Blog editor note: I have added commentary in blue to the article below.
Questions, answers about California's budget
By Edwin Garcia
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau
Posted: 02/19/2009 09:20:30 PM PST
SACRAMENTO — After all the theatrics at the state Capitol over California's new budget plan, you're probably wondering what the upshot is. Here are some answers:
Q When will the "temporary" sales tax increase take effect, and when will it end? (REGRESSIVE the very most REGRESSIVE tax possible--completely unfair to the poor and middle class. Increases in sales tax do not affect the lifestyles of the wealthy in the least. The incomes of the poor are already completely spent on living expenses.There is no extra cushion of money. The wealthy will be totally unaffected. Notice the "" quotation marks around temporary. Those were added by an ANTI at the Mercury News.)
A The 1-cent-on-the-dollar increase begins April 1, but when it ends depends on the outcome of a ballot measure calling for a cap on state spending. If the spending cap fails, the tax hike ends June 30, 2011. If the cap passes, the tax ends June 30, 2012.
Q What's a spending cap?
A It's a way to force state government to limit how much money the state can spend. In this case, by using a formula that links spending to inflation and population growth, the increase in annual expenditures would be capped at about 5 percent each year. (Sounds good in principle but the goal here is to make sure that all future lack of State service burdens fall on the poor and middle class)
Q What are all these ballot measures related to the budget, and when are the elections?
A There are six measures that require voter approval at a special election May 19. They seek to: implement the spending cap (HURTS the poor, not the wealthy); require the state to increase annual education funding by $9.3 billion in future years (unlikely to pass in this economy); shift Proposition 63 mental health services money; redirect how Proposition 10 cigarette tax money is allocated; clarify education appropriations from the state lottery; and deny pay increases to lawmakers during budget deficits. A seventh measure, on the June 2010 ballot, would do away with partisan primaries, which would allow candidates for statewide and congressional seats to run for office without listing their party affiliation. (This will make it likely that the only two candidates left standing after our primaries will be very very wealthy ANTIs who do not care about the poor.)
Q How much more will it cost to register my vehicle? (REGRESSIVE and UNFAIR TAX for the poor and middle class)
A Beginning May 19, the vehicle license fee rises from the current level of 0.65 percent of the value of the car to 1.15 percent of the value. The tax increase goes away by June 30, 2013.
Q And there's a tax on income tax, too?
A Yep. A 0.25 percent surcharge on personal income tax, though the increase would be cut in half if the state receives more federal stimulus funding than expected. The surcharge, for the 2009 tax year, lasts through tax year 2012 at the latest. (This is also a REGRESSIVE TAX. The obscenely wealthy should pay a much higher percentage as they have FAR MORE discretionary money left after they pay for their lifestyle than either middle class or especially the poor.)
Q What does the budget mean for education funding?
A The Legislature slashed $8.4 billion in funding for schools and community colleges. As a result, the California Teachers Association predicts class sizes will increase, thousands of teachers could be laid off and programs will be eliminated. Funding was maintained to continue smaller class sizes in grades K-3, and school districts will have more flexibility in how they spend money geared for specific programs. (ANTIs hate public FACT based education. They jump at anything they can do to reduce FACT based public education or reduce the number of people exposed to good education. Very sad. They win again thanks to Prop 13 unfair requirements for a two thirds majority.)
Q What about other colleges and universities?
A The University of California and California State
University systems will each suffer a 10 percent cut. Annual fees for CSU students will rise to $3,354 from the current $3,048. (Worst possible kind of fee increase. This will be fewer educated Californians particularly those who come from the lowest income levels. The poor will continue to be locked into their low wealth status with less chance to use education to get out of their income level.)
Q What happens to those on welfare programs?
A CalWORKS, the welfare-to-work program, will not provide cost-of-living increases. Those who receive state and federal supplemental income, such as certain seniors or disabled recipients, also will not get an increase. (The poorest of the poor get benefits cut. As a prominent Republican said (Bob Dole), "the poor do not contribute to campaigns.")
Q Will the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state offices remain closed due to state worker furloughs every two weeks?
A Yes, for now, until labor unions and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's negotiators find a way to trim $1.4 billion in payroll expenses. The next state office closing is today.
Q Is there any good news in the budget?
A Well, yes. The budget includes tax credits for businesses that invest in California, and it ensures that previously approved public works projects can continue. (Tax credits mean tax breaks for the grossly wealthy who already do not pay their fair share of taxes)
Contact Edwin Garcia at egarcia@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4651.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Republican Infection in Sacramento?
Below is a story from MSNBC regarding the Republicans in Sacramento. Their nickname a decade or more ago was the "Neanderthals". Now they are an infection?
I do agree that most elected Republicans now seem to be 100% behind the ANTI agenda--anti-science, anti progress, anti-middle class, anti-union, anti-public education; however, I hope in the future normals will get control of my party again. We cannot let radio con men whose mouths are purchased by the wealthy to control our party much longer.
Here is the article:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/California_Lt._Gov._Republican_infection_spreading_0219.html
Calif. politician blames budget woes on 'Republican infection'
David Edwards and Stephen C. WebsterPublished: Thursday February 19, 2009
State lawmakers break logjam over budget, pass bills with 'super majority' vote
When California Republicans replaced the state's senate minority leader for siding with Democrats over a budget conflation, ultimately delaying the deal by a single vote after weeks of frantic negotiations, that was a step too far for Lt. Governor John Garamendi.
Accusing the state's GOP of attempting to shut down the government, in the vein of the Gingrich-led federal shutdown of 1995, Garamendi said Wednesday to MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer that California's budget crisis was caused by "a Republican infection."
State lawmakers early Thursday passed a fiscal plan aimed at closing the state's $42 billion budget deficit, which threatened a financial meltdown in the world's eighth-largest economy.
The budget package passed after Republican Abel Maldonado agreed to support the measures in exchange for changes to California's electoral law and the removal from the plan of a 12-cent-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax.
Lawmakers began voting on a series of 33 budget bills shortly after midnight and completed their approval at 6:55 a.m. -- four minutes after sunrise.The support allowed the budget measure to pass 27 to 12, giving Democrats the two-thirds majority necessary to approve the bill.
The plan calls for nearly 13 billion dollars in new taxes and more than 15 billion dollars in spending cuts that Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said were necessary to prevent California's economy from "going off a cliff."
"Rather than approaching this unprecedented crisis with gimmicks and temporary solutions, we took the difficult but responsible steps to address our entire 42 billion dollar budget deficit," Schwarzenegger said in a statement."
I look forward to partnering with the people to make sure these bipartisan reform measures are passed, to put an end to our budget roller coaster and get California moving forward again."
California is the only US state that requires a so-called "super majority" to both pass a budget and approve any new taxes.
"It is a major roadblock to any new progress," said the Lt. Governor. "And then, when you have recalescent Republicans that have taken a no new tax pledge and seem to really just want to throw this state, and the nation, into chaos and further decline in the economy. Then, we have the gridlock that we see now.
"We need to change our constitution, go to maybe a 55 percent vote. And we need to make sure these Republicans are held accountable for the continued layoffs in California, for the shutdown of construction projects and for this state being on the brink."
The Lt. Governor also criticised Gov. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, for "failed leadership."
"He spent five years saying no new taxes, the problem is spending," said Garamendi. "Last summer he came to realize that really we do have a revenue problem ... But he never took that message to the public and he certainly didn't work with individual legislators."
The Lt. Governor pronounced California's economic woes a symptom of "a Republican infection that's really spreading across this nation."
Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the package into law on Friday.
State officials had warned California's budget deficit could reach 42 billion dollars by 2010, and were on the verge of halting hundreds of construction projects and slashing up to 10,000 jobs if a budget was not passed.California has an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent, much worse than the US national average.
I do agree that most elected Republicans now seem to be 100% behind the ANTI agenda--anti-science, anti progress, anti-middle class, anti-union, anti-public education; however, I hope in the future normals will get control of my party again. We cannot let radio con men whose mouths are purchased by the wealthy to control our party much longer.
Here is the article:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/California_Lt._Gov._Republican_infection_spreading_0219.html
Calif. politician blames budget woes on 'Republican infection'
David Edwards and Stephen C. WebsterPublished: Thursday February 19, 2009
State lawmakers break logjam over budget, pass bills with 'super majority' vote
When California Republicans replaced the state's senate minority leader for siding with Democrats over a budget conflation, ultimately delaying the deal by a single vote after weeks of frantic negotiations, that was a step too far for Lt. Governor John Garamendi.
Accusing the state's GOP of attempting to shut down the government, in the vein of the Gingrich-led federal shutdown of 1995, Garamendi said Wednesday to MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer that California's budget crisis was caused by "a Republican infection."
State lawmakers early Thursday passed a fiscal plan aimed at closing the state's $42 billion budget deficit, which threatened a financial meltdown in the world's eighth-largest economy.
The budget package passed after Republican Abel Maldonado agreed to support the measures in exchange for changes to California's electoral law and the removal from the plan of a 12-cent-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax.
Lawmakers began voting on a series of 33 budget bills shortly after midnight and completed their approval at 6:55 a.m. -- four minutes after sunrise.The support allowed the budget measure to pass 27 to 12, giving Democrats the two-thirds majority necessary to approve the bill.
The plan calls for nearly 13 billion dollars in new taxes and more than 15 billion dollars in spending cuts that Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said were necessary to prevent California's economy from "going off a cliff."
"Rather than approaching this unprecedented crisis with gimmicks and temporary solutions, we took the difficult but responsible steps to address our entire 42 billion dollar budget deficit," Schwarzenegger said in a statement."
I look forward to partnering with the people to make sure these bipartisan reform measures are passed, to put an end to our budget roller coaster and get California moving forward again."
California is the only US state that requires a so-called "super majority" to both pass a budget and approve any new taxes.
"It is a major roadblock to any new progress," said the Lt. Governor. "And then, when you have recalescent Republicans that have taken a no new tax pledge and seem to really just want to throw this state, and the nation, into chaos and further decline in the economy. Then, we have the gridlock that we see now.
"We need to change our constitution, go to maybe a 55 percent vote. And we need to make sure these Republicans are held accountable for the continued layoffs in California, for the shutdown of construction projects and for this state being on the brink."
The Lt. Governor also criticised Gov. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, for "failed leadership."
"He spent five years saying no new taxes, the problem is spending," said Garamendi. "Last summer he came to realize that really we do have a revenue problem ... But he never took that message to the public and he certainly didn't work with individual legislators."
The Lt. Governor pronounced California's economic woes a symptom of "a Republican infection that's really spreading across this nation."
Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the package into law on Friday.
State officials had warned California's budget deficit could reach 42 billion dollars by 2010, and were on the verge of halting hundreds of construction projects and slashing up to 10,000 jobs if a budget was not passed.California has an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent, much worse than the US national average.
Tyranny of the two thirds majority
The California budget passed.
Sadly a small minority of ANTI's held our state hostage until they made sure that their wealthy patrons (campaign contributors) would not have to pay their fair share for the benefits they get from living in our state.
Spending for poor and middle class was slashed--schools, colleges, health care etc. The wealthy were left alone.
All because it takes a two thirds majority of state lawmakers (thanks to prop 13) in both houses in Sacramento to increase taxes on the wealthy who own the mouths of the Radio Con Men that now control my Republican Party. A better written Prop 13 would have made it a 2/3rds majority to raise taxes on those making less than $200,000 a year but a simple majority for taxes on those who have the gained the most from our state infrastructure, the wealthy.
There will be a few new taxes but they will be the very worst kind in a recession. Most increased taxes will be REGRESSIVE. The kind that affect the poor and middle class far more than the wealthy. Regressive Taxes take the same amount from everyone. They mean that the poor who have no extra money must cut back on necessary living expenses. The middle class loses its discretionary spending which drives the California economy. But the life style of the wealthy is affected not at all.
The wealthy use only a very tiny proportion of their income for their wealthy decadent lifestyles, perhaps one or two percent. Increases in REGRESSIVE taxes are as inconsequential to the wealthy as taking out a few drops of water from a Olympic size swimming pool are to a swimmer.
Our schools will be severely impacted. The cuts will hurt and affect every school child and school employee in California. The new damage done to our already underfunded schools will echo down through the generations in California. An under funded school system means under educated students. An under educated population results in an under achieving economy. Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and other southern states spend very little on education and their economies stagnate. Now California may join them in saving tiny amounts of money now to lose a chance at a better future to come. Penny wise pound foolish.
I received kind of wild two emails from some cell phone company called Credo. I do not know how they got my email address. The emails are a full of rhetoric and are both very anti-Republican and anti-conservative. Too much so for my taste.
I am a Republican and used to be a proud Republican. Something has happened to the leadership and driving forces in my party. It is no longer a party of the ordinary person or a party of solutions. Very sad. I think the party can be saved in the long run. But in the short term, radio con men like Rush Limbaugh will accept payola from the wealthy to drive listeners opinions away from rational solutions for funding our schools and government. Perhaps that is why there are so many folks like Credo springing up who hate my party.
Here are the emails. See what you think of them.
Stop the right-wing agenda. Join the movement to repeal the two-thirds budget rule.
California is in crisis — the conservatives continually hold our budget process hostage because of a rule requiring a two-thirds vote of the legislature to pass a budget.
Led by Senator Abel Maldonado, the conservatives held the recent budget negotiations hostage. Their ransom? Severe budget cuts and strict prohibitions on taxes.
We must stop this crisis now. On Tuesday night, Rachel Maddow and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told Americans about the consequences of California's crisis. Conservatives in our state are showing the rest of the nation how to obstruct economic recovery.
That's why CREDO and the Courage Campaign are teaming up to stop the right-wing from controlling California's budget process. Sign the pledge to repeal the two-thirds budget rule and watch the Rachel Maddow video.
Every other state but two (Arkansas and Rhode Island) passes its budget with a simple majority. Yet, even to repeal the two-thirds rule it takes a two-thirds vote of the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Conservatives will do whatever they can to stop California from repealing this rule. We need to stop them now.
It is time to restore our budget process and build a movement to repeal the two-thirds rule. Join CREDO and the Courage Campaign today by signing this petition.
Thank you for working to build a better world.
Leah Donahey, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Rachel Maddow's had enough. Have you?
California's government is hopelessly broken. Led by state Senator Abel Maldonado, Republicans turned the budget negotiations into a hostage crisis by exploiting the rule requiring a 2/3rds vote of the legislature to pass a budget.
California Republicans are an extreme minority. A party in exile. Rejected by Californians at the ballot box, Republicans have decided to take revenge by using the budget crisis to achieve their radical goals, no matter the cost.
This is insanity. And it's made possible by the 2/3rds rule, which allows a small cabal of extremist Republicans to hold the state hostage to their demands, as they have done year after year.
Last night, Rachel Maddow and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told America of the consequences of California's crisis. They explained that California Republicans are trying to set a precedent for the entire nation -- that obstructing economic recovery is their path to power.
