Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Education Teachers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education Teachers. Show all posts

Monday, March 09, 2015

Some parents across the country are revolting against standardized testing - The Washington Post

Some parents across the country are revolting against standardized testing - The Washington Post

 March 7, 2015 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-parents-across-the-country-are-revolting-against-standardized-testing/2015/03/05/e2abd062-c1e1-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

"A growing number of parents are refusing to let their children take standardized tests this year, arguing that civil disobedience is the best way to change what they say is a destructive overemphasis on tests in the nation’s public schools. 

The resistance comes as most states roll out new tests aligned to the Common Core academic standards and as Congress struggles to rewrite the federal law that has defined the role of testing in schools for the past decade.

[...]

 “What I’m hearing from the opt-out parents is maybe this is the last chance to get the legislature’s attention,” said Mark Neal, an Ohio superintendent who is an outspoken critic of the new Common Core tests. 

 Neal pulled his son, a third-grader, out of PARCC testing this year — one of the Common Core exams — as did the parents of about 20 percent of students who were supposed to take tests in his small district east of Columbus.

“We’ve never had anything like this before,” Neal said. “We’ve never had this many tests, we’ve never spent this much time testing.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-parents-across-the-country-are-revolting-against-standardized-testing/2015/03/05/e2abd062-c1e1-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net


Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/

Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalistsand journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maioremDei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Thursday, November 06, 2014

Teaching pre-K: Higher standards, not enough training, and the importance of purposeful play.

Teaching pre-K: Higher standards, not enough training, and the importance of purposeful play.:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2014/11/06/teaching_pre_k_higher_standards_not_enough_training_and_the_importance_of.html?wpsrc=slatest_newsletter&sid=5388f43add52b8e41100cd7e

[...]

"As public prekindergarten expands in New York City and other parts of the country, teachers face competing tensions: On the one hand, there’s new pressure to teach more challenging academic material at younger and younger ages.

On the other, there’s mounting concern about the wisdom of shoehorning kindergarten and even first-grade content into the preschool years. Today’s pre-K instructors, for instance, feel much more compelled to teach children their numbers up to 100 or how to begin sounding out words than they used to.

Increasingly, early education experts agree that the best solution is to follow Markarian’s model: Mold and challenge young minds, but do it through purposeful play.

That’s not as easy as it sounds.

“That kind of teaching is much more difficult, and it takes a lot of training,” said Deborah Stipek, a professor of education at Stanford University. It’s much easier to lecture and pass out worksheets or to let kids engage in nonpurposeful and disorganized play—simply ensuring “they don’t beat each other over the head with blocks,” she says. “Really effective teaching is both playful and organized.”"

'via Blog this'
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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Salisbury News: This is a "Good" example of Education 2014 style

Salisbury News: This is a "Good" example of Education 2014 style:

This is so sad... just saying. http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2014/04/this-is-good-example-of-education-2014.html

'via Blog this'
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Thursday, February 06, 2014

City teachers upset about mail clause in proposed contract - baltimoresun.com

City teachers upset about mail clause in proposed contract - baltimoresun.com

City teachers upset about mail clause in proposed contract
They criticize clause shutting down communication channels

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-ci-teachers-contract-complaints-20140205,0,1925347.story

"By Erica L. Green, The Baltimore Sun 7:59 p.m. EST, February 5, 2014

On any given day, a teacher's mailbox is usually chock full of messages: leaflets advertising professional development, discount coupons for office supplies, publications from curriculum companies, and book club invitations.

But under a contract that teachers are expected to vote on Thursday, they fear that such communication would cease — unless it comes from the Baltimore Teachers Union.

City teachers are criticizing an unusual clause included in the proposed contract that appears to give the union the exclusive right to disseminate information via email or through teachers' mailboxes. They say the new language is too broad and attempts to silence dissenters and disempower those who organize outside of union parameters." 


