The future is now.
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Sunday, July 24, 2011
mamaz collective: Benefit for Oaxaca's MAMAZ Collective
mamaz collective: Benefit for Oaxaca's MAMAZ Collective: "BY CLAUDIA ALARCÓN By pure chance, I heard that my colleague Claudia Zapata was the curator of 'El Maíz Es Nuestra Vida/ Maize Is Our Life,..."
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Not Just in Texas: Responding to the Assault on Public Education
Taken from : TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE : https://mail.google.com/mail/?tab=cm#inbox/13149ad115e5e46e
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011
Not Just in Texas: Responding to the Assault on Public Education
Education historian Diane Ravitch recently took stock of the current situation in American education and found reason for hope in spite of what she termed "an unending assault" on the nation's public schools and the educators who work in them. Her appraisal is that across the nation, not just in Texas, we face a "full-fledged, well-funded effort to replace public schools with private management and…a full-throated effort to hold public school teachers accountable for the ills of society." So where does she find cause for hope? We'll let her crystal-clear prose do the talking:
"What is happening now has no precedent in the past. For the first time in our history, there is a concerted attempt, led by powerful people, to undermine the very idea of public schooling and to de-professionalize those who work in this sector. Sure, there were always fringe groups and erratic individuals who hated the public schools and who disparaged credentials and degrees as unimportant.
"But these were considered extremist views. No one took them seriously. Now the movement toward privatization and de-professionalization has the enthusiastic endorsement of governors and legislatures in several states (including, but not limited to, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Indiana, and Wisconsin). Worse, it has the tacit endorsement of the Obama administration, whose Race to the Top has given the movement a bipartisan patina. And Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said little or nothing to discourage the Tea Party assault on public education.
"Are there reasons to hope?
"Yes, and these are the grounds that I believe will in time permit a revival of a sane, sound public policy.
"1. Teachers—including our very best—are angry. The March on Washington (http://saveourschoolsmarch.org) on July 30 is led by National-Board-certified teachers like Anthony Cody, Nancy Flanagan, and Ken Bernstein, all well-known teacher-bloggers. They are tired of the teacher-bashing, and they are militant in defense of their profession.
"2. Parents of public school students (http://parentsacrossamerica.org/) are getting organized to stop creeping privatization, to demand a reduction or end to high-stakes testing, and to insist that their schools be improved, not closed.
"3. As research studies accumulate, the evidence in support of current corporate reform policies grows weaker. The evidence about the effects of high-stakes testing, merit pay, judging teachers by test scores, charter schools, and vouchers runs strongly against No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, as well as the mean-spirited policies advanced by Tea Party governors with the support of Michelle Rhee and her Students First front group. The nine-year study by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science on "Incentives and Test-based Accountability" (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12521) plus the recent work of the National Center on Education and the Economy (http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Standing-on-the-Shoulders-of-Giants-An-American-Agenda-for-Education-Reform.pdf) were the latest to warn that corporate reform strategies are seriously flawed.
"4. Growing evidence and growing resistance by teachers and parents, by administrators and school boards, will eventually make it possible to break through the media shield that protects corporate reform. In time, the general public will understand the full dimensions of this corporate effort to reduce public space and to hand more of the nation's children over to the private sector. When the curtains are pulled away, we will learn that many idealistic and well-meaning people were cynically used by people with an ideological axe to grind, with a will to power, or with dreams of financial gain.
"5. This, too, will pass away, as so many other fads have in the past century. In many respects, the current movement echoes the now forgotten ideas of Frederick W. Taylor, John Franklin Bobbitt, and David Snedden (to learn more about them, read Raymond Callahan's classic Education and the Cult of Efficiency, or my Left Back or Linda Darling-Hammond's 2011 commencement address (http://www.thenation.com/article/160850/service-democratic-education) at Teachers College. The speculators will find greener fields elsewhere, the Wall Street hedge-fund managers will grow bored and seek a new plaything, the billionaire philanthropists will find another cause that is less troublesome. How much collateral damage will they leave behind?