We have to stop the insanity. The only way this madness will end is if we eliminate the 2/3rds rule. Please watch what Rachel Maddow said last night and join the Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile in taking the pledge to support a repeal of the 2/3rds rule:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealTwoThirds
In the wake of dramatic progressive victories in the 2008 elections, the Republican counterattack is going to focus on ensuring government cannot meet the needs of the people in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. They believe that if government fails, they will win the next election.
Only TWO other states -- the small states of Rhode Island and Arkansas -- require a 2/3rds supermajority to pass a budget. But, ironically, it requires a 2/3rds vote of the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to repeal the 2/3rds rule.
Since Republicans in the legislature will try to block that too, it is up to we, the people, to restore democracy to California and finally end the Republicans' obstruction. And the only way we can stop them is to repeal the 2/3rds rule by ballot initiative.
This budget insanity will never end -- it will go on year after year after year -- unless we build a movement to repeal the 2/3rds rule now. That's why the Courage Campaign is teaming up with CREDO Mobile to launch this pledge. Please watch the video, sign the pledge and ask your friends to join us:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealTwoThirds
Along with our progressive allies, the Courage Campaign will pursue a ballot initiative to repeal the 2/3rds rule. When the initiative is launched, we will contact you about where and when to sign to put it on the ballot.
Thank you for pledging to eliminate the 2/3rds rule and taking a stand against the right-wing's relentless campaign to destroy California.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
Sadly a small minority of ANTI's held our state hostage until they made sure that their wealthy patrons (campaign contributors) would not have to pay their fair share for the benefits they get from living in our state.
Spending for poor and middle class was slashed--schools, colleges, health care etc. The wealthy were left alone.
All because it takes a two thirds majority of state lawmakers (thanks to prop 13) in both houses in Sacramento to increase taxes on the wealthy who own the mouths of the Radio Con Men that now control my Republican Party. A better written Prop 13 would have made it a 2/3rds majority to raise taxes on those making less than $200,000 a year but a simple majority for taxes on those who have the gained the most from our state infrastructure, the wealthy.
There will be a few new taxes but they will be the very worst kind in a recession. Most increased taxes will be REGRESSIVE. The kind that affect the poor and middle class far more than the wealthy. Regressive Taxes take the same amount from everyone. They mean that the poor who have no extra money must cut back on necessary living expenses. The middle class loses its discretionary spending which drives the California economy. But the life style of the wealthy is affected not at all.
The wealthy use only a very tiny proportion of their income for their wealthy decadent lifestyles, perhaps one or two percent. Increases in REGRESSIVE taxes are as inconsequential to the wealthy as taking out a few drops of water from a Olympic size swimming pool are to a swimmer.
Our schools will be severely impacted. The cuts will hurt and affect every school child and school employee in California. The new damage done to our already underfunded schools will echo down through the generations in California. An under funded school system means under educated students. An under educated population results in an under achieving economy. Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and other southern states spend very little on education and their economies stagnate. Now California may join them in saving tiny amounts of money now to lose a chance at a better future to come. Penny wise pound foolish.
I received kind of wild two emails from some cell phone company called Credo. I do not know how they got my email address. The emails are a full of rhetoric and are both very anti-Republican and anti-conservative. Too much so for my taste.
I am a Republican and used to be a proud Republican. Something has happened to the leadership and driving forces in my party. It is no longer a party of the ordinary person or a party of solutions. Very sad. I think the party can be saved in the long run. But in the short term, radio con men like Rush Limbaugh will accept payola from the wealthy to drive listeners opinions away from rational solutions for funding our schools and government. Perhaps that is why there are so many folks like Credo springing up who hate my party.
Here are the emails. See what you think of them.
Stop the right-wing agenda. Join the movement to repeal the two-thirds budget rule.
California is in crisis — the conservatives continually hold our budget process hostage because of a rule requiring a two-thirds vote of the legislature to pass a budget.
Led by Senator Abel Maldonado, the conservatives held the recent budget negotiations hostage. Their ransom? Severe budget cuts and strict prohibitions on taxes.
We must stop this crisis now. On Tuesday night, Rachel Maddow and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told Americans about the consequences of California's crisis. Conservatives in our state are showing the rest of the nation how to obstruct economic recovery.
That's why CREDO and the Courage Campaign are teaming up to stop the right-wing from controlling California's budget process. Sign the pledge to repeal the two-thirds budget rule and watch the Rachel Maddow video.
Every other state but two (Arkansas and Rhode Island) passes its budget with a simple majority. Yet, even to repeal the two-thirds rule it takes a two-thirds vote of the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Conservatives will do whatever they can to stop California from repealing this rule. We need to stop them now.
It is time to restore our budget process and build a movement to repeal the two-thirds rule. Join CREDO and the Courage Campaign today by signing this petition.
Thank you for working to build a better world.
Leah Donahey, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Rachel Maddow's had enough. Have you?
California's government is hopelessly broken. Led by state Senator Abel Maldonado, Republicans turned the budget negotiations into a hostage crisis by exploiting the rule requiring a 2/3rds vote of the legislature to pass a budget.
California Republicans are an extreme minority. A party in exile. Rejected by Californians at the ballot box, Republicans have decided to take revenge by using the budget crisis to achieve their radical goals, no matter the cost.
This is insanity. And it's made possible by the 2/3rds rule, which allows a small cabal of extremist Republicans to hold the state hostage to their demands, as they have done year after year.
Last night, Rachel Maddow and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told America of the consequences of California's crisis. They explained that California Republicans are trying to set a precedent for the entire nation -- that obstructing economic recovery is their path to power.
We have to stop the insanity. The only way this madness will end is if we eliminate the 2/3rds rule. Please watch what Rachel Maddow said last night and join the Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile in taking the pledge to support a repeal of the 2/3rds rule:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealTwoThirds
In the wake of dramatic progressive victories in the 2008 elections, the Republican counterattack is going to focus on ensuring government cannot meet the needs of the people in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. They believe that if government fails, they will win the next election.
Only TWO other states -- the small states of Rhode Island and Arkansas -- require a 2/3rds supermajority to pass a budget. But, ironically, it requires a 2/3rds vote of the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to repeal the 2/3rds rule.
Since Republicans in the legislature will try to block that too, it is up to we, the people, to restore democracy to California and finally end the Republicans' obstruction. And the only way we can stop them is to repeal the 2/3rds rule by ballot initiative.
This budget insanity will never end -- it will go on year after year after year -- unless we build a movement to repeal the 2/3rds rule now. That's why the Courage Campaign is teaming up with CREDO Mobile to launch this pledge. Please watch the video, sign the pledge and ask your friends to join us:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealTwoThirds
Along with our progressive allies, the Courage Campaign will pursue a ballot initiative to repeal the 2/3rds rule. When the initiative is launched, we will contact you about where and when to sign to put it on the ballot.
Thank you for pledging to eliminate the 2/3rds rule and taking a stand against the right-wing's relentless campaign to destroy California.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
Friday, February 20, 2009
Four children die of flu
Four children died in Colorado after catching the flu.
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/02/20/news/local/doc499e4acd6156e957807508.txt
Reducing illnesses in your classroom can save lives.
Flu viruses seldom kill outright but they do damage the immune system and allow for secondary bacterial infections (staph, strep etc) If these bacteria are drug resistant like MRSA, then a patient can become very seriously ill or die. Two years ago in December a healthy soccer playing Ramona middle school boy died of secondary bacterial infection following the flu.
MRSA is simply one variety of a common staph bacteria found in our mouths, lungs and on our skin. The MRSA variety is not killed by most common antibiotics so it has become famous.
People with allergies and asthma are the most likely to get secondary bacterial infections from the flu. Two reasons for this have been found by research. First and older theory is that allergy asthma sufferers have more inflammation than most people. The inflammation traps mucous pockets that can not clear. These pockets provide a perfect environment for the growth of bacteria. Second reason is that some allergy asthma sufferers just cannot clear viruses as well from their lungs. Weeks after healthier subjects show no sign of infection, allergy sufferers still have virus particles in their sputum.
Reason two is the reason to stay five feet away from students who have constant runny noses even though they tell you it is only an allergy. It likely is an allergy but those kids are more likely to maintain viral loads in their mucous.
I have found that the most common spread of airborne disease is caused by mucous drops in the exhaled air of ill people. Sneezes and coughs are bad but so is breathing in the particles of mucous commonly launched from the mouth simply by talking. Distance matters--Two feet or less from ill person talking I got ill almost every time. When I was five or more feet away I did not get sick.
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/02/20/news/local/doc499e4acd6156e957807508.txt
Reducing illnesses in your classroom can save lives.
Flu viruses seldom kill outright but they do damage the immune system and allow for secondary bacterial infections (staph, strep etc) If these bacteria are drug resistant like MRSA, then a patient can become very seriously ill or die. Two years ago in December a healthy soccer playing Ramona middle school boy died of secondary bacterial infection following the flu.
MRSA is simply one variety of a common staph bacteria found in our mouths, lungs and on our skin. The MRSA variety is not killed by most common antibiotics so it has become famous.
People with allergies and asthma are the most likely to get secondary bacterial infections from the flu. Two reasons for this have been found by research. First and older theory is that allergy asthma sufferers have more inflammation than most people. The inflammation traps mucous pockets that can not clear. These pockets provide a perfect environment for the growth of bacteria. Second reason is that some allergy asthma sufferers just cannot clear viruses as well from their lungs. Weeks after healthier subjects show no sign of infection, allergy sufferers still have virus particles in their sputum.
Reason two is the reason to stay five feet away from students who have constant runny noses even though they tell you it is only an allergy. It likely is an allergy but those kids are more likely to maintain viral loads in their mucous.
I have found that the most common spread of airborne disease is caused by mucous drops in the exhaled air of ill people. Sneezes and coughs are bad but so is breathing in the particles of mucous commonly launched from the mouth simply by talking. Distance matters--Two feet or less from ill person talking I got ill almost every time. When I was five or more feet away I did not get sick.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Impulsive Children pre-natal exposure to opiods
The following article may indicate a mechanism for the observation that the children or mothers who used alcohol or opioid while the child was in utero have much higher levels of impulsiveness, lack of self control, lack of ability to delay gratification, sudden emotional outburst among other problems.
NEUROSCIENCE: Opioids and Drink
Peter Stern
Substance abusers score higher on measures of cognitive and motor impulsivity. Cognitive impulsivity refers to the inability to delay gratification, whereas motor impulsivity, or disinhibition, describes the inability to withhold a pre-potent response.
Animal studies confirm that impulsivity correlates with drug intake, although nearly all of these studies have examined impulsivity in relationship to psychostimulant drugs.
Olmstead et al. have investigated whether deletion of the - or -opioid receptor genes alters motor impulsivity in mice. They tested the behavior of these mutant animals in an operant-based behavioral task that assesses the ability of mice to withhold a well-learned pre-potent response (a nose poke used to gain a sucrose reward); the reward can be obtained only when nose-poke responses are made during a brief light stimulus.
Mice lacking -opioid receptors exhibited decreased motor impulsivity, whereas those lacking -opioid receptors showed increased motor impulsivity. Additionally, mice lacking -opioid receptors were insensitive to the effects of alcohol, which increases impulsivity and decreases conditioned responding in wild-type mice, and the behavior of mice lacking -opioid receptors was completely disrupted by alcohol. Taken all together, these results indicate a link between opiate receptors in the brain, impulsive behavior, and behavior directed toward ingesting alcohol. -- PRS
PLoS ONE 4, e4410 (2009).e following article indicated one mechanism that could explain why we see high levels of impulsiveness, hyperactivity, lack of emotional control, lack of ability to wait for a reward in the children of mothers who took drugs while carrying the child during pregnancy.
NEUROSCIENCE: Opioids and Drink
Peter Stern
Substance abusers score higher on measures of cognitive and motor impulsivity. Cognitive impulsivity refers to the inability to delay gratification, whereas motor impulsivity, or disinhibition, describes the inability to withhold a pre-potent response.
Animal studies confirm that impulsivity correlates with drug intake, although nearly all of these studies have examined impulsivity in relationship to psychostimulant drugs.
Olmstead et al. have investigated whether deletion of the - or -opioid receptor genes alters motor impulsivity in mice. They tested the behavior of these mutant animals in an operant-based behavioral task that assesses the ability of mice to withhold a well-learned pre-potent response (a nose poke used to gain a sucrose reward); the reward can be obtained only when nose-poke responses are made during a brief light stimulus.
Mice lacking -opioid receptors exhibited decreased motor impulsivity, whereas those lacking -opioid receptors showed increased motor impulsivity. Additionally, mice lacking -opioid receptors were insensitive to the effects of alcohol, which increases impulsivity and decreases conditioned responding in wild-type mice, and the behavior of mice lacking -opioid receptors was completely disrupted by alcohol. Taken all together, these results indicate a link between opiate receptors in the brain, impulsive behavior, and behavior directed toward ingesting alcohol. -- PRS
PLoS ONE 4, e4410 (2009).e following article indicated one mechanism that could explain why we see high levels of impulsiveness, hyperactivity, lack of emotional control, lack of ability to wait for a reward in the children of mothers who took drugs while carrying the child during pregnancy.
Reducing Colds and Flu in the Classroom
It is possible to reduce the number of colds and flu you and your student get each year. I did it in my classroom out of necessity as I had an immune dysfunction but with the advent of MRSA and other more virulent and universally resistant and now invincible bacterial infections like the new universally resistant Iraqi-bacter (Acinetobacter baumannii) strains (see: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/575837?src=mp&spon=38&uac=86387MV )
recently popping up in East Coast hospitals, it is in the best interest of all to reduce disease transmission.
Here is what I did to reduce my number of colds and flu from four or five a year to NONE for my last two years of teaching.
(1) At the beginning of the year I taught my students to cough and sneeze into their elbows. They practiced in class. When someone was sick I and other students remind them how to cover their faces.
(2) The community Kleenex box was always located at a separate back table away from me and other students not at my teacher desk.
(3) Actively coughing, sneezing, hoarse or running nose children were moved from their desks to that special separate table at the back of the room for the days that they showed symptoms
(4)All students who wish to talk with me had to stay at least five feet away whether they sounded sick or not (This one rule reduced my colds by half). I tried to
(5) Students who wished to go to nurse had to remain even farther away when they asked and as I wrote the permission slip. I instituted this rule after, I discovered early in my career that the more ill and infectious a child was the closer they wanted to be to me when I wrote the note to the nurse--then three days later I was sick with the child's cold.
(6) At staff and VTA meetings, I sat a little away from others and moved if someone sounded hoarse or is coughing--It may sound rude or even crazy but how rude it is for sick teachers to make others sick. Even minor colds are several days of misery.
Rule (6) was the most important rule for me staying healthy. I found adults, especially fellow teachers, to be the most likely to give me an illness and the least likely to be considerate of others when they were sick. My students rather easily accepted, learned and applied the anti-illness rules and were FAR more likely to try not to spread illnesses than many adults at school.
Rule 7--Another suggestion keep a bottle of pump top hand sanitizer near the Kleenex box and encourage students to use it each time they blow their noses.
Rule 8 Corollary to rule 7 keep a trash can for the used Kleenexes and all other student trash needs at the back of the class far from your teacher desk.