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-ci-teachers-contract-complaints-20140205,0,1925347.story 

'via Blog this'
*****

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Washington Post - Dylan Matthews: How much do Chicago teachers make?


How much do Chicago teachers make?

Posted by Dylan Matthews on September 11, 2012

Monday, I passed along the Chicago Public Schools’ estimate of the mean teacher salary, which is $74,839. Pro-union sources are objecting, with some putting the figure at $56,720, almost $20,000 below CPS’ estimate. So is the school district just lying about this? … http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/11/how-much-do-chicago-teachers-make/



Washington Post - Dylan Matthews: How much do Chicago teachers make?

*****

Friday, March 30, 2012

Young, Brennan spar on salaries - The Frederick News-Post Online

Young, Brennan spar on salaries - The Frederick News-Post Online


Young, Brennan spar on salaries
Teachers group leader: Online, radio remarks 'deceptive'
Originally published March 30, 2012

By Blair Ames News-Post Staff 
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyID=133760


Statements made by County Commissioners President Blaine Young online and during his radio show have Frederick County Teachers Association President Gary Brennan saying Young is using his position to mislead the public.


In an article on The Tentacle, a Frederick County news commentary website, Young wrote, "A teacher who started in our school system at a base salary of $40,000 in fiscal 2003, would today in fiscal 2012 be earning over $63,500."



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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Why Public Employees Are the New Welfare Queens

Why Public Employees Are the New Welfare Queens


This is an item about why your local fireman or teacher has such a nice retirement package, why you probably don’t, and the way conservatives are using that contrast to advance their broader economic agenda.
Friday’s New York Times had a column about the “coming class war,” focusing on the fact that retirement packages for public employees seem to be a lot more generous than the ones for private employees. This is not a new discussion. Experts and think-tanks have been churning out research on the topic for years. But, thanks in part to the recession, the pension gap has become a major political controversy.
Conservatives say that excessive public employee pensions exemplify the greed of unions (which sought these generous benefits for public employees) and inefficiency of government (which agreed to pay them). If local and state governments are struggling financially, these conservatives say, they should figure out some way to reduce or revoke those promised benefits, rather than come to Washington and beg for help from the taxpayers.
The Senate Republican Policy Committee sums up the right’s mantra succinctly: “No state bailouts should be contemplated until the wages and pensions of public sector employees are brought into line.” Translation: You shouldn't have to give up another cent of your taxes until government stops paying its bureaucrats so damn much...  http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/76884/why-your-fireman-has-better-pension-you


MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR





Bus Econ 2010, Business Econ Unions, Education Teachers, Firefighters, Bus Econ pensions
*****

Friday, March 20, 2009

STATE POLICE ARREST TEACHER FOR SOLICITATION OF A MINOR


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2009


STATE POLICE ARREST TEACHER FOR SOLICITATION OF A MINOR

(Bel Air, MD) The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit arrested a Harford County middle school physical education teacher today for allegedly sexually soliciting a fifteen year old boy from Prince George�s County.

The accused is identified as Jonathan S. Dick, 43, of the 1300-block of Sheridan Place in Bel Air. He is charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor. If convicted, Dick could be sentenced up to ten years and/or a $25,000 fine per count.

The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Section began this investigation in February after receiving a complaint from the victim�s parents when they located disturbing sexual text messages between the juvenile victim and Dick. Investigators obtained the juvenile�s cellular phone and laptop computer and were able to recover the Internet chats. The solicitation occurred over a period of several weeks, after the juvenile and Dick began communicating on a social networking website. Investigators were able to trace the account information back to Dick.

Police learned that Dick is employed as a physical education teacher at Fallston Middle School in Harford County. He also serves as a boys lacrosse coach at Fallston High School.

Police executed a search warrant at Dick�s Bel Air residence early this morning, seizing a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and several printed documents and pictures relevant to the investigation. The seized computers will be sent to the State Police Computer Forensics Laboratory for examination.

