FisicaLab's funding campaign

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Germán Arias <germanandre@gmx.es>
Date: Monday, March 3, 2014
Subject: [school-discuss] FisicaLab's funding campaign
To: SchoolForge <schoolforge-discuss@seul.org>


Hi everyone. I started a campaign to support GNU FisicaLab, the educational
free software for physics. GNU FisicaLab is an educational application for
solving physics problems. This allows students focus in physics concepts when
solving problems, leaving aside the mathematical details. FisicaLab has an
extensive documentation, with a lot of examples, to help the student to
familiarize quickly with the application. See:

http://www.gnu.org/software/fisicalab/campaign.html

Free software is important for education, to not enchain the students in
using privative software packages. Using free software, schools and
universities save money. But, most important, free software gives users the
freedom to control their own computers. And encourages students to learn and
share. They can make copies of the software to take home and to share with
his friends. Read "Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software":

http://www.gnu.org/education/edu-schools.en.html

With your support, you will help to expand the range of problems to solve in
FisicaLab, in adding new features, in the availability in other languages and
in many other things. So help FisicaLab to reach 7k at March 31, to give
students a chance of get an ethical education with free software.

Spread the word of FisicaLab’s campaign with your friends, blogs or social
networks. Lets education become free (as in freedom).

Regards.
Germán.

###
From the schoolforge-discuss mailing list.

Post WPIAL Meet

Summer Dreamers 2014, here we come!

Camp Site	Grade Level(s)	Number of Kids Served
Carmalt	4th Grade	30	Hope to go to Carrick, Brashear or PCA
	5th Grade	30
	6th Grade	5
	7th Grade	5
Faison	5th Grade	20	Team 1 - Hope to go to Westinghouse
	6th Grade	20	Team 2 - Hope to go to Highland Park Pool
	7th Grade	20	Team 3 - Hope to go to Obama
Langley	3rd Grade	40	Two teams of 20 each. All can swim in Langley's pool.
Total:		170

This is my puzzle and it is what I'm good at dealing with and love to do.

The best case is we get to use more PPS pools. Want to go to Carrick, Brashear and/or PCA, plus Westinghouse, Obama in addition to Langley. Kids would move to different sites with their coaches as per a schedule.

Fwd: The Eagle reports with Ivy and Lunch Issues

Swimmer takes on an issue and heads to DC. School lunches. Way to go Ivy.

The Eagle

---

Ivy Ryan fights for better school lunches in DC Posted: 26 Feb 2014 06:25 PM PST Ivy Ryan, a junior at our school had the amazing opportunity to go to Washington D.C where she met several different political figures and gave a presentation on the issue of school lunches and how they need to be improved. This all started this summer when Ivy, with about ten other students who participated in the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild art programs, were chosen to go on a trip to Yellow Stone with an organization called Park Journeys. “During the trip we talked about having a voice because as teenagers we’re usually disregarded in the world,” says Ivy. At the end of her trip they each chose an issue that they felt was prominent in their community and presented it to the group. Ivy chose the issue of school lunches saying, “Providing students with healthier meal choices will result in them being physically and mentally healthier.” After the presentations, the trip leaders, Joanna and Michelle, chose three students to present their issue in front of representatives so that actions could be taken to resolve them. Ivy was one of the three chosen. “During the next few months we met up with Michelle multiple times to talk about our issue, gather evidence, and create a proposal,” Ivy says. Due to the weather we had however the trip was delayed and when rescheduled the other two girls were not able to attend. Ivy and her trip leaders Joanna and Michelle headed up to D.C. on February 12th. The day started off with breakfast with Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz’s Chief of Staff and those invested in her campaign. The chief of staff talked about her campaign and the prominent issues she was planning on tackling. “It was fascinating hearing about what she wanted to get done as governor and how she was going to try and get support from her constituents,” Ivy said. Later that day Ivy had meetings with Senator Casey’s staffer, Senator Toomey’s Staffer, and Congressman Doyle’s Staffer. In the meetings Michelle introduced Ivy, Parks Journeys, and the project; then Ivy would explain the issue of school lunches and make an appeal to them on how they needed to be changed at the federal level. “Every staffer was extremely polite to me, they understood where I was coming from and agreed that it was an important issue to fix, and that it affected education and America as a whole. It was amazing to be a part of the actual government for a day and to see how everything works. These people had to take time out of their extremely busy day to talk to me, and it makes you realize that they really do care about your opinions.”

You are subscribed to email updates from The Eagle

"Where have all the students gone?" Parody

Fwd: Olympians in Pittsburgh Water Polo Camp April 12/13th

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nikola Malezanov <malezanov@gmail.com>
Date: Monday, February 24, 2014
Subject: Olympians in Pittsburgh Water Polo Camp April 12/13th
To: Nikola Malezanov <malezanov@gmail.com>

Dear Water Polo Friends,

I hope this email finds you well. 

We are hosting our annual "Train with America's Best" with the Olympians at the University of Pittsburgh April 12th/13th. 

Our hosts this year are:

Adam Kirkorian (USA Women's Head Coach, Gold Medalist in  London 2012)

Ryan Bailey (4 time Olympian, Silver in Beijing 2008)

Merrill Moses ( 2 time Olympian, Silver in Beijing 2008, University of Pepperdine Assistant Coach)

Jeff Powers ( 3 time Olympian , Silver in Beijing 2008)

12:00pm start on Saturday, April 12th. Program ends by 2:30pm on Sunday

Two training sessions each day

Program Fee of $250 includes:

- Water/snacks during training

- Saturday lunch for the athletes

- Meet/greet, photo and autograph session prior to Saturday’s first session (parents welcome!)