Rule 9 Keep a window or door open as much as possible. Fresh air and higher winter air humidity means less transmission of viruses. Closed rooms with hot dry air are the perfect medium for spreading airborne diseases like the flu. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/209/3
and the time of especially vigilance is during the cold and flu season that starts in October and lasts through March.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12808-cold-weather-really-does-spread-flu.html
Not all these rules can or should be used by all teachers in all classrooms at all times. They are general suggestions, however, instituting some or all will cut down on your illnesses and your student's illnesses.
Better attendance means more chances to learn and better chance at higher test scores.
Besides the parents really appreciate having you take precautions to keep their children healthier if for no other reason then it saves them from taking sick days from their jobs to stay home from work with their sick kids.
-------------------------------------------
docandroo
February 18, 2009 at 9:06 p.m.
You missed the most important part of your story.VACCINATION. You currently have a Public Health preparedness conference in San Diego and just had a workshop devoted to this topic. The best way to avoid influenza is NOT through the measures indicated, but through annual vaccination! The measures that you quote are secondary to immunization, and in the case of true influenza 24 hours out of school is insufficient to keep the child from transmitting the virus to others. Please rectify this egregious omission.
----------------------------------------
recently popping up in East Coast hospitals, it is in the best interest of all to reduce disease transmission.
Here is what I did to reduce my number of colds and flu from four or five a year to NONE for my last two years of teaching.
(1) At the beginning of the year I taught my students to cough and sneeze into their elbows. They practiced in class. When someone was sick I and other students remind them how to cover their faces.
(2) The community Kleenex box was always located at a separate back table away from me and other students not at my teacher desk.
(3) Actively coughing, sneezing, hoarse or running nose children were moved from their desks to that special separate table at the back of the room for the days that they showed symptoms
(4)All students who wish to talk with me had to stay at least five feet away whether they sounded sick or not (This one rule reduced my colds by half). I tried to
(5) Students who wished to go to nurse had to remain even farther away when they asked and as I wrote the permission slip. I instituted this rule after, I discovered early in my career that the more ill and infectious a child was the closer they wanted to be to me when I wrote the note to the nurse--then three days later I was sick with the child's cold.
(6) At staff and VTA meetings, I sat a little away from others and moved if someone sounded hoarse or is coughing--It may sound rude or even crazy but how rude it is for sick teachers to make others sick. Even minor colds are several days of misery.
Rule (6) was the most important rule for me staying healthy. I found adults, especially fellow teachers, to be the most likely to give me an illness and the least likely to be considerate of others when they were sick. My students rather easily accepted, learned and applied the anti-illness rules and were FAR more likely to try not to spread illnesses than many adults at school.
Rule 7--Another suggestion keep a bottle of pump top hand sanitizer near the Kleenex box and encourage students to use it each time they blow their noses.
Rule 8 Corollary to rule 7 keep a trash can for the used Kleenexes and all other student trash needs at the back of the class far from your teacher desk.
Rule 9 Keep a window or door open as much as possible. Fresh air and higher winter air humidity means less transmission of viruses. Closed rooms with hot dry air are the perfect medium for spreading airborne diseases like the flu. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/209/3
and the time of especially vigilance is during the cold and flu season that starts in October and lasts through March.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12808-cold-weather-really-does-spread-flu.html
Not all these rules can or should be used by all teachers in all classrooms at all times. They are general suggestions, however, instituting some or all will cut down on your illnesses and your student's illnesses.
Better attendance means more chances to learn and better chance at higher test scores.
Besides the parents really appreciate having you take precautions to keep their children healthier if for no other reason then it saves them from taking sick days from their jobs to stay home from work with their sick kids.
Here is an article with comments from the San Diego Union Tribune on the same subject.
Schools try to minimize cases of colds, flu
By Bruce Lieberman
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. February 19, 2009
It's that time of year when schoolchildren are getting sick in droves, forcing parents to take off from work and care for them.
From Green Elementary School in San Diego, where a number of students have contracted strep throat, to the Encinitas Union School District, where the stomach flu has sidelined more than a few students, the message from educators has been consistent: Wash your hands. If you have to cough, cough into your sleeves. And if your kid gets sick, don't send him or her to school.
“I'm always grateful when we have winter vacation,” said Rosemary Jaworski, a school nurse at Horton Elementary School in San Diego. “We all stay home with our own bugs.”
Knowing how to minimize the spread of colds and flu at school doesn't require a doctorate in public health. But that doesn't mean the simple steps that schools routinely take, and others that families should take at home, aren't important.
Schools can quickly become epicenters of illness, and school nurses, teachers and administrators work hard to contain their spread. On average, schoolchildren get six to 10 colds every year, and about 22 million school days are missed each year nationwide because of colds, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Flu season typically peaks in January or February but can spike as late as March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The incidence of flu this year is low but increasing, the CDC reported this month.
Schools have always encountered families who send ill children to school because both parents work. In today's troubled economy, the situation could get worse.
“Parents are afraid to leave work,” Jaworski said. “I think we're going to see more parents giving the kid a couple Tylenol and hoping they'll make it through the day.”
That could be one reason why a 2008 study from the University of Arizona listed teachers and day care workers as the “germiest” jobs in America – topping doctors, police officers, sanitation workers, janitors and meatpackers.
School nurses say that educating children, parents, teachers and others about preventing illnesses on campus is an ongoing effort.
At Horton Elementary School, Jaworski said she grabs a few minutes at every campus meeting that involves parents to talk about wellness. For the past five years, a local pediatrician has spoken to Horton parents during back-to-school night about health care basics.
To head off colds and flu, many teachers in the region stock their classrooms with dispensers of antibacterial gel that children can use on their way in and out.
In a 2008 study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers from Children's Hospital in Boston found that absenteeism rates for gastrointestinal illnesses were lower in classrooms where teachers used disinfecting wipes once a day on desktops and helped students use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, including before lunch and after coming in contact with other ill students.
At Poinsettia Elementary School in Carlsbad, second-grade teacher Tricia Rowe has a bottle of hand sanitizer on a cart outside her classroom door where students hang up their jackets. She encourages her students to use the bottle on the way in and on the way out, and she stocks her classroom with plenty of tissue. Rowe encourages her students to drink a lot of water during the day as a preventive measure.
Rowe, a 25-year veteran, said encouraging hygiene is an ongoing effort. She teaches her students to think about their classroom as a family, and to be “conscientious and responsible for your friends and class.” Sick children are an inevitability, however.
“Right now we have a lot of kids with runny noses and a lot of coughing going on,” Rowe said last week.
Outside of measures a school can take, effective home care is vital, school nurses say.
Many school nurses help families with many tasks, including choosing the right over-the-counter medicines and navigating health insurance issues, Jaworski said.
Parents should follow a few simple rules for home health care, the National Association of School Nurses advises.
Children should stay home if they have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, have been vomiting or have other symptoms that would prevent them from participating in school.
Such symptoms could include excessive fatigue and lack of appetite, productive coughing and sneezing, headache, body aches and/or earaches, and a sore throat. A severe sore throat could be strep throat even if there is no fever.
Children should stay home until the fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication.
Bruce Lieberman: (760) 476-8205;
-------------------------------------------
docandroo
February 18, 2009 at 9:06 p.m.
You missed the most important part of your story.VACCINATION. You currently have a Public Health preparedness conference in San Diego and just had a workshop devoted to this topic. The best way to avoid influenza is NOT through the measures indicated, but through annual vaccination! The measures that you quote are secondary to immunization, and in the case of true influenza 24 hours out of school is insufficient to keep the child from transmitting the virus to others. Please rectify this egregious omission.
----------------------------------------
justathought2
February 19, 2009 at 8:05 a.m.
If the prevention of colds and flu is truely the goal, then why do we give out "perfect attendance" awards to students? This award incentive program seems to encourage kids to come to school even when they're sick. Every time my wife and I have been to a school award assembly and we see kids getting the perfect attendance awards, we're thinking one of two things; 1. this kids is getting an award for having perfect health or 2. this kid came to school even when he was sick, spreading germs to my kid. If we want to award kids for not being truant from school then let's do that, not disguise it. And what about the great child who is a wonderful student and inspiration to others who happens to have an illness that prevents them from ever being able to win the perfect attendance award? Do away with this award, it is not rewarding behavior, academics or choices, it is merely rewarding health, at best. I'm more inclined to believe those kids are forced to come to school healthy or not.
---------------------------------------
sandiegowryter
February 19, 2009 at 8:57 a.m.
I agree about the flu vaccine. But this year's dominant viruses were not in the vaccine and so it is ineffective, and I am, unfortunately, living proof of that. Cough, cough, hack, hack.
---------------------------
svmamma
February 19, 2009 at 9 a.m.
True, the more kids at school the more money they get. They would prefer for you to send your kid sick and in an hour call you to pick them up. That way they still get paid for the child. I know I work at an elementary school. Wait til middle school they really don't care. All they want is money.
JoeCat
---------------------------------
February 19, 2009 at 9:02 a.m.
Hopefully they got rid of those newfangled school designs that only had non-opening window slits with a central circulation system like a freaking airplane. It's San Diego for chrisakes - give the kids some open windows!
nancat
-------------------------------
February 19, 2009 at 9:23 a.m.
Justathought2
Here, here! I have been wondering when someone besides myself was going to realize that. Well said!
Study finds better quality in public than private schools
The end of the article below makes clear that putting students in private schools not only does not help students it actually hurts their chances of getting a good quality education.
Contact: Kevin Stacey
kstacey@press.uchicago.edu
773-834-0386
University of Chicago Press Journals
Study finds inconsistent teaching quality in first grade classrooms
A nationwide study of first grade classrooms finds that while many teachers create positive social environments in the classroom, most provide inadequate instructional support. The report is published in the March issue of The Elementary School Journal.
Authors Megan Stuhlman and Robert Pianta (University of Virginia) used direct observations to assess the social and instructional quality of interactions between teachers and students in 820 first grade classrooms. Previous studies have indicated that the quality of such interactions can have a significant impact on student learning, especially in early grades.
The researchers found 23 percent of classrooms to be of "high overall quality," with teachers getting high marks for creating a positive social climate in the classroom and for providing strong instructional support to students. Twenty-eight percent of classrooms were deemed "mediocre," with teachers scoring just below the sample mean on all study measures. Seventeen percent were "low overall quality."
A fourth category of classrooms characterized by "positive emotional climate, low academic demand" accounted for 31 percent of classrooms—the largest category in the sample. In these classrooms, Stuhlman explains, teachers are warm and do not discipline using threats, but they tend not to give constructive feedback that helps students understand concepts.
"We found that quality, particularly instructional features of teacher behavior, was rather low across the sample," Pianta says. "In other studies we have demonstrated the connection between these observed teacher-child interactions and student learning gains. So what we are seeing here may influence the extent to which children can perform at standards consistent with accountability frameworks such as No Child Left Behind."
The study also casts doubt on traditional assumptions about the factors that influence educational quality. Class size and teacher credentials, for example, had little impact on quality. And in a finding that may come as a surprise to advocates of private school vouchers, public school classrooms actually fared a bit better than private school classes.
"[M]ore public schools were categorized as high overall quality than would be expected by chance," the authors write. "Moreover, equal proportions of public and private schools were in the lowest rated classroom type."
The results suggest that educational opportunity will not be improved simply by shipping students to private schools, Pianta says. "Instead, strong, instructionally-focused, and effective professional development for a large number of teachers is perhaps the most important next step."
###
Contact: Kevin Stacey
kstacey@press.uchicago.edu
773-834-0386
University of Chicago Press Journals
Study finds inconsistent teaching quality in first grade classrooms
A nationwide study of first grade classrooms finds that while many teachers create positive social environments in the classroom, most provide inadequate instructional support. The report is published in the March issue of The Elementary School Journal.
Authors Megan Stuhlman and Robert Pianta (University of Virginia) used direct observations to assess the social and instructional quality of interactions between teachers and students in 820 first grade classrooms. Previous studies have indicated that the quality of such interactions can have a significant impact on student learning, especially in early grades.
The researchers found 23 percent of classrooms to be of "high overall quality," with teachers getting high marks for creating a positive social climate in the classroom and for providing strong instructional support to students. Twenty-eight percent of classrooms were deemed "mediocre," with teachers scoring just below the sample mean on all study measures. Seventeen percent were "low overall quality."
A fourth category of classrooms characterized by "positive emotional climate, low academic demand" accounted for 31 percent of classrooms—the largest category in the sample. In these classrooms, Stuhlman explains, teachers are warm and do not discipline using threats, but they tend not to give constructive feedback that helps students understand concepts.
"We found that quality, particularly instructional features of teacher behavior, was rather low across the sample," Pianta says. "In other studies we have demonstrated the connection between these observed teacher-child interactions and student learning gains. So what we are seeing here may influence the extent to which children can perform at standards consistent with accountability frameworks such as No Child Left Behind."
The study also casts doubt on traditional assumptions about the factors that influence educational quality. Class size and teacher credentials, for example, had little impact on quality. And in a finding that may come as a surprise to advocates of private school vouchers, public school classrooms actually fared a bit better than private school classes.
"[M]ore public schools were categorized as high overall quality than would be expected by chance," the authors write. "Moreover, equal proportions of public and private schools were in the lowest rated classroom type."
The results suggest that educational opportunity will not be improved simply by shipping students to private schools, Pianta says. "Instead, strong, instructionally-focused, and effective professional development for a large number of teachers is perhaps the most important next step."
###
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
No Evolution Education Leaves Students Vulnerable
Without FACT based education, public school students are more vulnerable to falling prey to all kinds of pseudo science--astrology, hucksters like Kevin Trudeau, fake natural cures, UFO conspiracy theorists and other aluminum foil hat type folks.
(My wife has a very close cousin who is now days from death from invasive breast cancer because she believed a natural healer would cure her. She paid the healers great sums of money and did not go to the doctor. She is dying a really horrible death and currently in hospice care under heavy doses of pain medication. She is now a year and a half from finding a very small, close to the surface, and easily treated lump in her breast.
My wife's cousin was raised in a ANTI science "christian" church. Too bad she did not get FACT based science in school.
Should natural healers be prosecuted for murder? I think so. How about ANTI science church leaders? Tougher call.)
Here is the article:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Evolution education for K-12 teachers needs beefing up, s
ays CU-Boulder professor
A failure to grasp the fundamentals of biological systems may be leaving K-12 teachers and students vulnerable to claims by intelligent design creationists, new-age homeopaths and other "hucksters," according to a University of Colorado at Boulder biology professor.
On the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's classic book "The Origin of Species" that first described natural selection in detail, polls still show that only about one third of Americans believe evolution is supported by scientific evidence, said Professor Mike Klymkowsky of CU-Boulder's molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. "The questions we are asking ourselves as scientists and educators is what the problem is here, and what are the objections to evolution," he said.
Klymkowsky said the disconnect is due in part to the inability of students and the public to understand the evidence for and the mechanisms behind the evolutionary process. There is difficulty in grasping the idea that random biochemical events can produce novel and useful adaptations, he said, and an inability to understand how such random events take place at the molecular and cellular level to generate evolutionary change.
