Chabot SCTA/NEA-SP

PEN Weekly NewsBlast for January 16, 2004
Home
50th Anniversary of Brown Vs. Board of Education
Our Purpose
Becoming A Member
Chapter Leadership
Officers' Update
Calendar
Constitution
Agendas and Minutes
Goals
News
Photo
Treasurer Reports
Quotes
Links
Education International

Enter subhead content here

 
Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast
                                    "Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit."
                                    ********************************************************
                                    THE TRUE STAKES IN NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
                                    Two years after Congress passed landmark legislation to improve public
                                    schools, finger pointing and election-year politics threaten to destroy
                                    one of the country's most ambitious attempts to fix failing public
                                    schools. What a shame, write the editors of the Seattle Times. The No
                                    Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act clearly needs improvement and should be
                                    funded at its promised level. But the growing backlash against the law 
                                    --
                                    including Howard Dean's call to dismantle it -- is polarizing the 
                                    country
                                    at a time when reforming schools is more critical than ever. Public
                                    education is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Neither party should
                                    allow the other to hold better schools hostage to politics. It's too 
                                    early
                                    to tell whether the law is a failure or a triumph. But one thing is 
                                    clear:
                                    The law's premise -- that all schools should be held to high, 
                                    measurable
                                    standards and required to raise student achievement -- is correct. This
                                    country can no longer allow race and income level to determine the 
                                    quality
                                    of a student's education. The sweeping reform is undoubtedly flawed.
                                    Clearly, there should be greater flexibility in assessing students with
                                    limited English proficiency and more realistic goals for annual 
                                    progress.
                                    In some states and districts, the law puts an absurd number of schools 
                                    on
                                    the "needs improvement" list. And more work needs to be done around
                                    measuring and improving teacher quality. The act has spotlighted a
                                    disturbing reality: Too many schools are failing to provide low-income 
                                    and
                                    minority students a solid education. But telling the story was the easy
                                    part. Testing alone won't make those schools better. It's going to take
                                    strong principals, high-quality teachers, engaged parents and schools 
                                    with
                                    a clear mission of high expectations for all students. And it's going 
                                    to
                                    take broad agreement across the aisle that current funding levels 
                                    simply
                                    do not reflect the true cost of educating all children to these new,
                                    higher standards.
                                    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2001836550_nclbed15.html
                                    
                                    
                                    STARTING A SCHOOL FOUNDATION
                                    This helpful new primer, subtitled, "What you should know before you 
                                    start
                                    fundraising," was developed by the National School Boards Association 
                                    to
                                    assist school board members in thinking broadly about education
                                    foundations at a time when these effective school reform organizations 
                                    are
                                    becoming increasingly popular due to decreased tax revenues, budget 
                                    cuts,
                                    and rising expectations. As Kate Coventry reports, K-12 education
                                    foundation activities run the gamut from funding scholarship and
                                    innovative programs to improve teaching and learning, to reinvigorating
                                    community participation in public education and spurring parent and
                                    citizen activism. The downloadable publication also includes key steps 
                                    to
                                    consider in starting a school foundation, local education fund case
                                    studies, and an article by PENs president Wendy D. Puriefoy on the
                                    growing partnership between local education funds and school board
                                    leaders.
                                    http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/32800/32703.pdf
                                    
