tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35327254715857518772024-03-19T04:22:47.717-04:00Macomb, Math, Science and Technology CenterUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger325125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-1765641058094457552011-08-22T06:03:00.000-04:002011-08-22T06:03:01.944-04:00"Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace!" (Digital Learning Model)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Schools of Choice bill coming</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Legislature likely to get proposal this week as foes from Detroit, suburbs gear for fight</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="color: orange;">By CECIL ANGEL FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER</span></span></div>
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</span><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">An education reform package that includes mandatory Schools of Choice and cyber schools could be introduced in the state Legislature as early as Wednesday, the chairman of the state Senate Education Committee said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“It’s a good possibility on Wednesday, the 24th, we’ll have part of the package ready for introduction,” said state Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The education package also addresses charter school caps and school aid. The package is </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">part of Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed “Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace” public school learning model.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Education Committee hearings on the package will begin Sept. 7, Pavlov said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Mandatory Schools of Choice is emerging as the most controversial part of the education package.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Opposition is strong in the heavily Republican Grosse Pointes. In heavily Democratic Detroit, three legislators have said they are opposed to state-mandated Schools of Choice because, they said, it will negatively</span> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">impact Detroit Public Schools.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“I don’t want the state to help usher children from one community to another at the expense of the community where they are,” said state Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, whose district includes the Grosse Pointes and part of Detroit.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">State Sen. Coleman A. Young II, D-Detroit, said every proposal out of Lansing that was supposed to help DPS has hurt it. He cited the 1999 state takeover that was supposed to improve the district academically.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">At the time, the district had 180,000 students, a $93-million fund balance and a $1.5-billion </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">bond project. Under state control, DPS wound up with a $200-million deficit, he said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“I don’t think the state should be imposing another mandate on the city or any other city,” Young said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">State Rep. Lisa Howze, D-Detroit, said mandatory Schools of Choice “would further impact DPS’s ability to stabilize.”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Last week, the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council passed a resolution against mandated Schools of Choice.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The Grosse Pointe Woods-based Michigan Communities For Local Control has set up a Web site at <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to go to www.miclc.com">www.miclc.com </span> and is contacting other school districts to build opposition.</span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Peter Spadafore, assistant director of government relations for the Michigan Association of School Boards, said the MASB has been talking with the Snyder administration and legislators about the bill.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Based on the ongoing discussion, the bill likely will include “universal choice K-12 up to capacity. The problem is how to define capacity,” he said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; height: 10px;">
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<span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Spadafore said the MASB is opposed to mandatory Schools of Choice. “We feel that decision should be made by the local school district,” he said. “By mandating Schools of Choice, it’s just a solution looking for a problem.”</span></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-37444265416175665902011-08-15T12:47:00.001-04:002011-08-15T12:47:26.194-04:0021st Century Digital Learning Environments & Studios (2)<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nxcnz38WNc4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-89760770532173566702011-08-13T07:42:00.001-04:002011-08-13T07:42:15.583-04:00Models our Practice (Real-World Learning by Doing!)Sunday: August 14, 2011 12:00PM to 2:00PM (Channel #4 MSNBC A Stronger America: <i>"Making the Grade"</i>)<br />
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Clickondetroit.com<br />
<a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/28851709/index.html">http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/28851709/index.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-68339904559033326552011-08-02T07:02:00.001-04:002011-08-02T07:02:43.880-04:0021st Century Digital Learning Environments & Studios<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MTRvrV-cyO4" width="480"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-49570235542055646442011-06-03T09:24:00.001-04:002011-06-03T09:24:01.305-04:00Student-Centric, Entrepreneurial, Innovative Empowerment (That's WHAT We're Talking About)<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Snyder builds DPS a new model and hope</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">MACKINAC ISLAND — So, is DPS dead?</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;">Gov. Rick Snyder had an answer Thursday to the simple but daunting question posed in a Free Press story earlier this week.</span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;">It was yes. And no.</span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;">And despite the inherent tension in that reply, I think Snyder — who just appointed a second emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools — might be pushing the city toward its best possible hope for having sustainable, high-performing options in public education.</span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;">Yes, DPS is dead in the sense that the current system is insolvent and unsustainable. The system is still hemorrhaging students and, as a result, millions of dollars. And no one could effect the kind of dramatic cuts to match falling revenues without destroying the district’s ability to deliver fundamental services to children</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">.</span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">But no, Snyder also said, public education is not dead in Detroit. Far from it.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">What he hopes former GM executive Roy Roberts will do as EFM is redefine and, as a result, revitalize it outside the restrictive framework of the old-style school district.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimTagTTL" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;">Encouraging innovation</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">In Snyder’s ideal, all schools in Detroit would be created around sets of individual principles and ideas, by committed groups of educators, parents, community groups and whoever else wants to get involved. They’d all be “charter schools,” in the sense of being constituted around the models they chose.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Some might be existing public schools. Some could be charters.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">They’d have remarkable freedom to implement their models, try new things, pursue innovation. But the key is that they’d be held accountable for student performance — either locally under a new school governance structure </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">or by the state, if that’s where they were chartered.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder says the education reform plans that he announced last month will be tough on schools that operate under the state’s charter law, and if they don’t deliver, “they can lose their charters.”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimTagTTL" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;">Focus on results</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">This is what Snyder means when he talks about creating a “system of schools” to replace Detroit’s school system. He’s describing something that’s focused much more on results than on governance. It’s a system that would not look much like what the city has now.</span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">There are already some promising examples — the schools that were taken over by the United Way in 2008; the new public charters announced by DPS last week. But growing such models to serve all the city’s children is more than a difference of scale; it’s also a question of substance.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">There is still very little market incentive for anyone to take on responsibility for educating the city’s poorest and most isolated children.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">This plan also depends heavily on Snyder being successful in changing how the state evaluates, rewards and metes out consequences for schools. Michigan does an awful job of that right now.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">If he can work through the kinks, Snyder’s vision could offer real hope for public education in Detroit.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">And at this point, it’s the only hope I see on the horizon.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextS" style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">• </span>STEPHEN HENDERSON IS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR FOR THE FREE PRESS. CONTACT HIM AT<span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: SHENDERSON600@FREEPRESS.COM">SHENDERSON600@FREEPRESS.COM</span> , OR AT 313-222-6659.</span></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Snyder: DPS may need to split</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Empower schools, he says</span></span></span></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">By CHRIS CHRISTOFF and KATHLEEN GRAY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS</span></span></div><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">MACKINAC ISLAND — Detroit Public Schools might be better off as “a system of schools” rather than a single, large entity run by top-down management, Gov. Rick Snyder told the Free Press on Thursday.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder, who appointed retired GM executive Roy Roberts as the emergency manager for DPS, said the district needs a radical overhaul — but, he said, it’s up to Roberts to enact changes.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“The nature of the district needs to change,” Snyder said. “Structurally, it’s a failing format.”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder spoke to Free Press </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">reporters and editors during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference. His comments were among several at the conference that focused on how to better educate Michigan students.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder said a new format would not necessarily convert Detroit schools to charter schools, but rather have them be managed like charter schools, with more autonomy. He said the school board could focus on measuring academic results instead of dictating curriculums and school-by-school management.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“You need to empower the schools more, rather than having a command-and-control structure of the district,” he </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">said. “How do you give the administrator in that school and the teachers a team? You make it more entrepreneurial and innovative.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“It’s like they’re a business unit, and they’re there to help their kids grow. Give them the resources to succeed, and then, how do you hold them accountable?”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone, spoke at the conference and said public schools’ success rests solely with teachers, who should be fired if their students don’t go on to college.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“If you get paid to educate a child and you cannot do it, then you should probably go into a different business,” he said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Harlem Children’s Zone takes a holistic approach to education, helping families in a 100-block area of Harlem so </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">that children are prepared to succeed in school. More communities, like Detroit, need to adopt the model, Canada said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Canada said business owners should have a vested interest in helping produce better schools because eventually, they’re going to have to pick from the talent pool educated in public schools.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">In another forum Thursday, the Excellent Schools Detroit group talked about creating excellent schools and recruiting great employees. Their goal for 2020 is to graduate 90% of their students, with 90% of those students enrolling in college without remedial </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">classes.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The Michigan Future Schools Accelerator soon will open three high schools in Detroit: the Carson School of Science and Medicine, which is affiliated with the Detroit Medical Center; Detroit College Preparatory, and the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The schools, funded with $800,000 each in foundation and grant dollars, will operate with no more than 500 students per school. Teachers will be hired from an open pool, instead of from a seniority list, and each school must have a counselor and a college coach who can help students after they graduate.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“And if the kids are off-track, it’s the educators who will have to change,” said Lou Glazer, president of the program.