"We can't leave students with mysteries about how biochemical processes work, because that's when nonscientific information sneaks in," he said. Klymkowsky gave two presentations on innovative science education programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held Feb. 12-15 in Chicago.
Klymkowsky and CU-Boulder Research Associate Kathy Garvin-Doxas co-developed the Biology Concept Inventory at CU-Boulder, which includes online surveys to measure undergraduate understanding of fundamental biological concepts. The inventory is especially useful when it is administered to students prior to course instruction to allow professors to better understand the needs of students in particular courses, he said.
The BCI effort also includes obtaining short essays from thousands of students regarding their understanding of evolution and natural selection, genes and traits, including the notion of dominant and recessive genes, he said. Such essays have helped to identify commonly held misconceptions of biochemical processes, he said. As part of BCI, Klymkowsky and his colleagues also surveyed campus science faculty in different disciplines to assess which key concepts and ideas in fundamental biology they felt should be covered.
Klymkowsky and Clemson University chemistry Professor Melanie Cooper were recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year project titled Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything, or CLUE. The project includes developing a general chemistry curriculum using the emergence and evolution of life as a springboard to introduce and explain related chemistry concepts, Klymkowsky said.
Klymkowsky also is involved in the national Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program at CU-Boulder, designed to improve introductory science and math courses and to recruit and train future K-12 science teachers. CU's STEM program includes CU-Teach, an undergraduate program found on the Web at http://www.colorado.edu/cuteach that leads to a math or science degree and a secondary education teaching license in four years.
"A staggering percentage of the American public, ranging from plumbers to presidential candidates, fail to accept, at least in part because they don't understand, the evidence for and mechanisms behind evolutionary processes," said Klymkowsky. "Understanding the nuts and bolts of biological systems is important for all students, and particularly critical for those planning to become biology teachers or general science teachers."
###
An AAAS fellow, Klymkowsky has published more than 95 papers in cell and developmental biology and science education. His research has been funded by the NSF, the National Institutes of Health, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Pew Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society.
(My wife has a very close cousin who is now days from death from invasive breast cancer because she believed a natural healer would cure her. She paid the healers great sums of money and did not go to the doctor. She is dying a really horrible death and currently in hospice care under heavy doses of pain medication. She is now a year and a half from finding a very small, close to the surface, and easily treated lump in her breast.
My wife's cousin was raised in a ANTI science "christian" church. Too bad she did not get FACT based science in school.
Should natural healers be prosecuted for murder? I think so. How about ANTI science church leaders? Tougher call.)
Here is the article:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Evolution education for K-12 teachers needs beefing up, s
ays CU-Boulder professor
A failure to grasp the fundamentals of biological systems may be leaving K-12 teachers and students vulnerable to claims by intelligent design creationists, new-age homeopaths and other "hucksters," according to a University of Colorado at Boulder biology professor.
On the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's classic book "The Origin of Species" that first described natural selection in detail, polls still show that only about one third of Americans believe evolution is supported by scientific evidence, said Professor Mike Klymkowsky of CU-Boulder's molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. "The questions we are asking ourselves as scientists and educators is what the problem is here, and what are the objections to evolution," he said.
Klymkowsky said the disconnect is due in part to the inability of students and the public to understand the evidence for and the mechanisms behind the evolutionary process. There is difficulty in grasping the idea that random biochemical events can produce novel and useful adaptations, he said, and an inability to understand how such random events take place at the molecular and cellular level to generate evolutionary change.
"We can't leave students with mysteries about how biochemical processes work, because that's when nonscientific information sneaks in," he said. Klymkowsky gave two presentations on innovative science education programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held Feb. 12-15 in Chicago.
Klymkowsky and CU-Boulder Research Associate Kathy Garvin-Doxas co-developed the Biology Concept Inventory at CU-Boulder, which includes online surveys to measure undergraduate understanding of fundamental biological concepts. The inventory is especially useful when it is administered to students prior to course instruction to allow professors to better understand the needs of students in particular courses, he said.
The BCI effort also includes obtaining short essays from thousands of students regarding their understanding of evolution and natural selection, genes and traits, including the notion of dominant and recessive genes, he said. Such essays have helped to identify commonly held misconceptions of biochemical processes, he said. As part of BCI, Klymkowsky and his colleagues also surveyed campus science faculty in different disciplines to assess which key concepts and ideas in fundamental biology they felt should be covered.
Klymkowsky and Clemson University chemistry Professor Melanie Cooper were recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year project titled Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything, or CLUE. The project includes developing a general chemistry curriculum using the emergence and evolution of life as a springboard to introduce and explain related chemistry concepts, Klymkowsky said.
Klymkowsky also is involved in the national Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program at CU-Boulder, designed to improve introductory science and math courses and to recruit and train future K-12 science teachers. CU's STEM program includes CU-Teach, an undergraduate program found on the Web at http://www.colorado.edu/cuteach that leads to a math or science degree and a secondary education teaching license in four years.
"A staggering percentage of the American public, ranging from plumbers to presidential candidates, fail to accept, at least in part because they don't understand, the evidence for and mechanisms behind evolutionary processes," said Klymkowsky. "Understanding the nuts and bolts of biological systems is important for all students, and particularly critical for those planning to become biology teachers or general science teachers."
###
An AAAS fellow, Klymkowsky has published more than 95 papers in cell and developmental biology and science education. His research has been funded by the NSF, the National Institutes of Health, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Pew Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society.
Cautionary Tale for Bales--Fraud?
Joyce Bales has forced VUSD to use a contraversial reading program, Linda-mood Bell (due to expense of the program). Principals have quietly revealed that they are not allowed to put the program on the table for possible cuts.
Cuts will be necessary as the district is being forced to eliminate 16 million dollars and can only find 7 million to cut. Yet the reading program is never mentioned as far as I have heard. This has led to some ugly rumors--completely unsubstantiated so far.
Could Bales have any financial stake now or future promise of lucrative contracts with the company after she finishes at VUSD? If so, she could have troubles.
I know of NO proof that Bales gets any form of kickbacks,or current, or future promises of compensation.
I certainly hope this is the case, otherwise there could be criminal charges in her future as there was for the math teacher in the following article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-mathteacher16-2009feb16,0,4557786.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Math teacher awaits verdict in fraud trial
Matthias Vheru is accused of making nearly $1 million by arranging for L.A. Unified to order 45,000 copies of his textbook without revealing his financial interest in the transaction.
By Alicia Lozano
February 16, 2009
Sipping a cup of coffee in the Los Angeles courthouse where he is on trial for fraud, math teacher Matthias Vheru said all he wanted to do was write the best algebra book possible to help his students and those of his colleagues.
"I spent my life trying to help underachieving kids," said Vheru, wearing a tie with a mathematical equation that read: 2 teach is 2 touch life 4 ever. "I'm just trying to make the language of math easy to understand."
Prosecutors, however, say Vheru is a crafty entrepreneur who illegally reaped nearly $1 million by conning the Los Angeles Unified School District into ordering 45,000 copies of his textbook without revealing his financial interest in the transaction.
A federal court jury is deliberating whether Vheru, a 20-year L.A. Unified veteran, is guilty of crimes that could send him to prison for up to 10 years.
According to prosecutors, Vheru, 53, saw a chance to make some extra cash by defrauding L.A. Unified in 2004 while he served as interim director of mathematics.
"He's not charged with being a bad teacher," Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul Rochmes told jurors in his closing arguments last week. "This is a case about deception."
Prosecutors allege that Vheru misappropriated $3.7 million of the district's money to purchase his books. He did so, they allege, by circumventing L.A. Unified's guidelines and using federal funds earmarked to assist non-English-speaking students. Prosecution experts testified that although Vheru's book is appropriate for English speakers, it could be difficult to understand for those without a strong command of the language.
As a result of the district's purchase, Vheru received about $930,000. Vheru is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of misapplication of funds. The wire fraud charges stem from e-mails and faxes between Vheru and his publishing company, Coordination Group Publications, based in Britain, which prosecutors contend show Vheru's intent to defraud the district.
During closing arguments last week, Vheru's attorney, Steven Haney, pointed out that an expert witness for the defense had testified that Vheru's book is well-suited for non-English-speaking students. He said the author included prompts and visual aids to help students who might get lost following instructions in English.
Haney also said that Vheru obtained approval from both the mathematics department and the accounting office before placing the purchase order. Disclosing royalties on book sales was not part of L.A. Unified policy, his attorney said, adding that teachers frequently write textbooks that are used in the district.
"The district has a lot of problems, and they took it out on my client," Haney said. "We should spend money on real criminals, not algebra teachers."
Vheru was asked to resign from his job with the district in May 2005. The district had sued him a few months earlier and, as a result, the teacher was ordered to pay the district $300,000 and give it any future royalties, his attorney said.
Vheru and his wife Blandina, 49, both natives of Zimbabwe, immigrated to the United States in 1978. They were high school sweethearts and said in an interview that they shared a passion for academics.
After receiving his degree from Andrews University, an Adventist school in Michigan, Vheru moved to Los Angeles in hopes of working with disadvantaged youth. He became a math teacher at John C. Fremont High School in South L.A., then transferred nine years later to Locke High School in Watts, where he taught for 11 years.
During his two decades as a math teacher, Vheru said, he co-wrote a geometry textbook, which was later adopted by the district. In 2004, Vheru left the classroom to take an administrative position with L.A. Unified.
During the five months that he served as interim math director, Vheru approved and purchased his algebra textbook for use in Los Angeles classrooms. The book was adopted by the district in 2005 and is still in use, he said.
Working as an administrator, he said, "was the biggest mistake" of his life.
As a result of Vheru's case, his wife said, she was asked to resign as a third-grade teacher for L.A. Unified in 2005. She said she is working in real estate; Vheru is writing an advanced algebra textbook and has taught since September 2005 at Knight High School in Palmdale. He said he mentors other teachers on how to teach math.
As he finished his coffee last week, Vheru said he was less concerned about his fate than about what would happen to his students, many of whom are underprivileged.
"You have to encourage the underdog," he said.
alicia.lozano@latimes.com
Cuts will be necessary as the district is being forced to eliminate 16 million dollars and can only find 7 million to cut. Yet the reading program is never mentioned as far as I have heard. This has led to some ugly rumors--completely unsubstantiated so far.
Could Bales have any financial stake now or future promise of lucrative contracts with the company after she finishes at VUSD? If so, she could have troubles.
I know of NO proof that Bales gets any form of kickbacks,or current, or future promises of compensation.
I certainly hope this is the case, otherwise there could be criminal charges in her future as there was for the math teacher in the following article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-mathteacher16-2009feb16,0,4557786.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Math teacher awaits verdict in fraud trial
Matthias Vheru is accused of making nearly $1 million by arranging for L.A. Unified to order 45,000 copies of his textbook without revealing his financial interest in the transaction.
By Alicia Lozano
February 16, 2009
Sipping a cup of coffee in the Los Angeles courthouse where he is on trial for fraud, math teacher Matthias Vheru said all he wanted to do was write the best algebra book possible to help his students and those of his colleagues.
"I spent my life trying to help underachieving kids," said Vheru, wearing a tie with a mathematical equation that read: 2 teach is 2 touch life 4 ever. "I'm just trying to make the language of math easy to understand."
Prosecutors, however, say Vheru is a crafty entrepreneur who illegally reaped nearly $1 million by conning the Los Angeles Unified School District into ordering 45,000 copies of his textbook without revealing his financial interest in the transaction.
A federal court jury is deliberating whether Vheru, a 20-year L.A. Unified veteran, is guilty of crimes that could send him to prison for up to 10 years.
According to prosecutors, Vheru, 53, saw a chance to make some extra cash by defrauding L.A. Unified in 2004 while he served as interim director of mathematics.
"He's not charged with being a bad teacher," Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul Rochmes told jurors in his closing arguments last week. "This is a case about deception."
Prosecutors allege that Vheru misappropriated $3.7 million of the district's money to purchase his books. He did so, they allege, by circumventing L.A. Unified's guidelines and using federal funds earmarked to assist non-English-speaking students. Prosecution experts testified that although Vheru's book is appropriate for English speakers, it could be difficult to understand for those without a strong command of the language.
As a result of the district's purchase, Vheru received about $930,000. Vheru is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of misapplication of funds. The wire fraud charges stem from e-mails and faxes between Vheru and his publishing company, Coordination Group Publications, based in Britain, which prosecutors contend show Vheru's intent to defraud the district.
During closing arguments last week, Vheru's attorney, Steven Haney, pointed out that an expert witness for the defense had testified that Vheru's book is well-suited for non-English-speaking students. He said the author included prompts and visual aids to help students who might get lost following instructions in English.
Haney also said that Vheru obtained approval from both the mathematics department and the accounting office before placing the purchase order. Disclosing royalties on book sales was not part of L.A. Unified policy, his attorney said, adding that teachers frequently write textbooks that are used in the district.
"The district has a lot of problems, and they took it out on my client," Haney said. "We should spend money on real criminals, not algebra teachers."
Vheru was asked to resign from his job with the district in May 2005. The district had sued him a few months earlier and, as a result, the teacher was ordered to pay the district $300,000 and give it any future royalties, his attorney said.
Vheru and his wife Blandina, 49, both natives of Zimbabwe, immigrated to the United States in 1978. They were high school sweethearts and said in an interview that they shared a passion for academics.
After receiving his degree from Andrews University, an Adventist school in Michigan, Vheru moved to Los Angeles in hopes of working with disadvantaged youth. He became a math teacher at John C. Fremont High School in South L.A., then transferred nine years later to Locke High School in Watts, where he taught for 11 years.
During his two decades as a math teacher, Vheru said, he co-wrote a geometry textbook, which was later adopted by the district. In 2004, Vheru left the classroom to take an administrative position with L.A. Unified.
During the five months that he served as interim math director, Vheru approved and purchased his algebra textbook for use in Los Angeles classrooms. The book was adopted by the district in 2005 and is still in use, he said.
Working as an administrator, he said, "was the biggest mistake" of his life.
As a result of Vheru's case, his wife said, she was asked to resign as a third-grade teacher for L.A. Unified in 2005. She said she is working in real estate; Vheru is writing an advanced algebra textbook and has taught since September 2005 at Knight High School in Palmdale. He said he mentors other teachers on how to teach math.
As he finished his coffee last week, Vheru said he was less concerned about his fate than about what would happen to his students, many of whom are underprivileged.
"You have to encourage the underdog," he said.
alicia.lozano@latimes.com
ANTIs and Abstinence
Our ANTI friends wanted to force public school districts like VUSD to give up fact based full and complete sex education. They believe in abstinence ONLY sex education with no information on preventing pregnancies with contraceptive devices. Pro-education members of our community understand that fact based education leads to fully informed young adults who are far less likely to make costly mistakes.
Rob Walter, one of the many losing ANTI school board candidates (1996?) told me personally in a conversation that, "Information once give, can never be taken back."
