding, what is now known as the "Common Core Curriculum.” 

• Official Board Minutes can be found here, https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/legacy-content/89M9Z4733A1C/$FILE/030910brdmingood.pdf
• My personal notes of this meeting can be found here, http://abell4edu.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
• Here is the link to the actual presentation in February 2010, https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public
• My notes from the above presentation, http://abell4edu.blogspot.com/2010/02/notes-from-board-of-education-meeting.html
• An additional post, http://abell4edu.blogspot.com/2010/02/race-to-top.html

With that being said, (and noting the EACC was adamantly against Race To The Top also), I was in the minority and the proposal passed, funds were received, RTTT was initiated and implementation began.  Our system became one of the "lucky" few to be guinea pigs and receive federal funding.

While I was being sarcastic with the word "lucky" above, as "luck" would have it, we later discovered,  the local school systems still retained control over the actual curriculum and implementation.  The mandates only pertain to the actual "Standards" that must be met by each student (and later teachers evaluated).  How we achieve those "Standards" is up to the individual system.  Hence CCPS has modified the curriculum, for what is best for our students to achieve those mandated standards.

The concerns about the new Common Core curriculum are not limited to Charles County – they are nationwide concerns by both parents and educators.  It is change, and change is always difficult.  We need to focus on our students achieving the standards– and with a positive attitude – to the extent that we are able…and voice all the concerns – whether about funding, resources, implementation, content, etc. to CCPS in a collaborative fashion.  

The MSTA Legislative priorities states:

“Poorly planned implementation of new curriculum, student assessments, educator evaluations, and school accountability systems are all hitting at one time. This tsunami of education reforms threaten the pillars of our world-class schools. While accountability and student achievement are important goals, we cannot let unproven and unreliable testing and evaluation systems punish our teachers and principals, unfairly label our students and schools, and usurp local school systems’ abilities to make policy decisions that work for their communities.”

All of these are valid concerns, but I want to be sure that we set an example for students, parents, and staff too – that we will approach change with an open mind and strive to succeed and meet the standards, and be positive about it.  Failure is guaranteed – for everyone – if we dig in, refuse to try, and not work collaboratively.  We MUST listen to our teachers and our administrators about the handicaps they face in trying to meet these standards.  At the same time, we MUST listen to our parents and students about their concerns and obstacles being faced with the achievement of the standards.   Working collaboratively together, altering the curriculum to the needs of our local community and working toward solutions at the local, state and national level will ensure the success we all want for our students.

In closing, as I previously stated, my answer isn't neceessarily black and white.  Am I against Common Core Curriculum.  Yes.  However, I want to make it very clear....the Common Core Curriculum is NOT what is taught in Charles County Public Schools.

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 5/13/14

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, May 13 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session – 11:30 a.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School JROTC

Recognition of 2013-14 student liaisons

Superintendent’s update

• superintendent's report May 2014.pdf (11 KB)

Correspondance/Board Member updates

• Pedersen - Safety in Schools; Resource officers presentation
• Bowie - Conference sessions on immigration, smart snacks in school, music in elementary schools; Summer Library Reading Program
• Lukas -Financial Literay Course over the summer; Conference sessions
• Wise - Elementary math challenge; AP Pep Rally at Westlake; Somers Recognition

Education Association of Charles County update

• EACC Board of Education Report May 2014.pdf (83 KB)

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees update

• Commissioners public forum, helping Lifestyles, support staff helps the teachers - hopes the newly elected board members believes as the current board does, it takes ALL to make the system work.  Steps need to be given.

Student Board Member update

• May 13 2014 SMOB report.pdf (14 KB)

 CIP update

• May 13 2014_ State CIP Project Status.pdf (281 KB)

 GWWO school survey presentation

• Board Report GWWO Item_ Presentation May 13 2014.pdf (6,142 KB)

Digital radio updateProject Graduation

• Transportation_Digital 2 Way Radio Presentation.pdf (570 KB)

Educational Facilities Master Plan

• Board Report_EFMP_FullDocument_May13 2014.pdf (4,319 KB)
• Lukas - enrollment projections done by CCPS staff; yes in conjunction with county and state officials and mandates.
• Pedersen - emphasis to state on development district on number of students per household.