</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-45482738812345982432011-04-26T07:55:00.001-04:002011-04-26T07:55:20.490-04:00Aligns to OUR Purpose (By Design)<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Bold ideas: Online study, payouts</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Snyder‘s education plan has innovative reforms to reward schools’ success</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="color: red;">By CHRIS CHRISTOFF FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Gov. Rick Snyder will propose Wednesday financial rewards to individual schools that show exceptional academic progress.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The money could be divided among the teachers or used in other ways they choose, according to a source familiar with the plan.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">It’s among reforms in a special message</span> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">on education Snyder will deliver at 10 a.m. at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan in Detroit.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder also wants to allow students to choose online classes they can complete at home or other sites, rather than comply with state rules that they be in a classroom at least 1,098 hours a year.</span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“There are some kids who learn better reading and looking at words than they do listening to a lecture,” said Bill Rustem, Snyder’s director of strategy.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Rustem said it would be up to school districts to set guidelines for online programs, which education experts say can work well for both advanced students and those who perform poorly in traditional classes.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder also will call for changes in teacher tenure laws and charter schools in his education message. He delivered a similar address on local government reforms in March.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="120" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="99" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2011%2F04%2F26&entityid=Pc00114&pageno=1&chunkid=Pc00114&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0011400&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 121px; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px;" /></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Best way to track results is measuring, Snyder says</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Educators need more incentives, training</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara" style="color: white;">By CHRIS CHRISTOFF FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">EAST LANSING — </span>Gov. Rick Snyder told several hundred educators Monday to get used to the idea of measuring students’ performance.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">He’ll talk a lot about that Wednesday, he said, when he delivers his special message on education in Detroit.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“We have to put much </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">more emphasis on proficiency, on growth, on measurements and results than we have had in the past,” Snyder told the Governor’s Education Summit, an annual gathering of mostly teachers and school officials. “It’s about really delivering results for these kids, to show the </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">whole system needs to be geared to say each child gets a good year’s education each and every year.”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">He said teachers and administrators must be given more incentives and training to improve the schools.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“The way to approach it is not to get down on people, it’s not to approach it with blame,” he said. “It’s not (to) be negative with one another. It’s about how we look to the future and be positive and build on that as an opportunity to succeed together.”</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">That means more autonomy for individual schools and teachers, and a system to financially reward outstanding</span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">teachers who can mentor others, he said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">State schools Superintendent Michael Flanagan called for a deregulation of schools, such as eliminating minimum numbers of hours or days students must attend each year. Instead, schools would set their own guidelines for students</span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">to meet state academic goals.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“My goal is to take away as many regulations as we can but hold people accountable for academic growth,” Flanagan said.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">A person familiar with Snyder’s plan said the governor won’t call for eliminating the minimum hours requirement, but will ask to give districts options, such as online learning programs for some students.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder’s speech is much anticipated, as the Legislature wrestles with how much to cut from state aid to </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">school districts. Snyder has called for $300 per pupil less than the current year for all districts, but the Republican-controlled House and Senate are considering slightly different cuts.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder has often spoken of moving to an education culture that depends more on measured outcomes than on debates over money.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">He also will talk about an </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">education system that begins with prenatal care programs.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“I hope he will set some big audacious academic goals for us to accomplish in Michigan like they have done in other Midwestern states like Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois,” said Carol Goss, president and CEO of the </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Skillman Foundation, in a response to the Free Press. She has met with Snyder to discuss education ideas.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">She said she hopes Snyder will propose more public-private partnerships, more accountability, and giving students more career alternatives than going to college, which does not suit some.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">In his remarks Monday, Snyder pointed to the United Way’s early childhood programs as an example of how the state could join with private ventures.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Snyder also has met twice with philanthropist Eli Broad, a Michigan native and head of the Broad Foundation</span> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">, which has aggressively funded some education initiatives.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“They talked about using their expertise in education to help supplement what we’re doing to get a handle on not only the Detroit school system, but other public school districts, and what kind of innovative</span> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">practices are out there,” said Snyder’s chief of staff Dennis Muchmore.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Democrats, who’ve sharply criticized Snyder for his proposed cuts to schools and universities, were wary about his Wednesday speech.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“I’m ready to work with the governor if he’s serious about giving our children a quality education, but his actions are speaking louder than his words,” said Rep. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, minority vice chair of the House Education Committee.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="120" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="80" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2011%2F04%2F26&entityid=Pc00502&pageno=5&chunkid=Pc00502&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0050200&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 121px; vertical-align: middle; width: 81px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Skillman Foundation CEO Carol Goss</span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="120" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="80" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2011%2F04%2F26&entityid=Pc00503&pageno=5&chunkid=Pc00503&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0050300&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 121px; vertical-align: middle; width: 81px;" /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">State Superintendent Michael Flanagan</span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="396" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="431" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2011%2F04%2F26&entityid=Pc00504&pageno=5&chunkid=Pc00504&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0050400&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 397px; vertical-align: middle; width: 432px;" /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">File photo by PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">“The way to approach it is not to get down on people, it’s not to approach it with blame,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Wednesday of measuring student performance. He spoke at the Governor’s Education Summit in East Lansing.</span></span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-15578298743525215432011-04-18T18:44:00.000-04:002011-04-18T18:44:07.457-04:00Mirror Awards announce finalists for best media coverage | Poynter.<a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/128276/mirror-awards-announce-finalists-for-best-media-coverage/">Mirror Awards announce finalists for best media coverage | Poynter.</a>dictohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12847471677435656996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-19577727256049976662011-02-14T08:01:00.001-05:002011-02-14T08:01:10.664-05:00In the World of Sometimes Things Aren't WHAT They Seem!<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl0" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Editorial</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">New metrics reveal schools’ real woes</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"></span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Standards are everything in education. And for years, Michigan has played games with educational standards that have made them less meaningful, and even outright deceptive.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">When the state Board of Education lowered the “cut” scores — the minimum marks required to achieve proficiency on statewide assessment tests — it may have made some students, teachers and administrators feel better about how schools were performing. Suddenly, a lot more Michigan kids were doing proficient work.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">But the progress wasn’t real. When you compared scores on state tests to how Michigan kids did on national exams, the difference was stunning. More than three-quarters of the state’s students did adequate work on MEAP , but only 30% did so on NAEP.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">So it was an important step back toward reality last week when the state board reraised cut scores on the MEAP to more closely reflect the standards that children are meeting in other states.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">But it was just one step. Michigan’s slide backward in educational achievement has been going on for a decade or more, and has touched a lot of different areas that now need attention.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Funding is one of them. As the state’s economy went sour, so did its appetite for educational investment. The state has actually been cutting educational funding while other states boost it, and the parallel drop in scores and rankings reflects the cost of that stinginess.</span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Michigan also lags badly in efforts to rescue failing schools. It was just last year that the state announced it would form a recovery district for bad schools and begin to work to make them better. Now lawmakers need to ensure that high standards are enforced in the new district.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Other problem areas include Michigan’s antiquated teacher tenure laws, which give school districts too little leverage to get rid of underperforming instructors, and union leaders who have been slow to embrace performance-based metrics.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">The lower cut scores did a good job of masking how much work there is to do in Michigan’s schools. Now it will be harder to hide the state’s educational deficits.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Lawmakers and education officials will have to start doing the hard work of getting Michigan schools to hit the highest marks, according to the most rigorous standards.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-84510073520387295722011-02-12T10:33:00.001-05:002011-02-12T10:33:45.628-05:00PBS "Need to Know" February 11, 2011<object height="328" width="512"> <param name = "movie" value = "http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf" ></param><param name="flashvars" value="video=1791736344&player=viral&end=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name = "allowscriptaccess" value = "always" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf" flashvars="video=1791736344&player=viral&end=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" width="512" height="328" bgcolor="#000000"></embed></object><br />
<div style="background: transparent; color: grey; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center; width: 512px;">Watch the <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/1791736344" style="color: #4eb2fe !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">full episode</a>. See more <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/" style="color: #4eb2fe !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Need To Know.</a></div><br />
PBS Need to Know (Segments)<br />
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/need-to-know-february-11-2011-an-education-hour-preview/6949/">http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/need-to-know-february-11-2011-an-education-hour-preview/6949/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-58927773942818687882011-01-29T07:06:00.003-05:002011-01-29T07:21:59.084-05:00OUR 21st CENTURY EDUCATION FUTURES: THE WINNING the FUTURE FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENT! (We're In It to Win It!)<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">(<i>Just Follow the Easy Step by Step Directions</i>)</span></b><br />
<br />