"6. And then there is history. I only wish I might be alive and vigorous enough 20 years from now to write this story. I know I won't be, but I see the outlines already. It will make a fascinating read. There will be heroes, villains, naive collaborators, rigid ideologues intent on imposing their failed philosophy regardless of its effects, and those who were just following orders or unthinkingly carried away by the latest idea.
"Of one thing I feel sure—history will not be kind to those who gleefully attacked teachers, sought to fire them based on inaccurate measures, and worked zealously to reduce their status and compensation. It will not admire the effort to insert business values into the work of educating children and shaping their minds, dreams, and character. It will not forgive those who forgot the civic, democratic purposes of our schools nor those who chipped away at the public square. Nor will it speak well of those who put the quest for gain over the needs of children. Nor will it lionize those who worshipped data and believed passionately in carrots and sticks. Those who will live forever in the minds of future generations are the ones who stood up against the powerful on behalf of children, who demanded that every child receive the best possible education, the education that the most fortunate parents would want for their own children.
"Now is a time to speak and act. Now is a time to think about how we will one day be judged. Not by test scores, not by data, but by the consequences of our actions."
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011
Not Just in Texas: Responding to the Assault on Public Education
Education historian Diane Ravitch recently took stock of the current situation in American education and found reason for hope in spite of what she termed "an unending assault" on the nation's public schools and the educators who work in them. Her appraisal is that across the nation, not just in Texas, we face a "full-fledged, well-funded effort to replace public schools with private management and…a full-throated effort to hold public school teachers accountable for the ills of society." So where does she find cause for hope? We'll let her crystal-clear prose do the talking:
"What is happening now has no precedent in the past. For the first time in our history, there is a concerted attempt, led by powerful people, to undermine the very idea of public schooling and to de-professionalize those who work in this sector. Sure, there were always fringe groups and erratic individuals who hated the public schools and who disparaged credentials and degrees as unimportant.
"But these were considered extremist views. No one took them seriously. Now the movement toward privatization and de-professionalization has the enthusiastic endorsement of governors and legislatures in several states (including, but not limited to, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Indiana, and Wisconsin). Worse, it has the tacit endorsement of the Obama administration, whose Race to the Top has given the movement a bipartisan patina. And Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said little or nothing to discourage the Tea Party assault on public education.
"Are there reasons to hope?
"Yes, and these are the grounds that I believe will in time permit a revival of a sane, sound public policy.
"1. Teachers—including our very best—are angry. The March on Washington (http://saveourschoolsmarch.org) on July 30 is led by National-Board-certified teachers like Anthony Cody, Nancy Flanagan, and Ken Bernstein, all well-known teacher-bloggers. They are tired of the teacher-bashing, and they are militant in defense of their profession.
"2. Parents of public school students (http://parentsacrossamerica.org/) are getting organized to stop creeping privatization, to demand a reduction or end to high-stakes testing, and to insist that their schools be improved, not closed.
"3. As research studies accumulate, the evidence in support of current corporate reform policies grows weaker. The evidence about the effects of high-stakes testing, merit pay, judging teachers by test scores, charter schools, and vouchers runs strongly against No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, as well as the mean-spirited policies advanced by Tea Party governors with the support of Michelle Rhee and her Students First front group. The nine-year study by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science on "Incentives and Test-based Accountability" (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12521) plus the recent work of the National Center on Education and the Economy (http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Standing-on-the-Shoulders-of-Giants-An-American-Agenda-for-Education-Reform.pdf) were the latest to warn that corporate reform strategies are seriously flawed.
"4. Growing evidence and growing resistance by teachers and parents, by administrators and school boards, will eventually make it possible to break through the media shield that protects corporate reform. In time, the general public will understand the full dimensions of this corporate effort to reduce public space and to hand more of the nation's children over to the private sector. When the curtains are pulled away, we will learn that many idealistic and well-meaning people were cynically used by people with an ideological axe to grind, with a will to power, or with dreams of financial gain.