- Special parent meeting with Coach Krikorian

To register, please click here

This program is actually more than a regular water polo camp. It is one of the most unique water polo experiences available to young players – particularly in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Train with America’s Best is a  hands-on approach to water polo instruction delivered by coaches and players who have reached the top levels of their sport.  Most importantly, much of the program’s training is done with the instructors in the water so that participants benefit from close-up, in-water demonstrations and interactions.  This type of instruction is a rewarding, beneficial and unique experience for players of all ages. Participants are sure to gain a better understanding of the positions they play and key skills, moves and techniques needed to elevate their overall game. On top of it all, everyone who participates truly gets to say that they have “Trained with America’s Best”. And who knows, maybe they’ll even get to say that they took a shot on Merrill Moses, or that they guarded Ryan Bailey, or that they watched - at water level – a Jeff Powers shot zip past them, not to mention that they worked with an Olympic Gold Medal winning coach in Adam Krikorian. How great is that. - See more at: 

http://tigerwp.aquanite.com/olympians-in-pittsburgh-april-1213th/#sthash.gKVUnmzS.dpuf

--

Nikola Malezanov

Tiger Water Polo

North Allegheny Water Polo

ODP East Regional Technical Director

443-955-2622

Like us on facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/tigerwaterpolo

Twitter

@waterpolotiger

www.tigerwaterpolo.com

Fwd: News Release - Ken Krawchuk Wins Libertarian Gubernatorial Nomination

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ken Krawchuk, Libertarian for Pennsylvania Governor <KenK@kenk.org>
Date: Monday, February 24, 2014
Subject: News Release - Ken Krawchuk Wins Libertarian Gubernatorial Nomination
To: Recipient List Suppressed <KenK@kenk.org>

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 24, 2014

For more information, please contact:

Ken Krawchuk at Campaign@KenK.org or 224-Krawchuk (224-572-9248)

 

 

KEN KRAWCHUK WINS LIBERTARIAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION

 

      In a unanimous vote, Ken Krawchuk was chosen as the Libertarian Party's 2014 gubernatorial candidate, and Henry Haller of Pittsburgh as lieutenant governor at the party’s annual convention on Saturday.  Krawchuk and Haller were also the Libertarian nominees for the same offices in the 1998 and 2002 gubernatorial races.

 

      “This is a great day for Pennsylvania taxpayers”, said Krawchuk, a 60-year-old entrepreneur who hails from Abington Township in Montgomery County.  “The two old parties want to continue to expand a government that’s already too large, too expensive, and too intrusive.  Libertarians are the only ones you can trust to defend the interests of the taxpayer.”

 

      In an acceptance speech to be broadcast statewide to three million homes by the Pennsylvania Cable Network, Krawchuk pledged to focus on those goals that the governor can achieve unilaterally, without assistance from either the Legislature or the courts.  This includes introducing budgets that eliminate the need for the personal income tax over four years, vetoing all tax increases and any unwarranted expansion of government, aggressively cutting waste and excessive spending via the line-item veto, eliminating parole for violent criminals, pardoning “victimless criminals”, and ending asset forfeiture, among many, many others unilateral powers granted to the Governor by the Pennsylvania Constitution.

 

      Among his top legislative priorities are cutting taxes and spending via the Separation of Society and State, eliminating the government monopoly on public education, defusing the abortion debate, and reforming unfair ballot access laws that have erected huge barriers for independent candidates and third parties.

 

      Lieutenant governor nominee Henry Haller, a 66-year-old small businessman from Pittsburgh, was a former Libertarian candidate for US Senate and state Senate before teaming with Krawchuk in 1998 and 2002.  "It is an honor to again be on the ticket with Ken Krawchuk,” Haller said after being unanimously nominated.  “I look forward to assisting him in spreading the message of liberty across Pennsylvania."

 

      Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the state and the nation, with over 150 elected and appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide, and 40 in Pennsylvania.  Like the Founding Fathers, Libertarians believe that you have the inalienable right to conduct your life as you see fit, without interference, so long as you respect the rights and property of others.  As a result, Libertarians favor a small, responsible government. 

 

      For more information about the Libertarian Party, the public is invited to contact the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at www.LpPa.org or (800) R-RIGHTS, or the National Libertarian Party at Lp.org or (202) 333-0008.

 

      For more information about the Krawchuk campaign, please visit the campaign website at www.KenK.org.  The campaign can be contacted at Campaign@KenK.org, or 224-Krawchuk (224-572-9248).

 

      - End -

     

 

 

 

--
--
Ta.
 
 
Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com    
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim and Water Polo Camp Head Coach
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team

http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com
http://FixPA.wikia.com
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

Fwd: Free Training for Afterschool Program Staff: Making Action Plans That Improve Student Behavior

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shayna Willis <willis@wireless-neighborhoods.org>
Date: Monday, February 24, 2014
Subject: Free Training for Afterschool Program Staff: Making Action Plans That Improve Student Behavior
To: Shayna Willis <willis@wireless-neighborhoods.org>

Hello,

Please forward the following training opportunity to any interested staff.  ACT 48 hours are available.
--

Best,

Shayna Willis, M.A.Ed.

Training Consultant | Neighborhood Learning Alliance

Free Training!

Friday, March 7th from 9:00am-11:00am at the BGC Activity Center (map)

 

Need some help to get you through the rest of the year?  Coaching and mentoring sessions focus on sharing best practices and brainstorming solutions to common problems.  This week's focus is on creating action plans for challenging students.

Come and learn about the root causes of challenging behaviors, how to address them when they crop up and practical ways to advocate for your students.  Participants in this session will learn from each other and from our expert trainers, Twila Simmons-Walker and Shayna Willis, about what works and what doesn't in working with at risk youth.  Bring us your most challenging cases and leave with an action plan ready for use.    

Twila Simmons-Walker is the Manager of Scholastic Outreach and Education for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN), where she has worked as an informal educator for the past 12 years. Twila has worked with students as a mentor, environmental educator, and workplace supervisor.  She is a certified elementary and secondary school counselor, and in her free time enjoys working with families as a special education advocate, and on behalf of students with challenging behavior. Twila’s passion for inclusive education is complimented by her experiences as the parent of a child with a pervasive developmental disorder.  