<object height="300" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="282828"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashvars" value="config=http://www.whitehouse.gov/xml/video/25664/config.xml&path_to_plugins=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/modules/wh_multimedia/wh_jwplayer/plugins&path_to_player=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf"></param><embed src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="300" flashvars="config=http://www.whitehouse.gov/xml/video/25664/config.xml&path_to_plugins=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/modules/wh_multimedia/wh_jwplayer/plugins&path_to_player=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf&share_url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/27/open-questions-state-union-and-education"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-36878862958513315832011-01-28T06:54:00.001-05:002011-01-28T06:56:43.224-05:00WINNING the FUTURE with RENEWABLE ENERGY! (Are YOU up for the CHALLENGE?)<object width="480" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="282828"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashvars" value="config=http://www.whitehouse.gov/xml/video/25630/config.xml&path_to_plugins=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/modules/wh_multimedia/wh_jwplayer/plugins&path_to_player=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf"></param><embed src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="300" flashvars="config=http://www.whitehouse.gov/xml/video/25630/config.xml&path_to_plugins=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/modules/wh_multimedia/wh_jwplayer/plugins&path_to_player=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player5x2.swf&share_url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/26/winning-future-renewable-energy"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-58536173251389508892011-01-27T05:51:00.005-05:002011-01-27T05:51:59.506-05:00EDUCATION 101: RACE to the TOP (In It, to Win It!)<h1 class="head" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">State of the Union mystery: What do Obama's Race to the Top plans mean?</span></h1><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Obama called education key to 'winning the future' and wants to replace No Child Left Behind with a plan based on his Race to the Top initiative. But that left some experts scratching their heads.</span></div><div class="podStoryGal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="thePhoto" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><img alt="Temp Headline Image" src="http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/0126-obama-sotu-race-to-top/9405426-1-eng-US/0126-Obama-SOTU-race-to-top_full_380.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">President Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 25. In his speech, he challenged Congress to invest in new research and education to meet 'our generation's Sputnik moment.' He proposed replacing No Child Left Behind, which is due for an overhaul, with a plan modeled after his Race to the Top program.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">(Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)</span></div></div><div class="hr" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div class="sByline" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">By <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/About/Contact/Staff-Writers/Amanda-Paulson" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Amanda Paulson</a>, Staff writer </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">posted January 26, 2011 at 1:43 pm EST</span></div><div class="sBody" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Education held a prominent place in President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, as he called for a re-commitment to "investing in better research and education" to meet “our generation’s Sputnik moment.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Obama declared, "To win the future ... we also have to win the race to educate our kids." His words deliberately echoed his administration's Race to the Top program, even as he sounded some familiar themes, including the responsibility of parents and communities, the need for higher expectations in schools, and the importance of excellent teachers.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">And he also put forth a few more specific proposals:</span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.csmonitor.com/extension/csm_base/design/csm_design/images/bg_bullet.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1.25em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Prepare 100,000 more science, technology, engineering, and math teachers by the end of the decade.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.csmonitor.com/extension/csm_base/design/csm_design/images/bg_bullet.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1.25em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Make permanent the tuition tax credit – worth $10,000 for four years of college – and expand the Pell Grant program.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.csmonitor.com/extension/csm_base/design/csm_design/images/bg_bullet.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1.25em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Replace No Child Left Behind with a new, more flexible law, that he said should be modeled after his competitive Race to the Top grant program.</span></li>
</ul><div class="promotion-tag" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Back-to-school-2010/" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">IN PICTURES: Back to school 2010</span></a></b></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">That last point had a few education experts scratching their heads, since Race to the Top is a totally different animal from the broader Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the formal name for No Child Left Behind. The ESEA is the means by which the federal government delivers most of its money to schools and states – more than $100 billion, mostly determined by certain formulas, compared with the $4 billion of competitive grants that made up Race to the Top.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“He’s putting his chips on something that has limited usefulness, but it’s not a broad usefulness, and we don’t even know yet how well states will spend the money from Race to the Top,” says Jack Jennings, executive director of the Center on Education Policy in Washington, who otherwise liked the education themes Obama sounded in his speech. “With No Child Left Behind, he should have talked about [the need for] broader reforms and improvements and raising standards, rather than making the theme of competitiveness the main thing.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Race to the Top was widely seen as spurring big legislative changes in states, particularly around more accountability for teachers, as they vied for the pools of money. But it was also criticized by many who felt the priorities it emphasized were wrong, were disappointed in the selection of winners, or felt that a competition – that by definition left many states and districts out of the grants – was the wrong way to go.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“I think he’s trying to say Race to the Top … is the way to get consensus between Republicans and Democrats for the reauthorization of the ESEA, and I don’t think it will play out that way,” says Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, director of the Brown Center of Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.</span></div><div class="promotion-tag" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/State-of-the-Union-2011" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">IN PICTURES: Inside the State of the Union</span></a></b></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Mr. Whitehurst also says he would have liked to have seen a more coherent, comprehensive education agenda laid out rather than a few pet proposals, and wonders what the federal role will be in goals like increasing the numbers of math and science teachers.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“The devil will be in the details here, and we’ll need to see them in the budget proposal,” he says.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Still, many education reformers were gratified to see education accorded such a prominent place in the speech and in Obama’s agenda, particularly at a time of economic hardship.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“The themes were clichéd, but they were good clichés,” says Frederick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, who says he’s happy that Obama continued to emphasize the role of parents, the need for better teachers, and the need for funding to be attached to school performance.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“If we take these steps – if we raise expectations for every child, and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day they’re born until the last job they take – we will reach the goal I set two years ago: by the end of the decade, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world,” Obama said.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“These were strongly phrased sentiments, and something that would have been startling to hear a national Democrat say even four or five years ago,” says Mr. Hess. “Even as we’ve been wrestling with foreign challenges and economic difficulties, to his credit, he and his administration have continually tried to put education forward."</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-83988062281810071592010-12-23T07:27:00.002-05:002010-12-23T07:27:28.130-05:00Meeting: Detroit Metropolitan International Airport (Regional Green Initiative 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoXB_acp2YgD4yJFDIT4O7-9P_QyZZcD4p7HiUPdBg4LtQd-hXY-xTeNmt9AFN61hH790g4ZDQnrsDYoECBx6V74lJw_tJ6ubx_nmHEu80rOxBmNUkLUY5EdyHD98YYMwP-MqerSnoD4y/s1600/Meeting+Aenda+DMIA+MMSTC+12-20-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoXB_acp2YgD4yJFDIT4O7-9P_QyZZcD4p7HiUPdBg4LtQd-hXY-xTeNmt9AFN61hH790g4ZDQnrsDYoECBx6V74lJw_tJ6ubx_nmHEu80rOxBmNUkLUY5EdyHD98YYMwP-MqerSnoD4y/s400/Meeting+Aenda+DMIA+MMSTC+12-20-10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Meeting: Casey Sobczyk to discuss MMSTC participation in project.<br />
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Next Steps, etc. *Mr. Sobczyk will discuss possibilities-thinking with various Warren Consolidated Schools and MMSTC thought-leaders with the intention of attending a meeting in late January 2011Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-25691076780667491442010-11-22T05:41:00.001-05:002010-11-22T05:41:06.082-05:00In Their Own Words<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z4A6e8Rk8Oo&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z4A6e8Rk8Oo&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-21024660840426033772010-10-25T07:51:00.000-04:002010-10-25T07:51:05.729-04:00Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: A 21st Century Gap-Analysis (Fast Forward: The Urgency of the True Emergency)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><i>While the abject failure conversation/debate of our U.S. 20th Century Education Model rages on, a real-world 21st Century Global Competitiveness conundrum emerges. Conclusion: Find the Sweet-Spot!</i></b></span></span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-22450058296873004022010-10-24T06:53:00.003-04:002010-10-24T06:57:03.503-04:00MasTech (Windspire Update)<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">TRADE TENSIONS WON’T BLOW AWAY</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Turbine makers run into turbulence from China on shipments, pricing</span></span></span></div><span><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">By GREG GARDNER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER</span></span></span></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Consuelo McNamara and her son Mark didn’t expect to be caught in the crossfire of U.S.-China trade tensions when they went to work last year for wind turbine manufacturer MasTech in Manistee.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Clean energy was the industry of the future. Manistee County Commissioners expected MasTech to create 120 jobs by 2011 when they approved a $400,000 grant for the company in 2008.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Two years later, MasTech employs 15 people, down from 35 a year ago. An escalating battle over China’s trade practices disrupted shipments of rare earth minerals that American clean-energy companies need. The conflict forced MasTech to stop production altogether for 10 weeks this summer.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span></span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“We had all the parts for the wind turbine except the magnets,” said Consuelo McNamara, who was laid off in July. While she continues looking for another job, her benefits from MasTech ran out Sept. 30.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">China controls more than 90% of the planet’s rare earth metals like the neodymium used in each turbine’s magnets.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The United Steelworkers of America has complained to the World Trade Organization that China has illegally restricted exports of those minerals and offered other illegal subsidies to drive down costs for its own clean-energy industry. The policy is also driving up costs to compete in the U.S. The Obama administration is investigating the union’s petition and is to decide by January whether to join the WTO case.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“We’re getting some magnets now, but at a hugely inflated price,” said Mas-Tech operations manager John Holcomb. “China certainly has the ability to use these restrictions as a weapon.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="1429" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="718" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F24&entityid=Pc03305&pageno=33&chunkid=Pc03305&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0330500&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 1430px; vertical-align: middle; width: 719px;" /></div><span><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">RICK NEASE/Detroit Free Press</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></span></div><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="204" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="336" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F24&entityid=Pc03306&pageno=33&chunkid=Pc03306&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0330600&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 205px; vertical-align: middle; width: 337px;" /></div><span><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">2009 photo by NICK TREMMEL/Special to the Free Press</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Joe Martin, an employee at MasTech Wind, assembles an armature plate for a wind turbine.</span></span></span></div></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">China’s threats hurt U.S. production</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Supplies disrupted, parts prices rise</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">By GREG GARDNER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER</span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">China’s threat to limit or stop shipment of rare earth elements is dimming Michigan’s vision of clean-energy job growth, say manufacturers who have experienced supply disruptions and cost increases in recent months.