"5. This, too, will pass away, as so many other fads have in the past century. In many respects, the current movement echoes the now forgotten ideas of Frederick W. Taylor, John Franklin Bobbitt, and David Snedden (to learn more about them, read Raymond Callahan's classic Education and the Cult of Efficiency, or my Left Back or Linda Darling-Hammond's 2011 commencement address (http://www.thenation.com/article/160850/service-democratic-education) at Teachers College. The speculators will find greener fields elsewhere, the Wall Street hedge-fund managers will grow bored and seek a new plaything, the billionaire philanthropists will find another cause that is less troublesome. How much collateral damage will they leave behind?
"6. And then there is history. I only wish I might be alive and vigorous enough 20 years from now to write this story. I know I won't be, but I see the outlines already. It will make a fascinating read. There will be heroes, villains, naive collaborators, rigid ideologues intent on imposing their failed philosophy regardless of its effects, and those who were just following orders or unthinkingly carried away by the latest idea.
"Of one thing I feel sure—history will not be kind to those who gleefully attacked teachers, sought to fire them based on inaccurate measures, and worked zealously to reduce their status and compensation. It will not admire the effort to insert business values into the work of educating children and shaping their minds, dreams, and character. It will not forgive those who forgot the civic, democratic purposes of our schools nor those who chipped away at the public square. Nor will it speak well of those who put the quest for gain over the needs of children. Nor will it lionize those who worshipped data and believed passionately in carrots and sticks. Those who will live forever in the minds of future generations are the ones who stood up against the powerful on behalf of children, who demanded that every child receive the best possible education, the education that the most fortunate parents would want for their own children.
"Now is a time to speak and act. Now is a time to think about how we will one day be judged. Not by test scores, not by data, but by the consequences of our actions."
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
San Antonio schools take a stand for students and prepare lawsuit against the state.
Justice and some relief may come after all as the suffering of children of lower-income families is scorching down on them like that Texas sun as they were already at a disadvantage with lack of funding prior to budget cuts.
Article taken from: Texas AFT Legislative Hotline: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1314068ba4a2fb38
New School-Finance Lawsuit Brewing: The San Antonio Express-News reports that school-district lawyers are getting ready to file a new school-finance lawsuit against the state for failing to provide constitutionally mandated, equitable support for public schools statewide. According to the news story, the lawsuit could be filed in September. Among other things, it would attack the state’s failure to ensure roughly equivalent funding per pupil among districts, regardless of their local property wealth, at similar levels of local taxation. Under the state’s badly skewed system of school finance, districts in the highest wealth bracket continue to be assured of far more funding per student than the lowest-wealth districts, with an average advantage of $2,500 per pupil per year for the wealthiest. The recently enacted state budget for 2012-2013, while reducing school districts’ formula funding by $4 billion, also does little or nothing to alleviate this already-inequitable distribution of state aid. If the school districts filing the lawsuit prevail in court, the state legislature would be forced to rewrite state law on school funding. The last such court-ordered revision of state school-finance rules occurred in 2006.
Article taken from: Texas AFT Legislative Hotline: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1314068ba4a2fb38
New School-Finance Lawsuit Brewing: The San Antonio Express-News reports that school-district lawyers are getting ready to file a new school-finance lawsuit against the state for failing to provide constitutionally mandated, equitable support for public schools statewide. According to the news story, the lawsuit could be filed in September. Among other things, it would attack the state’s failure to ensure roughly equivalent funding per pupil among districts, regardless of their local property wealth, at similar levels of local taxation. Under the state’s badly skewed system of school finance, districts in the highest wealth bracket continue to be assured of far more funding per student than the lowest-wealth districts, with an average advantage of $2,500 per pupil per year for the wealthiest. The recently enacted state budget for 2012-2013, while reducing school districts’ formula funding by $4 billion, also does little or nothing to alleviate this already-inequitable distribution of state aid. If the school districts filing the lawsuit prevail in court, the state legislature would be forced to rewrite state law on school funding. The last such court-ordered revision of state school-finance rules occurred in 2006.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Free access to downloadable books, music and video!
Free Music, Video and Books!!!
Just use you San Antonio public library card number for free access to downloadable music, books and video! Click on this link: http://mysapl.org/downloadables.aspx
Just use you San Antonio public library card number for free access to downloadable music, books and video! Click on this link: http://mysapl.org/downloadables.aspx
Monday, July 11, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Digital Era Needs Human Guides: Why Your School Should Keep, Not Cut, the Librarian
See the extensive list of great tools and websites for teachers and librarians in the newest of great tools and ideas for education utilizing technology and the internet. Too much for most people to get their head around unless you have a librarian to help guide you and facilitate this broad and deep technological world.
