Now this is an innovative idea.

May as well put those texting teens to work for the benefit of their community.

Since every teen seems to have a cell phone (how do they afford those hefty phone bills anyway?) and is texting like there’s no tomorrow, how about using them to stop crime?

That’s what’s being done at a pilot program in 10 Chicago schools.

"Crime Stoppers of Cook County is even offering rewards to tipsters whose information produces arrests. For murder cases, that can involve up to $1,000. "Practically every student these days has a cell phone. Students are texting each other messages faster than they can dial a number,'' Police Supt. Jody Weis said in announcing the pilot program with Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan."We want them to text a tip to the police -- a tip that could potentially save their life or someone else's."All text messages must begin with the letters "cpd'' and can include common text abbreviations.” 

Read about it in the Chicago Sun-Times

HERE

Interesting that the messages have to be sent to Canada to be encrypted.  Maybe they will come back in French.  Go figure.

 

And already the first incident of a gun being brought to school and fired has taken place.

It happened yesterday in Willoughby, Ohio…just north of Cleveland.

A student brought more that 30 rounds of ammunition to school and shot his handgun twice.  Luckily no one was hurt…this time.  The student wanted to kill himself, but was talked into giving up the gun.



"Principal Paul Lombardo and Assistant Principal Jeff Lyons caught up with the student, who told them he wanted to kill himself, Sevel said. While classrooms were being locked down, the two administrators persuaded the student to give up the gun.

"He did put the gun to his head numerous times," Lombardo said. "He never really said why he was doing it. He did say it wasn't like him to do this, and he was fearful that he had ruined his life.

"Police arrested the student, then searched the building and evacuated it room by room. The student was taken to a behavioral health center for evaluation."

Our indications are that he didn't have intentions other than maybe harming himself," Sevel said.

Investigators believe the student intended to kill himself in front of his girlfriend, Police Chief Conrad Straube said. Police did not identify him because he is a juvenile. No charges have been filed.

Lombardo said there were no warning signs that the boy was troubled. The school of about 1,450 students began the fall semester Aug. 26. Classes were scheduled to resume Wednesday. " 

That's one week down for some schools...one day for others...

First semester ends mid January.

Harrold, Texas is looking pretty good to me. 


Read the full article HERE

ABC News photo


Children are suffering.

Parents are suffering.

A school system in the United States is suffering.

Why?

Because the elected officials who were supposed to serve the public were self-serving instead.

Where?   Georgia…Clayton County.

Why?  Violating Open Meetings Act and State Ethics Code.

The state of Georgia has removed four School Board members.  The state of Georgia has stripped away the accreditation of the District.  Families will move away.  Property values will go down.  This place is destroyed.


"Clayton becomes the first U.S. school system since 1969 to have its accreditation fully stripped. Accreditation represents an important seal of approval in the education world. Its loss signals that a school system has not met standards, and, as a result, Clayton students may not qualify for certain scholarships or be welcomed by some selective colleges."

Elected officials may think that simple violations don’t matter…they may think they may go unnoticed.

Well, think again.

Elected Officials everywhere…jot down these four words on a Post-It note “New Clayton School Board.”  Stick it where you do most of your planning of your meetings and activities for your School Board or City  Government functions.  Take a look at it often and remember New Clayton.  Know that you will never do to your constituents what those School Board members did to theirs. 

New Clayton School Board Must Buckle Down, Pronto

Georgia School System Loses its Accreditiation

Clayton Schools' Fears Are Realized

How The Clayton Accreditiation Issue Will Impact Recruiting

Question:  How will Texas’ Harrold Independent School District make national history this fall?

In a stunning policy change decision, the Harrold Independent School District will allow qualified employees to carry concealed handguns.  Harrold, Texas is located approximately 30 minutes from the closest sheriff’s department and the school campus is located very close to a main highway.  Officials believe this makes the district a prime target for intruders and therefore, justifies the need for protection.

The employees will need to qualify to be able to carry a concealed weapon.  This includes crisis management training and they will be required to use special anti-ricochet ammunition.

The superintendent of the district, David Thweatt, makes an interesting point regarding gun-free zones:



 "When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in Friday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.Thweatt said officials researched the policy and considered other options for about a year before approving the policy change. He said the district also has various other security measures in place to prevent a school shooting.

"The naysayers think (a shooting) won't happen here. If something were to happen here, I'd much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them," Thweatt said.

Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."

Read the story

HERE


Bravo to the Harrold Independent School District, of the Lone Star State. 

At least they had the fortitude to take the steps to think out of the box.

At least they are taking steps to prevent what may happen if some psychotic or evil person decides to bring their own weapon(s) of choice into their schools and harm their town's children. 

At least they will have some defense weapons in the schools to fight back without waiting for police to show up.

All they can do is be prepared.

Bravo.

It began in rural school district's around the country as a cost saving measure....

Four day school weeks.

Parent objections may be heard at first because of child care concerns, but as with any change, they eventually get used to it.

Will it be a an expanding trend? 

Just think of the savings in a city school district. 