                                    A NEW VISION OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
                                    Accountability in education is not new, but since the mid-1980s, a new
                                    kind of accountability focused on student outcomes has dominated the
                                    discourse in public education. The public's role in this new
                                    accountability is to use test-score results to rate and judge schools 
                                    and
                                    school systems. The new accountability gives the public valuable 
                                    knowledge
                                    about school performance, yet few options for participating in 
                                    improving
                                    public education, write Eva Gold and Elaine Simon. Community organizing
                                    groups work to create what might be called "public accountability."
                                    Accountability that is "public" contributes to school improvement by
                                    connecting schools and their communities, by broadening the range of
                                    actors who take responsibility for school improvement, and by using a
                                    public, deliberative process to engage many different stakeholders and
                                    maintain the pressure for school improvement. Accountability that 
                                    includes
                                    the involvement of broad sectors of the public will be even more 
                                    important
                                    in the next few years, as piles of data and other information, 
                                    generated
                                    by standardized-test results and presented in report cards, ratings, 
                                    and
                                    other formats, begin to mount. This flow of information will lack 
                                    meaning
                                    unless the public is organized to better understand and act on it. Gold
                                    and Simon identified four primary strategies that community organizing
                                    groups use for creating public accountability: (1) Creating community
                                    conversations; (2) Monitoring practices, programs, and policies; (3)
                                    Increasing participation in the political arena; and (4) Building joint
                                    ownership and a relational culture. Too often, educators keep the 
                                    public
                                    at arm's length in their efforts to improve schools. If we are to 
                                    realize
                                    a vision of public accountability, a fundamental shift has to occur in 
                                    our
                                    definition of what constitutes public participation in the schools.
                                    Essential to the definition must be collective action and shared
                                    responsibility for improvement. Community organizing builds the 
                                    capacity
                                    for this kind of vibrant, active public participation. Ultimately, the
                                    added value of active public participation in accountability comes in 
                                    the
                                    form of greater commitment to the schools and creation of the kind of
                                    civic capacity that can and will support deep, authentic education 
                                    reform.
                                    http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=18Gold.h23
                                    
                                    HOW FUNDAMENTALIST PREACHERS ARE USING PIZZA, MOTORCYCLES & EVEN SANTA
                                    CLAUS TO CONVERT PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS -- AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
                                    Robert J. Marsh was surprised last October to see a notice from a local
                                    Baptist church announcing that a speaker named Ronnie Hill would be
                                    visiting public schools in Marion, Ill., to lecture about the dangers 
                                    of
                                    drug and alcohol abuse. To Marsh, something seemed amiss. Why would a
                                    church promote a public school event? Another listing in the bulletin 
                                    gave
                                    a clue: Hill, described as an "evangelist," would also be in town for a
                                    "Fall Harvest Renewal" at the church. A little research on the Internet
                                    soon confirmed Marsh's suspicions. He quickly learned that Hill is a
                                    Southern Baptist evangelist who unabashedly talks about the need to 
                                    preach
                                    to public school students. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Hill travels the
                                    nation, and in partnership with fundamentalist churches, offers free
                                    anti-drug assemblies to public school audiences, reports Rob Boston.
                                    Detailed materials produced by the ministry led Marsh to believe that
                                    Hill's anti-drug spiel would be a smokescreen for an ulterior motive:
                                    persuading youngsters to adopt his version of Christianity. The plan 
                                    was
                                    for Hill to spend time during his public school speech luring students 
                                    to
                                    a pizza party later that evening at a local church. There, the 
                                    youngsters
                                    would be subjected to high-pressure evangelism and urged to make faith
                                    professions. What can schools do to protect themselves? Attorneys
                                    recommend using the Internet to research groups that offer assemblies. 
                                    But
                                    they caution that web-based research, while it can be useful, should be
                                    viewed merely as a starting point. Some evangelistic groups hide their
                                    true character on websites or bury the information so that it is not
                                    readily apparent to online visitors. In the end, staffers at Americans
                                    United say, the best defense may be a healthy dose of skepticism. 
                                    School
                                    officials, teachers and parents should be aware that any group offering 
                                    a
                                    free or near-free program to public schools might have an ulterior 
                                    motive.
                                     The attached link includes information on a number of schemes to use
                                    public school assemblies for religious evangelism.
                                    http://www.au.org/churchstate/04-01-feature1.htm
                                    