Principal evaluations

 Advanced Placement test

• AP_Proposal.pdf (265 KB)
• students will pay for all AP test, which are now optional but if passing grade is received (3 or better), CCPS will reimburse full amount
• students in need of financial assistance will still be assisted

Legislative update

• HB209/SB203 - increase board salary; passed
• HB1167/SB - (couldn't get)
• HB1164/SB674 - establishes work group college and career standards
• HB265 - how to approve student achievement in middle school; come back in December
• HB198/SB779 - Burden of proof bills did not pass
• HB1181/SB1166 - Sunset Labor Relations Board
• HB812 - requires defibrillators in middle schools
• HB??? - CPR and defribillator instruction in middle schools
• HB1332 - Task Force to study sports injuries of females
• HB883 - Task Force to study Safe and Healthy School Hours

Board policies on nondiscrimination

• Board Policy Non-Discrimination.pdf (10 KB)
• add gender identity to list of items we do not discriminate against.

Unfinished business - none

New business - none
 
Future agenda items

• Lukas - Review of Policy 5126

LEFT FOR APFO COMMITTEE'S PRESENTATION AT THE COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Staff
• Resolutions: Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award – Kristin Shields, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Board policy on student discipline

Adjournment

Commissioners Get Hands Slapped By State Again! SURPRISED? NO!

Please see the letter below, received by the Board of Education today from Dr. Lever, Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction.  The county is set to lose funding for all future school construction and renovation projects, thanks to the commissioners actions...oops, no, I'm sorry, due to the commissioners INACTIONS.

Letter from Dr. Lever

Board Seeks Ethics Panel Members

**DEADLINE EXTENDED**

The Board of Education of Charles County is looking for applications from county residents interested in serving on the Charles County Board of Education Ethics Panel.

The Board will be appointing new members in July to the all-volunteer, five-member panel, which interprets ethics regulations and provides advisory opinions to Board Members and employees subject to the regulations. The panel also reviews complaints concerning any alleged ethics violation and receives and maintains all forms required to be filed under the ethics regulation. Ethics panel members meet at least once annually to review disclosure forms and as necessary to respond to inquiries.

Members of the Charles County Board of Education Ethics Panel must be eligible to vote in Charles County; and one member of the panel must be an attorney licensed to practice in the state of Maryland but who is not considered to be the Ethics Panel’s attorney.

Panel members may not be current members of the Board of Education; candidates for the Board; officials, employees, contractors or students of Charles County Public Schools; owners of or persons employed by a business entity doing business with the Board; any person registered with the Board as a lobbyist; or spouses of such persons.

 

Panel members serve four-year terms and may be reappointed. Anyone interested in serving on the panel should send a letter of interest and resume to Board Chairman Roberta Wise, Charles County Board of Education, Ethics Panel, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646, by May 2.

Shame on Eicholtz! & School APFO Committee Report Presentation, 5/13/14

This report and presentation to the commissioners will FINALLY take place (fingers crossed) tomorrow, Tuesday, 5/13/14 at 5:15 pm after much delay.  You can view the full report and briefing materials below.

Note:  I think it's ironic, no maybe that's not the word for it....WRONG!  Yep that's the word for it, that Mr. Eicholtz attended most of the committee meetings over the past year and knew exactly the recommendations the committee was going to be recommending as a means of solving the school funding issue.  The items we were putting forth would restrict these funds for school construction and renovation.  THEN, just  a week before our much delayed presentation, Mr. Eicholtz presents the county budget with a majority of the VERY SAME recommendations (according to the INDY) for solving the overall county budget with the funds being unrestricted.  After over a year of this committee working diligently to come up with solutions, Mr. Eicholtz takes our hard work and presents them as his own solutions for the overall budget.  UNRESTRICTED.  (TSK! TSK! SMH!)  Too bad his position isn't an elected position!