Enormous in transportation costs alone; then add in energy and substitute teaching costs? 

Savings really start to add up.

Facing a crippling increase in fuel costs, some rural U.S. schools are mulling a solution born of the '70s oil crisis: a four-day week.

Cutting out one day of school has been the key to preserving educational programs and staff in parts of Kentucky, New Mexico and Minnesota, outweighing some parents' concerns about finding day-care for the day off.

"For rural school districts where buses may travel 100 miles round-trip each day, there certainly are transportation savings worth considering," said Marc Egan, the director of federal affairs at the National School Boards Association.

I say it might not happen tommorrow...but it will happen.  But where, is the question.

Read the article from Reuters here

.

In New York, parents of young school children are having trouble with “New Math.”  So that makes me wonder if something has changed.  Or has the use of the calculator finally dumbed down a generation?

I’m pretty  sure we are talking about the same New Math that was introduced to me as a kid…So what’s going on?



"They call it the Math Wars: The debate, at times acrimonious, over which way is best to teach kids math. In its most black-and-white form, it pits schools hoping to prepare kids for a new world against reluctant parents, who feel the traditional way is best and their kids are being shortchanged.

But there are lots of parents who fall into a grayer area: They're willing to accept that their kids are learning things differently. They just want to be able to help them with their homework. And very often, they can't."


"Rebels!" Parents find New Math daunting   Ã

 Perhaps you have a child already attending a college or university, or maybe you are getting ready to send one off in the fall.  Maybe you who are reading this are attending a university.  Whatever the case may be, if you have a laptop that you carry to class in college to take notes, consider bringing along a notebook and pen with you in the near future.

University of Chicago Law School officials have made the move to ban all wireless connections from their classrooms.  Beginning April 11^th, they instituted a school-wide ban.  Students may still use the laptops to take notes.

University of Chicago Law School is not the first school, and won’t be the last to institute some sort of ban. Some schools have banned laptops totally from class.  Suffolk University Law School (Boston) made national headlines in November 2007 when a professor banned laptops outright in her classroom.






According to e School News, Many law schools have given professors the choice of banning wireless access or laptops altogether.  A professor at Harvard Law School who did not want her name published said disallowing laptops has cultivated class discussion and student participation.  “Students have never complained about it, and if anything, they say the classroom environment is vastly improved,” the professor said.  “And I find the students listen to each other more.”

While I’m just referring to law schools here, I imagine this option will spread to all schools eventually. It’s too easy for a student to be distanced from the lecture and the discussion when typing notes.  Can you picture a lecture hall filled with laptops and everyone pounding away on them?  How distracting is that?  Then throw in a few cell phones with some texting going on, too.  But not everyone agrees.  We have technology for a purpose, after all.  Perhaps the answer is having your lecture via the laptop from your dorm room or apartment.

Read an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education:  Information Technology

The Fight for Classroom Attention: Professor vs. Laptop   í  here

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. In spite of the publication of his paper in the 1940's, it wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was added to the DSM IV and only in the past few years has AS been recognized by professionals and parents.

The Topic: Bullying

---

Easier - A bully is someone who is mean and attacks other people with words or actions. They use teasing, threats, or strength to pick on, frighten, or hurt someone or take what they want.


Harder - Bullying is a form of aggressive and harassing behavior. This antisocial behavior occurs across geographic, racial, and socioeconomic segments of society. Bullying prevents its targets from enjoying a safe, stress-free living, learning, and working environment. Children who bully are at risk for a host of long term, negative developmental outcomes including juvenile and adult criminal behavior. Early intervention in the home, school, and the community are the best hope we have of diverting people from this destructive pattern.



       Alex Barton


Is teacher Wendy Portillo a bully, or is she just ignorant?



Alex Barton, a kindergartner at Morningside Elementary School, Port St. Lucie, FL, returned to class after being sent to the Principal's office to be disciplined.  Alex is currently in the process of being evaluated for Asperger Syndrome.  After Alex returned to class, his teacher, Ms. Portilllo, allegedly proceeded to ask the class to tell Alex what they disliked about him and then had them vote whether they would like him to stay in class.  The vote was 14-2 against Alex staying.  Alex spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office.

Read the story from the Sun-Sentinel    ç  here


View a CBS Video (where mom goes a bit off-track) :





   

I haven't read, and it doesn't appear that Wendy Portillo is a Special Education teacher, not does it state that she has any training in Special Education.  Considering that 1 in 150 children now suffer from some form of Autism it is now something that every teacher should be aware of whether they teach Special Education or not.  But that is beside the point.

If this story is true, in my view Wendy Portillo is just plain ignorant.  She has parents reporting that she has been a model teacher in the past.  Well, she has obviously made a very poor error in judgment. 

We are not talking about learning how to win or lose, how to accept the fact that you might not always be chosen for a team, that you might not always get a good grade, etc.  It's been shown that students who end up going berserk and have taken it out on teachers and classmates have done so because they say they were picked on and bullied at school. 

Has Portillo been hiding her head in the sand these past  years?