Register here for this event.

--
--
Ta.
 
 
Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com    
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim and Water Polo Camp Head Coach
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team

http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com
http://FixPA.wikia.com
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

More Coverage about future sports issues in Pittsburgh Public Schools

The article below is about to appear in the school newspaper, Obama Eagle.

Headline: Sports are saved! (for now?) 

by Lucy Newman, high school junior, Obama Academy

Good news, Pittsburgh. You may remember the Eagle and the Post-Gazette reporting that Superintendent Linda Lane proposed in her State of the District to cut the sports program here at the Pittsburgh Public Schools. This could include middle school swimming, volleyball, and wrestling; high school tennis, swimming, and golf; and all intramural sports. Dr. Lane recently announced that the Administration and School Board do not plan to make any cuts to PPS sports for next year.“There will be no changes for the 2014-15 school year,” declares Ebony Pugh, the PPS Public Information Officer.

Okay, here’s the bad news, as you might have guessed: PPS sports are still on the chopping block for the 2015-2016 school year. So, sophomore swimmers, you may or may not have a team your senior year.

Yet if we students work together with teachers, the Board, and the Administration on this issue, it is possible to find a solution that solves the financial problems related to PPS athletics while keeping a strong sports program available to students.

The move to defer any decision surrounding sports cuts to a later date is not altogether surprising. As the Post-Gazette points out, Dr. Lane had never said when the cuts would come into effect. “We’re not planning to rush through a process to make a decision,” Dr. Lane says, as quoted in the Post-Gazette.

“The District needs to allow for more [time] to engage the Board and Community around any decisions related to athletics,” Ms. Pugh explains. “ Since we are required to make commitments to WPIAL related to next year’s season it was decided to delay any athletic related decisions. We will be engaging the Board and community over the coming months related to recommendations to the Whole Child, Whole Community plan.”

The plan to which Ms. Pugh is referring is called Whole Child, Whole Community: Building a Bridge to the Pittsburgh Promise. Many of the ideas in Whole Child, Whole Community are also discussed in Dr. Lane’s State of the District address. Both can be found on the PPS website. The plan addresses the District’s vision for the future of PPS. Due the district’s financial challenges, a large portion of the document is dedicated to “living within our means.” To do this, the district is considering both increasing revenue and decreasing expenditures.

Cutting the amount of money dedicated to sports is one of the many cost-cutting measures presented in Whole Child, Whole Community. The document presents two options as to how to do this. The first option would reduce the budgetary allocations to be more in line with actual spending, according to Ms. Pugh. The Whole Child, Whole Community document explains that “By reducing the athletics budget for purchased services, which includes funds used to pay sports officials, transport students to competitions and purchase uniforms and equipment, we could reduce spending by up to $400,000 per year. This change is not expected to have a significant impact on students, as the department has not been spending the full budgeted amount in this area.”

The second option would save more money, but would have a much more severe impact on services available. “Eliminating intramural sports; middle school volleyball, swimming and wrestling; and high school golf, swimming and tennis would reduce spending by an additional $600,000 per year,” according to Whole Child, Whole Community.

However, these are not the only two options. Mark Rauterkus, the Obama Boys swim coach, hopes that the district will be open to changes to its sports program. He writes in a detailed position paper several suggestions for ways in which PPS could possibly improve its sports program. Mr. Rauterkus advocates for expanding PPS sports offerings, by implementing a program called PPS H2O. This program could be financially self-sustaining, Mr. Rauterkus believes, because it could raise revenue through community lessons and events. With PPS H2O, the Pittsburgh Public Schools could have water polo, uderwater hockey, kayaking, triathalons, and more, as well as swimming. Further, components of the program would be available to people of all ages.

The delay in making a decision on sports cuts allows students and the community more time to participate in the decision-making process. Any changes will be voted on by the School Board, and there will be multiple opportunities for students and community members to have a say before they vote. Possibilities for community engagement are posted on the district’s website, Facebook, and Twitter. “We’ve got to keep asking a lot of questions,” says Mr. Rauterkus. Only by doing so can we influence the decision-making process to encompass our needs as students.

So, email your Board representative. Speak at a Board meeting. The district’s financial problems can be solved. We need to make sure that we don’t sacrifice too much of what makes our district great in the process.

Same article above but in a one page PDF.

Fwd: News Release - Libertarian Ken Krawchuk to Seek Gubernatorial Nomination This Weekend

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ken Krawchuk
Subject: News Release - Libertarian Ken Krawchuk to Seek Gubernatorial Nomination This Weekend


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2014
For more information, please contact:
Ken Krawchuk at Campaign@KenK.org or 224-Krawchuk (224-572-9248)


LIBERTARIAN KEN KRAWCHUK TO SEEK GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION THIS WEEKEND

        Ken Krawchuk, the Libertarian Party candidate for Pennsylvania
Governor in 1998 and 2002, will be seeking the party's 2014 gubernatorial
nomination this Saturday, February 22, 2014, at their annual convention
being held at the Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel & Conference Center, 300
Gateway Drive, Bethlehem, PA (www.lehighvalleyhotel.com).  Detailed
information about the convention schedule, speakers, and complimentary media
admission is available at www.LpPaConvention.org.

        Krawchuk believes his chances of receiving the nomination are
excellent.  "I've been campaigning around the state since early November
when I announced my intent to form an exploratory committee, and the
response among Libertarians has been overwhelmingly supportive.  The
long-time party members recall my performance in the debates and on the
campaign trail in 2002, and would love to see an encore.  The newer members
are excited by the idea of a Libertarian Governor candidate, which is
something most of them have never known."  Because of Pennsylvania's onerous
ballot access laws and the anticompetitive antics of the two old parties,
Krawchuk stands as the last third party or independent gubernatorial
candidate to appear on the ballot for more than a decade.