He meant by his ANTI education statement that if our children found out a way to not get pregnant, they would have sex without limits. Our ANTI friends never trust our children to do the right thing or make good decisions. Rational adult members of our community understand that, yes, young adults do make errors, but they also are rational actors who make better decisions when given all the information.
(By the way Walters son applied for and was granted a substantial VTA college scholarship from our VTA fund even though Walters made very negative statements about teachers unions in general and the VTA in particular. I remember talking with a scholarship committee member about it. The committee member said the father's political views had nothing to do with the son's qualifications. I wonder if the shoe had been on the other foot it the ANTI's would have been as considerate.)
In Alaska in the district where Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, attended high school, the ANTI forces control the district and instituted a ABSTINENCE ONLY sex ed curriculum. Bristol did not have access to a full and comprehensive sex education curriculum (according to Keith Olbermann--February 17, 2009 MSNBC).
Bristol in an interview now says the ABSTINENCE ONLY is not realistic. I hope our local ANTI friends read and understand what she is saying.
The VTA Executive Board voted NOT to join the movement to recall the ANTI majority on the VUSD board(1992-94) at least once (or was it twice?). that's right the first time the idea was brought up, VTA voted AGAINST JOINING THE RECALL. The vote total changed in favor of recall only after the ANTI board decided to junk our comprehensive sex education program and to forbid the teaching of information about condoms and contraceptives.
I was one of those who first voted against joining the recall. I was afraid that if we lost, the VTA would be destroyed and the community would be fractured. Mostly I thought that the VTA had no business being involved with removing elected school board members. I took some convincing to join the side in favor of recall.
It was only when the ANTI board decided to interfere with giving crucial and appropriate information to our students, when the ANTIS decided to remove relevant contraceptive facts from our VUSD classrooms and interfere in the performance of a teacher's duty to teach--only then did the majority on the Executive Board vote to bring the idea of joining the ongoing recall to the governing board of the VTA, the Representative Assembly. The Rep Assembly agreed with Executive Board bringing VTA into the community coalition for recall. Let's made it clear, the VTA did not initiate the recall and did not immediately join the recall. The Spring 1993 Executive Board and Representative Assembly meeting minutes will so verify. Any one who says differently is a liar and a propagandist (or ignorant).
Of course our ANTI friends lie and say that the VTA started the recall the night the ANTIs were elected in November 1992. Two lies in one. I know of no credible (non ANTI source) that says there was any recall meeting that night in November or any night in November. The Vista Teachers Association joined the already existing community based recall MONTHS after the first petitions were circulated.
I first heard murmurings of recall after the December 1992 VUSD school board meeting when the ANTI's on the board decided to explore the possibility of teaching the unscientific and anti-Christian fiction of young earth (6-10,000 year old earth and universe) creationism in our schools. The three ANTI board members at that meeting decided to elect as president of our VUSD school board, John Tyndall, who worked at the Institute of Creation Research--an anti-scientific and anti God young earth propaganda mill located in Santee, California.
At that time and probably today as well, no one was allowed to work at ICR if they publicly stated that they thought the world was older than 10,000 years. A radio dating expert was fired from ICR only months before the 1992 ANTI election because he thought the earth might be as much as 20,000 years old. Apparently to work there employees have to sign a "young earth" pledge written by the founder, Henry Morris author of The Genesis Flood. John Tyndall had to agree with these really crazy, completely illogical rantings of the founder in order to keep his job, yet our 1992-94 ANTI board members thought he was the best one of the five board members to be the VUSD board president.
(I had a couple of discussions with John during a trip to Chicago where we appeared on a nationally syndicated television talk show to discuss the VUSD ANTI's nuttiness. John, who was educated by the fake facts disseminated by ICR, did not know that humans (actually all bony animals) are bilaterally symmetrical, so that if we had 40% of the bones of an ancestral form like Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) we really have closer to 80% because each side of our body is a mirror image of the other--left hand/right hand, left leg bones/right leg bones, left ribs/right ribs etc. Having a bone from the right hand meant we could infer from that bone that the left hand bone would be exactly the same except a mirror image. Nor did he understand the difference between pyroclastic flow deposits from a volcano full of sharply pointed tiny grains of "sand" (at Mt St Helens) and water deposited rounded grains of sand (at the Grand Canyon). More on the ignorance of 'little god' young earthism in a later blog.
The VTA did not join the movement until at least March 1993. (or was it April? I will have to check the notes of the Rep Assembly meetings.) The Recall, however, had been well started before we joined. The community started it over creationism in the classroom. Our ANTI board members seriously explored including the crazy, young earth, denial of easily checked facts and rational thought, ICR creationism in our VUSD science classroom curriculums. The creationist book of lies called Of Pandas and People was presented by the ANTI board members as a possible "science" resource in our VUSD science classrooms!
Creationism was the first step in the (1992-94) ANTI school board's attack on FACT based education in VUSD. The second step a couple of months later was the attack on FACT based sex education and the elimination of FACTS about preventing unwanted pregnancies from our VUSD classroom curriculum. Only then did VTA join.
A good thing we did. How many more Bristol Palins would we have in Vista if VUSD had continued with the abstinence only sex education curriculum of Sex Respect? Sex Respect was the racist tinged, fact challenged, and fact deficient program our ANTI friends wanted to force VUSD teachers to use.
Here is the article about Bristol Palin:
Bristol Palin: Abstinence for all teens 'not realistic'
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/bristol.palin.interview/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
(CNN) -- In her first interview since giving birth, the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said having a child is not "glamorous," and that telling young people to be abstinent is "not realistic at all."
Bristol Palin says "everyone should just wait 10 years" to have a baby, rather than when you're young.
"It's just, like, I'm not living for myself anymore. It's, like, for another person, so it's different," Bristol Palin told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "And just you're up all night. And it's not glamorous at all," she said. "Like, your whole priorities change after having a baby."
The 18-year-old, who gave birth in late December, said she is being helped tremendously by her mother, grandmother, cousins and other family members. She is engaged to teen father Levi Johnston, who is now working for his father and trying to complete school, but said she wishes that she waited another 10 years to have a baby.
It was "harder than labor" telling her parents she was pregnant.
"Well, we were sitting on the couch, my best friend and Levi, and we had my parents come and sit on the couch, too. And we had my sisters go upstairs," Bristol said. "And we just sat them down, and I just -- I couldn't even say it. I was just sick to my stomach.
"And so finally, my best friend just, like, blurted it out. And it was just, like -- I don't even remember it because it was just, like, something I don't want to remember."
Todd and Sarah Palin were "scared just because I have to -- I had to grow up a lot faster than they ever would have imagined," Bristol said.
Her parents insisted that she and her boyfriend hash out a "game plan" immediately. And now her parents and relatives are all pitching in to help take care of the child, particularly when Bristol is at school during the day.
Van Susteren was delicate with the teenager but pointedly asked if "contraception is an issue here."
"Is that something that you were just lazy about or not interested, or do you have philosophical or religious opposition to it," Van Susteren asked.
Bristol quickly answered that she didn't want to get into specifics. The best option is abstinence, the teen said, but added that she didn't think that was "realistic."
While her mother was running for vice president, the teenager said her treatment in the media was "evil." She said she read some of the tabloids that wrote about her. People didn't understand, she said, and some media reports perpetuated falsehoods about her experience.
"They thought that, like, my mom was going to make me have the baby, and it was my choice to have the baby," she said. "And it's just -- that kind of stuff just bothered me."
(Blog editor's note: Interesting Bristol got a choice when it was her mother's position that no girl should have a choice even in case of rape or incest.)
Van Susteren asked, "But this is your issue? This is your decision?"
Bristol answered yes. "(It) doesn't matter what my mom's views are on it. It was my decision, and I wish people would realize that, too," she said.
The network interview was Bristol's idea, the teen said. And she apparently sprung the news to her parents that she was going to speak publicly the day before the network taping. The teen said she wanted to tell her story so that other young people might think twice about having sex.
"I'd love to [be] an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because it's not, like, a situation that you would want to strive for, I guess," Bristol said.
Gov. Palin made an unexpected appearance during the interview in Alaska, and Van Susteren asked her about her daughter's pregnancy.
"Not the most ideal situation, certainly you make the most of it," the governor said.
Bristol is a "strong and bold woman, and she is an amazing mom," Palin said. "And this little baby is very lucky to have her as a mama. He's going to be just fine."
Rob Walter, one of the many losing ANTI school board candidates (1996?) told me personally in a conversation that, "Information once give, can never be taken back."
He meant by his ANTI education statement that if our children found out a way to not get pregnant, they would have sex without limits. Our ANTI friends never trust our children to do the right thing or make good decisions. Rational adult members of our community understand that, yes, young adults do make errors, but they also are rational actors who make better decisions when given all the information.
(By the way Walters son applied for and was granted a substantial VTA college scholarship from our VTA fund even though Walters made very negative statements about teachers unions in general and the VTA in particular. I remember talking with a scholarship committee member about it. The committee member said the father's political views had nothing to do with the son's qualifications. I wonder if the shoe had been on the other foot it the ANTI's would have been as considerate.)
In Alaska in the district where Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, attended high school, the ANTI forces control the district and instituted a ABSTINENCE ONLY sex ed curriculum. Bristol did not have access to a full and comprehensive sex education curriculum (according to Keith Olbermann--February 17, 2009 MSNBC).
Bristol in an interview now says the ABSTINENCE ONLY is not realistic. I hope our local ANTI friends read and understand what she is saying.
The VTA Executive Board voted NOT to join the movement to recall the ANTI majority on the VUSD board(1992-94) at least once (or was it twice?). that's right the first time the idea was brought up, VTA voted AGAINST JOINING THE RECALL. The vote total changed in favor of recall only after the ANTI board decided to junk our comprehensive sex education program and to forbid the teaching of information about condoms and contraceptives.
I was one of those who first voted against joining the recall. I was afraid that if we lost, the VTA would be destroyed and the community would be fractured. Mostly I thought that the VTA had no business being involved with removing elected school board members. I took some convincing to join the side in favor of recall.
It was only when the ANTI board decided to interfere with giving crucial and appropriate information to our students, when the ANTIS decided to remove relevant contraceptive facts from our VUSD classrooms and interfere in the performance of a teacher's duty to teach--only then did the majority on the Executive Board vote to bring the idea of joining the ongoing recall to the governing board of the VTA, the Representative Assembly. The Rep Assembly agreed with Executive Board bringing VTA into the community coalition for recall. Let's made it clear, the VTA did not initiate the recall and did not immediately join the recall. The Spring 1993 Executive Board and Representative Assembly meeting minutes will so verify. Any one who says differently is a liar and a propagandist (or ignorant).
Of course our ANTI friends lie and say that the VTA started the recall the night the ANTIs were elected in November 1992. Two lies in one. I know of no credible (non ANTI source) that says there was any recall meeting that night in November or any night in November. The Vista Teachers Association joined the already existing community based recall MONTHS after the first petitions were circulated.
I first heard murmurings of recall after the December 1992 VUSD school board meeting when the ANTI's on the board decided to explore the possibility of teaching the unscientific and anti-Christian fiction of young earth (6-10,000 year old earth and universe) creationism in our schools. The three ANTI board members at that meeting decided to elect as president of our VUSD school board, John Tyndall, who worked at the Institute of Creation Research--an anti-scientific and anti God young earth propaganda mill located in Santee, California.
At that time and probably today as well, no one was allowed to work at ICR if they publicly stated that they thought the world was older than 10,000 years. A radio dating expert was fired from ICR only months before the 1992 ANTI election because he thought the earth might be as much as 20,000 years old. Apparently to work there employees have to sign a "young earth" pledge written by the founder, Henry Morris author of The Genesis Flood. John Tyndall had to agree with these really crazy, completely illogical rantings of the founder in order to keep his job, yet our 1992-94 ANTI board members thought he was the best one of the five board members to be the VUSD board president.
(I had a couple of discussions with John during a trip to Chicago where we appeared on a nationally syndicated television talk show to discuss the VUSD ANTI's nuttiness. John, who was educated by the fake facts disseminated by ICR, did not know that humans (actually all bony animals) are bilaterally symmetrical, so that if we had 40% of the bones of an ancestral form like Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) we really have closer to 80% because each side of our body is a mirror image of the other--left hand/right hand, left leg bones/right leg bones, left ribs/right ribs etc. Having a bone from the right hand meant we could infer from that bone that the left hand bone would be exactly the same except a mirror image. Nor did he understand the difference between pyroclastic flow deposits from a volcano full of sharply pointed tiny grains of "sand" (at Mt St Helens) and water deposited rounded grains of sand (at the Grand Canyon). More on the ignorance of 'little god' young earthism in a later blog.
The VTA did not join the movement until at least March 1993. (or was it April? I will have to check the notes of the Rep Assembly meetings.) The Recall, however, had been well started before we joined. The community started it over creationism in the classroom. Our ANTI board members seriously explored including the crazy, young earth, denial of easily checked facts and rational thought, ICR creationism in our VUSD science classroom curriculums. The creationist book of lies called Of Pandas and People was presented by the ANTI board members as a possible "science" resource in our VUSD science classrooms!
Creationism was the first step in the (1992-94) ANTI school board's attack on FACT based education in VUSD. The second step a couple of months later was the attack on FACT based sex education and the elimination of FACTS about preventing unwanted pregnancies from our VUSD classroom curriculum. Only then did VTA join.
A good thing we did. How many more Bristol Palins would we have in Vista if VUSD had continued with the abstinence only sex education curriculum of Sex Respect? Sex Respect was the racist tinged, fact challenged, and fact deficient program our ANTI friends wanted to force VUSD teachers to use.
Here is the article about Bristol Palin:
Bristol Palin: Abstinence for all teens 'not realistic'
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/bristol.palin.interview/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
(CNN) -- In her first interview since giving birth, the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said having a child is not "glamorous," and that telling young people to be abstinent is "not realistic at all."
Bristol Palin says "everyone should just wait 10 years" to have a baby, rather than when you're young.
"It's just, like, I'm not living for myself anymore. It's, like, for another person, so it's different," Bristol Palin told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "And just you're up all night. And it's not glamorous at all," she said. "Like, your whole priorities change after having a baby."
The 18-year-old, who gave birth in late December, said she is being helped tremendously by her mother, grandmother, cousins and other family members. She is engaged to teen father Levi Johnston, who is now working for his father and trying to complete school, but said she wishes that she waited another 10 years to have a baby.
It was "harder than labor" telling her parents she was pregnant.
"Well, we were sitting on the couch, my best friend and Levi, and we had my parents come and sit on the couch, too. And we had my sisters go upstairs," Bristol said. "And we just sat them down, and I just -- I couldn't even say it. I was just sick to my stomach.
"And so finally, my best friend just, like, blurted it out. And it was just, like -- I don't even remember it because it was just, like, something I don't want to remember."
Todd and Sarah Palin were "scared just because I have to -- I had to grow up a lot faster than they ever would have imagined," Bristol said.
Her parents insisted that she and her boyfriend hash out a "game plan" immediately. And now her parents and relatives are all pitching in to help take care of the child, particularly when Bristol is at school during the day.
