Tennessee and Delaware win the "Race To The Top" competition

Even though Tennessee and Delaware were not favorites in the top 16 states to get the money, they won the U.S. Education Department "Race To The Top" competition. The total amount of money given to different states by the Obama administration to help support failing school districts is a whopping $4.3 billion (where the heck are we getting all of that money??).

"Tennessee chosen because 93% of the teachers unions supported its proposal so did every single school district, school board and business leader in the state ... also because Tennessee has a law that is tough on teacher accountability and allows the state to take over chronically failing schools "

Delaware also "had unanimous support form educators and politicians it too has a tough new law that rates the effectiveness of teachers and principals the state was rewarded 100 million dollars".

State Board Of Education Looks At Alisal Schools

State educators considered "new sanctions on the district (Alisal Union School District) that has consistently failed to meet state standards". In the last 15 minutes of the meeting locals, parents, and teachers were able to give their concerns. Their main concern was the appointment of an inexperienced superintendent John Ramirez, who would earn $168,000 a year for three years, with the "hiring of former superintendent Zendejas as a consultant with a pay of $14,000 a month for 10 months".

After being suggested to become a "temporary trustee on behalf of the state", Dr. Nancy Kotowski says that "she's filled that role of a trustee before and would do it until the state board appoints a permanent trustee at the next meeting in May".

Although Alisal Union School District is having trouble keeping up with state standards, I do think that they should be able to get money to help correct their problems so they can hopefully meet state standards in the near future.

What's the next step for policy makers?

The next step for policymakers is increasing college completion rates.

This past weekend President Obama make his weekly address, and make the "two [key] issues that make up this [(Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act)] law: health care and higher education:"

Education. Health care. Two of the most important pillars of a strong America grew stronger this week. These achievements don't represent the end of our challenges; nor do they signify the end of the work that faces our country. But what they do represent is real and major reform. What they show is that we're a nation still capable of doing big things. What they prove is what's possible when we can come together to overcome the politics of the moment; push back on the special interests; and look beyond the next election to do what's right for the next generation.

I agree with Obama that making Universal Health Care a "law of the land", and higher education more popular, will not end our problems or end the work for our country.

When reconciliation passed the Health Care Reform Bill into a Law, it also gave money "to low- income college students attending school on a Pell Grant". Although this is money may not personally help all college students, I do feel that this is an important necessity for many students who are unable to go to college without this extra money from the government.

Later on in Obama's speech, he stated how this money will help students during this country's time of need:

No doubt, increasing financial aid during a time of high unemployment, stagnant wages and increasing tuition is a necessary step. Hopefully, this will get more people into higher education. Our economic sustainability demands a better educated work force But, it's not enough - especially when the latest attempt to focus some efforts on postsecondary education reform, the reconciliation bill, ended up being one more example of education sacrificing new resources to pay for rising health care costs.

The article also points out how education effects our economy. Higher paying jobs usually require a higher education that High school. If there is a lower number of college graduates than normal, there are less people earning a higher amount of money. If they don not have the money to spend, the economy goes down. Since many either do not have a college education, and many do not have jobs because of the economic crisis, the economy goes down even further.

This quote from the article, "Moving forward, the goal should be clear: We should be investing our existing tax dollars in students who complete college. Our future depends on it." I think is a definite possibility, but also partially unrealistic. If we were to spend our existing tax dollars on students who complete college, other systems of our country will start to fail. The most recent example would be that the Universal Health Care system will start to not receive enough money.

Mind Break 3/24-3/30

Here are some America's Funniest Home Videos clips

This video contains animals acting out against being held, animals doing what they were told, and animals entertaining themselves. Some animal actions include a dog playing fetch with himself, a dog taking a womans bikini, and a cat getting cheese out of the fridge.

hope you enjoy like I did.

The Disadvantages of Solar Power

Here are a few major disadvantages to having solar panels in the world.

The first and widely known disadvantage is the price of installing solar panels. Solar panels are high priced because the materials are in low amount and because they are not being produced in mass production, which would reduce the price of solar panels, raise the product availability and thus increase demand. One way for this price to be decreased is having more people in the world buy solar panels. A solution to the low amount of solar panels in the United States, and the world, is for governments to give money back to those who buy the solar panels. Another way is for electricity companies to give money or credit to those who make more energy from the panels, than they use.

Another con to Solar Panels is that they cannot be placed everywhere in the world. Solar panels need to be in an area where there is a large amount of sunlight for most of the day (Some solar panels have the capability of moving with the sun).

The third and probably most interesting for most people is the idea of solar panel powered cars. A problem with these solar powered cars is that if they are not charged, and a cloud moves over the car, the car may lose power. Another con for most people is the fact that these cars can not go as fast as others.

Texas Trying to Change History?