Go to this great blog by Anne Weaver to check out the article/post: http://readingpower.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/the-digital-era-needs-human-guides-why-your-school-should-keep-not-cut-the-librarian/#comment-2712
Go to this great blog by Anne Weaver to check out the article/post: http://readingpower.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/the-digital-era-needs-human-guides-why-your-school-should-keep-not-cut-the-librarian/#comment-2712
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
How Your Lawmakers Voted on SB 8 (Attack on Teacher Pay/Contract Rights):Texas AFT Legislative Hotline
TAKEN FROM AFT website: http://www.facebook.com/texasaft
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011
The Attack on Teacher Pay, Contract Rights: How They Voted in the Texas Legislature
As promised, here’s the lowdown on the key vote cast on Monday, June 27, by Texas senators and representatives on SB 8, the bill that authorizes school districts to impose unpaid furloughs and percentage pay cuts on teachers and other certified professional personnel and that also takes away important contract rights. (Click here to see a summary of major provisions of SB 8 from our Tuesday, June 28, Hotline.)
In the Texas Senate, the final vote to pass SB 8 was 19 to 11. All 19 Republican senators voted for this attack on the pay and contract rights of educators:
Brian Birdwell of Granbury; John Carona of Dallas; Robert Deuell of Greenville; Robert Duncan of Lubbock; Kevin Eltife of Tyler; Craig Estes of Wichita Falls; Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay; Chris Harris of Arlington; Glenn Hegar of Katy; Joan Huffman of Southside Place (Harris County); Mike Jackson of La Porte; Jane Nelson of Flower Mound; Robert Nichols of Jacksonville; Steve Ogden of Bryan; Dan Patrick of Houston; Kel Seliger of Amarillo; Florence Shapiro of Plano (author of SB 8); Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio; and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands.
Eleven of the 12 Texas Senate Democrats voted to defend you against the SB 8 attack on educators’ pay and rights:
Wendy Davis of Fort Worth; Rodney Ellis of Houston; Mario Gallegos of Houston; Juan Hinojosa of McAllen; Eddie Lucio of Brownsville; Jose Rodriguez of El Paso; Carlos Uresti of San Antonio; Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio; Kirk Watson of Austin; John Whitmire of Houston; Judith Zaffirini of Laredo.
One Democratic senator was absent: Royce West of Dallas.
In the House, the final vote to pass SB 8 was 80 to 63. The 80 House members, all of them Republicans, who voted for the attack on teacher pay and contract rights were, according to the House Journal:
Jose Aliseda of Beeville; Charles Anderson of Waco; Rodney Anderson of Plano; Jimmy Don Aycock of Killeen; Marva Beck of Centerville; Leo Berman of Tyler; Dennis Bonnen of Angleton; Dan Branch of Dallas; Cindy Burkett of Mesquite; Angie Chen Button of Richardson; Erwin Cain of Como; Bill Callegari of Houston; Warren Chisum of Pampa; Wayne Christian of Nacogdoches; Byron Cook of Corsicana; Tom Craddick of Midland; Brandon Creighton of Conroe; Myra Crownover of Lake Dallas; John Davis of Houston; Sarah Davis of Houston; Rob Eissler of The Woodlands (House author of SB 8); Gary Elkins of Houston; Allen Fletcher of Tomball; Dan Flynn of Canton; John Frullo of Lubbock; John Garza of San Antonio; Charlie Geren of River Oaks; Larry Gonzales of Round Rock; Kelly Hancock of Fort Worth; Rick Hardcastle of Vernon; Patricia Harless* of Spring; Linda Harper-Brown of Irving; Will Hartnett of Dallas; Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville; Charlie Howard* of Sugar Land; Dan Huberty of Humble; Bryan Hughes of Marshall; Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi; Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs; Jim