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“We get slaughtered daily by China sources of capacitors, diodes and switches,” said Lee Wyatt, president of AmpTech, which makes circuit boards for wind turbines and solar panels in Manistee and Beaver Falls, Pa.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Down the road from Amp-Tech’s Manistee plant, Mas-Tech Manufacturing stopped production of its Windspire turbines for 10 weeks this summer because it could not secure a reliable supply of neodymium magnets.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“Our volume has fallen from about 100 units a month to 50 units a month,” said John Holcomb, MasTech’s operations manager. “The inability to ship negatively affected demand. Now we’re trying to rebuild that demand.”</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">MasTech’s up and running now with 15 people, less than half its year-ago level. Amp-Tech’s employment also has been cut in half to 80 over the last year, Wyatt said.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimTagTTL" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Complaint weighed</span></span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The Obama administration is deciding whether to join the United Steelworkers of America’s complaint to the World Trade Organization that China’s subsidies of clean-energy manufacturers and export restrictions on rare-earth minerals violate international trade rules.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The minerals are obscure elements with tongue-twisting names like neodymium, gadolinium, cerium and praseodymium. They happen to be essential not just to wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, but to guided missiles, iPhones and aluminum baseball bats.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">China blocked rare-earth mineral shipments to Japan last month after Japan detained the crew of a Chinese fishing trawler in the East China Sea. This past week, the New York Times reported that China halted shipments of </span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">some of those same materials to the U.S. and Europe, citing unnamed industry sources.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">While Chinese officials deny reports that it banned shipments to any country, Holcomb said he’s now paying $12.70 for each Chinese-sourced magnet, more than double the $5.35 he paid a year ago.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Free trade advocates argue that there’s no difference between what China is doing to support its fledgling clean-energy industry and what the federal and state governments are doing in the U.S.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The U.S. Department of Energy has offered billions of dollars of support to wind, solar and battery projects. States, including Michigan, have delivered</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">generous tax incentives. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden this past week gave Gov. Jennifer Granholm the Order of the Polar Star for her work to promote clean energy.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">But those in the trenches say American politicians are cheerleading while China is putting points on the scoreboard.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“It’s a question of scale,” said Martha Duggan, United Solar Ovonic’s vice president for government and regulatory affairs. “The numbers of programs and the amount of dollars the Chinese government is spending far outweighs anything the DOE and the State of Michigan are able to do.”</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimTagTTL" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Uneven subsidies</span></span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">China gave more than $216 billion to subsidize green technology in its economic stimulus package last year, according to the steelworkers union. That’s more than one-quarter of the entire U.S. stimulus </span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">package, most of which went to bail out banks, automakers and the over-leveraged insurance giant AIG.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Peter Theut, CEO of Ann Arbor-based consulting firm China Bridge, urges trade officials from both countries to </span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">seek a compromise. Theut, who has negotiated joint venture agreements for dozens of American companies now competing in China, strongly supports free trade. But even he acknowledges that U.S. support for clean energy does not match China’s.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“When China designates an industry as a ‘pillar’ of their economic strategy, we will never dominate that industry because they have made it sacrosanct,” Theut said.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">China requires that 70% of a wind farm’s material and parts come from domestic sources. Understandably, large Western manufacturers want to sell in China, too. Consequently, at least four major U.S. manufacturers moved production to China since the beginning of 2009, eliminating more than 580 American jobs, according to the Steelworkers’ complaint.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Then there’s the labor difference.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">AmpTech’s Wyatt said he can hire someone at $15 an hour, but after adding state and federal taxes, then mandated health care, that employee costs $30 an hour.</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“Over there your competitor is hiring someone who is 14 years old, usually female, whom he pays $4 a day and a bowl of rice,” Wyatt said. “So, yes, I am a conservative businessman who is very much in favor of a tariff or embargo so we can compete on a level basis.”</span></span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextS" style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">• </span>CONTACT GREG GARDNER: 313-222-8762 OR <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: GGARDNER99@FREEPRESS.COM">GGARDNER99@FREEPRESS.COM </span> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="816" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="452" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F24&entityid=Pc03802&pageno=38&chunkid=Pc03802&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0380200&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 817px; vertical-align: middle; width: 453px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press</span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">John Holcomb, operations manager at Mastech Wind in Manistee, sits in front of a 1.2 kilowatt-per-hour wind turbine for residential use.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="361" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="687" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F24&entityid=Pc03803&pageno=38&chunkid=Pc03803&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0380300&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 362px; vertical-align: middle; width: 688px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">NICK TREMMEL/Special to the Free Press</span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Jeff Johnson, an employee at Mastech Wind, uses a grinder to remove slag from foundation templates left by a plasma machine in July 2009. Production halted for 10 weeks this summer because of a magnet shortage.</span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="292" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="451" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F24&entityid=Pc03804&pageno=38&chunkid=Pc03804&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0380400&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 293px; vertical-align: middle; width: 452px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press</span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">This is a magnetic bearing housing, which protects a round rare-earth magnet, for use in the Windspire wind turbine.</span></span></div></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-35264303098940878702010-10-09T09:04:00.001-04:002010-10-09T09:04:46.116-04:00CONTRAST: U.S. Education Conversation and Michigan Gubernatorial Understandings (Relevance Factor?)<div class="thumbnail" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 23px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.time.com/time" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" height="106" src="http://img.timeinc.net/time/i/logo_time_print.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="212" /></a></div><div id="date2" style="color: black; font: normal normal bold 11px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">Thursday, Oct. 07, 2010</div><h1 style="font: normal normal bold 28px/normal arial, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Waiting for 'Superman'</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">: Education Reform Isn't Easy</span></h1><div class="byline" style="color: black; font: normal normal bold 11px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; padding-top: 5px;">By Andrew J. Rotherham</div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the midst of a panel discussion following the Washington premiere of the education documentary </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for "Superman"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> on Sept. 15, CNN's Roland Martin breathlessly told his followers on Twitter that Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, "says they are going to look at making change to teachers tenure in their contracts. THIS IS HUGE."</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Martin isn't the only one caught up in the moment. Today, the enthusiasm among education reformers is palpable. And why not? This seems like an amazing time, with NBC hosting a big education summit across its various networks to kick off the school year, a president seemingly committed to bold reform, and a feature film, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for "Superman</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">," from a major studio — made by none other than the Oscar-winning director of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">An Inconvenient Truth</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">! </span><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2019395,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(See "Fenty's Loss in D.C.: A Blow to Education Reform?")</span></a></span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Although the momentum seems unstoppable, don't pop the champagne or, worse, declare 'mission accomplished' just yet. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for "Superman"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> is a hard-hitting documentary that lays bare many of America's education problems. But despite all the attention it's bringing to education, there are still more reasons to bet against reform than for it.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For starters, history doesn't offer much cause for optimism. This isn't the first time substantial reforms have seemed imminent. Education history is littered with big promises, national commissions and task forces, summits, and surprisingly little change. Two decades ago, when then-governor Clinton and the first President Bush gathered the nation's governors in Charlottesville, Va., reform seemed unstoppable. Some progress came out of it — it helped with the development of better state education standards — but it did not herald the revolution many were predicting at the time.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One reason for the slow pace of reform is because American public schools are fundamentally conservative — and because Americans are fundamentally conservative about their schools. In other words, the bias is strongly against change rather than for it, which explains why among parents, change is popular in theory but controversial in practice. (Affluent parents, for instance, support higher standards until those measures show that their public schools are not as good as they should be given the high property taxes these families are paying.) Although opposition to reform is often laid exclusively at the feet of the teachers' unions, it is actually a broader issue. </span><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887815,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(See pictures of a prestigious public boarding school in Washington.)</span></a></span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Of course, the unions obviously have a hand in today's debate, too. Although we like to think of teachers as a breed apart, their special interest groups — the two large national teachers' unions — are basically the same as any other special interest, and the politics just as brutal. In fact, combined, the two national teachers' unions spent more on federal campaign contributions than any other interest group from 1989 to 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And that is just the national teachers unions, not the thousands of state and local ones. That adds up to a lot of money to keep various reforms at bay. And to keep various reformers at bay too. In Washington, for example, Politico reported that the American Federation of Teachers spent about $1 million in the run-up to last month's Democratic primary </span><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2019395,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">to help defeat Mayor Adrian Fenty</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, who had ushered in sweeping changes to the city's school district.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">All this helps explain why John Wilson, executive director of the biggest teachers' union, the National Education Association, is nonplussed by </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for "Superman"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and the slew of other education documentaries that have come out in recent months. "I think the films are a blip," he told the Sacramento </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bee</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. "They will come and go, but the union will still be there, our members will still be in these schools." Sure, this may sound a little thuggish, but it's a political reality education reformers had better understand.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In American politics, concentrated special interests can do a lot to slow or thwart reform. Think about policy battles on issues as wide-ranging as energy, guns, tobacco, health care, the environment, or telecommunications and cable television. When it's the general interest pitted against an organized special interest, bet on the latter. </span><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2023953,00.html#comments" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(Comment on this story.)