On Monday I reported this:


“No federal law prohibits North Carolina from admitting illegal immigrants to its colleges and universities, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said today [May 9, 2008]. The statement from federal officials contradicts a letter sent this week by the office of state Attorney General Roy Cooper."


College O.K. for Illegal Immigrants  É here


Now in a complete turn-around, North Carolina will no longer allow undocumented or illegal immigrants to attend their community colleges.

"I don't think its fair," student Patrick Chen said. "Everyone deserves a right to education."


Oh, really, Mr. Chen? 

Since when do illegal immigrants have a "right" to a college education?

Student Daniel McCauley disagrees. "I think that if you are illegal, you shouldn't be allowed to go to school because it takes away from the people that are here that are us citizens."

Well, at least you're a more intelligent college student, Daniel...

And, not surprisingly, of course, we have, what else?  "Outrage"


"In Raleigh, at El Pueblo, an advocacy group for Hispanics, community leaders are outraged."

"No, there is nothing at all from the federal government saying that a school cannot permit a student paying out of state tuition go to school," one leader said.

The state attorney general disagrees a passed down new guidelines to the state's 58 community colleges. The new rule went into effect Tuesday.

That means students graduating from high school, who are illegally in the U.S., will not be admitted.

Undocumented students can attend any of the 16 public universities. The problem is most can't afford the out of state tuition and they are not eligible for state or federal financial aid.

So, why don't student's apply for citizenship? Some say its a lengthy and expensive process."

A lengthy process?

Yes...becoming a citizen of the United States of America doesn't happen overnight.

It never has, and it probably never will.

But immigrants have been becoming American citizens the proper way for decades.....

And it is a proud moment for those who have followed the process and can now say the are Americans.

Expensive?

I've never heard that one before.

College is expensive, though.


See an interview of students at

Wake Technical Community College and advocacy group El Pueblo   É  here

and read an article from the Guardian.co.uk

 
North Carolina Bans Illegal Immigrants from Community Colleges         É  here

 

The unions that is….

They are so very powerful.

Unions protect the teachers...

The best of them and the lowest of the low.

As much as people don't want to admit it....

There just are some bad teachers.

Well, you've got to read this....

"BOSTON — Critics who say unions block education reforms and make it virtually impossible to fire bad teachers will offer 10 instructors it deems the nation's worst $10,000 to quit their careers."

"The Center for Union Facts, a Washington-based nonprofit, will launch a campaign Tuesday spending $1 million on ads and a billboard in New York's Times Square. It also says it's starting a Web site with data documenting how far unions go to protect bad teachers."

"It's also inviting nominations for a contest to determine the nation's worst unionized teachers. The "winners" will be offered $10,000 each if they permanently resign or retire from any career in education — if they sign a release agreeing to have their name and the reasons for their selection published by the group."

Read the full article in the Houston Chronicle

Union Critic to Offer "Worst Teachers" $10,000 to Quit   É here

If it will help get rid of those teachers who don't want to teach...

Why not?

It would take more money than $10, 000 though for the "incentive."

They're forgetting about the great benefits teachers receive.

Picture returning to work from lunch, sitting in your office, not having had a chance to look at your email yet...

All of a sudden, a gunman bursts into the building, lines up all the employees against the wall and threatens to kill the employee who makes the highest wage.

Imagine how you would feel to later find out that it was all a "test" to see how you would handle the situation.

And, by the way, you were warned about it in an email....but, too bad if you didn't receive it before the experiment.

It just so happens, your office is on a second floor, and co-workers were thinking of jumping out of the windows.  

Others are so distraught they now need psychological counseling.  

The "fake gunman" could have been killed in the process.

Who knows if authorities might have shown up with real weapons.

Well, something like this did happened last Friday, in North Carolina.

What makes it worse is that it wasn't an office building.

It was a college campus; Elizabeth City State University.

And it happened just eight days after five killings by a gunman at Northern Illinois University.

"Anthony Brown, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the university was testing its response to shootings of the sort that have shaken campuses around the country. "The intent was not to frighten them but to test our system and also to test the response of the security that was on campus and the people that were notified," Brown said."

"I was prepared to die at that moment," Wang, [a political science teacher] said Tuesday."

The mock gunman broke into Wang's class.

Brown gets the honorary degree of  DUNCE.

Read the article in the The News & Observer

Mock Gunman Terrifies Students     ç here

 

 

I'm surprised....

University of Colorado at Boulder students protesting a ban on concealed weapons in an orderly fashion?

I've been to Boulder...

Boulder is full of liberals.

So, even if there are fifty students protesting this ban...that's really amazing.

And no matter what your beliefs on students being able to carry concealed weapons on campus,  or concealed weapons in general, personally, after seeing how a dysfunctional group like Code Pink manages their protests (Berkeley) I have to give these students a lot of credit.

Let's hope as this protest continues, those that may oppose the protest, will manage their issues in the same way.



The CU Boulder campus                                        Wikipedia

Read the story in the Campus Press


A Protest of a Different Caliber    à here