        Krawchuk notes how the political landscape has tilted strongly
toward Libertarian principles since his last campaign.  "When I talked in
2002 about decriminalizing marijuana, legalizing gay marriage, or nullifying
bad federal laws, it was all cutting edge politics.  But today these are all
mainstream ideas that have gained broad public acceptance.  I'm eagerly
looking forward to continuing the discussion of other cutting-edge issues,
including defusing the abortion debate, eliminating the state's monopoly on
public education, and reforming over-regulation and welfare through the
Separation of Society and State, among many other issues.  It's becoming a
very Libertarian world out there, and it's my goal to accelerate that trend,
just as I did in 2002"

        Krawchuk is upbeat about his chances for victory in 2014.
"Historically, voter turnout for gubernatorial elections is less than 40%.
So when you crunch the numbers, you'll find that in a competitive 3-way
race--which it's definitely going to be this year--all it would take for a
Libertarian victory is for us to attract the vote of one out of eight voting
age Pennsylvanians.  One out of eight is all it takes."

        Among the challenges facing not only Krawchuk's campaign, but also
that of any independent or third party candidate, are Pennsylvania's onerous
ballot access laws.  Where the two old parties only need 1,000 or 2,000
signatures to get their candidates on the statewide ballot, Krawchuk
calculates that the Libertarian gubernatorial ticket will need a minimum of
16,639 signatures - eight to sixteen times as many - even though the
Pennsylvania Constitution mandates that "All elections shall be free and
equal."  Adding to that signature burden, in every one of the last five
statewide elections some or all independent and third party candidates have
had their petitions challenged in court, and most candidates were either
intimidated into dropping out of the race or were thrown off the ballot for
specious reasons  Two candidates were also fined over $80,000 each.
"Experience is a harsh schoolmistress," Krawchuk noted, "but we've learned
quite a lot about the system.  We emerged victorious after the Republican's
2012 challenge, and I fully expect we'll weather any challenge in 2014.  But
for the longer term, we're lobbying to have the Voters Choice Act (SB 195)
passed, and that will level the playing field for challenger candidates
across the board regardless of party, and lead to greater competition at the
ballot box and more choices for Pennsylvanians."

        Ken Krawchuk, 60, has been a registered Libertarian since 1993.  He
was born and raised in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia, graduated
with honors from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1971, and in 1975
received a B.S. in Physics from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.  He
and his wife Roberta have lived in Abington since 1981, a Philadelphia
suburb, and have three daughters and two grandchildren (with a third on the
way).  Mr. Krawchuk is also an avid whitewater canoeist, year-round
backpacker, and railroad enthusiast.

        Professionally, Mr. Krawchuk is an information technology
entrepreneur serving as a business architect for the pharmaceutical,
insurance, and financial markets.  He is also the lead inventor of three
U.S. Patents related to database theory.

        Mr. Krawchuk is an award-winning Distinguished Toastmaster and a
professional public speaker.  He is also a freelance writer and author of
Atlas Snubbed, a pastiche parody sequel to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.  He
refers to Atlas Snubbed as his "platform novel" because it describes as
fiction many of the issues highlighted in his campaign, most notably the
Separation of Society and State.

        Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third largest
political party in the state and the nation, with over 150 elected and
appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide, and 40 in
Pennsylvania.  Like the Founding Fathers, Libertarians believe that you have
the inalienable right to conduct your life as you see fit, without
interference, so long as you respect the rights and property of others.  As
a result, Libertarians favor a small, responsible government.

        For more information about the Libertarian Party, the public is
invited to contact the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at www.LpPa.org or
(800) R-RIGHTS, or the National Libertarian Party at Lp.org or (202)
333-0008.

        For more information about the Krawchuk campaign, please visit the
campaign website at www.KenK.org.  The campaign can be contacted at
Campaign@KenK.org, or 224-Krawchuk (224-572-9248).





--
--
Ta.
 
 
Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com    
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim and Water Polo Camp Head Coach
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team

http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com
http://FixPA.wikia.com
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. FUD stinks. These days, we have PPS FUD

I am quoted in the Post-Gazette article about Pittsburgh Public Schools.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/19/City-school-finances-attract-much-interest/stories/201402190078

In the little break-out sessions, I spoke a bit, taking my turn. First, read the article.

Pittsburgh school finances attract much interest Three more sessions are slated

February 18, 2014 11:56 PM, By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  

Caleb Coleman, a program manager for a social service agency, understands the financial challenges facing Pittsburgh Public Schools are serious enough that the public can't get the whole cake.

But he wants a slice.

"You need to give us something," said the graduate of Pittsburgh Peabody High School who works for YouthPlaces, which offers after-school programs to high-risk youth.

Mr. Coleman was among about two dozen people -- some from community service agencies, others from the general public -- who participated Tuesday in the first public community conversations around the "Whole Child, Whole Community: Building a Bridge to the Pittsburgh Promise" report issued by the Pittsburgh Public Schools in December.

The report, part of the district's $2.4 million envisioning process, suggested cuts that could yield savings of $17 million to $44 million a year by 2016, depending on which options the board chooses.

The report also suggested new initiatives that combined could have a one-time cost of $3.8 million to $8.7 million and annual recurring costs of $4 million to $9.9 million.

Tuesday's conversations with superintendent Linda Lane and other administrators were hosted by YouthPlaces and the Hill House Association at Blakey Program Center in the Hill District.

Three other sessions, all from 6 to 8:30 p.m., are scheduled:

• Thursday, Trinity AME Zion Church, 3105 Allendale St., Sheraden, hosted by Trinity.

• March 17, East End Cooperative Ministry Community House, Penn Circle North, East Liberty, hosted by Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee, Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition and Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

• March 18, Institutional Church of God in Christ, 302 W. North Ave., North Side, hosted by Christians Investing in Education.

At Tuesday's session, administrators presented portions of the plan dealing with living within the district's budget, investing in student performance and investing in people. Those attending were encouraged to offer their own ideas.

Mark Rauterkus of the South Side, a parent and swimming coach at Pittsburgh Obama 6-12, noted the "Whole Child" report's suggestion that five to 10 schools be closed, consolidated or reconfigured in fall 2015 but did not name them.