                                    SCHOOLS NEED MORE FLEXIBILITY AND FUNDING BIPARTISAN POLL SHOWS
                                    A new bipartisan poll commissioned by the National Education 
                                    Association
                                    (NEA) reveals that the more voters learn about the real world impact of
                                    the two-year-old federal education law, the "No Child Left Behind" Act,
                                    the more they believe changes must be made. A comprehensive survey of
                                    voter attitudes on the federal governments role in education was
                                    conducted earlier this month in partnership with a Republican polling 
                                    firm
                                    and a Democratic polling firm. It found that clear majorities of voters
                                    see the need to significantly increase federal investment in the 
                                    nations
                                    public schools.  Key findings include: (1) Almost three quarters of 
                                    voters
                                    interviewed (74%) feel that schools nationwide are either improving or
                                    already in pretty good shape; (2) More than 70% of respondents prefer
                                    schools be evaluated by multiple measures of success -- not just
                                    standardized test scores -- including graduation and college attendance
                                    rates, the quality of their teachers, and the performance of students 
                                    in
                                    class; (3) Two thirds of voters (67%) believe "No Child Left Behind" is
                                    unfair because it labels schools as "failing" even if only one group of
                                    students doesn't do well on a test.  Three quarters (75%) oppose taking
                                    away funding from schools that do not increase standardized test 
                                    scores;
                                    and (4) Voters name education as the top federal budgetary priority, 
                                    and
                                    almost two thirds of respondents (63%) say the federal government 
                                    should
                                    be spending more on the nations schools.
                                    http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2004/nr040114.html
                                    
                                    IRAQIS STRUGGLE TO REINVENT SCHOOL SYSTEM
                                    Iraqi education leaders are relishing their first classroom freedoms 
                                    but
                                    grappling with the task of reinventing their schools, said the 
                                    country's
                                    education chief. Most teachers have not been trained for over two 
                                    decades,
                                    many schools are mud houses with no working toilets, and virtually 
                                    every
                                    textbook is infected by politics, said the Iraqi education minister,
                                    Alaudin Abdul-Saheb al-Alwan, in an interview with Ben Feller. Backed 
                                    by
                                    U.S. funds, Iraq is embarking on a plan to renovate and build thousands 
                                    of
                                    schools and overhaul its curriculum over the next four years. That
                                    investment is critical to stabilizing Iraq, and therefore in the best
                                    interest of the United States, al-Alwan said. New curriculum will 
                                    include
                                    candid accounts of Saddam Hussein's regime, al-Alwan said, and it will
                                    incorporate religious teaching, although finding national agreement on
                                    those issues will take time. Anti-American resentment in postwar Iraq 
                                    has
                                    not affected education significantly, he said, as more people embrace
                                    their new school supplies and freedom to express their opinions. "There
                                    are differences in views of course -- how things are moving, a lot of
                                    people have different views on how to manage things; education is also
                                    politics," al-Alwan said. "But I think, generally speaking, the change 
                                    has
                                    been positive." The challenge ahead is huge, he said. About one in four
                                    students in Iraq don't attend school, and enrollment is even lower 
                                    among
                                    girls and rural students.
                                    http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/01/14/iraqis_struggle_to_reinvent_school_system/
                                    
                                    
                                    READING, WRITING & REVENUE
                                    In California's Scotts Valley, the local school district faces the
                                    prospect of slashing $900,000 from a $15 million budget next year. So 
                                    the
                                    district hired a marketing firm to find companies willing to sponsor a 
                                    new
                                    swim center or theater at the local high school. In return, according 
                                    to
                                    school board member Allison Niday, companies will get plaques to 
                                    advertise
                                    their help, or mentions in school newspapers. Similar deals are being 
                                    made
                                    across the country at all levels of education as money-strapped schools
                                    increasingly turn to companies for financial support. "First and 
                                    foremost,
                                    our schools are struggling," the National School Boards Association's 
                                    Dan
                                    Fuller said. "Many districts are engaged in this (commercialism) 
                                    because
                                    of the dire straits they're in. This presents a real opportunity and a
                                    trend that will continue and possibly grow." As a result, corporate
                                    advertisements are cropping up on everything from high school 
                                    scoreboards
                                    to the sides of school buses. A Dr Pepper billboard is atop a Texas
                                    school, earning that school district millions of dollars.
                                    http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/01/15/schools.commercialism.ap/index.html
                                    
