Fwd: Pittsburgh Public Schools Update - March 2017

March  2017 Dear Mark,   We are pleased and honored to be named one of the nation's first-ever 'Great Districts for Great Teachers.' We join just seven other districts chosen for this distinction based on the excellence of our system in developing, valuing, and supporting our best teachers. The award affirms how our teachers, principals, administrators, and other members of our district family have collaborated on effective policies and practices that make our district a great place for great teachers to work.   The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has created this award to recognize and celebrate the districts doing the most to attract, support, and keep great teachers. NCTQ is a national nonprofit organization committed to modernizing the teaching profession so that all children have effective teachers and every teacher gains the opportunity to become effective.   NCTQ designed the Great Districts for Great Teachers initiative using its extensive experience analyzing district policies and teacher issues. It created the initiative's categories and criteria with the assistance of veteran teachers and key school administrators.   Unlike other accolades, this is not based on test scores. Instead, it recognizes that our teachers say PPS is a great place in which to work, that we listen to teachers' concerns, and that we go the extra mile to help teachers become better. We became a Great District for Great Teachers after a careful evaluation. As part of a rigorous 18-month process, we provided NCTQ's analysts with extensive materials and answers to over 100 questions. They conducted surveys and focus groups with over 300 teachers to learn their private opinions about PPS and how we treat teachers. They compared our policies to what research has proven helps teachers the most -- compensation, professional support, effective management and operations, career and leadership opportunities, and support services for students.  This recognition would not have been possible without the leadership of former superintendents Mark Roosevelt and Dr. Linda Lane, and the collaboration they built with the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, more than seven years ago, to transform our teacher growth and evaluation system.     We hope we can help lead the way for other districts in the same way that our great teachers have become inspiring role models and leaders for the entire teaching profession.     This is the first year the National Council on Teacher Quality has named Great Districts for Great Teachers. More details about the program can be found at http://www.greatdistricts.org.      Dr. Anthony Hamlet Superintendent, Pittsburgh Public Schools     On a recent visit to Pittsburgh Brashear High School, I had the opportunity to hear from students regarding the positive impact the school's new STEAM program is having on their learning.   #WeArePPS Code of Student Conduct Community Forums As part of the process for updating the District's Code of Student Conduct, we will host three community forums.  The Code of Student Conduct outlines the expectations for student behavior in school, at school sponsored activities and on District transportation.  We want to capture broad input from parents, students, staff, and community as we work to foster positive school-wide cultures and climates in all of our schools and accelerate approaches to discipline that are progressive and restorative. Help inform our recommendations to the Board of Directors in April by sharing your voice at an upcoming community forum.   School Spotlight Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 Take a look inside Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5. Nestled in the historic Hill District, Pittsburgh Miller is the only African-Centered Academy in the city of Pittsburgh.  Watch this video to learn more. PPS in the News Hamlet hears from the community  New Pittsburgh Courier - March 1, 2017  Just because Pittsburgh Superintendent of Schools Anthony Hamlet has already held multiple meetings with parents, education advocates and stakeholders from across the city and incorporated the feedback into the district's visioning, it doesn't mean he's stopped listening.  During a recent forum in Homewood, Hamlet said he will continue to gather community input for as long as he is superintendent. "I've said this before. I want this to be my first and last Superintendency," he said. "I want to be here 10-15 years because you can't create consistency if every two or three years there's someone new in charge." Read more    PPS Student to Watch! Natalia Hajlasz Named Regeneron Science Talent Search Finalist    Join us in wishing Pittsburgh Allderdice student Natalia Hajlasz well as she heads to Washington, D.C. this week to undergo a rigorous judging process as part of the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.  Natalia and 39 other finalists were selected based on the scientific rigor and world-changing potential of their research projects.   Natalia's project models the molecular dissociation of magnesium and water.  This work helps scientists better understand protein folding and DNA interactions.   Natalia will receive at least $25,000 from the Regeneron Science Talent Search for being named a finalist, upon completion of finals week.  She previously received $2,000 for being named a scholar. Pittsburgh Allderdice also received $2,000 for Natalia's achievement.    This year's finalists will compete for more than $1.8 million in top awards - more than half of the Regeneron Science Talent Search total annual award distribution of $3.1 million. The top 10 awards range from $40,000 to $250,000 for the first-place winner. Winners will be announced at a formal awards gala at the National Building Museum on March 14. High School Training for Emergency Services Careers  Kidsburgh With the cost of college so high, there have been conversations about adding more vocational training in high schools. The Pittsburgh Public School District is doing that with a new program that began this school year. The "Emergency Response Technology" program trains high school students to be police officers, firefighters and EMT's, or emergency medical technicians. This program is in its first year and is already getting huge support from the c ommunity, businesses and the students. Watch the full KDKA TV Kidsburgh Report by Kristine Sorensen!    Five-Year Strategic Plan Update  Community Schools Steering Committee Presents Phased, Tiered Plan to Board. District representatives from the 26-member Community Schools Steering Committee shared its report and timeline for establishing community schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, using a national best-practices model. Under a phased approach to implementing community schools, PPS will invest in all schools to increase holistic support for all students.   Learn more. Contact Dr. Anthony Hamlet, Superintendent 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 412-529-3600 Stay Connected "Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life." - Frederick W. Robertson