Van Susteren was delicate with the teenager but pointedly asked if "contraception is an issue here."
"Is that something that you were just lazy about or not interested, or do you have philosophical or religious opposition to it," Van Susteren asked.
Bristol quickly answered that she didn't want to get into specifics. The best option is abstinence, the teen said, but added that she didn't think that was "realistic."
While her mother was running for vice president, the teenager said her treatment in the media was "evil." She said she read some of the tabloids that wrote about her. People didn't understand, she said, and some media reports perpetuated falsehoods about her experience.
"They thought that, like, my mom was going to make me have the baby, and it was my choice to have the baby," she said. "And it's just -- that kind of stuff just bothered me."
(Blog editor's note: Interesting Bristol got a choice when it was her mother's position that no girl should have a choice even in case of rape or incest.)
Van Susteren asked, "But this is your issue? This is your decision?"
Bristol answered yes. "(It) doesn't matter what my mom's views are on it. It was my decision, and I wish people would realize that, too," she said.
The network interview was Bristol's idea, the teen said. And she apparently sprung the news to her parents that she was going to speak publicly the day before the network taping. The teen said she wanted to tell her story so that other young people might think twice about having sex.
"I'd love to [be] an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because it's not, like, a situation that you would want to strive for, I guess," Bristol said.
Gov. Palin made an unexpected appearance during the interview in Alaska, and Van Susteren asked her about her daughter's pregnancy.
"Not the most ideal situation, certainly you make the most of it," the governor said.
Bristol is a "strong and bold woman, and she is an amazing mom," Palin said. "And this little baby is very lucky to have her as a mama. He's going to be just fine."
Friday, February 13, 2009
Life time FREE health benefits for retirees from LAUnified preserved
Remember Jimmy Gibson and his ANTI friends telling us that VUSD employees have a "Cadillac" health care program? Further they said that the greedy employees forced their 'union puppet" board members to spend money on undeserved health bnefits rather than textbooks for VUSD students.
I ask Jim and his ANTI friends, "Compared to who?" "The homeless?" Certainly not to the teachers in the Los Angeles City Unified School District. Those teachers have FREE LIFE TIME health benefits. So much VUSD being a district full of expensive giveaways for a bunch of lazy and self indulgent VUSD employees. Gibson and the ANTIs make up these lies out of whole cloth and they repeat the lies endlessly to each other and in blogs following VUSD articles in the NCTimes.
In reality VUSD has one of the lowest teacher pay scales for a unified school district out of the twenty or so unified districts in San Diego county. Our health benefits are no better than our dismal pay and we certainly do not get life time benefits when we retire. Instead VUSD RETIREES GET NO BENEFITS from VUSD.
Here is the article about what is given to retired teachers in LAUnified. We should all be so blessed. Why retired teachers are discarded with no health benefits from VUSD, I do not understand.
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-lausd12-2009feb12,0,4275939.story
From the Los Angeles Times
L.A. Unified healthcare contract to preserve free lifetime benefits
The tentative three-year agreement could diminish the possibility of a strike. It is expected to limit district costs by setting benchmarks for when new employees become eligible.
By Jason Song and Howard BlumeFebruary 12, 2009
A new three-year agreement on healthcare announced Wednesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District will preserve a generous benefits package for about 250,000 employees and their families while also limiting district costs.
But the tentative deal also increases the district's ongoing budget deficit and could lead to higher medical expenses for employees if healthcare costs continue to rise sharply.
The agreement maintains free lifetime benefits for district employees (there is no monthly payment to the district). But the pact sets benchmarks for when new workers become eligible.
Settling the healthcare issue -- the teachers union's top priority in negotiations -- could diminish the immediate possibility of a strike. Just one day earlier, United Teachers Los Angeles leaders had scheduled a strike authorization vote over protracted contract talks.
L.A. Unified officials say the agreement, which includes seven other unions, is their longest healthcare deal ever and could save the district at least $207 million over the next three years by capping the annual increases in total costs at 3.5%. If that's not enough money to maintain the current level of service, employees could see some expenses rise.
Healthcare plans are negotiated by a benefits committee that includes union representatives. The district is facing steep budget reductions because of the state's ongoing fiscal crisis, and officials warned that the agreement will not stave off cuts, including probable layoffs next year.
L.A. Unified officials project a nearly $670-million deficit in the next fiscal year, which has risen at least $57.7 million because of this benefits settlement.
"We will have to make program adjustments," said Megan K. Reilly, L.A. Unified's chief financial officer.
The agreement, which still must be ratified by union members, covers 75,000 employees and 35,000 retirees. The number rises to 250,000 including family members. Retired teacher Louisa Caucia said she was "elated."
"The rumor going around was that it would cost $200 to $400 a month for benefits" instead of nothing, said Caucia, who retired in June 2005 from Columbus Middle School in Canoga Park.
"That would really be cutting into a retiree's monthly income. That was very unnerving. I can now call all the worried people who called me and give them the good news."
One change in the package is that new employees will have to work longer to earn lifetime health benefits -- 25 consecutive years instead of 15. And their years of service plus their age must add up to 85 instead of 80.
Representatives from eight employee unions warmly praised the settlement. Leaders of the teachers union have not decided what, if any, impact the benefits deal would have on a possible teachers' strike, said UTLA President A.J. Duffy.
The union's outstanding issues include improving safety at schools, avoiding layoffs and ending district-mandated testing.
The union still might press for a salary increase depending on factors such as an infusion of cash from the federal stimulus package, Duffy said."We still have issues to resolve," he said. jason.song@latimes.comhoward.blume@latimes.com
I ask Jim and his ANTI friends, "Compared to who?" "The homeless?" Certainly not to the teachers in the Los Angeles City Unified School District. Those teachers have FREE LIFE TIME health benefits. So much VUSD being a district full of expensive giveaways for a bunch of lazy and self indulgent VUSD employees. Gibson and the ANTIs make up these lies out of whole cloth and they repeat the lies endlessly to each other and in blogs following VUSD articles in the NCTimes.
In reality VUSD has one of the lowest teacher pay scales for a unified school district out of the twenty or so unified districts in San Diego county. Our health benefits are no better than our dismal pay and we certainly do not get life time benefits when we retire. Instead VUSD RETIREES GET NO BENEFITS from VUSD.
Here is the article about what is given to retired teachers in LAUnified. We should all be so blessed. Why retired teachers are discarded with no health benefits from VUSD, I do not understand.
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-lausd12-2009feb12,0,4275939.story
From the Los Angeles Times
L.A. Unified healthcare contract to preserve free lifetime benefits
The tentative three-year agreement could diminish the possibility of a strike. It is expected to limit district costs by setting benchmarks for when new employees become eligible.
By Jason Song and Howard BlumeFebruary 12, 2009
A new three-year agreement on healthcare announced Wednesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District will preserve a generous benefits package for about 250,000 employees and their families while also limiting district costs.
But the tentative deal also increases the district's ongoing budget deficit and could lead to higher medical expenses for employees if healthcare costs continue to rise sharply.
The agreement maintains free lifetime benefits for district employees (there is no monthly payment to the district). But the pact sets benchmarks for when new workers become eligible.
Settling the healthcare issue -- the teachers union's top priority in negotiations -- could diminish the immediate possibility of a strike. Just one day earlier, United Teachers Los Angeles leaders had scheduled a strike authorization vote over protracted contract talks.
L.A. Unified officials say the agreement, which includes seven other unions, is their longest healthcare deal ever and could save the district at least $207 million over the next three years by capping the annual increases in total costs at 3.5%. If that's not enough money to maintain the current level of service, employees could see some expenses rise.
Healthcare plans are negotiated by a benefits committee that includes union representatives. The district is facing steep budget reductions because of the state's ongoing fiscal crisis, and officials warned that the agreement will not stave off cuts, including probable layoffs next year.
L.A. Unified officials project a nearly $670-million deficit in the next fiscal year, which has risen at least $57.7 million because of this benefits settlement.
"We will have to make program adjustments," said Megan K. Reilly, L.A. Unified's chief financial officer.
The agreement, which still must be ratified by union members, covers 75,000 employees and 35,000 retirees. The number rises to 250,000 including family members. Retired teacher Louisa Caucia said she was "elated."
"The rumor going around was that it would cost $200 to $400 a month for benefits" instead of nothing, said Caucia, who retired in June 2005 from Columbus Middle School in Canoga Park.
"That would really be cutting into a retiree's monthly income. That was very unnerving. I can now call all the worried people who called me and give them the good news."
One change in the package is that new employees will have to work longer to earn lifetime health benefits -- 25 consecutive years instead of 15. And their years of service plus their age must add up to 85 instead of 80.
Representatives from eight employee unions warmly praised the settlement. Leaders of the teachers union have not decided what, if any, impact the benefits deal would have on a possible teachers' strike, said UTLA President A.J. Duffy.
The union's outstanding issues include improving safety at schools, avoiding layoffs and ending district-mandated testing.
The union still might press for a salary increase depending on factors such as an infusion of cash from the federal stimulus package, Duffy said."We still have issues to resolve," he said. jason.song@latimes.comhoward.blume@latimes.com
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Disaster--California's Budget "deal"
The rich get richer. The poor and middle class pay an even higher percent of their incomes. Filthy rich bloated corporations get to pay far less taxes--millions less. Schools get the royal shaft and K-3 class size reduction is history. Union middle class construction jobs are eliminated in favor of low paid no benefit "jobs."
The horror of this next California budget has been brought to you by the temper tantrum throwing ANTI minority group in Sacramento. The ANTIs control one third of our state legislature and under the current California Constitution post Prop 13, these few bullies held our state budget hostage until their constituents (the filthy rich) could get all the advantages and the poor and middle class could pay the price.
All the new taxes that will be approved will be regressive meaning they will take a far greater amount out of the money needed for the poor and middle class to survive and have no effect whatsoever on the Ricos that the ANTIs love so much.
One such tax is sales tax. There will be an increase. The poor use hundred percent of their income to live through each week. Extra sales tax directly lowers their living standards. The middle class is better off, but still extra sales tax eats up a huge chunk of their discretionary income. The Ricos who fund the ANTIs use such a very tiny part of their income to live, less than 1%; so an increase in sales tax means that their living costs rise to maybe 1.0001% of their income. They still have 99% left to buy bigger and more houses, yachts, vacations and Sacramento ANTI legislators.
Another regressive tax is the gasoline tax which will increase. The increase will have no effect on the lifestyles of the Ricos but it will have a big effect on the good hard working people in the ever shrinking middle class and a devastating effect on the growing numbers of the desperately poor.
Read about the disaster below. The article is from the LATimes.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget12-2009feb12,0,5918831.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Schwarzenegger, legislative leaders settle on budget framework
Participants in the negotiations say the spending proposal, aimed at closing a $42-billion budget gap, would lower investment in schools and other programs while instituting temporary tax increases.
By Evan Halper and Patrick McGreevyFebruary 12, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are planning to scale back the state's investment in schools, higher education, public transportation and other programs -- while imposing several temporary tax increases -- to close the $42-billion budget gap projected by the middle of next year.
The bipartisan plan was cobbled together in private talks by legislative leaders and presented to rank-and-file lawmakers Wednesday afternoon, according to participants. Votes in the Assembly and state Senate are planned as soon as Friday. It is unclear whether the required two-thirds of legislators will support the proposal.
Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) called the plan "a common framework" for a deal that would balance the state budget for the next 17 months.
Matt David, Schwarzenegger's communications director, characterized any remaining issues to be worked out as "minor."
A copy of the fiscal blueprint obtained by The Times shows that the deficit would be wiped out with $15 billion in cuts; $14.4 billion in new and increased taxes on sales, vehicles, gasoline and personal income; $12 billion in borrowing against future profits from the lottery; short-term loans; and various accounting maneuvers.
Some of the cuts and borrowing could ultimately be offset by billions of dollars in federal aid that California would receive in the economic stimulus package that passed the U.S. Senate this week and is awaiting final approval in Congress.
The fashioning of the budget framework follows months of deadlock in the Capitol. The governor called lawmakers into emergency session to address a spiraling deficit in November, after state revenues plummeted along with financial markets and it became clear the state could run short of cash.
This month, tax refunds were suspended, along with payments to vendors and some welfare and college grants. And now much of state government is shutting down two days a month, furloughing most employees without pay. Under the new budget agreement, cuts to other state services would be deep and long-lasting.
Schools and community colleges, which account for nearly half of all state spending, would lose nearly $8 billion. Only part of that would be backfilled by Washington. Several state requirements on how schools allocate their money -- including on class size reduction -- would be suspended for several years.
School officials say the plan could lead to the elimination of after-school activities, elective classes such as art and music, classroom supplies and thousands of teaching jobs.
Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist for school districts, said, "For the first time, people are really going to see tangible negative impacts from cuts."
State colleges and universities, where tuition has been steadily rising for years, would lose $890 million.
Scheduled cost-of-living increases for public-assistance recipients would be canceled, and mental health and early childhood education programs created by voter-approved ballot initiatives would be cut by over $830 million. The state would cut spending on local public transit by $459 million. (The poor will be squeezed by new gas taxes, but if they want to ride the bus to save gas money, there will not be one--funds were cut)
Jeff Wagner, a spokesman for the California Transit Assn., warned that such a big hit could mean fare hikes and service reductions (REGRESSIVE TAX). Transit agencies, he said, have "been cut to the bone already."
Californians would also take a substantial hit to their wallets.
Vehicle license fees (REGRESSIVE TAX) would nearly double, going from the current rate of 0.65% to 1.15% of the value of a car or truck.
The sales tax (REGRESSIVE TAX) would increase by 1 cent, raising the rate in Los Angeles County to 9.75%.
Gasoline taxes (REGRESSIVE TAX) would increase by 12 cents a gallon.
And residents would pay a new surcharge on personal income taxes, amounting to 2.5% to 5% of their total tax bills, depending on how much federal money California gets.
The new and increased taxes would remain in effect for at least two years. If voters approved constitutional spending restraints that the Legislature would put on the ballot in the coming months as part of the budget package, the taxes would remain in place for five years.
The budget deal was negotiated almost entirely in secret. Rank-and-file lawmakers still have not seen legislation containing the package of cuts and tax increases their leaders expect them to approve this week.
Lobbyists and other advocates immediately began pressuring lawmakers to resist the plan.
Anthony Wright, executive director of the nonprofit Health Access California, said the spending limits would strangle government healthcare programs. The cost of providing care to the poor, he said, is likely to grow much faster than state spending would be allowed to under such limits." (The ANTIs attack the poor again. This is a back door tax on the health of the poor. It means the poor will be less able to afford to be healthy and more will die while the Ricos vacation in the Bahamas.)
This is going to devastate healthcare," he said.
Public employee unions were also angered by the deal, which eliminates two unspecified state holidays currently allotted to government workers. Such givebacks are typically negotiated in collective bargaining with the governor. But in this case, the days off would be taken away without workers being able to negotiate anything in return. (The ANTIs hate unions because unions mean the working class might get its fair share. The Ricos want it all. Anything that hurts unions and the middle class, the bought and paid for ANTI state legislators are for. This provision sets a precedent for ANTIs to suspend anything any union negotiated at any time without having to negotiate. What a wonderful dream for the ANTIs and what a nightmare for workers everywhere.)