Dick was arrested at the Harford County Administrative Offices at noon today. He was then processed at the Bel Air barrack and transported to the Harford County Detention Center. A bond hearing before a court commissioner will occur later today.

Because this investigation involves a teacher, the State Police coordinated efforts with the Harford County Child Advocacy Center, the Harford County State�s Attorney Office, and the Harford County Public Schools administration.

This case continues to be investigated by the State Police and the Harford County Child Advocacy Center. Anyone with any information concerning this case is urged to contact the Center at 410-638-3294.

The Computer Crimes Unit�s primary mission is to protect children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. The unit works cooperatively with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to provide resources to combat these crimes. The unit is also charged with helping to prevent the spread of these crimes through education and community awareness.


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CONTACT: Ms. Elena Russo
Office of Media Communications & Marketing
410-653-4236 (Office) 410-653-4200 (through Headquarters Duty Officer)

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ SDOSM 20090320

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

19480702 Democratic Advocate: Teacher Fowble Slugged By Hitch-Hiker

Teacher Fowble Slugged By Hitch-Hiker

Democratic Advocate, July 2, 1948.

Fred Fowble, Westminster High School teacher found unconscious early Saturday on the Old Frederick road near Hollofield, Howard county, told police he was assaulted by a young "hitchhiker."

The assailant, who fled in his victim's automobile, struck Fowble on the head shortly after being picked up near the Patapsco River bridge. Fowble, thrown from the car, was found lying in the roadway by Andrew Huppler, a passing motorist, about 2 a.m.

Huppler took the unconscious man to the Ellicott City Police Station.

When he was revived, Fowble gave Patrolman Charles Linthicum an account of the assault. Fowble said he was returning to his home in Westminster from Baltimore when the youth, standing near the bridge, solicited a ride.

After picking up the "hitch-hiker," Fowble reported he had driven about a quarter of a mile when he was struck on the head and lost consciousness. In addition to stealing his car, the assailant robbed him of his cash. Fowble was treated by a doctor in Ellicott City for a head wound before being returned to his home at 60 Court street.


Democratic Advocate, July 2, 1948.


Carroll County Public Schools Westminster High School, Carroll County Public Schools, Carroll County Public Schools History, History Westminster 1940s, Public Safety Law and Order, People Carroll County, Education Teachers

19480702 Democratic Advocate: Teacher Fowble Slugged By Hitch-Hiker

Thursday, November 15, 2007

20071112 “Schools, Union and Taxpayers” by Michael Barone in National Review On Line


"Schools, Unions & Taxpayers" - - - Michael Barone in National Review On Line

From Maryland Taxpayers Association:

MTA suggests that fellow taxpayer-advocates ask their state legislators to discuss - frequently and publicly - the perils to the taxpayer arising from the leadership of Maryland's teachers and public employee unions.

{See http://www.examiner.com/a-1024548~Time_for_Grasmick_to_go.html}

{See http://redmaryland.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-so-complicated-and-just-too-hard.html}

Related: Taxes Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) or Taxes Maryland or Taxes or Maryland General Assembly Oct. 29 2007 Special Session

Scroll down for chapter and verse from Michael Barone.

MICHAEL BARONE: "The AMT has no deduction for state and local taxes, and tends to hit high earners in high-tax states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and California heavily Democratic states, you’ll notice.

These states tend to have highly paid unionized public employees, and their union leaders surely understand that the AMT threatens to create political pressure to lower state and local taxes and therefore spending.

If voters can’t deduct their state and local taxes, their tax burden will go way up, and they may start a tax revolt. Better not let that happen! So eliminating the AMT is an imperative for Democrats.

Their [the union leaders] goals are to increase pay, which runs counter to taxpayers’ interests, and to minimize accountability, which runs counter to citizens. Republicans are not their reliable adversaries union leaders get cozy with Republican legislators when they can, by letting them know they wont oppose them." [Underscoring MTA's throughout.]