</span></a></span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In addition to the cultural and political entrenchment, the process of how funding gets allocated as well as how the various federal, state, and local rules constrain schools leaves surprisingly little room for innovation in education. Coupled with American education's anemic research and development infrastructure, the reality today is that we know a lot more about what does not work than about what does. For example, it's clear from abundant research that paying teachers only on the basis of their degrees and years of experience is not in the best interest of students or teachers. As the National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and policy organization whose board of directors I chaired for several years, put it, "the evidence is conclusive that master's degrees do not make teachers more effective." Such clarity does not mean, however, that the reforms to fix these problems are obvious. The education field still has a lot to learn about how to effectively differentiate salary and incorporate elements like performance into compensation. </span><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,3349235001_1862693,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(Watch TIME's video "Can Michelle Rhee Save Our Schools?")</span></a></span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Consequently, there will be a lot of trial and error along the way. Each failure provides critics with plenty of fodder and complicates the politics that much more. For example, when researchers at Vanderbilt University released a study in September showing no large improvements in student performance from a teacher merit pay pilot program, these findings were widely cited as definitive evidence of the folly of performance-based pay. But it was just one study of one program, hardly the last word. Meanwhile, the political debate about charter schools remains largely focused on the low-performing ones rather than what we can learn from those that are delivering transformative results.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So what's the takeaway? Certainly not that reformers should take their cue from Dante and call it quits. But they should realize the enormous work and time genuine reform will take. Building the capacity to deliver substantially improved education while simultaneously addressing the politics is an incredible two-front effort. Despite its promise and impressive accomplishments to date, the reform community is not yet prepared to do so at scale. Genuinely bold reformers are still more likely to lose elections than win them, and truly aggressive reform activity is still concentrated in relatively few places.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That's a problem because if there is a lesson from the last two years of education activity, it is that nothing happens absent tenacity and intense pressure for reform. Despite the rhetoric about changing teacher tenure, for example, Weingarten is still struggling to find a middle ground that satisfies her members and actually alters the reality in schools. Don't tell Roland Martin, but this past weekend there she was on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">CBS Sunday Morning</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, explaining why tenure isn't a problem anyway.</span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Andrew J. Rotherham, who writes the blog </span><a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Eduwonk</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, is a co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education, a nonprofit working to improve educational outcomes for low-income students. School of Thought, his education column for TIME.com, appears every Thursday.</span></i></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1838709,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">See TIME's special report on paying for college.</a></span></div><div style="clear: both; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; padding-bottom: 9px;"><span class="see"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1838306,00.html" style="color: #003366; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">See pictures of the evolution of the college dorm.</a></span></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F09&entityid=Ar00503&pageno=5&chunkid=Ar00503&pagelabel=5A&repformat=1.0&primid=Ar0050301&imgext=png&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 2411px; vertical-align: middle; width: 583px;" /></span><br />
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</span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Snyder’s plan</span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">It’s time to get finances in order</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">School funding must stabilize, he says</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">By PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Businessman Rick Snyder says it’s time to stop making schools guess at how much money they’ll have each year.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Republican candidate for governor would stabilize school funding by cutting costs. He would have teachers pay more for health insurance and replace pensions with traditional 401(k)s for new teachers. He would require competitive bidding in school districts and look at more consolidation and sharing of services.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“We need to be more cost-efficient,” Snyder said. “I’m not sure we can afford the system we have today.”</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He also would push for school districts to pool all their insurance needs into one pot, in order to get better rates.</span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snyder said he knows it could be tough to force changes to teachers’ benefits without cooperation from unions, in particular the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Many Michigan districts have health insurance through the MEA’s insurance arm, and the union has typically fought to keep it that way.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But, “it’s a subject we need to have on the table,” Snyder said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snyder said he believes his plan can save between </span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">$743 million and $1.11 billion: $87 million through pension reform; $156 million to $223 million through insurance reform; $200 million to $500 million through more competitive bidding, and $300 million through more consolidation and service sharing.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Competitive bidding is already happening in many districts, but Snyder said he’d like to see it expanded. That doesn’t necessarily mean privatizing, he said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Instead, school districts could bid on contracts from other districts — to provide busing, for example.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snyder said he’d also push for consolidating across districts more services such as business functions, payroll or</span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">curriculum planning.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He said he’d also hold schools accountable for the quality of the education they are producing, while rewarding teachers for their success.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Shouldn’t we be able to do an analysis of what are the successful schools, the successful teachers?” Snyder asked.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He said he wants to use data to find out what successful districts are doing, and how it can be replicated in others. Student test scores would be part of that data, but he said teachers should not be measured by scores alone.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Too often, we view measurement systems as a way to penalize people. I happen to see it as a way to reward success,” Snyder said.</span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snyder said he believes successful educators should be rewarded for success with some sort of pay for performance, or merit pay. He is not specific about how this would work, but he said merit pay, often a red flag to the unions, should go to the entire school instead of individual teachers. School-wide merit pay is much more palatable to union officials.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“These are tough questions that we need to address, in terms of getting them on the table,” Snyder said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextS" style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">• </span>CONTACT PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI: 313-222-8851 OR <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM">MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM </span> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="222" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="323" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F09&entityid=Pc00506&pageno=5&chunkid=Pc00506&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0050600&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 223px; vertical-align: middle; width: 324px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Republican Rick Snyder says he’d push for more consolidation for school districts. “We need to be more cost-efficient,” he said. “I’m not sure we can afford the system we have today.”</span></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">CARLOS OSORIO/Associated Press</span></span></div></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Bernero’s plan</span></b></span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">It’s all about student success</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Communities part of the solution, he says</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">By PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Students convicted of crimes may need to finish high school to get out of jail if Virg Bernero becomes governor. That’s just one of the ideas he has for improving education for Michigan children, outlined in his plan, Education is Economic Development.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Making sure those kids have a diploma is not only better for the economy, but it’s also one of the best ways to avoid repeat offenders, Bernero said. A criminal record makes it hard to get a job, and a diploma could put them one step closer to getting hired.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And Bernero said there are steps that can be taken now to keep those students out of jail — changing suspension policies, for instance. The solution right now is often kicking kids out of school, but that doesn’t solve the problem, it just encourages kids to drop out, Bernero said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Education would be better served if all schools used in-school</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">suspensions. If in-school suspension doesn’t work, he would then send the student to what he calls right-track academies to turn the kids around.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“If you do two things, if you discipline in a serious way and do an all-out assault on the dropout rate, that alone would bring a sea change to schools,” Bernero said. “I intend to lead the assault for the dropout rate and an extension of that, I very likely will lead community involvement in the schools.”</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While his plan is filled with his own ideas for fixing schools — including universal preschool and all-day kindergarten — Bernero said he also wants to make the community </span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">a part of the solution.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“I want to build a system that allows for creativity and local ingenuity, that empowers the district so we let them know that failure is not an option,” Bernero said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">His school reform would begin with “getting into these schools and talking to the teachers, doing some interviews, talking to parents, to see what’s going on.”</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bernero’s interest in addressing education issues is spurred in part by his wife, Teri Bernero, principal of Lewton Elementary School in Lansing. The Democratic candidate also said it’s time to stop pummeling schools with costly, unfunded government </span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">mandates, such as annual reports on test scores and documentation for how government funding is spent — work that takes time that could better be focused on education.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Let educators have a say in what’s needed to fix schools because they’re the ones who really know what’s going on inside the classroom, he said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He also would expand vocational education and career training. All students do not graduate from college, he said, but all Michigan students need to be able to get a decent job.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Like his opponent, Rick Snyder, he also wants to fix school funding and, if elected, plans to create a statewide task force to address the issue.</span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One area that would help save money, he said, is in consolidating duplicative services throughout each county, such as busing or payroll. Many services could be streamlined and run by county intermediate school districts.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Let’s get real about education funding,” Bernero said.</span></span><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextS" style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">• </span>CONTACT PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI: 313-222-8851 OR <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM">MMWALSH@FREEPRESS </span> <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM">.COM </span> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="222" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="323" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F09&entityid=Pc00505&pageno=5&chunkid=Pc00505&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0050500&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 223px; vertical-align: middle; width: 324px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Democrat Virg Bernero says his reform would start with talking to teachers and parents. “I want to build a system that … empowers the district so we let them know that failure is not an option,” he said.</span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">CARLOS OSORIO/Associated Press</span></span></div></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-66648991771176505772010-10-08T05:45:00.003-04:002010-10-10T11:42:25.871-04:00EDUCATION NATION: Summary! (Sir Ken Strikes Again / RAISING the EDUCATION REFORM CONVERSATION BAR and/or KRYPTONITE!)