Republican legislative leaders fought for and won a major corporate tax break as part of the spending plan. It would allow some large companies to change how they compute their state taxes to save potentially millions of dollars over the course of several years. Instead of being taxed on a formula that factors in how much California property they own, the size of their payroll and their overall sales, they could elect to be taxed on sales only. (Why should corporations pay their fair share?)
Champions of the tax break, projected to deprive state coffers of $690 million a year, say it will create jobs because the current tax formula penalizes companies with facilities and workers in the state. They point to a large facility that the biotech company Genentech says it built in Oregon instead of California for that reason.
Advocates for the poor call the proposal, a giveaway.
"A bunch of states have done this, and it hasn't created any new jobs or any new investment," said Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Tax Reform Assn. "It just allows companies to avoid paying taxes."
Film companies would get tax breaks totaling $100 million annually to keep their productions in California, an incentive the movie-star governor has been trying to put in place for years.
The budget blueprint also includes the relaxation of environmental laws (ANTIs hate environmental laws) on some major highway projects, openings for private companies to take over some public-works construction (can you say UNION BUSTING?) and a tax credit for new hires -- all demanded by the Republican leaders, Assemblyman Mike Villines of Clovis and Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto, in exchange for supporting the temporary tax hikes.
Pressure on GOP lawmakers to vote against the plan is intense, and it remains unclear whether the proposal will win the three Republican votes required for passage in the Assembly and in the Senate. Even more Republicans would be needed if the plan did not get the vote of every Democrat in the Legislature.
"I do not believe there are enough Republican votes in the state Senate to pass the budget at this time," said Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley), who said he plans to vote against it. "But a lot can change in two days."
Cogdill, a participant in the talks, said he had "negotiated it to the point where I think it doesn't get any better."
evan.halper@latimes.compatrick.mcgreevy@ latimes.com
The horror of this next California budget has been brought to you by the temper tantrum throwing ANTI minority group in Sacramento. The ANTIs control one third of our state legislature and under the current California Constitution post Prop 13, these few bullies held our state budget hostage until their constituents (the filthy rich) could get all the advantages and the poor and middle class could pay the price.
All the new taxes that will be approved will be regressive meaning they will take a far greater amount out of the money needed for the poor and middle class to survive and have no effect whatsoever on the Ricos that the ANTIs love so much.
One such tax is sales tax. There will be an increase. The poor use hundred percent of their income to live through each week. Extra sales tax directly lowers their living standards. The middle class is better off, but still extra sales tax eats up a huge chunk of their discretionary income. The Ricos who fund the ANTIs use such a very tiny part of their income to live, less than 1%; so an increase in sales tax means that their living costs rise to maybe 1.0001% of their income. They still have 99% left to buy bigger and more houses, yachts, vacations and Sacramento ANTI legislators.
Another regressive tax is the gasoline tax which will increase. The increase will have no effect on the lifestyles of the Ricos but it will have a big effect on the good hard working people in the ever shrinking middle class and a devastating effect on the growing numbers of the desperately poor.
Read about the disaster below. The article is from the LATimes.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget12-2009feb12,0,5918831.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Schwarzenegger, legislative leaders settle on budget framework
Participants in the negotiations say the spending proposal, aimed at closing a $42-billion budget gap, would lower investment in schools and other programs while instituting temporary tax increases.
By Evan Halper and Patrick McGreevyFebruary 12, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are planning to scale back the state's investment in schools, higher education, public transportation and other programs -- while imposing several temporary tax increases -- to close the $42-billion budget gap projected by the middle of next year.
The bipartisan plan was cobbled together in private talks by legislative leaders and presented to rank-and-file lawmakers Wednesday afternoon, according to participants. Votes in the Assembly and state Senate are planned as soon as Friday. It is unclear whether the required two-thirds of legislators will support the proposal.
Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) called the plan "a common framework" for a deal that would balance the state budget for the next 17 months.
Matt David, Schwarzenegger's communications director, characterized any remaining issues to be worked out as "minor."
A copy of the fiscal blueprint obtained by The Times shows that the deficit would be wiped out with $15 billion in cuts; $14.4 billion in new and increased taxes on sales, vehicles, gasoline and personal income; $12 billion in borrowing against future profits from the lottery; short-term loans; and various accounting maneuvers.
Some of the cuts and borrowing could ultimately be offset by billions of dollars in federal aid that California would receive in the economic stimulus package that passed the U.S. Senate this week and is awaiting final approval in Congress.
The fashioning of the budget framework follows months of deadlock in the Capitol. The governor called lawmakers into emergency session to address a spiraling deficit in November, after state revenues plummeted along with financial markets and it became clear the state could run short of cash.
This month, tax refunds were suspended, along with payments to vendors and some welfare and college grants. And now much of state government is shutting down two days a month, furloughing most employees without pay. Under the new budget agreement, cuts to other state services would be deep and long-lasting.
Schools and community colleges, which account for nearly half of all state spending, would lose nearly $8 billion. Only part of that would be backfilled by Washington. Several state requirements on how schools allocate their money -- including on class size reduction -- would be suspended for several years.
School officials say the plan could lead to the elimination of after-school activities, elective classes such as art and music, classroom supplies and thousands of teaching jobs.
Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist for school districts, said, "For the first time, people are really going to see tangible negative impacts from cuts."
State colleges and universities, where tuition has been steadily rising for years, would lose $890 million.
Scheduled cost-of-living increases for public-assistance recipients would be canceled, and mental health and early childhood education programs created by voter-approved ballot initiatives would be cut by over $830 million. The state would cut spending on local public transit by $459 million. (The poor will be squeezed by new gas taxes, but if they want to ride the bus to save gas money, there will not be one--funds were cut)
Jeff Wagner, a spokesman for the California Transit Assn., warned that such a big hit could mean fare hikes and service reductions (REGRESSIVE TAX). Transit agencies, he said, have "been cut to the bone already."
Californians would also take a substantial hit to their wallets.
Vehicle license fees (REGRESSIVE TAX) would nearly double, going from the current rate of 0.65% to 1.15% of the value of a car or truck.
The sales tax (REGRESSIVE TAX) would increase by 1 cent, raising the rate in Los Angeles County to 9.75%.
Gasoline taxes (REGRESSIVE TAX) would increase by 12 cents a gallon.
And residents would pay a new surcharge on personal income taxes, amounting to 2.5% to 5% of their total tax bills, depending on how much federal money California gets.
The new and increased taxes would remain in effect for at least two years. If voters approved constitutional spending restraints that the Legislature would put on the ballot in the coming months as part of the budget package, the taxes would remain in place for five years.
The budget deal was negotiated almost entirely in secret. Rank-and-file lawmakers still have not seen legislation containing the package of cuts and tax increases their leaders expect them to approve this week.
Lobbyists and other advocates immediately began pressuring lawmakers to resist the plan.
Anthony Wright, executive director of the nonprofit Health Access California, said the spending limits would strangle government healthcare programs. The cost of providing care to the poor, he said, is likely to grow much faster than state spending would be allowed to under such limits." (The ANTIs attack the poor again. This is a back door tax on the health of the poor. It means the poor will be less able to afford to be healthy and more will die while the Ricos vacation in the Bahamas.)
This is going to devastate healthcare," he said.
Public employee unions were also angered by the deal, which eliminates two unspecified state holidays currently allotted to government workers. Such givebacks are typically negotiated in collective bargaining with the governor. But in this case, the days off would be taken away without workers being able to negotiate anything in return. (The ANTIs hate unions because unions mean the working class might get its fair share. The Ricos want it all. Anything that hurts unions and the middle class, the bought and paid for ANTI state legislators are for. This provision sets a precedent for ANTIs to suspend anything any union negotiated at any time without having to negotiate. What a wonderful dream for the ANTIs and what a nightmare for workers everywhere.)
Republican legislative leaders fought for and won a major corporate tax break as part of the spending plan. It would allow some large companies to change how they compute their state taxes to save potentially millions of dollars over the course of several years. Instead of being taxed on a formula that factors in how much California property they own, the size of their payroll and their overall sales, they could elect to be taxed on sales only. (Why should corporations pay their fair share?)
Champions of the tax break, projected to deprive state coffers of $690 million a year, say it will create jobs because the current tax formula penalizes companies with facilities and workers in the state. They point to a large facility that the biotech company Genentech says it built in Oregon instead of California for that reason.
Advocates for the poor call the proposal, a giveaway.
"A bunch of states have done this, and it hasn't created any new jobs or any new investment," said Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Tax Reform Assn. "It just allows companies to avoid paying taxes."
Film companies would get tax breaks totaling $100 million annually to keep their productions in California, an incentive the movie-star governor has been trying to put in place for years.
The budget blueprint also includes the relaxation of environmental laws (ANTIs hate environmental laws) on some major highway projects, openings for private companies to take over some public-works construction (can you say UNION BUSTING?) and a tax credit for new hires -- all demanded by the Republican leaders, Assemblyman Mike Villines of Clovis and Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto, in exchange for supporting the temporary tax hikes.
Pressure on GOP lawmakers to vote against the plan is intense, and it remains unclear whether the proposal will win the three Republican votes required for passage in the Assembly and in the Senate. Even more Republicans would be needed if the plan did not get the vote of every Democrat in the Legislature.
"I do not believe there are enough Republican votes in the state Senate to pass the budget at this time," said Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley), who said he plans to vote against it. "But a lot can change in two days."
Cogdill, a participant in the talks, said he had "negotiated it to the point where I think it doesn't get any better."
evan.halper@latimes.compatrick.mcgreevy@ latimes.com
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Drill and Kill could actually get kids killed
All of the emphasis on drill and kill and nothing else can lead to students disconnected from the adults in their school. When that happens, dangerous students and situations do not get reported. Emphasis on penalties like in zero tolerance and drill and kill regimes mean students feel less a part of the school, less loyalty to the school and to the teachers.
Developing a rapport with students is important not just an extra that should be extinguished in favor of more test preparation drills. There is a lot more to good education than the current fad of drill and kill and zero tolerance of mistakes. See the article below.
American Psychological Association
Students who feel connected to peers, teachers are more inclined to warn of dangerous fellow student
Zero tolerance policies can work against cohesion in schools
WASHINGTON – Students who feel connected to their peers and teachers are more inclined to alert a teacher or principal if they hear a fellow student "wants to do something dangerous," according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
But those students who don't feel connected are less likely to act. Researchers from The Pennsylvania State University and Missouri State University looked into why some students adopt a "code of silence" when faced with a fellow student's dangerous intentions. Their findings appear in the February Journal of Educational Psychology, published by APA.
The researchers presented a hypothetical scenario of a peer's plan "to do something dangerous" to 1,740 middle and high school students from 13 schools. The students were asked if they would (1) intervene directly, (2) tell a teacher or principal, (3) talk it over with a friend but not tell an adult, or (4) do nothing.
High school students (964) were less likely than middle school students (776) to talk directly to the peer planning to do something dangerous or tell a teacher or principal, said lead author Amy K. Syvertsen, MEd. "High schools are generally larger than middle schools and provide less opportunity for teachers and students to interact, which is the foundation for building trust, caring and community between the two."
Most students who said they would take action favored directly approaching the peer rather than telling an adult. "This may be a reflection of where many of these students are developmentally. They want to assert their autonomy, make decisions and handle the situation on their own," said the authors.
Students who generally felt a sense of pride in their school and concern for others were more likely to say they would act rather than ignore the situation. For all students, Syvertsen said, knowing they could voice their opinions and be heard by a school official along with their sense of belonging – how they and their friends fit into the school culture – best predicted whether they would confront the peer themselves or tell an adult.
Fear of getting into trouble makes students less willing to go to a teacher or principal with their concerns about a peer's potentially dangerous plan and more likely to ignore the situation, said the authors. Yet those students who said they would speak directly to the peer said they didn't believe they would get into trouble.
Certain school policies, such as zero tolerance, may create an atmosphere that prevents students from confiding in a teacher or school administrator because of the perceived repercussions, said Syvertsen. "Blanket policies that are often not clearly explained to teachers or students can create an atmosphere in which rules get in the way of relationships between students and teachers, to the detriment of keeping the schools safe," said the authors.
"Fostering a caring school climate where students and teachers look out for each other to keep one another safe can't be taught in a single lesson or by using deterrents, like metal detectors or harsh policies," Syvertsen added. "It is built on daily interactions between the teachers and students."
Although the nature of the dangerous school event used in the study was hypothetical, the results of this study provide some sense of students' willingness to act should a similar situation arise.
###
Article: "Code of Silence: Students' Perceptions of School Climate and Willingness to Intervene in a Peer's Dangerous Plan," Amy K. Syvertsen, MEd, and Constance A. Flanagan, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University; Michael D. Stout, PhD, Missouri State University; Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 101, No.1.
(Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office and at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/edu1011219.pdf.)
Contact Amy Syvertsen at syvertsen@psu.edu
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Developing a rapport with students is important not just an extra that should be extinguished in favor of more test preparation drills. There is a lot more to good education than the current fad of drill and kill and zero tolerance of mistakes. See the article below.
American Psychological Association
Students who feel connected to peers, teachers are more inclined to warn of dangerous fellow student
Zero tolerance policies can work against cohesion in schools
WASHINGTON – Students who feel connected to their peers and teachers are more inclined to alert a teacher or principal if they hear a fellow student "wants to do something dangerous," according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
But those students who don't feel connected are less likely to act. Researchers from The Pennsylvania State University and Missouri State University looked into why some students adopt a "code of silence" when faced with a fellow student's dangerous intentions. Their findings appear in the February Journal of Educational Psychology, published by APA.
The researchers presented a hypothetical scenario of a peer's plan "to do something dangerous" to 1,740 middle and high school students from 13 schools. The students were asked if they would (1) intervene directly, (2) tell a teacher or principal, (3) talk it over with a friend but not tell an adult, or (4) do nothing.
High school students (964) were less likely than middle school students (776) to talk directly to the peer planning to do something dangerous or tell a teacher or principal, said lead author Amy K. Syvertsen, MEd. "High schools are generally larger than middle schools and provide less opportunity for teachers and students to interact, which is the foundation for building trust, caring and community between the two."
Most students who said they would take action favored directly approaching the peer rather than telling an adult. "This may be a reflection of where many of these students are developmentally. They want to assert their autonomy, make decisions and handle the situation on their own," said the authors.
Students who generally felt a sense of pride in their school and concern for others were more likely to say they would act rather than ignore the situation. For all students, Syvertsen said, knowing they could voice their opinions and be heard by a school official along with their sense of belonging – how they and their friends fit into the school culture – best predicted whether they would confront the peer themselves or tell an adult.
Fear of getting into trouble makes students less willing to go to a teacher or principal with their concerns about a peer's potentially dangerous plan and more likely to ignore the situation, said the authors. Yet those students who said they would speak directly to the peer said they didn't believe they would get into trouble.