November 12, 2007

Leaving the Children Behind

In favor of the unions.

By Michael Barone

Education is not ordinarily thought to be in the purview of a Federal Reserve chairman. So it’s striking when Alan Greenspan in his memoir, The Age of Turbulence, raises the subject.

“Our primary and secondary education system,” he writes, “is deeply deficient in providing homegrown talent to operate our increasingly complex infrastructure.” The result: “Too many of our students languish at too low a level of skill upon graduation, adding to the supply of lesser-skilled labor in the face of an apparently declining demand.”

So if you’re concerned about widening disparities in income, Greenspan tells readers attracted to his book by its publicists’ promise of criticism of George W. Bush, then what you need to do is to “harness better the forces of competition” in educating kids.

As Greenspan concedes, we have done that to some extent. Governors Republican and Democratic have worked to make public schools more accountable, charter schools provide some needed competition, and the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act has further prodded states and localities in those directions. But except for a few cities, notably Milwaukee and Cleveland, we have not had school-choice programs with vouchers allowing parents to choose private as well as public schools.

Vouchers are adamantly opposed by the teacher unions, which spent millions persuading Utah voters last week to repeal a voucher law passed by the legislature. No one can say for sure how much vouchers would improve education. But they are “forces of competition,” as Greenspan puts it, which we’re almost entirely prevented from harnessing because of the power of teacher unions — the power, more specifically, that they wield in the Democratic party.

[…]

The teacher unions are an incredibly important source of money and volunteers for the Democratic party — about one in ten delegates at recent Democratic national conventions have been teacher union members or their spouses. When they snap their fingers, the Democrats jump. Vouchers threaten to dry up dues money, and that is that.

Teacher unions are not the only public employee unions important to the Democrats — nearly half the union members in the country are public employees. And you can see their power exerted as well in House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel’s tax reform proposal.

Rangel, who deserves credit for raising the issue of broad tax changes, proposes vast tax increases in order to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT, originally designed to make sure that a few millionaires could not avoid paying income tax, has never been indexed for inflation, and threatens to engulf 20 million taxpayers next year unless Congress passes another one-year “patch” or, as Rangel wants, abolishes it.

The AMT has no deduction for state and local taxes, and tends to hit high earners in high-tax states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and California — heavily Democratic states, you’ll notice. These states tend to have highly paid unionized public employees, and their union leaders surely understand that the AMT threatens to create political pressure to lower state and local taxes and therefore spending. If voters can’t deduct their state and local taxes, their tax burden will go way up, and they may start a tax revolt. Better not let that happen! So eliminating the AMT is an imperative for Democrats.

Looking ahead to future fiscal burdens, many people understand that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid threaten to consume an ever-larger share of the economy over the years. But so do state and local governments if public employee unions get their way. And to get it, they rely on taxpayer’s funds — all their dues income comes from the public fisc.

Read the entire column here: "Schools, Unions & Taxpayers" - - - Michael Barone in National Review On Line


National Review Online - http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTU0NWM2M2Y5ZTgzNWFhODFjZWYxZTQyOWMzMDMwYTA=

Richard Falknor
Executive Vice-President
Maryland Taxpayers Association, Inc.
http://www.mdtaxes.org

Friday, February 02, 2007

20070201 A Tribute to teachers

A Tribute to teachers

February 1, 2007

H/t: Aunt Kate

For the benefit from which our society gains as a result of the work of teachers, they are woefully underpaid and under-appreciated. Think of the folks who made a difference in your life. Most likely, a teacher is on that list.

The following was e-mailed to me and I think that it worth sharing.

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.”

To stress his point he said to another guest;
"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?”

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, you want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, and then began...)

Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental...

You want to know what I make?” (She paused again and looked at each and
every person at the table.)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.) Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?

A post script… If you are reading this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank a soldier.

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