The Texas State Board of Education has finally reached an all time low. How have they done this? By

removing Thomas Jefferson from a list of Enlightenment thinkers who changed the world... By 10-5, it voted down a proposal that teachers' examine the reasons The Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from protecting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.

The Houston Chronicle states that this has occurred for one main reason. Texans when "not paying attention" elected extremists to the Texas Board of Education without knowing it. Some possible changes that the state of Texas can make in the elections of the board members are

elect[ing] the board members in nonpartisan elections. Maybe they should be appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate (a process similar to the way federal judges are appointed). Or maybe curriculum authority should move from the state board to the Texas commissioner of education, who's appointed by the governor — a higher-level politician that more voters pay attention to.

I wonder if the parents of these students in Texas have the same feelings that the Board of education in the state of Texas does (against protection of all religion, and Thomas Jefferson).

Washington D.C. Schools

In Washington D.C., 23 schools were announced that they will be closing due to the schools

being under enrolled or in poor physical condition. In three cases [they have decided to] soften the impact of the deeply unpopular decisions by promising to modernize or rebuild the schools while students were relocated.

One problem at the Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View is that despite an approximate

$1 million in improvements... broken water pipes and rodent droppings are a chronic problem... records confirm the allegations, showing that pees-control workers were called to the school... three times in January alone... The rodents are going into the food supply... this school is contaminated.

The problems at Bruce-Monroe are just an example of issues at other school around the country. The example of money trouble in the school system in Washington D.C. show what will be happening to other schools.

The amendment for Student Loaning

Student aid initiative, as part of the final amendments to the heath care bill, will be eliminating "a $60 billion program that supports private student loans with federal subsidies and replacing it with government lending to students". Out of the total $61 billion in savings over 10 years, $36 billion will go to Pell grants, and smaller portions will go "towards reducing the deficit and to various Democratic priorities, including community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and caps on loan payments".

The Pell grant in the past

once covered more than two-thirds of total costs at a public university... [but] now covers about one-third... the maximum grant could be scaled back by more than half to $2,150 and at least 500,000 students could be dropped from the program... So if this legislation did not pass, you would see catastrophic cuts to the Pell grant program, effectively slamming the door shut for hundreds of thousands of students, if not millions, who rely on the Pell grant program to go to school

said Rich Williams, higher education associate for U.S. PIRG, the federation fo state Public Interest Research Groups.

One of Kentucky's state representatives, Brett Guthrie, stated in opposition that "Instead of making student loans more affordable or preserving choice, competition and innovation in the loan program, Democrats are taking money from struggling students' pockets to help pay for a government takeover of health care". Although there is truth in his statement, I do not think that this is over. I hope the government will come up with a way for the students to gain money, and the government to use money for correct purposes..

To summarize the his position of the student loan amendment, Daniel de Vise wrote

The amount directed at Pell grants would drop from $40 billion to $36 billion, and a portion of the smaller amount would go toward closing an unexpected shortfall in the grant program, oversubscribed because of the recession. The annual Pell grant would rise to $5,975 by 2017 from the current $5,550, and for the first time, it would be linked to the consumer price index. In the original House bill, the Pell target was $6,900.

Community colleges would get $2 billion, down from $10 billion in the original bill. More than $20 billion in initiatives for early education, K-12 school modernization and student loan interest-rate reduction would be eliminated. But a $2.6 billion investment in historically black colleges would survive. The new bill also includes a $1.5 billion initiative that would cap a borrower's monthly loan payments at 10 percent of income, down from 15 percent.

What I did not like about this article was that it was biased. If someone reads this article, they only learn of the negatives of the student loan amendment in the Health Care Bill. To make the article better, I think that there should have been some positives of the amendment.

This is personal to me because I was thinking of applying for the Pell grant program for college. this this information, it shows me that I have a lower chance of getting the grant. Without the money, I may not be able to go to the college of my choice to get the degree that I want.

Mind Break 3/22-3/26

a great part of a Family Guy Episode, hope you are entertained

Past Earth Hour Highlights

this is the official video for Earth Hour 2010: includes highlights from the past year



this video is of the major cities, and famously known structures shutting off their power in 2009 across the world.



Hopefully the 2010 Earth Hour will be an even greater turnout than the past few years.

!!LET THE WORLD UNITE, AND POWER DOWN!!!


"EARTH HOUR IS A WAY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD TO SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE THEY WANT ACTION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE" ~BAN KI-MOON (UN SECRETARY GENERAL)

The citizens of the United States are taking things for granted

The citizens of the United States are taking things for granted. When I said this, you probably thought "we're lucky to have fresh water","we're lucky top have electricity" blah blah blah. That's not what I'm talking about. We take for granted our Primary Education. How?? Read On.

Because of the risk of fraud "The British governments said it will stop funding Kenya's Free Primary Education Program through the country's ministry of education...The United States earlier this year suspended about $7 million in funding to Kenya’s Primary Education Program [also] because of allegations of fraud." Many including Musau Ndunda "hopes the British decision will force the Kenyan government to aggressively deal with the issue of corruption within the education ministry" and that Kenya's government will hopefully take charge of the whole situation.