Mr. Rauterkus said this has created uncertainty, fear and doubt that can lead to families leaving schools in case they might close.

Mr. Rauterkus is among those who have issued their own reports making suggestions, in his case, about sports. His report can be found at http://CLOH.wikia.com/wiki/Fewer_Sports_Alternatives.

A coalition called Great Public Schools- Pittsburgh recently issued a wide-ranging report that can be found at www.gpspgh.com.

The "Whole Child, Whole Community" report can be found at pps.k12.pa.us/wholechild.

Education writer Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.

PPS SUPERINTENDENT, Dr. Lane, to present on Tuesday at Hill House Auditorium

Reminder. 9 am. Be there. I will have the video camera running.

Fwd: [DW] Live Webcast - Knight Media Seminar - Sun, Mon, Tues - Open Gov Session 12 Eastern Tues Feb 18 #infoneeds

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steven Clift <clift@e-democracy.org>

The Knight Foundation's Media Learning Seminar, which mixes community
foundations, online journalism and open government topics, starts
their live webcast Sunday evening and goes through Tuesday.

      http://knightfoundation.org/live/

Tuesday morning is biggest block of plenary speakers.

Here is a Facebook topic for those watching the webcast to share their
reactions:
     http://on.fb.me/M44jXL

Also, their hashtag is #infoneeds:
     https://twitter.com/search?q=%23infoneeds

At 12 Eastern on Tuesday, open government is the main topic on the webcast:

Speakers: Waldo Jaquith, U.S. Open Data Institute; Daniel X. O'Neil,
Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative; Hon. Karen
Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana

Immediately after their webcast at 2 pm Eastern on Tuesday, join me
for ~30 minutes in a Google Hangout - experiment - to share your
reactions to the open government session:
      http://e-democracy.org/hangout

I've attended two of these events in the past. The speakers are top
notch. Last year, I had a booth on our BeNeighbors.org project:
http://e-democracy.org/virtualbooth

(On a related note, CFLeads (a community foundation network) issued a
Call to Action - http://bit.ly/cfleadsengage - in July on community
foundation leadership to promote community engagement. As a member of
that panel, I was promoting deeper and more inclusive digital
engagement. To me, that is the missing link in Knight's Community
Information Challenge - http://infoneeds.org - too, building on
community foundation support for news and information and embracing
the role of community foundations as conveners and supporters of
innovative community engagement. Anyway, I am collecting examples of
place-based foundation leadership with online engagement for a
possible knowledge exchange project, send them along to:
clift@e-democracy.org )


The streaming agenda:

Livestream Agenda
Feb. 16-18, 2014

Watch at:
http://knightfoundation.org/live/

All times Eastern (-5 hours for UTC): http://www.timeanddate.com

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16

5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Reception and Dinner

Featured: Carol Coletta, Vice President, Community and National
Initiatives, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation*
(* Mika Brzezinski, originally scheduled, has to cancel due to weather
conditions.)

MONDAY FEBRUARY 17

9:00 - 9:15 a.m. - Welcome

Alberto Ibargüen, President, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

9:15 - 10:30 a.m. - Plenary Session -Seven years ago, a lifetime in
the information arena

Moderator: Alberto Ibargüen; Speakers:  Chris Daggett, President and
CEO, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Emmett Carson, CEO, Silicon Valley
Community Foundation; Kelly Ryan, CEO, Incourage Community Foundation.


TUESDAY FEBRUARY 18

8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Design Studio for Social Intervention Recap

Facilitators: Bahia Ramos and Susan Patterson, KCIC Co-Directors,
Knight Foundation

Related link: "Using design thinking for community information needs"
by Marika Lynch on Knight Blog

9:00 - 10:15 a.m. What's new, what's next
Speaker: Amy Webb, Founder, Webbmedia Group


10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 - 11:45 a.m. - Transformative leadership: Communities and journalism

Speakers: Michael Maness, Vice President, Journalism and Media
Innovation, Knight Foundation and David Bornstein, Co-founder,
Solutions Journalism Network

12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Luncheon - Opening government: From data to action

Moderator: Alberto Ibargüen
Speakers: Waldo Jaquith, U.S. Open Data Institute; Daniel X. O'Neil,
Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative; Hon. Karen
Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana
Suggested resources: Case Studies: How Four Community Information
Projects Went From Idea to Impact; Opportunities for Leadership:
Meeting Community Information Needs


Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
  Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org
  Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy
  Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072

-----------------------------------------
Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire:
http://groups.dowire.org/groups/newswire

Time to Pull Our Own Weight at the Swim Pools around PPS or else the sites are indoor dumpsters.

I am making more than 40 suggestions within a 45-page position paper just released that I'd love for you to read.

http://CLOH.wikia.com/wiki/Fewer_Sports_Alternatives

See the links there to the PDFs:

http://tinyurl.com/mb6xesr Google document, PDF, 45 pages.
http://tinyurl.com/meq3co One page summary in PDF of the 40+ suggestions.

Thanks for all you do for PPS.

Nutshell,  can make PPS Aquatics pull its own weight in terms of finances. I have been trying to do so for three years. The pools and swim teams can be paid for by programs if PPS could just get the political will to let this happen.

Fwd: The Eagle on PPS Teacher Evaluations by Lucy N, a swimmer.