School APFO Briefing	School APF Committee Briefing 5-13-14.pdf (6,441 KB)
School APFO Committee Final Report	School APFO Committee Final Report 4-14-14.pdf (3,805 KB)

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 5/13/14

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 13 at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and student and staff recognition starts at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12 and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system website at www.ccboe.com. Select CCPS TV and then choose the Live Broadcast tab. The following is a tentative meeting agenda and is subject to change.

Executive session – 11:30 a.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School JROTC

Recognition of 2013-14 student liaisons

Superintendent’s update

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/Board Member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees update
• Student Board Member update
• Project Graduation
• Principal evaluations
• CIP update
• GWWO school survey presentation
• Digital radio update
• Educational Facilities Master Plan
• Advanced Placement test
• Legislative update
• Board policies on nondiscrimination

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Staff
• Resolutions: Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award – Kristin Shields, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Board policy on student discipline

Adjournment

Takes a Village Just to Watch the Commissioners

Unfortunately, just like it takes a village to raise a child...it too also takes a village to keep our local government in check.  I received a tip to take a closer look at the Commissioners April 25th agenda, specifically on the Budget Report, and even more specifically on the DRRA CashFlow Report.



If you take a close look, there is $6.4M in DRRA funds being used for the Indian Head Science and Technology Park.  Ladies and gentleman, this has NOTHING, not one iota, to do with school seats.  While it is completely under the discretion of the commissioners as to what they spend this money on, the original intent of the DRRA funds WAS for school construction.   In addition, IF i was a developer and had paid DRRA's into this fund with the impression it would be going towards school construction and now it was going towards a Science and Technology Park, I would be furious!  AND, if i was one of those home buyers who in turn had the cost of my house increased because the developer had to in turn roll the cost of that DRRA over into the cost of my home and now it was going to a Science and Technology Park, I would be furious!

THIS LADIES AND GENTLEMAN IS PART OF THE REASON WHY WE ARE IN THE PREDICAMENT WE ARE IN TODAY!!!    SPEAK UP, LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!

 

In addition, and possibly MORE importantly, it shows that they should have $13M in FY2015 of which they promised the Board of Education on more than one occasion (on camera, I may add)$10M (and may now renege on that promise). Even if they spent the $6.4M on the tech park, they should still have over $7M left to still give the Board of Education.

P.S. and what the heck is $14K in Credit Card Fees....good grief, no wonder the county is in debt!

On the campaign trail....about me

Report: Md. high school graduation rate is 84 percent

AP/ WTOP
April 28, 2014

An annual report on high school graduation says Maryland's high school graduation rate is 84 percent, slightly above the national high school graduation rate.
The "Building a Grad Nation" report released Monday shows that in 2012, the latest year for which data is available, schools nationwide posted the highest graduation rate ever. For the first time, the report says, the national high school graduation rate has hit 80 percent.
In Maryland, the 2012 graduation rate was 84 percent. That's up from 82.8 percent in 2011.
Iowa had the highest high school graduation rate, 89 percent. Nevada had the lowest, 63 percent.
Maryland did see an increase in what the report calls "dropout factories," schools where graduation is not the norm. In 2002 there were 17; in 2012 there were 26.

Using tablets to reach kids with autism

Heather Kelly
CNN
April 10, 2014

Two 5-year-old boys, one with autism, were having some friendly playtime when they had a communication breakdown. One boy didn't respond to the other and walked away. The ignored kid got frustrated and pushed over a small staircase, causing the first boy to fall.
Their speech therapist, Jordan Sadler, decided to address the issue by recreating it in an iPad app called Puppet Pals. She restaged the scenario as a movie, even taking photos of the room for the background and of the kids for the characters. Using the app to show an instant replay of the scuffle, Sadler and the kids identified what went wrong and then recreated the scene, this time making better decisions.