                                    
                                    DEMAND TO PROVE SKILLS ENRAGES VETERAN TEACHERS
                                    For 17 years, Joanne Peurach has helped students navigate the world of
                                    language arts -- crafting paragraphs, creating transitions and learning
                                    punctuation. But despite nearly two decades in the classroom and a
                                    masters degree, Peurach isn't considered highly qualified to teach
                                    language arts under President Bushs sweeping education reform law.
                                    However, a 23-year-old teacher Peurach mentors is qualified. "Its 
                                    totally
                                    an insult," Peurach, 44, said. "If you were to do this to any other
                                    profession, they wouldn't stand for it." Veteran teachers are enraged 
                                    over
                                    a controversial component of the No Child Left Behind Act that requires
                                    every teacher in the United States to meet the new standard of "highly
                                    qualified" by the end of the 2005-06 school year. Under the law, highly
                                    qualified teachers are defined as those who have a bachelors degree,
                                    state certification and a passing score on Michigans certification 
                                    test
                                    in each subject area they plan to teach. Also meeting the requirements 
                                    are
                                    teachers who have a masters degree or equivalent undergraduate course
                                    work in their subject area or national board certification. Advocates 
                                    of
                                    the new standards say teachers need to be as proficient as possible if
                                    school and student performance is expected to improve. But teachers 
                                    who've
                                    spent decades in the classroom instructing subjects they may not have
                                    majored in say their experience should speak for itself, reports 
                                    Maureen
                                    Feighan and Christine MacDonald.
                                    http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0401/12/a01-33058.htm
                                    
                                    LEARNING CURVE
                                    Content counts, of course, writes Dorothy Rich, but in teaching and
                                    learning, it is far from everything. In her view, the education myth 
                                    that
                                    is still strong, despite all that we know now about the intricacies of
                                    learning, is that somehow learning is a straight line: a teacher 
                                    teaches,
                                    a student learns. Actually, she writes, education is a slow, messy, 
                                    zigzag
                                    process. Teaching and learning are mysterious. There are some basic
                                    principles in subject scope and sequence, but the internals matter so 
                                    much
                                    that they can override the best lesson plan. Internals for teachers
                                    include common sense, intelligence and enthusiasm. Internals for 
                                    students
                                    include taking responsibility and making effort. Teaching well is
                                    important but students have to want to learn. No one can do it for 
                                    them. I
                                    relearned this old adage in the classroom: You can lead a horse to 
                                    water,
                                    but you can't make him drink. The same thing happens in school. 
                                    Education
                                    is a lot more connected, secretive, and miraculous than we know. The 
                                    mind,
                                    the heart, the brain, the spirit -- all of these play a bigger role 
                                    than
                                    we can now identify. Students, and parents too, need teachers who know 
                                    not
                                    only their subject but also how to encourage, how to motivate and how 
                                    to
                                    respond positively. They must impart real praise based on achievement, 
                                    not
                                    empty, perfunctory words. And, she reminds us, let's remember that
                                    teachers also need encouragement. These hard-won lessons, and not 
                                    content
                                    alone, are what constitutes "highly qualified." They make it possible 
                                    for
                                    real learning to take place.
                                    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4927-2004Jan9.html
                                    