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

The Eagle

---

Across PPS, teachers debate, worry about evaluations One problem of significant consequence with the current teacher evaluation system is how difficult it is to write an article on the subject. Teachers are afraid. Several of the teachers whose opinions I asked about refused to comment on the evaluation systems, or told me their opinions “off the record.” Their jobs are at stake, and they believed that saying the wrong thing in print could get them in trouble. And just as important as the jobs of these teachers, the education of Pittsburgh’s students is also on the line. An education system in which a few words that may not sound politically correct could get a high-quality teacher in big trouble is compromising the future of its students. It is always important to ensure that teachers are effective. It is as important to teachers and students, all of whom are directly involved in the process of learning, that teaching is effective, as it is to administrators looking at the test scores and the bottom line. According to Ms. Papale, Pittsburgh Obama’s ninth and eleventh grade English teacher, “We want all of our colleagues to be doing their share. It makes it easier on us.” But there are sometimes a few teachers who cannot maintain sufficient control of their classroom, who do not seem to be invested in instilling their knowledge on the youth in their class, or who simply do not seem to understand what they are teaching. This is where teacher evaluation comes in. Similar to standardized tests for students, there are several tools that the Pittsburgh Public Schools district is currently using to evaluate its teachers. Value-Added Measures, commonly abbreviated as VAM, is one such method. VAM attempts to measure the academic growth of students that can be attributed to a particular teacher. This is done by examining how students standardized test scores have improved, and by comparing the students’ test scores to those of other students. The Pittsburgh Public Schools are also currently implementing student and principal evaluations of teachers. The students of at least one class taught by each teacher evaluate that teacher using a survey called Tripod, which contains 89 questions relating to the teacher and the class. The principals at each school also rate the teachers there. All of the above factors are combined into a composite score that affect whether the teacher is in line to be laid off, to be put on an improvement plan, or will get pay raises and bonuses. The Pittsburgh Public Schools recently got a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for $40 million in order to improve the quality of teachers. The system that the Gates Foundation has pushed to be implemented at PPS is based on the system that Bill Gates had used – and recently abandoned – at Microsoft. Perhaps the worst part of the system is that it forces a certain percentage of employees to be placed into each of several categories. This means that it forces some teachers to fail each year. But it is unrealistic to say that no matter how good a school is some teachers have to fail. If the principal hired only the best applicants in the first place, as he would logically attempt to do, there may be no need for anyone to fail. The system fosters unhealthy competition among colleagues, and causes teachers an unnecessary amount of anxiety. Starting this year, 50 % of the teacher evaluation is based on an administrator’s classroom observation. The other 50 % is comprised of student outcomes. The “student outcome” category can be divided further to say that VAM for a specific teacher counts for 30 % of that teacher’s score, Tripod surveys for 15 %, and VAM for a school in general for 5 %. This information was obtained from a publication called “Education Committee Update: Empowering Effective Teachers,” published in January 2013. The publication uses idealistic and vague language, saying for example that the district’s goals are to “accelerate student achievement” and to “become a district of first choice.” Its methods for doing this are to instate a strict high-stakes teacher evaluation system that may not effectively distinguish good teachers from bad. Evaluating a teacher is not easy to do. PPS is trying to make the system more quantitative, but this does not always mean that it is more objective. “There are 1,000 different ways to be a good teacher and 10,000 different ways to be a bad teacher… And just because you can’t punch the boxes doesn’t mean you’re a bad teacher” says Mr. Boyce, a teacher at the Pittsburgh Gifted Center. A good teacher will instill knowledge in his or her students. Beyond that, there are many options and many different ways to be a good teacher. Further, some of the things that teachers give their students are difficult to quantify. As summarized by Mark Rauterkus, a PPS father, the best thing a teacher can do is teach students “a thirst for knowledge and how to discover things for themselves. If a teacher teaches a student a love of learning in a subject, that’s fantastic.” Mr. Dumbroski teaches eighth grade English at Obama, and is also involved in the teacher evaluation process as an administrator. According to him, a good teacher is “somebody who’d do whatever is humanly possible to get the most out of every single student with whom they come into contact.” For Mr. Dumbroski, a good teacher teaches more than academic lessons; he can teach social skills and life lessons as well. “Here’s a hint for how to be a good teacher,” Mr. Dumbroski says, “Remember that students are people, too.” In his classroom, Mr. Dumbroski attempts to connect with and teach each and every one of his students. Mr. Kocur, Obama’s tenth grade English teacher, agrees. “First and foremost, a good teacher needs to be able to communicate with a variety of different kids.” It is important to Mr. Kocur that teachers have empathy. “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,’” Mr. Kocur says, quoting leadership expert John C. Maxwell. To Ms. Hetrick, the most important quality of a teacher is “passion.” This includes passion for the content being taught, as well as passion for the process of teaching. It is necessary for a teacher to care passionately about his or her students in order to instill in them a passion for learning. Yet whether a teacher makes a student want to learn, connects and empathizes with his students, cares about his students as individuals, or has passion is difficult to measure on any sort of evaluation. Also, a teacher who is effective for one group of students may be ineffective for others, and different students show improvements at different rates. With increasing class sizes, it is becoming more and more difficult for teachers to teach to the individual students in their classes. Further, class sizes are being increased and “mainstream” level classes have been abolished. This has resulted in students of ever more varying abilities being placed in the same class. The teacher’s job is becoming more and more challenging. The current default model for education at PPS is one in which students have minimal choice in their classes, and in which teachers have minimal choice in what is taught. Curricula are set by the district, and each student has to take a certain set of classes with few possible variations. Teachers have to cover a specified curriculum on which the students will be tested at the end of the year as mandated by the district. In a system in which neither the teacher nor the students have choice over what is taught, some of the results being evaluated may not be attributable to the teacher. However, there are alternatives to the current model. For example, the Pittsburgh Gifted Center is based on a different model. There, teachers design their own curricula so they are able to teach at a pace that they feel best fits the needs of the class. Additionally, students can choose the courses they want to take so they are often more motivated to participate in the classes in which they are enrolled. The classroom observation component, half of teachers’ composite scores is being shifted to a system called the Research-based Inclusive System of Evaluation, or RISE, in which teachers are rated in categories such as planning, instruction, and leadership on a scale of one to four based on their performance. “I actually think the RISE components do a pretty good job of identifying everything we’re looking for,” says Ms. Hetrick, Obama’s ceramics and IBDP visual arts teacher. The system is numerical and more standardized than previously used systems in which principal evaluations were based on value judgments. When Ms. Hetrick looks at the criteria, she sees the “distinguished” category as something she wants to work towards, and appreciates that the RISE rubric’s different levels seem to make sense. Mr. Boyce points out the human factor that goes into the RISE system. “If you want to make me look like a good teacher you can make me look like a good teacher. If you want to make me look like a bad teacher, you can do that, too. I guess I kind of like the old go-or-no-go thing because I was in the military. RISE is just a fancy way of doing the same thing.” It is true that even in the RISE system, a principal has a lot of sway. Pittsburgh Obama is fortunate to have a principal, Dr. Walters, who is a strong and fair leader. Yet principals like Dr. Walters are few and far between. One teacher from another school, who would like to remain unnamed, reports that his personal differences with his principal got in the way of her objectivity and brought down his rating. She rated him as “basic” in just enough categories that he would fail his RISE evaluation, despite the fact that his VAM scores were above the school’s average. “You can say its objective until you’re blue in the face,” agrees Mr. Kocur. “But it still comes down to an administrator walking in and saying what he thinks of you.” The VAM system, comprising 30 % of teacher scores, seems mathematically pure at first glance, but does not necessarily treat all teachers fairly. Mr. Boyce believes that the sample of students in one classroom is not big enough. “They take a sample size of 30 students and apply that to 10,000. Because really, they’re using my students to say how I’d perform across the board. And