Creating custom stories to help kids learn communication skills or understand complex situations is just one of the ways parents, therapists and educators have taken advantage of tablets to work with kids with autism.

How do you communicate with a loved one with autism?

Tablets as tools, not miracles

When the iPad made its debut in 2010, it was hailed as something of a miracle device and there was a rush among parents of kids with autism to get the $499 gadget.

"They were throwing them at their kids expecting miracles, but it didn't happen. The reason is they are tools, not miracles," said Shannon Rosa, an author and former educational software producer who has written about using tablets with her own son, Leo, who has autism. "I think a lot of parents now are more realistic about the level of support that is needed to help kids use them."

Four years later, tablets still play a big role in the autism community. But the expectations for the technology have come down to earth a bit. Now app creators, autism educators and parents are exploring new ways of using tablets and apps to work with the 1 in 68 kids in the U.S. with autism.

They've had time to discover what works best for kids with autism when it comes to tablets. The uses vary from child to child, and often the best apps aren't even created with kids with autism in mind.

Rosa said it allows her son, now 13, to think visually, to interact with content directly without the cognitive hurdle of a mouse, and it breaks complex concepts up into more easily understandable chunks. Siri is even helping him with articulation.

The tablet has also given him more independence. Leo used to have a really hard time figuring out what to do with himself when someone didn't structure his day for him. Now he can use the iPad on his own and have a good time independently. Rosa, though, like many parents, is careful about letting her son have too much screen time.

Sadler gives iPad workshops all over the country, teaching people about the most effective ways to use the device. She tries to move parents away from using mobile devices as a reward, letting children just play games or watch YouTube videos. She encourages parents to seek out dynamic apps that can help with the core challenges of autism while also being fun.

"It's really important to learn and improve social communication skills," said Sadler. "But it has to be something that grabs them."

Read the entire article HERE.

Supreme Court reverses decision that tossed out Michigan’s ban on racial preferences

Robert Barnes and William Branigin
The Washington Post
April 22, 2014


The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan’s ban on the use of racial preferences in university admissions, reversing a lower court decision that had tossed out the prohibition.
By a 6 to 2 vote, the court concluded that neither the Constitution nor Supreme Court precedents provide authority for the courts to overturn Michigan laws that allow the voters to determine whether racial preferences may be considered in decisions such as school admissions.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote an opinion for a plurality in the case, joined by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. filed a concurring opinion, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen G. Breyer separately wrote opinions concurring in the judgment. Scalia’s was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the decision.
An appeals court had said that a Michigan constitutional amendment banning the use of racial preferences in university admissions, approved by 58 percent of the state’s voters in 2006, had restructured the political process in a way that unfairly targeted minorities.
At issue at the Supreme Court was language that says state colleges and universities “shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.”
The amendment was approved by voters after the Supreme Court, in another case from Michigan, in 2003 allowed the limited use of race as part of an “individualized, holistic review of each applicant’s file.”
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which narrowly tossed out the Michigan amendment, ruled that there was a difference between not using affirmative action and banning it in the state constitution. The latter violates the principle that minorities must be allowed to fully participate in creating laws and that “the majority may not manipulate the channels of change so as to place unique burdens on issues of importance to them,” Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. wrote.
His comparison was that while residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula may lobby decision-makers to grant preferences to their underrepresented students, minority groups would now have to change the constitution before even having a chance to advocate racial considerations because of the amendment.
The case is Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Only eight justices decided the case, because Kagan recused herself. As is customary, she gave no reason, but she may have worked on the issue while previously serving as the Obama administration’s solicitor general.
Last term, in a case challenging the University of Texas’s use of race in making some admission decisions, the court declined to revise its holding in a previous case. The justices sent the case back to a lower court for a closer look at whether the university had used all the tools at its disposal to increase racial diversity before resorting to considering race in admissions.
Read the original post HERE.