                                    BEYOND BABY FAT: THE SERIOUS PROBLEM OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY
                                    The medical community is calling childhood obesity the nation's 
                                    "largest
                                    emerging issue" and a "national epidemic" that demands urgent 
                                    attention.
                                    And policy makers at the state and federal level are responding, writes
                                    Susan Black. Many overweight kids are bringing social and emotional
                                    problems -- as well as potential health problems -- to school with 
                                    them.
                                    Obesity's emotional toll is obvious even in childhood, but its physical
                                    toll often doesn't show up until later. As the American Heart
                                    Association's Paul Hartman said recently in a television interview, 
                                    "The
                                    face of heart disease is a 10-year-old sitting in a classroom with high
                                    blood pressure." To prevent a lifetime of poor health, it makes sense 
                                    to
                                    tackle obesity during childhood. While research is clear that the 
                                    problem
                                    can't be cured without parent and community support, there's plenty
                                    schools can do.
                                    http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html
                                    
                                    EXAMINING ELECTIONS PAST 
                                    According to Don E. Lifto and J. Bradford Senden, the secret to passing
                                    your tax or bond measure may be found in the data of earlier votes.
                                    Research and practice have yet to yield a modus operandi in K-12 
                                    education
                                    that always produces winners on school bond and tax measures. Whether 
                                    its
                                    bricks and mortar or requests for more operating money, each election 
                                    type
                                    and context are unique with no guarantee that a set of campaign 
                                    strategies
                                    -- even if successful in one district -- won't fail in your community. 
                                    If
                                    successful campaigns were not such a delicate balance of science and 
                                    art,
                                    the formula for success would have long since been discovered, 
                                    resulting
                                    in significantly more school districts finding success at the polls.
                                    Notwithstanding this reality, both research and successful practice
                                    suggest the best way to start planning your next successful bond or
                                    operating levy is to take a much closer look at your last. Most school
                                    districts squander a key strategic opportunity when they fail to 
                                    collect,
                                    analyze and archive valuable data after school finance elections --
                                    equally important following successful or losing campaigns. The most
                                    obvious data analysis, although seldom done well, is to understand 
                                    exactly
                                    who participated in a recent finance election as compared to earlier
                                    events. How did the campaign effort in support of the ballot question
                                    influence the electorate? How did various demographic groups vote 
                                    relative
                                    to their proportionate share of the voter file and past voting habits? 
                                    To
                                    what extent did targeted supporters show up from various precincts or
                                    attendance areas? These are examples of the questions that can be 
                                    probed
                                    in a post-election analysis, yielding critical information for school
                                    leaders planning future campaigns. More detail tips on learning from 
                                    the
                                    rearview mirror can be found at:
                                    http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2004_01/Lifto.htm
                                    
                                    DOES MOUNTING PRESSURE TAKE A TOLL ON TEENS?
                                    As eighth graders are presented with more career and educational 
                                    options,
                                    some parents and others wonder if the mounting pressure and loss of
                                    relaxed self-discovery will take a toll. Today, parents see the many 
                                    more
                                    course options available to their children and see great opportunities
                                    mixed with sometimes intimidating choices. Narrowing a child's focus 
                                    too
                                    early might not be to their advantage.
                                    http://www.gazette.net/200402/montgomerycty/education/195587-1.html
                                    