Jackson of Carrollton; Jim Keffer of Granbury; Phil King of Weatherford; Tim Kleinschmidt of Lexington; Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham; John Kuempel of Seguin; Lyle Larson of San Antonio; Jodie Laubenberg of Rockwall; George Lavender of Texarkana; Ken Legler of Pasadena; Lanham Lyne of Wichita Falls; Jerry Madden of Plano; Dee Margo of El Paso; Doug Miller of New Braunfels; Sid Miller of Stephenville; Geanie Morrison of Victoria; Jim Murphy of Houston; Barbara Nash of Arlington; Rob Orr of Burleson; John Otto of Dayton; Tan Parker of Flower Mound; Ken Paxton of McKinney; Charles Perry of Lubbock; Walter “Four” Price of Amarillo; Charles Schwertner of Georgetown; Connie Scott of Corpus Christi; Kenneth Sheets of Dallas; Ralph Sheffield of Temple; Mark Shelton of Fort Worth; David Simpson of Longview; Todd Smith of Bedford; Wayne Smith of Baytown; John Smithee of Amarillo; Burt Solomons of Carrollton; Larry Taylor of League City; Vicki Truitt of Southlake; Randy Weber of Pearland; Beverly Woolley of Houston; Paul Workman of Spicewood (Austin); Bill Zedler of Arlington, and John Zerwas of Simonton.
[Reps. Patricia Harless and Charlie Howard were shown as voting yes on SB 8, but they placed statements in the House Journal declaring they actually intended to vote no.]
As is the custom for the House speaker except in rare instances, Joe Straus of San Antonio was shown as “present, not voting.”
Six members were shown as “absent-excused” on this key vote. These included three Democrats (Rafael Anchia of Dallas, Eddie Lucio III of Harlingen, and Barbara Mallory Caraway of Dallas) and three Republicans (Dwayne Bohac of Houston, Joe Driver of Dallas, and Van Taylor of Plano).
The honor roll of 63 members who voted to defend you by voting no on SB 8 on final passage included 17 Republicans and 46 Democrats. The 17 Republicans against the SB 8 attack on teacher pay and contracts were:
Fred Brown of Bryan; Stefani Carter of Dallas; Drew Darby of San Angelo; Lance Gooden of Terrell; Mike Hamilton of Mauriceville; Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville; Susan King of Abilene; Jim Landtroop of Plainview; Tryon Lewis of Odessa; Diane Patrick of Arlington: Aaron Pena of Edinburg; Larry Phillips of Sherman; Jim Pitts of Waxahachie; Debbie Riddle of Houston; Allan Ritter of Nederland; Raul Torres of Corpus Christi; and James White of Woodville.
The 46 Democrats who stood up for you in opposition to SB 8 on final passage were:
Alma Allen of Houston; Roberto Alonzo of Dallas; Carol Alvarado of Houston; Lon Burnam of Fort Worth; Joaquin Castro of San Antonio; Garnet Coleman of Houston; Yvonne Davis of Dallas; Joe Deshotel of Port Arthur; Dawnna Dukes of Austin; Harold Dutton of Houston; Craig Eiland of Galveston; Joe Farias of San Antonio; Jessica Farrar of Houston; Pete Gallego of Alpine; Helen Giddings of Dallas; Veronica Gonzales of McAllen; Naomi Gonzalez of El Paso; Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City; Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio; Ana Hernadez Luna of Houston; Scott Hochberg of Houston; Donna Howard of Austin; Eric Johnson of Dallas; Tracy King of Eagle Pass; J.M. Lozano of Harlingen; Marisa Marquez of El Paso; Armando Martinez of Weslaco; Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio; Ruth Jones McClendon of San Antonio; Jose Menendez of San Antonio; Borris Miles of Houston; Sergio Munoz Jr. of Mission; Elliott Naishtat of Austin; Rene Oliveira of Brownsville; Joe Pickett of El Paso; Chente Quintanilla of El Paso; Richard Pena Raymond of Laredo; Ron Reynolds of Missouri City; Eddie Rodriguez of Austin; Mark Strama of Austin; Senfronia Thompson of Houston; Sylvester Turner of Houston; Marc Veasey of Fort Worth; Mike Villarreal of San Antonio; Hubert Vo of Houston; and Armando Walle of Houston.