Letter to the Editor: 3 commissioners wrong on school allocations

April 9, 2014
Southern Maryland Newspapers

I’m writing in reference to the April 2 article, “Commissioners OK school seat allocations,” which states the commissioners approved the January cycle school allocations, which could potentially allow only 32 new homes. On its face, this doesn’t sound too bad, so why such an issue regarding the granting of school allocations? Besides the fact that the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance committee final report to the commissioners is delayed as the article stated, there’s other information the article didn’t discuss.
There are roughly 1,132 previously granted school allocations pending countywide for houses that haven’t yet materialized, representing approximately 546 new students. Developers are sitting on these pending school allocations, supposedly waiting for improved housing market conditions to restart construction. Many of these allocations were granted many years ago and actually should’ve expired years ago if rules were being followed. However, commissioners have been granting extensions every year based on “precedent and current economic trends” as the resolution states and as requested by Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association.
Here’s the problem: 475 of the pending allocations are for projects now in overcrowded school zones. When originally granted, there apparently was capacity in schools for these allocations, but now there isn’t due to multiple school redistrictings and population growth.
Using September 2013 enrollment, our current school situation is that 14 of 21 elementary, three of eight middle and three of six high schools exceed state-rated capacity. Five elementary schools are over local core capacity, meaning that additional school seats in trailers aren’t even enough to hold all students, and four other elementary schools are close to reaching local core capacity. The Charles County Public Schools education facilities master plan projects that the situation will only get worse in coming years.
Maybe allocations shouldn’t be extended beyond their expiration dates. This potentially causes worse overcrowding situations than already exists. Planning for potential new students and building school capacity to match growth can be very difficult, especially when granted allocations aren’t acted on by developers for many years. When the housing market turns and developers redeem old allocations in the backlog, school enrollment will increase.
Obviously, the housing market governs when developers build. However, the commissioners shouldn’t perpetually grant time extensions for allocations. Everybody’s suffered in tough economic times, but why are certain groups receiving special treatment?
At recent school allocation meetings, the board of education expressed significant concerns over old pending allocations, asking the commissioners to defer approving additional allocations. The usual three commissioners ignored the best interests of our county’s students and approved allocations.
Parents, thank Charles County Commissioners Candice Kelly and Ken Robinson and the board of education for their support. It’s clear the other commissioners aren’t interested in what’s best for students, but rather consistently make uninformed decisions benefiting only one entity: developers.
The total disregard of school board advice by these three commissioners concerns me and should alarm every voting citizen. Our youngest residents and teachers are bearing the heavy burden of their decisions.


John Hayes, Waldorf
The writer is a parent member of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance committee.

Another one bites the dust: South Carolina drops out of Common Core testing group

April 17, 2014
by Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

COLUMBIA, S.C. -“ South Carolina's top education leader announced on Monday that the Palmetto State is pulling out of the Common Core standardized testing group, Smarter Balanced.



Superintendent of Education Mick Zais sent a letter to state Board of Education members informing them of the move - after he learned he had the unilateral authority to do make it, PostAndCourier.com reports.

Zais was spurred to action by bills in the state legislature that, among other things, would prevent South Carolina from using the Smarter Balanced tests in schools.

"My recommendation was to get ahead of these actions of the General Assembly and show the members of the General Assembly that we believe exploring assessment options is the most prudent course of action for South Carolina," Zais wrote in the letter.

The state was expected to begin using the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced tests during the 2014-15 school year. South Carolina students will still be tested on the new, nationalized math and English learning standards next year, but they may be given a re-worked version of the current state test or an alternative Common Core-aligned assessment, such as the ACT Aspire test, reports BeaufortGazette.com.