<object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SirKenRobinson_2010-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SirKenRobinson-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=865&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution;year=2010;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=how_we_learn;theme=whipsmart_comedy;theme=how_the_mind_works;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=master_storytellers;event=TED2010;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SirKenRobinson_2010-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SirKenRobinson-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=865&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution;year=2010;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=how_we_learn;theme=whipsmart_comedy;theme=how_the_mind_works;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=master_storytellers;event=TED2010;"></embed></object><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Sir Ken Robinson </span></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">EDUTOPIA April 2008 #1 / Education Policy and Creativity </span></span></b><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-video">http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-video</a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">EDUTOPIA April 2008 #2 / Creativity & Pedagogy </span></b></span><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-part-two-video">http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-part-two-video</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-3599575854255578542010-10-05T16:48:00.001-04:002010-10-05T16:48:55.182-04:00If YOU thought K-12 EDUCATION was PROBLEMATIC, CHECK-OUT THE EMERGING COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONVERSATION! The Next Conversation? The Failure of Siloed 4 YEAR U.S. EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS! So If WE Want to KNOW Where U.S. EDUCATION COMPETITIVENESS Will be in 10 Years CHECK-OUT U.S. BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS TODAY! Are WE Having Any FUN Yet?<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc3b7418" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39523789&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc3b7418" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39523789&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
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<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc15c8ad" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39516572&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc15c8ad" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39516572&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
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<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc619da" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39475035&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc619da" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39475035&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-16636594056305012010-10-05T16:39:00.001-04:002010-10-05T16:39:59.437-04:00More Blow-back<div class="time" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">September 28, 2010, <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #780808; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">03:59 PM ET</span></div><h1 class="title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans; font-size: 17px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">NBC's Education Nation: Policy Summit or Puppet Show?</span></h1><div class="byline" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">By <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogAuthor/Brainstorm/3/Marc-Bousquet/81/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Marc Bousquet</a></div><div class="abstract" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em>I’d like you to imagine the following. Suppose we are going to have a national summit on health care. Do you not suppose that a substantial number of the voices included would be from professionals in health care, including doctors and nurses? Would you have three people with just the head of the AMA to represent doctors?</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em>Or how about legal reform – would not lawyers scream if such a conference were organized without a substantial portion of the main participants being members of the profession representing the range of opinions within the legal field?</em><br />
<br />
<em>Why then is it when it comes to education that people think it is appropriate to have major discussions about education without fair inclusion of the voices of those who bear the greatest burden for the education of our children, the parents and the teachers?</em> --Kenneth Bernstein, <a href="http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/about/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Cooperative Catalyst</a><br />
<br />
So I tied off my upper arm and mainlined anti-nausea drugs Sunday and Monday in order to stomach hours of biased, <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/09/two_lies_and_a_half.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">dishonest</a>, irresponsible <a href="http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=E3078870-CA8F-11DF-8853000C296BA163" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NBC hate propaganda</a> paid for by, you guessed it, for-profit higher ed vendors and <a href="http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/the-lines-of-influence-in-education-reform/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">foundations devoted to privatizing</a> public schools.<br />
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Just as Obama's pursued the <a href="http://www.economicprincipals.com/issues/2010.05.30/1146.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Republican party line</a> on education, NBC has taken a page from Fox News and <a href="http://neatoday.org/2010/09/24/a-teachers-letter-to-oprah/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Oprah</a>. Their <a href="http://educationpolicyblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/problem-with-nbcs-education-nation.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">lineup</a> on a two-day policy summit with a dozen conference panels--you know, the kind of panels usually filled with <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/5/protests" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">folks with credible expertise</a> in the topic--features politicians, astronauts, TV anchors, musicians, corporate executives, and charter-school entrepreneurs. <br />
<br />
NBC did include one or two figures associated with parent organizations. Just not those representing the <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/view/letter_to_nbc_news_protesting_the_one-sided_presentation_of_education_nation" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">real views</a> of most <a href="http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">actual parents</a>--you know, the real parents who on balance are <a href="http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/archives/264" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">unhappy with Obama's education policy</a>, who <a href="http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/archives/265" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">fired a mayor</a> to get rid of Michelle Rhee, and who, when <a href="http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2010/02/charter-schools-iced-los-angeles-teachers-win-bids-run-new-schools" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">given the chance to vote</a>, overwhelmingly support teacher-run schools over charter-school operators.<br />
<br />
But somehow they completely failed to include practicing teachers, scholars of learning, or even recognized analysts of education policy. All day Monday and Tuesday, the only figure in the summit remotely acquainted with the scholarship of learning was Randi Weingarten, AFT president. She had to do double and triple duty, since she was simultaneously the only voice for practicing teachers, or for any policy recommendation other than those endorsed by Duncan's Race to the Top.<br />
<br />
<strong>Burn the Witch!</strong><br />
Incredibly, Weingarten played the same role all day Sunday. On Meet the Press and other programs, she was consistently positioned as a solitary voice against a solid bloc of panelists and journalists pounding away at the Duncan-<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/08/michelle_rhee_first-year_teach.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rhee</a> party line. NBC positioned her on the extreme edge of the outdoor panel, literally in the wind, with her hair flying sidewise like the Wicked Witch piloting a broomstick.<br />
<br />
Later, she faced an even larger panel completely united against her, this time featuring the propagandists who scored her appearances in <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/154986/grading-waiting-superman" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Waiting With Superman</a> with ominous chords redolent of <a href="http://choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/09/waiting-for-superman.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Darth Vader</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They can feature both the director and composer of the film who painted her as the captain of the Death Star but not one credible authority on the positions being pushed by the film?<br />
<br />
Interestingly, despite the outrageous set-up, on both programs Weingarten spoke more than any other participant--nearly as much all of the other participants combined.<br />
<br />
Seems the shows' hosts had to ask her to talk to nearly every point precisely because she was the only person who could provide any other perspective.<br />
<br />
Perhaps also because she was the only person who actually had anything to say?<br />
<br />
<strong>A Failed Hit Job</strong><br />
The one place where NBC allowed teachers--not scholars of learning or credible policy analysts--to have a few words was in a carefully scripted "town hall" program, segregated from all of the marquee shows and policy conference.<br />
<br />
They <a href="http://www.algierscharterschools.org/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=151622&id=0" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">stacked the audience</a> with school administrators and charter-school teachers, all<a href="http://www.depauw.edu/news/?id=25842" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">primed to spout</a> their propaganda: "Teachers are under attack and we should be!" shouted one, on cue. "We young teachers don't need tenure to do our jobs," said another.<br />
<br />
Even in the complete absence of journalistic scrutiny, the stories of these plants didn't stand up to their own telling.<br />
<br />
One charter-school hero stood up to mouth the no-excuses "challenge education" mantra that anybody can overcome any learning obstacle if they are confronted with sufficiently absurd expectations.<br />
<br />
As an example, he cited his willingness to offer free day care to one of his students' siblings in his classroom from 7am to 7pm, freeing the student from family-care responsibilities and allowing her to do her homework.<br />
<br />
While laudable, his willingness to address the poverty of the student's family in this way is not, as they say, a scalable solution to the problem. Um, duh, most teachers have families of their own that they can't and shouldn't neglect to offer 12 hours of day care to others. <br />
<br />
Right on the surface of this vignette is the cruel hypocritical absurdity--that those who are already sacrificing (the half of teachers who don't quit in despair in the first five years) are not just asked but are really being forced to sacrifice more.<br />
<br />
For instance, we could solve a lot of poverty-related issues if physicians or TV journalists or Wall Street banks turned their facililties into day-care centers and staffed them after hours.<br />
<br />
Hey, let's just say that everyone should work 12 hours a day for a teacher's wage!<br />
<br />
Any takers? I didn't think so.<br />
<br />
<strong>Nose Ring vs. Soul Patch</strong><br />
NBC made the mistake of letting a few actual veteran teachers in the room (actually a tent on Rockefeller plaza). And the atmosphere was apparently charged: anchor Brian Williams called the room "a beehive, a cauldron of activity and emotion," and joked about being in "physical danger." (He also called one reporter "honey," and flirted with one of the teachers on stage. Patronizing and chauvinist much? Guess we really are heading back to the Eisenhower era.)<br />
<br />
Because NBC failed to make sure everyone in the room was an administrator or a twentysomething working-slash-volunteering before law school at a charter, we saw a couple of flashes of honest teacher feeling and insight. </div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">These included thoughtful defenses of tenure as due process and analyses of the real issues (funding, poverty, support for professional development, workload, retention).<br />
<br />
You could have heard a pin drop on Fifth Avenue when one California principal described her guilt at hiring a new teacher on the salary she was allowed to offer: "I basically condemned her to never owning her own home," she said.<br />
<br />
Astonishingly, one teacher that made it onto the show because she was acquainted with the anchor actually compared Davis Guggenheim to Hitler's most brilliant propagandist, calling him "the Leni Riefenstahl of 2010."<br />
<br />
Personally I think that kind of comparison isn't worth the backlash, but I think it could prove the most telling moment of the week.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In my experience, persons reaching for the Nazi comparison are intellectually or emotionally stunted, or else desperate. Since this apparently kind and thoughtful, intellectual person was evidently not the former, I think she was struggling to communicate--in the few seconds she was permitted--the stifled frustration and outrage of the tens of millions of parents, teachers, scholars and students who are being hurtled toward yet more schoolroom misery by this tsunami of pro-Duncan propaganda.<br />
<br />
If you want to capture the essence of the tension that kept erupting through this scripted event, just fast forward to the middle of program, the second featured panel.<br />
<br />
Comprising a charter-school reading teacher in blond dreadlocks and nose ring, and a public-school science teacher of the year sporting a soul patch, the panel was intended to talk about teaching technique.<br />
<br />