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011
The Attack on Teacher Pay, Contract Rights: How They Voted in the Texas Legislature
As promised, here’s the lowdown on the key vote cast on Monday, June 27, by Texas senators and representatives on SB 8, the bill that authorizes school districts to impose unpaid furloughs and percentage pay cuts on teachers and other certified professional personnel and that also takes away important contract rights. (Click here to see a summary of major provisions of SB 8 from our Tuesday, June 28, Hotline.)
In the Texas Senate, the final vote to pass SB 8 was 19 to 11. All 19 Republican senators voted for this attack on the pay and contract rights of educators:
Brian Birdwell of Granbury; John Carona of Dallas; Robert Deuell of Greenville; Robert Duncan of Lubbock; Kevin Eltife of Tyler; Craig Estes of Wichita Falls; Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay; Chris Harris of Arlington; Glenn Hegar of Katy; Joan Huffman of Southside Place (Harris County); Mike Jackson of La Porte; Jane Nelson of Flower Mound; Robert Nichols of Jacksonville; Steve Ogden of Bryan; Dan Patrick of Houston; Kel Seliger of Amarillo; Florence Shapiro of Plano (author of SB 8); Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio; and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands.
Eleven of the 12 Texas Senate Democrats voted to defend you against the SB 8 attack on educators’ pay and rights:
Wendy Davis of Fort Worth; Rodney Ellis of Houston; Mario Gallegos of Houston; Juan Hinojosa of McAllen; Eddie Lucio of Brownsville; Jose Rodriguez of El Paso; Carlos Uresti of San Antonio; Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio; Kirk Watson of Austin; John Whitmire of Houston; Judith Zaffirini of Laredo.
One Democratic senator was absent: Royce West of Dallas.
In the House, the final vote to pass SB 8 was 80 to 63. The 80 House members, all of them Republicans, who voted for the attack on teacher pay and contract rights were, according to the House Journal:
Jose Aliseda of Beeville; Charles Anderson of Waco; Rodney Anderson of Plano; Jimmy Don Aycock of Killeen; Marva Beck of Centerville; Leo Berman of Tyler; Dennis Bonnen of Angleton; Dan Branch of Dallas; Cindy Burkett of Mesquite; Angie Chen Button of Richardson; Erwin Cain of Como; Bill Callegari of Houston; Warren Chisum of Pampa; Wayne Christian of Nacogdoches; Byron Cook of Corsicana; Tom Craddick of Midland; Brandon Creighton of Conroe; Myra Crownover of Lake Dallas; John Davis of Houston; Sarah Davis of Houston; Rob Eissler of The Woodlands (House author of SB 8); Gary Elkins of Houston; Allen Fletcher of Tomball; Dan Flynn of Canton; John Frullo of Lubbock; John Garza of San Antonio; Charlie Geren of River Oaks; Larry Gonzales of Round Rock; Kelly Hancock of Fort Worth; Rick Hardcastle of Vernon; Patricia Harless* of Spring; Linda Harper-Brown of Irving; Will Hartnett of Dallas; Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville; Charlie Howard* of Sugar Land; Dan Huberty of Humble; Bryan Hughes of Marshall; Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi; Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs; Jim Jackson of Carrollton; Jim Keffer of Granbury; Phil King of Weatherford; Tim Kleinschmidt of Lexington; Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham; John Kuempel of Seguin; Lyle Larson of San Antonio; Jodie Laubenberg of Rockwall; George Lavender of Texarkana; Ken Legler of Pasadena; Lanham Lyne of Wichita Falls; Jerry Madden of Plano; Dee Margo of El Paso; Doug Miller of New Braunfels; Sid Miller of Stephenville; Geanie Morrison of Victoria; Jim Murphy of Houston; Barbara Nash of Arlington; Rob Orr of Burleson; John Otto of Dayton; Tan Parker of Flower Mound; Ken Paxton of McKinney; Charles Perry of Lubbock; Walter “Four” Price of Amarillo; Charles Schwertner of Georgetown; Connie Scott of Corpus Christi; Kenneth Sheets of Dallas; Ralph Sheffield of Temple; Mark Shelton of Fort Worth; David Simpson of Longview; Todd Smith of Bedford; Wayne Smith of Baytown; John Smithee of Amarillo; Burt Solomons of Carrollton; Larry Taylor of League City; Vicki Truitt of Southlake; Randy Weber of Pearland; Beverly Woolley of Houston; Paul Workman of Spicewood (Austin); Bill Zedler of Arlington, and John Zerwas of Simonton.