Read more HERE

Worth your time --

April 1, 2014 Joint Meeting Charles County Board of Education and Commissioners

For all of you concerned about overcrowding and how we fund and build schools, this link (also available from the Charles County Government CCTV Digital Library ) to video specifically addresses what happened with the year's worth of work the APFO Committee did, and what happened to the report that was prepared for the Commissioners by that committee. I know the video is long: if you start at about 37:30, I think you will get a sense of the issue quickly.

APFO/Jt Mtg BoE and CC Commissioners

Federal Court Dismisses Case of Chicago School Teacher Who Was Suspended, Accused of Weapons Possession for Lesson on Wrenches, Pliers

The Rutherford Institute
April 17, 2014

CHICAGO, Ill. — An Illinois federal court has ruled that Chicago school officials did not violate the rights of a second-grade teacher who was charged with possessing weapons on school grounds after he displayed garden-variety tools such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers in his classroom as part of his second grade teaching curriculum that required a “tool discussion.” In granting a motion to dismiss the complaint in Douglas Bartlett v. City of Chicago School District #299, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow, Jr., held that school officials at Washington Irving Elementary School acted properly when they applied a definition of “weapons” contained in a student handbook to the actions of teacher Douglas Bartlett.
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed the civil rights lawsuit in April 2013 on behalf of Bartlett, a 17-year veteran in the classroom, who was suspended without pay for four days on the grounds that his use of the tools as visual aids endangered his students, despite the fact that all potentially hazardous items were kept out of the students’ reach.
“In an age where public schools face an unprecedented number of real challenges in maintaining student discipline, and addressing threats of real violence, surely no one benefits from trumped up charges where no actual ‘weapons’ violation has occurred and no threat is posed to any member of the school community,” said John W. Whitehead..."Education truly suffers when school administrators exhibit such poor judgment and common sense, especially when it comes to their zealous misapplication of misguided zero tolerance policies. However, what makes this case stand out from the rest is that this victim of zero tolerance policies run amok happens to be a veteran school teacher.”
Doug Bartlett teaches second graders at Washington Irving Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. On August 8, 2011, Bartlett displayed several garden-variety tools he used around the classroom, including wrenches, screwdrivers, a box cutter, a 2.25” pocketknife, and pliers, as visual aids for a “tool discussion” which is required by the teaching curriculum. It is common for teachers to use such visual aids to help students retain their lessons. As he displayed the box cutter and pocketknife in particular, Bartlett specifically described the proper uses of these tools. None of the tools were made accessible to the students. When not in use, the tools were secured in a toolbox on a high shelf out of reach of the students.
On August 19, 2011, Bartlett received notice that he was under investigation for, among other things, “possessing, carrying, storing, or using a weapon,” and for negligently supervising children.  Bartlett subsequently received a four-day suspension without pay...
Read the complete article HERE.