Asked to describe how she succeeded as a teacher, Nose Ring was unable to manage a syllable describing or defending her teaching practice. She floundered helplessly ("well, you just show them how far behind they are in the world") until the moderator let her off the hook, summarizing her philosophy: "Just teach 'em hard, huh?" <br />
<br />
Invited to share his own teaching tips, Soul Patch, a public school teacher of the year, gently rebutted much of the propaganda previously circulated. American top students, he pointed out, perform at the same level as the top students anywhere in the world. The problem is inequality and unfairness, he observed.<br />
<br />
Asked to celebrate the Duncan-Obama grim focus on STEM fields, science teacher of the year Soul Patch demurred, pointing out that his own practice and education research showed the importance of "right brain" creativity, of "movement and music right in the science classroom."<br />
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<strong>Anti-social media</strong><br />
Up until a firestorm of complaint forced them to open the forum, NBC aggressively censored the one place where teachers and parents were mainly allowed to participate--on a Facebook page promoting the event. Even <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/09/how_would_a_journalist_cover_e.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">established columnists</a> for national mainstream education journals like <em>Education Week </em>were repeatedly "unfriended" or had their comments removed.<br />
<br />
<strong>Obama's Today Show interview</strong><br />
This was only about 20 minutes on education before Lauer moved on, but kudos to Lauer for acting more like a journalist than anyone else NBC has put forward.<br />
<br />
To his credit, Lauer only gave the administration props for the one initiative (pre-K schooling) actually supported by research, and showed that research in the video package. He <a href="http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/archives/203" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">challenged the president</a> on the unfair demonizing of teachers and teacher unions in <em>Waiting for Superman. </em>He pointed out that most charter schools underperform union schools.<br />
<br />
Above all, he kept the focus on funding and support, quoting Clinton: "It's not just a money thing, but it <em>is </em>a money thing." Obama tried to counter with the Republican bromide that it "isn't a problem we can spend our way out of," and began mouthing accountability and competition cliches.<br />
<br />
But Lauer kept at it finally getting the President to concede that there is no problem recruiting teachers into the profession--just a massive problem retaining them.<br />
<br />
Most young teachers find they "can't afford to stay" in the profession, Obama confessed, "especially when it comes to having families of their own." </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-20580146217806582802010-10-05T14:27:00.001-04:002010-10-05T14:27:02.317-04:00Scrutiny Blow-back: National Conversation on Education Nation<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">AUDIO of BELOW:</span></span></b> <a href="http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mp3">http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mp3</a> (The audio is somewhat broken-up but is well worth being patient)<br />
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<div class="boxheader" id="createevent" style="clear: left; color: #666666; font-family: Calibri, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative; width: 640px;"><div class="connectbox" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; float: left; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; width: 615px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="edit-ename" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 485px;">Elevating the Education Reform Dialog</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-etype" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Event Type:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 200px;">Web Event</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Event Creator:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.learncentral.org/user/80" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;">Steve Hargadon</a></label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="edit-estart" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">When:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">Mon October 04, 2010, 14:00-17:00, US/Pacific (GMT-08:00)*</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 125px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">Find your local time zone <a href="http://www.learncentral.org/event/106358#timezone_converter" rel="facebox" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;">here</a>.</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Participant URL:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 410px; word-break: break-all;"><a href="http://tr.im/futureofed" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://tr.im/futureofed</a></label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" id="repeats" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-erepent" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Repeats:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">none</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" id="calendar" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-ecalendar" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Calendar:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 250px;">Community Calendar</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-ecalendar" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Short Description:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">FutureofEducation.com and Edutopia -- a two-hour live and interactive look at Ed Reform</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-ecalendar" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Detail Description:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;"><br />
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<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Recordings:</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Audio: <a href="http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mp3" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mp3</a></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Chat Log: <a href="http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.rtf" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.rtf</a></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Video: <a href="http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mov" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/elev8ed.mov</a> </div><div style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Between the <a href="http://www.educationnation.com/" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NBC "Education Nation" Summit</a>, <a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Waiting for Superman</a>, <a href="http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Waiting-For-Superman-The-Movie-That-Can-Transform-Americas-Schools_2" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Oprah Winfrey Show</a>, and Facebook founder <a href="http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Mark-Zuckerbergs-Big-Announcement-Video" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift to Newark city schools</a>, there has been a lot of media attention focused on the topic of education reform. Unfortunately, much of it has excluded actual educators, let alone students. Furthermore, and perhaps as a consequence, the dialog has become divisive, blaming, and ultimately counter-productive.</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://futureofeducation.com/" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">FutureofEducation.com</a> and <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Edutopia</a> are collaborating this coming Monday on a two-hour live and interactive look at "Elevating the Education Reform Dialog"--an online discussion with special guests and specifically for educators, to help move past the bashing and to engage in a constructive conversation about the best way forward. Connection details are at the bottom of this post. </div><div style="clear: both; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><strong>Date</strong>: Monday, October 4, 2010</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Time</strong>: 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 9pm GMT (<a href="http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=10&day=4&year=2010&hour=14&min=0&sec=0&p1=217" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">international times here</a>)</div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Duration</strong>: 2 hours</div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Location</strong>: In Elluminate. Log in at <a href="http://tr.im/futureofed" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://tr.im/futureofed</a>. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit <a href="http://www.elluminate.com/support" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.elluminate.com/support</a>. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.</div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Event and Recording Page</strong>: <a href="http://www.learncentral.org/event/106358" style="color: #007bc1; text-decoration: none;">http://www.learncentral.org/event/106358</a></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Hashtag:</strong> #elev8ed</div></div></label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label for="select-ecalendar" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Tags:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;"></label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><label data-nid="106358" data-site="LearnCentral" data-type="event" for="select-ecalendar" id="auto_tag_label" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Auto Tags:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">education,newark,mark zuckerberg,superman,edutopia,oprah winfrey,united states,facebook,futureofeducationcom,nbc</label></div></div><div style="float: left; font-size: 12px; position: relative; width: 640px;">* Time zone observes Daylight Savings Time (DST).</div></div><div class="boxheader" id="createpresenter" style="clear: left; color: #666666; font-family: Calibri, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative; width: 640px;">Presenter(s)<br />
<div class="connectbox" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; float: left; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; width: 615px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Julie Evans</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Julie Evans is the CEO of the national education nonprofit organization, Project Tomorrow (www.tomorrow.org) whose mission is to ensure that today's students are well prepared to become tomorrow's leaders, innovators and engaged citizens of the world. Under her leadership, Project Tomorrow has emerged as a national leader promoting the use of innovative and research based science, math and technology resources in our K-12 schools to develop critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills in students.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285948953_80_Julie_Evans.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Alfie Kohn</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of eleven books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations.<br />
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Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores."</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949001_80_alfie-kohn-small.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Chris Lehmann</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA. The Science Leadership Academy is an inquiry-driven, project-based, 1:1 laptop school that is considered to be one of the pioneers of the School 2.0 movement nationally and internationally. The school was recognized by Ladies Home Journal as one of the Ten Most Amazing Schools in the US, has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School in 2009 and 2010 and has been written about in many publications including Edutopia Magazine, EdWeek and the Philadelphia Inquirer.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949035_80_ChristopherLehmann.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Deborah Meier</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Deborah Meier has spent more than three decades working in public education as a teacher, principal, writer, advocate, and ranks among the most acclaimed leaders of the school reform movement in the U.S. Meier was born in New York City in 1931 and was educated at Antioch College and the University of Chicago. She began her teaching career in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia as an elementary and Head Start teacher, continually fascinated with why schools did not work well and what was needed to fix them.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949091_80_deborah_meier.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Diane Ravitch</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She shares a blog called Bridging Differences with Deborah Meier, hosted by Education Week. She also blogs for Politico.com/arena and the Huffington Post. Her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. From 1991 to 1993, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949117_80_diane_ravitch.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Will Richardson</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Will Richardson considers himself an "evangelist" for the use of Weblogs, RSS and related Internet technologies in classrooms and schools. Over the past six years he's had the chance to speak and work with thousands of educators from around the world on the merits of "The Read/Write Web." He was a classroom teacher for over 20 years who integrated these technologies into his curricula for over four years. In various Weblog projects, his students have collaborated with best-selling authors, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, and with students in classrooms from around the world.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949150_80_will_richardson.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Sir Ken Robinson</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949179_80_ken-robinson.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 615px;"><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 461px;"><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Name:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Gary Stager</label></div><div class="form-item clearfix" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 461px;"><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; padding-right: 5px; text-align: right; width: 115px;">Bio:</label><label style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 100; margin-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; text-align: left; width: 276px;">Since 1982, Gary Stager, PhD, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world's first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s, is a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab's Future of Learning Group and a member of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation's Learning Team. Mr. Stager's doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. Recent work includes teaching and mentoring some of Australia's "most troubled" public schools. Gary was Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine and Founding Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate.</label></div></div><div id="presenterright" style="float: left; width: 153px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.learncentral.org/docs/imagecache/user_image_large/images/1285949233_80_Stager.png" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: dashed; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dashed; border-top-width: 1px;" title="" /></div></div></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Calibri, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 17px;"><br />