                                    DIVERSITY: SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS 
                                    No matter their race, ethnicity, culture or income, most families have
                                    high aspirations and concerns for their children's success. This is one 
                                    of
                                    the findings included in the latest research synthesis from the 
                                    Southwest
                                    Educational Development Laboratory's National Center for Family and
                                    Community Connections with Schools. Another finding states that 
                                    families
                                    from racial, ethnic and cultural minorities are actively involved in 
                                    their
                                    children's schooling, although their involvement may differ somewhat 
                                    from
                                    those of white, "mainstream" U.S. families. The synthesis discusses 64
                                    research studies on the roles that families can play in improving 
                                    academic
                                    achievement among minority, immigrant and language minority students 
                                    and
                                    students from low-income families. In compiling this synthesis, the
                                    center's staff looked for recent research studies that met basic 
                                    standards
                                    for quality and rigor of research methodology and that discussed the
                                    relationships between student achievement and school, family and 
                                    community
                                    connections among diverse populations. The report says that the 
                                    findings
                                    are limited as to whether minority and low-income families' high
                                    aspirations for their children have a positive impact on students' 
                                    school
                                    achievement. Further, the synthesis states that more rigorous,
                                    high-quality research needs to be done to draw firm conclusions about 
                                    the
                                    complex interactions among families, communities and schools in seeking 
                                    to
                                    close the achievement gap. Focusing on only one of these factors is not
                                    enough. The synthesis also offers the following recommendations for
                                    building relationships among schools, communities and families: (1) 
                                    Adopt
                                    formal school- and district-level policies that promote family
                                    involvement, including an explicit focus on engaging families who 
                                    reflect
                                    the full diversity of the student population; (2) Demonstrate active 
                                    and
                                    ongoing support from the school principal; (3) Acknowledge both
                                    commonalities and differences among students and families; (4) Provide
                                    supports to help immigrant families understand how schools work and 
                                    what's
                                    expected of both families and students; and (5) Recognize that it takes
                                    time to build trust.
                                    http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
                                    
                                    ANTI-GAY HARASSMENT IN SCHOOLS SHOWS THE PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD, 
                                    DANGEROUS
                                    & PREVENTABLE
                                    Despite an anti-harassment law that took effect four years ago this 
                                    month,
                                    harassment and bullying based on sexual orientation remain persistent 
                                    and
                                    pervasive in California schools. 7.5% of California's middle and high
                                    school students, more than 200,000 students every year, are targets of
                                    harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, according 
                                    to a
                                    new study by the California Safe Schools Coalition. The Safe Place to
                                    Learn study, including 26 times more respondents than any previous 
                                    study
                                    on the issue, found that such widespread bullying has dangerous 
                                    academic,
                                    health and safety consequences for students. The study is among the 
                                    first
                                    to document that schools can take concrete steps to reduce harassment 
                                    and
                                    improve student health and safety. The Safe Place to Learn study
                                    demonstrates the effectiveness of several specific steps schools can 
                                    take
                                    including posting and enforcing anti-harassment policies that 
                                    specifically
                                    include sexual orientation and gender identity, training teachers and
                                    staff to intervene when slurs are used, and supporting efforts to
                                    establish Gay Straight Alliance clubs on campus. These steps result in
                                    reducing harassment and name-calling, improving students' feelings of
                                    safety, and strengthening their connections to community and adults.
                                    http://www.casafeschools.org/20040112.html
                                    
                                    NEW REPORT CONFIRMS THAT LARGE VARIATIONS EXIST IN K-12 STANDARDS
                                    The Northwest Evaluation Association has released the results of a
                                    comprehensive, 14-state study that demonstrates there is a profound
                                    difference in what's expected of students across the United States. The
                                    nonprofit association set out to determine how students in member
                                    districts are doing relative to standards in their states. In addition 
                                    to
                                    answering this question, the NWEA researchers found startling 
                                    differences
                                    in how 'proficient' is defined, even within states. NWEA researchers 
                                    also
                                    showed that state education standards don't always agree within states
                                    from grade to grade, which means a student could exceed a standard in
                                    grade three, but not in grade four, where the standard is significantly
                                    more difficult. In addition, the researchers showed large subject area
                                    inconsistencies from state to state and within states.  For example, 
                                    the
                                    standard for math might be higher than most states, while the standard 
                                    for
                                    reading is lower. The study evaluated student proficiency standards 
                                    that
                                    have been established by 14 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, 
                                    Iowa,
                                    Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina,
                                    Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The full report is available at:
                                    http://www.nwea.org/research/statestudy.html
                                    