Certain school policies, such as zero tolerance, may create an atmosphere that prevents students from confiding in a teacher or school administrator because of the perceived repercussions, said Syvertsen. "Blanket policies that are often not clearly explained to teachers or students can create an atmosphere in which rules get in the way of relationships between students and teachers, to the detriment of keeping the schools safe," said the authors.
"Fostering a caring school climate where students and teachers look out for each other to keep one another safe can't be taught in a single lesson or by using deterrents, like metal detectors or harsh policies," Syvertsen added. "It is built on daily interactions between the teachers and students."
Although the nature of the dangerous school event used in the study was hypothetical, the results of this study provide some sense of students' willingness to act should a similar situation arise.
###
Article: "Code of Silence: Students' Perceptions of School Climate and Willingness to Intervene in a Peer's Dangerous Plan," Amy K. Syvertsen, MEd, and Constance A. Flanagan, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University; Michael D. Stout, PhD, Missouri State University; Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 101, No.1.
(Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office and at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/edu1011219.pdf.)
Contact Amy Syvertsen at syvertsen@psu.edu
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.
ANTI Lie says VUSD teachers have Cadillac health benefits
One of the lies of our ANTI friends that they repeat incessantly is that our poorly paid VUSD teachers have a 'Cadillac' health plan. Jim Gibson has said this on many occasions. I have seen this quote in the NCTimes credited to Gibson in the past and have read the ANTIs comments on the NCTimes blog often repeating this falsehood.
Jimmy and the ANTIs use this lie to attempt to rally resentment against hard working school teachers. They usually fail except among the most poorly informed of their supporters.
In LA Unified retired teachers are given LIFETIME health benefits.
Do we get that? No. I am a retired teacher after a life time in the California public school classroom of which 15 years were spent teaching in VUSD, my ONLY health care comes through my spouse. When she retires, divorces me or God forbid passes on, I will have no health care. That is what happens to VUSD retirees. NO HEALTH CARE.
Wow, that is really a Cadillac health plan, Jimmy! Gee Jim, will you have health care when you retire? Will you have at least Medicare or Medical?
I do not even have that option. California school teachers of a certain age were not allowed to pay into the system, so are not eligible for coverage.
I am so looking forward to bankrupting my family when I get sick. VUSD teachers of a certain age are left with only one other option when they get sick after they retire and Jimmy your church says I will go to Hell if I exercise that one. Thanks a lot Jimmy for the "Cadillac" health plan.
Here is the article about LA Unified teachers:
L.A. Unified and teachers union agree on health benefits
12:02 PM, February 11, 2009
The L.A. Unified teachers union has reached a tentative agreement with the district over their top priority, health benefits, after months of negotiations.
United Teachers Los Angeles officials announced Tuesday that they would hold a strike authorization vote because they were frustrated over the pace of negotiations, and it is unclear if the agreement would halt any momentum for a work stoppage.
The 48,000-member union and district are still negotiating over pay increases and standardized testing.
Seven other unions also agreed to the health benefit package.
Currently, district employees are eligible for lifetime benefits if they have worked a certain number of years for the district.
Union and L.A. Unified officials will hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. today to announce details of the agreement.
-- Jason Song
Jimmy and the ANTIs use this lie to attempt to rally resentment against hard working school teachers. They usually fail except among the most poorly informed of their supporters.
In LA Unified retired teachers are given LIFETIME health benefits.
Do we get that? No. I am a retired teacher after a life time in the California public school classroom of which 15 years were spent teaching in VUSD, my ONLY health care comes through my spouse. When she retires, divorces me or God forbid passes on, I will have no health care. That is what happens to VUSD retirees. NO HEALTH CARE.
Wow, that is really a Cadillac health plan, Jimmy! Gee Jim, will you have health care when you retire? Will you have at least Medicare or Medical?
I do not even have that option. California school teachers of a certain age were not allowed to pay into the system, so are not eligible for coverage.
I am so looking forward to bankrupting my family when I get sick. VUSD teachers of a certain age are left with only one other option when they get sick after they retire and Jimmy your church says I will go to Hell if I exercise that one. Thanks a lot Jimmy for the "Cadillac" health plan.
Here is the article about LA Unified teachers:
L.A. Unified and teachers union agree on health benefits
12:02 PM, February 11, 2009
The L.A. Unified teachers union has reached a tentative agreement with the district over their top priority, health benefits, after months of negotiations.
United Teachers Los Angeles officials announced Tuesday that they would hold a strike authorization vote because they were frustrated over the pace of negotiations, and it is unclear if the agreement would halt any momentum for a work stoppage.
The 48,000-member union and district are still negotiating over pay increases and standardized testing.
Seven other unions also agreed to the health benefit package.
Currently, district employees are eligible for lifetime benefits if they have worked a certain number of years for the district.
Union and L.A. Unified officials will hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. today to announce details of the agreement.
-- Jason Song
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Small interventions can lead to big test score improvements
Very interesting op ed piece in NYTimes today about how to overcome achievement gaps in education. There are some very seemingly small and low or no cost things we can say or do in the classroom that can lead to very large improvements in test scores. Whereas some very big and very expensive "whole school" programs can be completely ineffective. Can you say SDCOE DAIT? What a waste of VUSD money. Sad.
Here is the URL of the NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08nisbett.html?em
Here is the story:
February 8, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
Education Is All in Your Mind
By RICHARD E. NISBETT
Ann Arbor, Mich.
AS Department of Education officials consider how best to spend billions from the economic stimulus plan, they would be wise to pay attention to which programs actually help children’s achievement — and keep in mind that sometimes very small influences in children’s lives can have very big effects.
Consider, for example, what the social psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson have described as “stereotype threat,” which hampers the performance of African-American students. Simply reminding blacks of their race before they take an exam leads them to perform worse, their research shows.
Fortunately, stereotype threat for blacks and other minorities can be reduced in many ways. Just telling students that their intelligence is under their own control improves their effort on school work and performance. In two separate studies, Mr. Aronson and others taught black and Hispanic junior high school students how the brain works, explaining that the students possessed the ability, if they worked hard, to make themselves smarter. This erased up to half of the difference between minority and white achievement levels.
Black students also perform better on an exam when it is presented as a puzzle rather than as a test of academic achievement or ability, another study has shown. These are small interventions that have big effects.
Here’s another example: Daphna Oyserman, a social psychologist at the University of Michigan, asked inner-city junior-high children in Detroit what kind of future they would like to have, what difficulties they anticipated along the way, how they might deal with them and which of their friends would be most helpful in coping. After only a few such exercises in life planning, the children improved their performance on standardized academic tests, and the number who were required to repeat a grade dropped by more than half.
Geoffrey Cohen, a psychologist at the University of Colorado, found still another way to improve black students’ test performance. He asked teachers at a suburban middle school, at the beginning of a school year, to give their seventh graders a series of assignments to write about their most important values. Afterward, the black students did well enough in all their courses to obliterate 30 percent of the difference that had existed between black and white students’ grades in previous years.
Small interventions can make a big difference even as late as the college years. Dr. Cohen and another psychologist, Gregory Walton, who is now at Stanford, hypothesized that worries about social acceptance — which are common among all college students — would be especially great among black students on majority-white campuses.
So the researchers gave a group of students at a Northeastern university a detailed report of a survey showing that most upperclassmen had once worried about feeling accepted but had ultimately come to feel at home on campus. Black students who were given this information reported that they worked harder on their schoolwork than others did, and contacted their professors more. The payoff in grade-point average erased most of the usual difference between blacks and whites at the university.
These experiments may help explain the “Obama effect” on the test performance of African-Americans. Adult subjects in a study (still unpublished) answered comprehension questions from the verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examinations before and just after the presidential election. The black participants who were tested before the vote performed worse than whites; those tested immediately afterward scored almost as well as whites.
If simple interventions can have big effects, one might assume that bigger interventions would always be even better. But the truth is that some big interventions in education have had only minimal effects. Head Start, which places 3- and 4-year-olds in supposedly enriched classroom settings, and Early Head Start, which works with 1- to 3-year-olds, for example, have been found to have only modest effects on the children’s academic achievement, and these often fade by early elementary school. Likewise, “whole-school interventions,” in which teams of education engineers descend on a school and change its curriculum, introduce new textbooks and train teachers — often at great expense — typically produce little in the way of educational gain.
Some bigger programs have worked well, however. The Perry Preschool, which was set up in Ypsilanti, Mich., in the early 1960s, is a good example. In this school, highly trained and motivated teachers worked with groups of only six black preschoolers in educationally intensive sessions intended to help the severely disadvantaged children develop both cognitively and socially, and the teachers visited the children’s families for 90 minutes every week.
By the time these students reached high school, almost half of them scored above the 10th percentile on the California Achievement Test, compared with only 14 percent of students in a control group. Almost two-thirds of the students who had been in the program graduated from high school, compared with only 43 percent of control students. And by age 27, one-third of the Perry children owned their own home; only 11 percent of the control students did.
James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, has estimated that for every dollar spent on a prekindergarten like Perry, $8 has been gained in higher incomes for participants and in savings on the costs of extra schooling, crime and welfare.
Similarly, a program called KIPP (for Knowledge Is Power Program) is having remarkable success with poor minority children in middle schools. KIPP students attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., their term is three weeks longer than normal, and every other Saturday they have classes for half a day. The curriculum includes sports, visits to museums and instruction in dance, art, music, theater and photography. During one academic year, the percentage of fifth-graders at KIPP schools in the San Francisco Bay Area who scored at or above the national average on the reading portion of the Stanford Achievement Test rose to 44 percent from 25 percent. And while only 37 percent started the year at or above the national average in math, 65 percent reached that level by spring.
Such creative programs must be tested to ensure that they work as they are meant to. The United States Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse, which was established by the Bush administration, has the job of making public all significant evaluations of educational interventions. The Obama administration should heed the Clearinghouse’s reports. Stimulus money should be spent only on programs that work well — and on creating new programs, which in turn should be properly tested for effectiveness.
President Obama is in a position to not only inspire black youngsters by his example, but also make an enormous difference in their schooling — as long as he supports successful educational interventions, from the smallest to the most ambitious.
Richard E. Nisbett, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, is the author of “Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count.”
Here is the URL of the NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08nisbett.html?em
Here is the story:
February 8, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
Education Is All in Your Mind
By RICHARD E. NISBETT
Ann Arbor, Mich.
AS Department of Education officials consider how best to spend billions from the economic stimulus plan, they would be wise to pay attention to which programs actually help children’s achievement — and keep in mind that sometimes very small influences in children’s lives can have very big effects.
Consider, for example, what the social psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson have described as “stereotype threat,” which hampers the performance of African-American students. Simply reminding blacks of their race before they take an exam leads them to perform worse, their research shows.
Fortunately, stereotype threat for blacks and other minorities can be reduced in many ways. Just telling students that their intelligence is under their own control improves their effort on school work and performance. In two separate studies, Mr. Aronson and others taught black and Hispanic junior high school students how the brain works, explaining that the students possessed the ability, if they worked hard, to make themselves smarter. This erased up to half of the difference between minority and white achievement levels.
Black students also perform better on an exam when it is presented as a puzzle rather than as a test of academic achievement or ability, another study has shown. These are small interventions that have big effects.
Here’s another example: Daphna Oyserman, a social psychologist at the University of Michigan, asked inner-city junior-high children in Detroit what kind of future they would like to have, what difficulties they anticipated along the way, how they might deal with them and which of their friends would be most helpful in coping. After only a few such exercises in life planning, the children improved their performance on standardized academic tests, and the number who were required to repeat a grade dropped by more than half.
Geoffrey Cohen, a psychologist at the University of Colorado, found still another way to improve black students’ test performance. He asked teachers at a suburban middle school, at the beginning of a school year, to give their seventh graders a series of assignments to write about their most important values. Afterward, the black students did well enough in all their courses to obliterate 30 percent of the difference that had existed between black and white students’ grades in previous years.
Small interventions can make a big difference even as late as the college years. Dr. Cohen and another psychologist, Gregory Walton, who is now at Stanford, hypothesized that worries about social acceptance — which are common among all college students — would be especially great among black students on majority-white campuses.
So the researchers gave a group of students at a Northeastern university a detailed report of a survey showing that most upperclassmen had once worried about feeling accepted but had ultimately come to feel at home on campus. Black students who were given this information reported that they worked harder on their schoolwork than others did, and contacted their professors more. The payoff in grade-point average erased most of the usual difference between blacks and whites at the university.
These experiments may help explain the “Obama effect” on the test performance of African-Americans. Adult subjects in a study (still unpublished) answered comprehension questions from the verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examinations before and just after the presidential election. The black participants who were tested before the vote performed worse than whites; those tested immediately afterward scored almost as well as whites.
If simple interventions can have big effects, one might assume that bigger interventions would always be even better. But the truth is that some big interventions in education have had only minimal effects. Head Start, which places 3- and 4-year-olds in supposedly enriched classroom settings, and Early Head Start, which works with 1- to 3-year-olds, for example, have been found to have only modest effects on the children’s academic achievement, and these often fade by early elementary school. Likewise, “whole-school interventions,” in which teams of education engineers descend on a school and change its curriculum, introduce new textbooks and train teachers — often at great expense — typically produce little in the way of educational gain.
Some bigger programs have worked well, however. The Perry Preschool, which was set up in Ypsilanti, Mich., in the early 1960s, is a good example. In this school, highly trained and motivated teachers worked with groups of only six black preschoolers in educationally intensive sessions intended to help the severely disadvantaged children develop both cognitively and socially, and the teachers visited the children’s families for 90 minutes every week.
By the time these students reached high school, almost half of them scored above the 10th percentile on the California Achievement Test, compared with only 14 percent of students in a control group. Almost two-thirds of the students who had been in the program graduated from high school, compared with only 43 percent of control students. And by age 27, one-third of the Perry children owned their own home; only 11 percent of the control students did.
James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, has estimated that for every dollar spent on a prekindergarten like Perry, $8 has been gained in higher incomes for participants and in savings on the costs of extra schooling, crime and welfare.
Similarly, a program called KIPP (for Knowledge Is Power Program) is having remarkable success with poor minority children in middle schools. KIPP students attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., their term is three weeks longer than normal, and every other Saturday they have classes for half a day. The curriculum includes sports, visits to museums and instruction in dance, art, music, theater and photography. During one academic year, the percentage of fifth-graders at KIPP schools in the San Francisco Bay Area who scored at or above the national average on the reading portion of the Stanford Achievement Test rose to 44 percent from 25 percent. And while only 37 percent started the year at or above the national average in math, 65 percent reached that level by spring.
Such creative programs must be tested to ensure that they work as they are meant to. The United States Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse, which was established by the Bush administration, has the job of making public all significant evaluations of educational interventions. The Obama administration should heed the Clearinghouse’s reports. Stimulus money should be spent only on programs that work well — and on creating new programs, which in turn should be properly tested for effectiveness.
President Obama is in a position to not only inspire black youngsters by his example, but also make an enormous difference in their schooling — as long as he supports successful educational interventions, from the smallest to the most ambitious.
Richard E. Nisbett, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, is the author of “Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count.”
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