</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-2777786142875770852010-10-05T12:57:00.002-04:002010-10-05T12:57:38.889-04:00Waiting for Superman Debuted in Detroit (Well actually Royal Oak)<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">THE DEBATE OVER ‘SUPERMAN’</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">DOCUMENTARY TAKES ON TEACHERS UNIONS, BUT FILM’S CRITICS DEFEND PUBLIC SCHOOLS</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">By PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The documentary “Waiting for Superman” doesn’t open in the Detroit area until Friday, but it’s already generating national buzz, even as it kindles debate about how to improve public schools.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The movie, by director and co-writer Davis Guggenheim, who won an Oscar for “An Inconvenient Truth,” argues that union politics and teacher tenure issues plague public schools while charter schools can focus on student achievement.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“This is a film that screams for education reform,” Gov. Jennifer Granholm said after viewing the film during a preview Monday evening at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak. “It’s no longer a mystery what works; there are schools like the Harlem Children’s Zone (a high-performing charter school portrayed in the movie) that have figured out how to ensure that every child goes to college, no matter what their circumstances.”</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Proponents of traditional public schools say the movie offers a one-sided view.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“The movie says charter schools are the answer, but studies show there are excellent charters; there are charters that are OK, and there are bad charters,” said David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers Michigan, which includes teachers in Detroit’s struggling public schools. The same is true of traditional public schools, Hecker said.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The debate aside, the movie’s message is that we are all waiting for an educational Superman, a hero with a silver bullet to fix what’s ailing public education.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Superman was, of course, fiction. The question the movie leaves hanging is whether we’ll continue to wait, or get serious about improving the future for all American children.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="684" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="827" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F05&entityid=Pc00105&pageno=1&chunkid=Pc00105&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0010500&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 685px; vertical-align: middle; width: 828px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Paramount Pictures; iStock</span></span><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara">Francisco and his mom in “Waiting for Superman,” a movie that argues charter schools are better than public schools. “This movie, from everyone who’s seen it, sends a compelling case for education reform,” Gov. Jennifer Granholm said.</span></span></div><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Times serif'; font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Film looks at ways to reform schools</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Unions call movie unfair; others hope that it spurs fixes</span></span></span></div><div class="InfoComponentTextHedLine_hl2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px; text-align: justify;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextByline" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">By PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Do education superheroes wear charter school hats, or can they be found among union-card-carrying traditional public school teachers? That’s the question coming out of “Waiting for Superman,” opening Friday at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The better question is whether, after years of education reform that has wrought few changes in America’s public schools, the movie will lead to serious education fixes for struggling public schools.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">So far, the movie has helped to broaden national discussion on education reform as it portrays the desperation of parents and students stuck in low-performing schools, waiting to see whether they win a lottery space in a high-performing charter school. It prefaces the tearful lottery scene with interviews and data pointing to a dismal state in U.S. schools in general, and schools in high poverty urban areas in particular</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Sandra York of Detroit, the executive director of the Michigan Parent Teacher Student Association, said the movie made many valid points.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“The one thing we all know is that children can be educated,” York said. “We have a lot of work to do.”</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">But not all viewers gave the movie high marks. Shomari Johnson of Detroit, an educational consultant and retired </span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Detroit Public Schools math and science teacher, said the movie did not bring out the importance of family involvement, “and it demonized the teachers unions without showing the good stuff that they do.”.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“Superman” offers a damning indictment of teachers unions, which it portrays as more interested in preserving tenure than in removing bad teachers from the classroom.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Whether that’s a fair portrayal or not is open to debate. Even charter proponents point out that the charter schools championed in the movie are among the best the charter movement has to offer.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Still, “it portrays very high-performing charter schools as making a difference,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, which advocates for charters. “What it’s really about in that sense is that we want more high-quality schools that parents have access to.”</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Quisenberry said education can be improved by turning a failing traditional public school into a charter school.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“A charter school gives you a brand new opportunity, when you start out new,” he said. “I think we’re a key component” of education reform.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said at Monday’s preview that he hopes “Superman” elevates the national dialogue on school reform and reinforces his drive for teacher accountability. “A lot of it has to do with the rigor we’ve introduced into our schools,” he said.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">But defenders of traditional public schools say the movie presents a one-sided view of charter schools and, by extension, education reform.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers Michigan, which represents teachers in Detroit Public Schools, said “Superman” is based on inaccurate or </span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">incomplete assumptions.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Hecker and others point out national studies showing mixed results for charters. The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, for instance, reported last year that only 17% of charter schools reported academic gains significantly better than traditional public schools.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Hecker said the movie portrays traditional public school teachers as incompetent, which Hecker said is not only untrue, but unfair. He argues that tenure does not confer a job for life, but merely ensures due process for teachers. He said the movie holds out teacher merit pay as a viable reform, when a study released last month by Vanderbilt University showed merit pay is not an effective motivator for teachers.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The attention given the movie before it even opens nationally has led some public school officials to send messages to parents about the movie’s unflattering portrayal of traditional public schools, and pointing out the good things in their district.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“We’re reacting to the buzz surrounding ‘Waiting for Superman,’ ” said Shira Good, communications supervisor for Berkley Public Schools, which sent such a letter to parents.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The letter outlines strides Berkley is taking to improve student achievement, including eliminating lower-track classes and setting high expectations, along with increasing ACT scores for Berkley students.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“We didn’t want any of our parents walking out of the movie and wondering what their son or daughter’s school is achieving,” Good said.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The one thing both sides of the charter-traditional school debate can agree on is that the attention the movie is generating about education reform is in everyone’s best interests.</span></span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“I think it’s going to be important in the sense that we are at a crossroads with our education system, especially Detroit Public Schools,” Virdell Thomas, an operations manager with Family Services in Detroit, said before Monday’s preview.</span></span></span><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">“I think all education systems are facing big challenges now,” she said, “so I’m looking for some sort of hope.”</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="InfoComponentTextLineBreak" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 2px; font-weight: normal; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><span class="InfoComponentTextIndent" style="font-size: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;"> </span> <span class="InfoComponentTextPara"><span class="InfoComponentTextS" style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">• </span>CONTACT PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI: 313-222-8851 OR <span class=" InfoComponentLink" owc:control="icviewerlink" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: #2222ff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" title="Click here to send email: MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM">MMWALSH@FREEPRESS.COM </span> </span><br />
<span class="InfoComponentTextContent" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPrimitive" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="InfoComponentTextChunk" owc:control="icviewerchunk" owc:entity-type="Picture" owc:view-mode="text"></span></span><br />
<div class="InfoComponentTextPicture" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(136, 136, 136); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="InfoComponentTextPrimImg" owc:basic-height="624" owc:basic-left="0" owc:basic-scale="1" owc:basic-top="0" owc:basic-width="923" owc:control="primitive" owc:fit-mode="none" owc:reposition-on-zoom="true" owc:scale-method="html" owc:view-mode="image" style="left: 0px; top: 0px;"><img src="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=DFP%2F2010%2F10%2F05&entityid=Pc00203&pageno=2&chunkid=Pc00203&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0020300&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; height: 625px; vertical-align: middle; width: 924px;" /></div><span class="InfoComponentTextCaption" owc:control="primitive" owc:view-mode="text" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="InfoComponentTextPara">WILEY FOSTER/Public Education Pictures Anthony and his grandmother Gloria are among those profiled in “Waiting for Superman,” a movie that looks at charter versus public schools.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-51716910418847694092010-10-03T14:06:00.001-04:002010-10-03T14:06:57.969-04:00EDUCATION NATION! (The End of the Beginning and A BEGINNING with NO END!)<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" height="245" id="msnbc80db7a" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39386870&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc80db7a" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39386870&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
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<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc4acc0e" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39441352&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc4acc0e" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39441352&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-65555898927990837042010-10-03T11:50:00.001-04:002010-10-03T11:50:15.582-04:00EDUCATION NATION! (DETROIT / Innovation Gap Analysis / THINK Global Competitiveness ACT LOCALLY and COLLABORATIVELY!)<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc1ef94" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39443335&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc1ef94" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39443335&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
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<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc2d5f0e" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39443491&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc2d5f0e" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39443491&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3532725471585751877.post-36614506988934052842010-10-03T11:39:00.001-04:002010-10-03T11:39:23.909-04:00EDUCATION NATION! (OVERVIEW CONVERSATIONS)<object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc5e5212" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39409390&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc5e5212" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=39409390&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
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