                                    SENDING CARE PACKAGES TO U.S. SOLDIERS OVERSEAS 
                                    Want to send a care package to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan, but 
                                    have
                                    no idea of what to send, who to send it to, or how to send it? Sending
                                    care packages to soldiers is a great gesture of connection and a morale
                                    boost whether you support the war or not. Soldiers most often request
                                    canned food, personal hygiene items, entertainment items, AA batteries,
                                    hand warmers, disposable cameras, or just a friendly hand-written 
                                    letter.
                                    Make a soldiers day, send a care package today. Click below to learn 
                                    how:
                                    http://www.anysoldier.us/
                                    
                                    |---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------|
                                    
                                    "Teaching American History Grants"
                                    The Teaching American History Grant program is a discretionary grant
                                    program funded under Title II-C, Subpart 4 of the Elementary and 
                                    Secondary
                                    Education Act. The goal of the program is to support programs that 
                                    raise
                                    student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, 
                                    and
                                    appreciation of American history. Grant awards will assist local
                                    educational agencies (LEAs), in partnership with entities that have
                                    extensive content expertise, to design, implement, and demonstrate
                                    effective, research-based professional development programs. 
                                    Application
                                    deadline: February 4, 2004.
                                    http://www.ed.gov/programs/teachinghistory/index.html
                                    
                                    "Teaching Tolerance Grant Program"
                                    The Teaching Tolerance project of the Southern Poverty Law Center 
                                    offers
                                    grants of up to $2,000 to K-12 classroom teachers for implementing
                                    tolerance and youth activism projects in their schools and communities.
                                    Proposals from other educators such as community organizations and
                                    churches will be considered on the basis of direct student impact.
                                    Proposal deadline: ongoing.
                                    http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/gra/guide.jsp
                                    
                                    "3M Salute to Schools Program"
                                    For the fifth consecutive year, 3M, in cooperation with the American
                                    Association of School Librarians (AASL), will donate $1.5 million in 3M
                                    Detection Systems and Tattle-Tape Security Strips to 100 middle and 
                                    high
                                    school library media centers in the United States. To be considered for
                                    the donation, a school must meet eligibility requirements and be able 
                                    to
                                    demonstrate a need for a detection system. Individual donations will 
                                    vary
                                    depending upon specific needs of the library media center, such as the
                                    size of a collection and the physical layout. Applications must be
                                    postmarked by March 1, 2004.
                                    http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/AASL/Awards12/3M_Salute_to_Schools1/3M_Salute_to_Schools.htm
                                    
                                    
                                    "Grantionary"
                                    The Grantionary is a list of grant-related terms and their definitions.
                                    http://www.eduplace.com/grants/help/grantionary.html
                                    
                                    "GrantsAlert"
                                    GrantsAlert is a website that helps nonprofits, especially those 
                                    involved
                                    in education, secure the funds they need to continue their important 
                                    work.
                                    http://www.grantsalert.com/
                                    
                                    "Grant Writing Tips"
                                    SchoolGrants has compiled an excellent set of grant writing tips for 
                                    those
                                    that need help in developing grant proposals.
                                    http://www.schoolgrants.org/tips.htm
                                    
                                    "FastWEB"
                                    FastWEB is the largest online scholarship search available, with 
                                    600,000
                                    scholarships representing over one billion in scholarship dollars. It
                                    provides students with accurate, regularly updated information on
                                    scholarships, grants, and fellowships suited to their goals and
                                    qualifications, all at no cost to the student. Students should be 
                                    advised
                                    that FastWEB collects and sells student information (such as name,
                                    address, e-mail address, date of birth, gender, and country of
                                    citizenship) collected through their site.
                                    http://www.fastweb.com/
                                    
                                    "Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)"
                                    More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make
                                    hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier 
                                    to
                                    find. The result of that work is the FREE website.
                                    http://www.ed.gov/free/
                                     
                                    "Fundsnet Online Services"
                                    A comprehensive website dedicated to providing nonprofit organizations,
                                    colleges, and Universities with information on financial resources
                                    available on the Internet.
                                    http://www.fundsnetservices.com/
                                    