Pittsburgh Public Schools, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Join Northside Partnership Project and Josh Gibson Foundation at the Pittsburgh Opera

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByN94c3Pp4BpUkFjSndrVDFuOWJjS2R1SzgwZUNCNWRrR3F3

Link above has a PDF with more details, such as cast, etc.

Fwd: Popularity and sclerosis

---------- Forwarded message
From: John H

Ian Welsh addresses Trump's popularity and the sclerosis of globalization.

John

Link:

•  So Trump and Republicans are STILL More Popular than Clinton and Dems

Gov Wolf and edu funding

And, the governor who ran falsely accusing his predecessor of cutting funding to public education is now proposing his own cut to school districts. The Wolf Administration wants to reduce state subsidies for transportation on the premise that gasoline prices have dropped.  The end result would be school districts having to make up the difference through budget cuts, or more likely property tax hikes. 

At the end of the day, the governor's budget is rife with faulty revenue assumptions, tax shifts, and spending increases again ignoring the reality that state government already spends more than we can afford.  To make matters worse it does nothing to address major cost drivers like the massive unfunded liability in our state employee pension funds.

Catherine to tell a story at the church youth groups COA (Coming Of Age) coffee house on Saturday, March 11.

Fwd: Sliming in

From: John H

As the neoliberal/neoconservative nexus pushes on to each American's front door, the slime of neofeudalism is slowly oozing under the door and into the living room and threatening each and every one of our futures.

John

Link

• DeVos and the Free Lunch Flimflam: Orwell, Neofeudalism, the Destruxtuon of the Welfare State.

Austin, TX, home to an Internet Marketing Expo in May

Check it out with this link. 

Fwd: 2017 Wrestling Youth Clinic in eight days

From: St. Louis Sports Commission's Sportsmanship Foundation

2017 Wrestling Youth Clinic St. Louis serves as the proud host of the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The Sports Commission and Mizzou are proud to offer this outstanding FREE clinic for 2nd-8th graders on Tuesday, March 14 at Scottrade Center. Space is limited. Please click on the flyer below and register your kids now!

St. Louis Sports Foundation, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 500, St. Louis, MO 63103 Forward this email | Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by salexander@stlsports.org in collaboration with Try it free today

Fwd: Nail it . . .

---------- Forwarded message

From: John H

WOW, Chris Hedges and Matt Taibbi nail it in this TruthDig article.  This is must reading.

John

Links

• Article from TruthDig in PDF

Charter Schools, a report from Tulane. In NOLA, 93% of the kids in public schools are in charter schools.

http://news.tulane.edu/news-pr/cowen-institute-releases-state-public-education-report

Fwd: War it is . . .

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From: John H

Well, it appears that the verdict is in and . . . WAR is the in thing in the Trump administration.  This doesn't appear to be promising – here or there.

John

Link:

• The Generals vs. the Ideologues or the Generals and the Ideologues?

Update for swimming

Noah Jamison, 10th grade, Obama, was officially notified that he has qualified for the PIAA Swim Class AA Championships at Bucknell starting March 15, 2017. He qualified with his fast performances in both the 200 IM and 500 free at the recent WPIAL meet. Noah set a new school record in the 500 free, 4:54.01, bettering a previous record from more than four years ago that was held by Erik Rauterkus, the oldest son of Head Coach Mark Rauterkus. This year marks the ninth consecutive year Coach Rauterkus has led PPS athletes to the state championships, and in 2017, three athlete get to compete: Jamison, Sead Niksic, 11, and Amilia Niksic, 9. The later two were automatic qualifiers. Sead is seeded second in both the 100 fly and 100 back.

More at http://Swim.CLOH.org

Fwd: Two for the road: Keynesianism and Scab Economy / Anti-Union Movement

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From: "John H

A couple more articles dealing with what got us into the current fix.  Understanding history is 80% of making meaningful change.