that’s not realistic. In research science, a sample size of 30 typically means nothing but some preliminary results that could lead to further research.” While the VAM system assumes that students are randomly assigned to teachers, this is rarely the case. Students can sometimes, but not always, choose their schools and classes. Differences in students from class to class greatly affect how the scores will turn out here. Mr. Boyce’s classes at the Gifted Center are more likely to perform well because many of them chose to be in his class. Further, a study by the Gates Foundation has shown that VAM is more applicable to math than it is to language subjects. Children learn language from a variety of sources, including family and peers as well as school, while they learn math primarily from their teachers. Yet in the Gates Foundation model, VAM is being used across the board in both math and language subjects. However, VAM is not being used in all subjects. It is used in the subjects for which there are standardized tests: english, math, and some sciences and social studies classes. Teachers for other subjects get a different type of score, called a 3f, which shows student growth based on criteria that the teacher decides at the outset. While it is unfair to grade different teachers on different standards, it is also unfair to the students to create standardized tests in even more subjects simply as a way to grade the teachers. Ms. Berry, a middle school math teacher at Obama who is involved in the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and who is a member of the committee that decides on evaluation criteria, says that “they shouldn’t test kids in every subject, because then it’s just a test for the teacher. I think it’s just mean to kids, the amount of testing they do…. Some things you should learn just because they are beautiful to learn.” Student surveys, the Tripod questionnaires, comprise 15 % of teachers’ scores in the new system. According to Mr. Boyce, to be a good teacher “you teach for a long time, and you don’t repeat the things that don’t work. You do repeat the things that do work, and you throw something new in there every once in a while.” Mr. Boyce believes that the student Tripod surveys are helpful in this way. They allow him and other teachers to recognize their weaknesses and find things that they can improve on. The Tripods allow him to better understand how his students feel about him, to fix misconceptions, and to work on problems. Student feedback is useful if it can improve a teacher’s practices without putting too much at stake. There are, however, some problems with high-stakes student surveys such as Tripod. “I don’t like some of the questions on Tripod,” explains Mr. Schaefer, a history teacher at Obama. Of the eighty-nine questions on the Tripod survey, many depend on factors that are not within the teacher’s control. It is a joke among students and teachers at Obama and other PPS schools that one of the questions is whether the class “feels like a big, happy family.” In fact, many students do not take the survey seriously in general. Some are fatigued by the length of the questionnaire and the fact that many questions are repetitive (evidently in order to ensure fairness), while others allow their personal feelings about a teacher to taint the results. Yet it is not a joke that such subjective questions are putting teachers’ jobs and student education on the line. It should not be expected at a middle school or high school level that the class “feels like a big, happy family,” and whether it does or doesn’t likely depends more on the students than the teacher. Mr. Dumbroski believes that student feedback is useful, but that the Tripod survey does not go about collecting feedback the right way. Instead, he has his students write down on note cards at the end of each grading period what they feel he did right and what they would want him to work on. One suggestion that he received in this way was to give the students more choice; in response, he began to allow students to propose their own ideas for projects, rather than always choosing from a list of suggestions. Also, some students would write on the note cards that the pace of the class was too fast, while others would write that it was too slow. As a result, Mr. Dumbroski has begun to give more individual attention to students in his class. Mr. Dumbroski feels that this note card system lets him understand what is most important to his students more effectively than the Tripod does. Colleges and universities are beginning to count student evaluation of teachers for less and less. According to Mr. Boyce, studies have begun to discredit such evaluations. “This is the exact system that colleges and universities are getting away from,” says Mr. Boyce. “Statistically, kids who perceive their grades as being good in a class are more likely to rate their teachers higher. Teachers can then manipulate the system by inflating grades.” So it is questionable whether a system that is being abandoned at the college and university level should be taken up and implemented for middle and high schools. The last 5 % of teachers’ scores is based on the building’s VAM scores in general. This is entirely illogical, as the teacher has little or no influence on how students perform in a class down the hall. VAM’s inability to control for variables is magnified when it is applied to classes that a teacher doesn’t even teach. As the system is currently set up, the above factors will be tallied up and turned into a score out of 300. If a teacher gets less than 140 points, that teacher is considered failing and put on an improvement plan. If he or she does not improve sufficiently within two years, the teacher will be fired. Teachers were given scores last year, although the scores will not count as grounds for being fired until after this year. Last year nine percent of teachers were placed in the lowest category. Nationally, less than one percent of teachers are failed, but teachers in other districts are graded with different standards. If last year’s results are any predictor of this year’s, Pittsburgh’s teachers will be failed ten times more than the national average. The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Pittsburgh’s teacher union, believes that the 140-point cut-off is far too high. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Superintendent Lane both disagree. The Gates Foundation has been hinting at withdrawing the remaining $15 million of the $40 million grant that it awarded to Pittsburgh Public if the district does not comply with the 140-point standard. “We have not made any decisions about the future of the grant, but we are continuing to watch this very carefully,” reports Vicki Phillips, the director of College-Ready Education at the Gates Foundation. This puts the pressure on the district and Dr. Lane to go along with the Gates Foundation’s strict cut-off. Dr. Lane says, “I’m still a firm believer that there is a correlation between effective teaching and student learning outcomes.” To back this up, she cites a study that concludes it is twice as likely for students who show significant improvement to have teachers in the top category. What she does not mention is that sometimes there are students who show improvement under “failing” teachers or who show less improvement under top-rated teachers. The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and Dr. Lane are currently at odds over the issue of teacher evaluation. “I thought we were partners in reform, but the partnership [with the union] has been rocky, let’s just say that,” Dr. Lane says. While both agree that effective teaching is important, they have strong differences when it comes to how to implement teacher-evaluation reform. Ms. Berry acknowledges that not all teachers are good teachers. To be a good teacher, it is necessary to have coherent lessons, a good relationship with students, and a desire to work. “It has a lot to do with personality,” she says. Implementing any plan to improve failing teachers is difficult, because some people do not have the personality for it. “It does take a long time,” Ms. Berry says, “to improve a poor teacher. I don’t know how you’d set it [an improvement plan] up so that it’d be fair to teachers and students.” On the one hand no one wants to fire a teacher who may be simply misunderstood, but on the other hand the students and the whole system suffer under poor teachers. To Mr. Dumbroski, the problem is that “No matter what, any type of evaluation tool, there’s going to be something wrong with it.” No matter how perfect the RISE criteria can be, the people who are checking the boxes are not perfect. No matter how many numbers and mathematical equations are used to compute RISE, VAM, and Tripod scores, the result is variable and subjective. There is a certain amount of bias that is impossible to remove. To Mr. Kocur, teachers are not the problem in the first place. “At some point, people should stop being politically correct and put the blame where it is due. Behind nearly every good student, there is a supportive parent, and vice versa.” Teachers are held responsible by national, state, and local governments (including the school board), by the media, and by philanthropic organizations like the Gates Foundation for failures in student education. But according to Mr. Kocur, students should be learning from their parents before they can talk. Children who have parents who read to them, who help them with homework, and who model and encourage a positive attitude towards learning, are more likely to succeed in school than those who do not. This is as important as teachers are to student education, yet it is rarely considered in government laws and plans, by the media, or by philanthropic organizations who want to donate to education. The way in which teacher evaluation tools should be utilized is debatable. While some of the measures that PPS is taking are more legitimate than others, it is clear that there are many problems with the current system. The PPS students and teachers are hoping that Superintendent Lane, the school board, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will consider how difficult it is to rank teachers by how well they teach, before making scores so critical to a teacher’s future.

