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Website of the Week
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Although economic troubles may take away from the number of field trips you can take your students on this year, there is a website that let's them travel further than a school bus could take them.
Tramline
If you know of any great websites that you just can't live without, please share! Reply to this email with the link.
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PEN of Florida
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PEN Website
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Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN
By: KEVIN MOONEY
Commentary Staff Writer
09/13/09 4:59 PM EDT
Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN and its affiliates, since 2005, according to U.S. Labor Department financial disclosure forms.
But there is no guarantee that the $1,333,112 million in donations from the National Education Association (NEA) and Teachers AFL-CIO unions are actually being used for their stated purposes, according to present and former Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) officials.
Some of the larger donations include $100,000 from the NEA in 2008 and $200,000 in 2007 for political activities. The Teachers AFL-CIO Local Union 2 contributed $406,730 in 2008, $457,778 in 2007, and $346,300 in 2006 for representational activities.
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U.S. House passes bill to expand Pell Grants, eliminate private lenders
By Tom Marshall, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, September 18, 2009
Low-income students won a victory Thursday as the U.S. House of Representatives approved an expansion of the popular Pell Grant program.
They might also see the transformation of the federal student aid landscape if a version of that bill survives the Senate and lands on President Barack Obama's desk.
Under the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act approved in the House on a mostly party-line vote, lenders like Sallie Mae and Bank of America would be cast to the sidelines in the federal loan process, ending a 40-year partnership with the private sector. Students would apply directly for aid under the federal government's alternative Direct Loan Program rather than weighing competing offers with banks as middlemen.
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More than FCAT will be used to grade high schools
Leslie Postal
Sentinel Staff Writer
September 15, 2009
State education leaders Tuesday approved the biggest change to Florida's school-grading system since it started more than a decade ago.
The new plan will use more than just FCAT scores to assign A-to-F grades to high schools.
From now on, FCAT will count for only 50 percent of a high school's grade, with the rest of coming from its success with student graduation rates, student participation in advanced courses (such as AP and dual-enrollment classes) and student success on college-readiness tests such as ACT and SAT.
The plan has been in the works for more than a year, since the Florida Legislature passed a law in 2008 requiring that high schools be graded on more than FCAT.
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FCAT writing exam to get some changes next year (only one essay topic per grade)
posted by LesliePostal on Sep 16, 2009 2:31:47 PM
The Florida Department of Education plans to scale back the FCAT writing exam next year, offering just one topic (or prompt) to each grade level tested.
In a memo sent to school superintendents today, Education Commissioner Eric Smith said the change will help the state "minimize expenses" without substantially altering the "excellence in our education system."
Starting this spring, students who take FCAT writing (4th, 8th and 10th graders) will get just one topic. In the past, there were two topics per grade level, with students randomly assigned one to write about during the timed exam. The education department will not announce ahead of time what type of prompt each grade will get, so 4th graders, for example, wouldn't know if they will get to write a story (narrative) or an expository essay.Read more
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