John

Links to articles

• Keynesianism
• Scab Economy / Anti-Union Movement

Fwd: You paid for it. Do you know what it is?

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Did you know you're a major funder of scientific research?

Hello Mark,   Public research and open data changes lives. I know because I saw it first hand. One of my close friends got sick with a rare, degenerative disease and I was shocked to see how many barriers he faced trying to access publicly-funded research to learn more about his condition. Information about what treatment options and information that might help him – that he had helped pay for as a taxpayer – could only be accessed through expensive, paid sites maintained by publishers.     Each year, taxpayers like you and me fund billions of dollars in scientific research. That research has transformed the way we communicate, learn and save lives — just think about how mapping the humane genome has revolutionized medicine and our vocabulary alike.   That's why I'm writing to you today, on Open Data Day, to ask that as the taxpayer funders of public research, we start talking about what we expect from the research we pay for. It's time for a bigger conversation about the role of science and information in our lives, and that conversation begins with a few key principles:   I SUPPORT OPEN DATA!   We should be able to see work we pay for. This should apply to individuals and professional scientists alike. Publicly-funded research should be preserved and archived. We don't know when research will come in handy again so preservation is key! For example, the technology developed for the Hubble space telescope was later used to create a new method of breast cancer screening. That's why it's crucial for this work to be preserved and archived rigorously. Data should be truly open. You shouldn't need expensive software to be able to access or even look at different studies through different studies — the lower the artificial barriers, the easier we make it to access knowledge, the more rapidly progress can happen.   Will you add your name to these principles and share them with your friends, family and colleagues to help kick-start a conversation about how important science is to our lives?   What makes science awesome is that it allows for anyone to ask questions, collect and examine evidence, and communicate the results of what was found. By coming together and sparking a conversation about the need for public research to be open, we can help accelerate that process.   Yours, Kaitlin Thaney Mozilla Senior Fellow + Open Data Advocate   Connect with us Thanks for reading!  Mozilla 331 E. Evelyn Avenue Mountain View CA 94041 Read the Mozilla Privacy Notice.

Fwd: Mind map webinars for Mark in March!

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From: Biggerplate

Mind Map Webinars: March Mark - March has arrived, and brings a selection of fantastic mind map webinars for your enjoyment and learning! Visual Mapping for Better Decisions 2 March (Business Club) Mikko Arevuo (Regent's University, London) shares his research into how visual mapping can enable and assist teams with improved decision making. View Details Mind Mapping for Negotiation 7 March (Business Club) Business consultant Tarek Fahmy explores how mind mapping can be used to plan and execute effective win-win negotiation processes. View Details Annual Report Review 8 March (Public) Biggerplate Founder Liam Hughes reviews the key findings from our Annual Mind Map Report (to be published soon) and answers your questions! View Details Mind Mapping for Design Thinking 14 March (Business Club) Dr Marco Ossani will present and demonstrate how mind mapping can assist in the critical thinking required for Design Thinking. View Details Introduction to Mind Mapping and Biggerplate 20 March (Public) Our regular welcome webinar explains the basics of mind mapping, and how to get the most out of the resources available at Biggerplate.com! View Details Business Modelling with Mind Maps 21 March (Business Club) Hans Terhurne (Creamatics) demonstrates how mind mapping can support scenario planning, strategy development, Business Model Canvas, process mapping, and other visual modelling. View Details Biggerplate.com The Home of Mind Mapping You are receiving this message as a member of our community, and we hope you find it helpful! Like Tweet Share Forward

Fwd: Big Data and Big Surveillance

---------- Forwarded message 

From: John H

On Monday I sent out an article on Robert Mercer and Cambridge Analytica.  Today there is a follow-up of sort discussing Big Data and the Democratic Party establishment (the New Democrats and the DNC).  It takes some issue with the first article but is really worth reading.  The second attachment discusses enhanced surveillance techniques being employed by corporations on their employees.  This is an extremely frightening turn down the road toward complete totalitarian control of all workers and, perhaps, all of us whether working or not.  Do read this!

John

Links:

• Do Democratic Operatives Dream of Big Data, PDF 
• Big Brother Capitalism Strikes Back, PDF

Kayak Safety Weekend in June

Great MeetUp for Kayakers:

https://www.meetup.com/Western-PA-Kayaking/events/238064770/?rv=ea1&_af=event&_af_eid=238064770&https=on

Baby Swim Insights

Interesting reading. 

http://www.kidspot.com.au/parenting/real-life/in-the-news/sink-and-swim-baby-swim-lessons-branded-dangerous-and-traumatic