Fwd: Position paper on PPs sports

Hi,

Pittsburgh Public Schools wants to cut swimming as well as golf, tennis, and all intramural sports. Some feel they will drain all the PPS pools this summer and never re-open them.

Physical ed and health are getting big cuts too, so revealed a memo this week.

None at PPS are talking to me. Silence. Stonewalls. The ploy is to say nothing then cut for sure and in a bit is is all over.

Lots of help is needed. But let's get on the same page. Here are my positions.

Thanks for whatever you can do and help.

Mark Rauterkus

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mark Rauterkus" <mark.rauterkus@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 8, 2014 10:24 PM
Subject: Position paper on PPs sports
To: "Kevin Shevitz" <kshevitz1@pghboe.net>
Cc:

Hi

Http://cloh.Wikia.com/wiki/Fewer_Sports_Alternatives

Mark R

The PTO at Sci-Tech, 6-12, have taken notice of the sports cuts and offer suggestions

See the PTO Newsletter:

https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghscitechpto/news/saveoursportsteams

It says, in part, SAVE OUR SPORTS:

Save our sports teams!

posted 12 hours ago by Lorrie Cranor   [ updated 12 hours ago ]

The proposed budget for the 2014-2015 school year includes eliminating golf, swimming, and tennis teams for the Pittsburgh Public Schools.  Here is a link to a good PPG article summarizing the cuts, the sports cuts are toward the end: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2013/12/04/Pittsburgh-Public-Schools-plan-includes-central-office-cuts-school-closings/stories/201312040136 Here is the link to Linda Lane's state of the district address that includes these proposed cuts: http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/wholechild Every month there is a public hearing at the school board, during which the public can speak about any topic they wish (for 3 mins each). The next meeting is Monday evening Feb 24 at 6PM at the District Office on Bellefield Ave.  We encourage parents and students to speak about how they feel about the proposed elimination of swimming as a PPS sport. If anyone wishes to speak, he/she should call (412) 622-3868 beginning Mon Feb 17 to be added to the list of speakers.  The procedures are described at: http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/Page/4043 The other thing that people can do is to email Dr. Lane and the school board directly (email addresses below) voicing their opinions. They have to do more than complain though-- focus on points like these: --Reasons sports in general (and these in particular) are good for students --how eliminating these sports will detract from their goal of making PPS a "district of choice" --point out that tennis and golf are inexpensive sports and swimming, which is more costly, can be saved by enacting some of Mr. Rauterkus' ideas (see below).  School Board email address: boardoffice@pghboe.net Dr. Lane's email address: llane1@pghboe.net Parents and students expressing their strong opposition and explaining why these cuts hurt students is the best was to save these sports for SciTech students.  The USO swim coach, Mark Rauterkus, has written on his blog and published a piece in the Obama Eagle (student paper), about why cutting these sports hurts both students and PPS overall. He has some cost-effective suggestions for the district that would allow them to keep (and in some cases improve) some sports within PPS. http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/