College Board releases preview of new SAT exam questions

Nick Anderson
April 16, 2014
The Washington Post

Attention, high school freshmen. If you’re planning to take the SAT in two years, you probably won’t need to memorize the definitions of words like “obsequious,” “propinquity,” “enervation” or “lachrymose.”
But you will need to be alert to the several possible definitions of words such as “intense.” In a given passage, does it mean emotional, concentrated, brilliant or determined? You might also face challenges related to historical documents, such as decoding President Abraham Lincoln’s multiple uses of the word “dedicate” in the Gettysburg Address.
This new method of assessing vocabulary, among the most prominent revisions to the SAT on display for the first time Wednesday, shows how the dreaded college admission test will change in early 2016. Once billed as a gauge of college “aptitude,” with roots in the controversial practice of testing people for their “intelligence quotient,” the SAT now is marketed as a measure of high school achievement.
The College Board, which oversees the SAT, said the exam will be more straightforward but remain rigorous. Whether students will see it that way, especially those taking the current version this year and next, is another question.
“The word on the street with my kids, the ones I’m working with now, is, ‘Drat, they’re making the test easier. Why don’t I get that opportunity?’ ” said Ned Johnson, a test-preparation consultant to students in the Washington area. “That’s the perception.”
The revisions, announced in broad terms in March, were fleshed out in detail Wednesday as the College Board released draft sample questions and a new framework for the 88-year-old test. They come as the SAT has been losing market share to the rival ACT, a trend especially striking after the College Board added a required essay to the SAT in 2005. The number of students taking the SAT declined in 29 states from 2006 to 2013, a Washington Post analysis found, while the number taking the ACT fell in just three states. The ACT, launched in 1959, has long described itself as an achievement test tied to the nation’s high school curriculum.
The SAT remains the leading admission test in the District, Maryland and Virginia, as well as in many states in the Northeast and on the West Coast. But the ACT, which added an optional essay in 2005 but otherwise has been largely unchanged for the past 25 years, has boomed in many SAT strongholds and is now more widely used nationwide.
...
The revisions appear to echo, in part, concepts embedded in the new Common Core standards for what U.S. students should learn in math and English from kindergarten through 12th grade.  [Emphasis added.  This is important to know, parents!  Common Core standards, despite criticism, will impact our students.]  Those standards have been fully adopted in 45 states and the District. David Coleman, the College Board’s president and chief executive, was a key architect of Common Core. He started pushing for a makeover of the admission test soon after taking office in 2012.
...
 The essay will take 50 minutes, instead of 25. Even though the essay will become optional, some colleges are likely to require it. The major change is that the essay will ask students to analyze a given argument rather than take a stance on a question. The College Board said students might be prompted to respond to a passage comparable to an excerpt from poet Dana Gioia’s essay on “Why Literature Matters.”
...
In math, students will have 80 minutes to answer 57 questions. Most are multiple-choice; some require students to provide answers themselves. The new math section will be 10 minutes longer and, unlike the current version, will require students to put away their calculators for 25 minutes.
“The calculator is a tool that students must use (or not use) judiciously,” the College Board said in a document explaining the changes to the test. The new exam focuses more tightly on algebra, problem solving, data analysis and “passport to advanced math,” which includes analyzing and solving quadratic and higher-order equations. The test also contains geometry and trigonometry.
The changes amount to a substantial overhaul of a test that for millions of Americans was a rite of passage. Critics say that the SAT and the ACT are needless barriers to access and that high school grades are a better way to measure academic potential. A growing number of colleges don’t require admission tests, but most selective schools do.
...
Read Anderson's full blog post HERE.

Police: (Pennsylvania) School stabber apparently behind threats

JA--It does not matter how a threat of harm to someone is made, everyone.  It does not require the use of modern technology; it also, as quite clearly proved in this instance, does not require the use of a firearm.  Anyone intent on harming others WILL.  
If you have a concern about threatening comments or conduct that may impact students or schools, do not ignore it.  Contact any school staff member or the police -- we ALL want our schools to be safe! 



Gene Puskar
April 14, 2014
AOL.com

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Detectives believe a boy charged with stabbing 21 other students and a security guard at his Pittsburgh-area high school threatened two students by phone before the attack.
The reference to the threatening phone messages and completed calls is contained in a search warrant affidavit. Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck says neither student was among the victims in Wednesday's attack at Franklin Regional High School.
County detectives got the warrant for the home of Alex Hribal (RY'-bal). He is charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault.
...
Two parents who chatted with reporters Monday, said their children were eager to get back to school.
"That's where he wants to be, to be with his friends," Jeff Mauro said of his son, Jamie, a ninth-grader who witnessed some of the stabbings. "This has been a learning experience that we have to love each other - all of us."
...
Once that happens, Thomassey will ask a Westmoreland County judge to move the case to juvenile court, a move prosecutors are expected to contest. Thomassey said that request will be based largely on a mental health evaluation by a doctor he's hired.

Read full article HERE.