[Reps. Patricia Harless and Charlie Howard were shown as voting yes on SB 8, but they placed statements in the House Journal declaring they actually intended to vote no.]
As is the custom for the House speaker except in rare instances, Joe Straus of San Antonio was shown as “present, not voting.”
Six members were shown as “absent-excused” on this key vote. These included three Democrats (Rafael Anchia of Dallas, Eddie Lucio III of Harlingen, and Barbara Mallory Caraway of Dallas) and three Republicans (Dwayne Bohac of Houston, Joe Driver of Dallas, and Van Taylor of Plano).
The honor roll of 63 members who voted to defend you by voting no on SB 8 on final passage included 17 Republicans and 46 Democrats. The 17 Republicans against the SB 8 attack on teacher pay and contracts were:
Fred Brown of Bryan; Stefani Carter of Dallas; Drew Darby of San Angelo; Lance Gooden of Terrell; Mike Hamilton of Mauriceville; Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville; Susan King of Abilene; Jim Landtroop of Plainview; Tryon Lewis of Odessa; Diane Patrick of Arlington: Aaron Pena of Edinburg; Larry Phillips of Sherman; Jim Pitts of Waxahachie; Debbie Riddle of Houston; Allan Ritter of Nederland; Raul Torres of Corpus Christi; and James White of Woodville.
The 46 Democrats who stood up for you in opposition to SB 8 on final passage were:
Alma Allen of Houston; Roberto Alonzo of Dallas; Carol Alvarado of Houston; Lon Burnam of Fort Worth; Joaquin Castro of San Antonio; Garnet Coleman of Houston; Yvonne Davis of Dallas; Joe Deshotel of Port Arthur; Dawnna Dukes of Austin; Harold Dutton of Houston; Craig Eiland of Galveston; Joe Farias of San Antonio; Jessica Farrar of Houston; Pete Gallego of Alpine; Helen Giddings of Dallas; Veronica Gonzales of McAllen; Naomi Gonzalez of El Paso; Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City; Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio; Ana Hernadez Luna of Houston; Scott Hochberg of Houston; Donna Howard of Austin; Eric Johnson of Dallas; Tracy King of Eagle Pass; J.M. Lozano of Harlingen; Marisa Marquez of El Paso; Armando Martinez of Weslaco; Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio; Ruth Jones McClendon of San Antonio; Jose Menendez of San Antonio; Borris Miles of Houston; Sergio Munoz Jr. of Mission; Elliott Naishtat of Austin; Rene Oliveira of Brownsville; Joe Pickett of El Paso; Chente Quintanilla of El Paso; Richard Pena Raymond of Laredo; Ron Reynolds of Missouri City; Eddie Rodriguez of Austin; Mark Strama of Austin; Senfronia Thompson of Houston; Sylvester Turner of Houston; Marc Veasey of Fort Worth; Mike Villarreal of San Antonio; Hubert Vo of Houston; and Armando Walle of Houston.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
E-Portfolios Evolve Thanks to Web 2.0 Tools
Great article on the many benefits of studnet's following and documenting their own progress (as well as teachers and parents as well) with electronic portfolios or e-portfolios. Benefits are: sparks parent and teacher discussion of student progression; helps student to buy-in to education and their self-worth; etc.
Check out the article at:
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/06/15/03e-portfolio.h04.html
Check out the article at:
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/06/15/03e-portfolio.h04.html
What is a 21st-Century Classroom?
Check out this article from Digital Education stating how the definition of a digital classroom has changed from 2010 -11. As well see the documented data on the increased learning successes then students begin using technology.
Link to article here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/06/what_is_a_21st-century_classro.html
Link to article here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/06/what_is_a_21st-century_classro.html
Monday, July 4, 2011
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