                                    "eSchool News School Funding Center"
                                    Information on up-to-the-minute grant programs, funding sources, and
                                    technology funding.
                                    http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/funding/
                                    
                                    "Philanthropy News Digest"
                                    Philanthropy News Digest, a weekly news service of the Foundation 
                                    Center,
                                    is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and
                                    features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide.
                                    http://fdncenter.org/pnd/
                                    
                                    "School Grants"
                                    A collection of resources and tips to help K-12 educators apply for and
                                    obtain special grants for a variety of projects.
                                    http://www.schoolgrants.org
                                    
                                    QUOTE OF THE WEEK
                                    "There is no easy way to create a world where men and women can live
                                    together, where each has his own job and house and where all children
                                    receive as much education as their minds can absorb. But if such a 
                                    world
                                    is created in our lifetime, it will be done in the United States by
                                    (people)  of good will. It will be accomplished by persons who have 
                                    the
                                    courage to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves
                                    rather than inflict suffering upon others. It will be done by rejecting
                                    the racism, materialism and violence that has characterized Western
                                    civilization and especially by working toward a world of brotherhood,
                                    cooperation and peace."
                                    -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Nonviolence: The Only Road to
                                    Freedom." Ebony magazine, October 21, 1966
                                    
                                    ===========PEN NewsBlast==========
                                    The PEN Weekly NewsBlast is a free e-mail newsletter featuring school
                                    reform and school fundraising resources. The PEN NewsBlast is the 
                                    property
                                    of the Public Education Network, a national association of 89 local
                                    education funds working to improve public school quality in low-income
                                    communities nationwide.
                                    
                                    There are currently 48,180 subscribers to the PEN Weekly NewsBlast. 
                                    Please
                                    forward this e-mail to anyone who enjoys free updates on education news
                                    and grant alerts. Some links in the PEN Weekly NewsBlast change or 
                                    expire
                                    on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website
                                    registration.
                                    
                                    Your e-mail address is safe with the NewsBlast. It is our firm policy
                                    never to rent, loan, or sell our subscriber list to any other
                                    organizations, groups, or individuals.
                                    
                                    **UPDATE OR ADD A NEWSBLAST SUBSCRIPTION**
                                    PEN wants you to get each weekly issue of the NewsBlast at your 
                                    preferred
                                    e-mail address. We also welcome new subscribers. Please notify us if 
                                    your
                                    e-mail address is about to change. Send your name and new e-mail 
                                    address
                                    to PEN@PublicEducation.org. Be sure to let us know your old e-mail 
                                    address
                                    so we can unsubscribe it. If you know anyone who is interested in
                                    receiving the NewsBlast, please forward this e-mail to them and ask 
                                    them
                                    to e-mail us and put "subscribe" in the subject field or visit:
                                    http://www.publiceducation.org/cgi-bin/newsblastsubscribe/subscribe.asp
                                    
                                    To view past issues of the PEN Weekly NewsBlast, visit: 
                                    http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast-past.asp
                                    
                                    To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit: 
                                    http://www.publiceducation.org/cgi-bin/newsblastsubscribe/subscribe.asp
                                    
                                    If you would like an article or news about your local education fund,
                                    public school, or school reform organization featured in a future issue 
                                    of
                                    PEN Weekly NewsBlast, send a note to HSchaffer@PublicEducation.org
                                    
                                    Andrew Smith is a regular contributor to the PEN Weekly NewsBlast.
                                    
                                    
                                    Howie Schaffer 
                                    Media Director
                                    Public Education Network 
                                    601 Thirteenth Street, NW #900N 
                                    Washington, DC 20005 
                                    PEN@PublicEducation.org
                                    
                                    ---
                                    You are currently subscribed to newsblast as: SCTANRVP@yahoo.com
                                    For subscription changes please visit:
                                    http://www.publiceducation.org/subscribe.asp

Enter supporting content here