Afterschool programs being shut down

In New Jersey, this past February, Governor Christopher J. Christie "cut $560 million in previously approved education spending, including $5 million for after-school programs that serve 12,000 children in 115 schools. " This is all part of his $2.2 billion bidget deficit in the current fiscal year.

One afterschool program, at Linden's School No. 1, that helps 85 children after school will be closed this friday "after losing its state financing halfway through the year".

Mr. Christie and his education commissioner, Bret
D. Schundler, are expected to cut state aid to individual districts by as
much as 15 percent, and reduce overall school aid for only the second time in
more than a decade. That would probably mean laying off thousands of teachers,
and eliminating a host of extras like after-school and early-childhood education
programs that parents have come to count on.

If the schools had not recieved $1 billion in gederal aid, this "execution" would have occured last year when this whole education problem was starting to sharpen its horns.

'My take is, he’s trying to deal with this,” Mr. Cantrell [president of the New Jersey
Taxpayers’ Association] said of the governor. “I think the reality of
the situation is, it’s such a dire one that there aren’t a lot of choices right
now. Everyone is going to have to sacrifice to resolve this issue, and to say ‘I
should not have to sacrifice’ is just not reality.'

The Linden district, with 6,000 students,
partnered with Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey in 2003 to start the
after-school program at School No. 1. It has since expanded to two other
elementary schools, serving a total of 274 children, most of whom are black or
Hispanic. More than half qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Families pay $250 annually per child for the program; most of the costs are covered by $259,000 in state financing awarded by New Jersey After 3, a nonprofit group that oversees a network of after-school programs (another $51,500 comes from foundation grants). Mark Valli, the group’s president, said that all but 25 of the 115 state-financed after-school programs would close in the next month; generally, only those that can make up the shortfall with district money, corporate grants and donations will stay open.

The Advantages of Solar Power

Here are a few major advantages to having Solar Power panels in the world.

Since Solar power does not require any fuel besides the sun. Since it does not need fuel to generate electricity, no carbon dioxide, or nitrogen oxide is being release into the atmosphere, not contributing to global warming. The fact that there is not pollution, once the panels are made, it is considered to be "the most Clean and Green energy".

Another reason for why Solar Power is great for the environment is that "there is no on-going cost for the power to be generated" This is the cause of free solar "energy" (radiation). This also is great because it can be used for a very long time, unlike other sources of energy such a oil, where the supply will eventually run out at the present use rate.

Solar Power is also a great source of energy because it can be stored while there is sunlight, to use during a time when there isn't. This in turn cuts electricity costs to almost zero.

One reason why houses may like to use solar panels on houses is the fact that solar panels "operate silently, have no moving parts, and do no release offensive smells[, like natural gas]". Solar panels also are easier to install than large energy plants.

Solar Panels also can move with the path of the sun to collect the most amount of light/energy, to either be used or stored for a later time.

Looking for a better lithium battery

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other science groups will be focusing on bringing manufacturers of "various types of lithium-ion batteries together". Together the manufacturers will try to create "environmentally sound manufacturing and material choices". Companies that use carbon nanotubes to make their lithium-ion batteries is their first order of business. They will be taking life cycle assessments of the various materials and processes needed to create lithium batteries to try to minimize the environmental impacts and risk to public health. By mid-2011, they hope to provide companies "with information on how to improve their extraction, manufacturing, and disposal practices [of lithium batteries]".

Mind Break 3/15-3/19

After watching this video, I don't feel so bad when I miss easy shots. Hope this makes you feel better about your soccer skills, it sure did for mine!!

CA schools needing to change

On March 18Th, the state released a list of "nearly 190 schools that represent the lowest 5 perfect throughout California which are eligible for Title 1 funds and have failed to show adequate progress in student achievement... These schools will be required to implement on of four drastic interventions:

1) close the school

2) transform the school through a series of strategies including replacing the principle and increasing instructional time (most students won't be happy, most don't even like school how it is)

3) turn around the school by replacing the principle and at least half the staff

4) restart the school by closing it and reopening it as a charter school, under a charter school management organization or under and education management organization

...
One high school, one middle school and four elementary schools in the Mt. Diablo district are on the list"

"Exactly how many is a 'hella'"?

In math or science class did you ever hear the words "zetta" or "yotta"? Well you may be hearing the word "hella" as a new term in the math and science world. "Austin Sendek, a UC Davis physics student, has started a petition to establish a new, scientifically accepted prefix, 'hella,'...would indicate 10^27, or 1 followed by 27 zeros." To adults this may seems just plain silly, and to conservative adults, this would mean just another way students can swear. At first, still as a joke, he put up a petition on Facebook and now nearly has 19,000 fans with and increase of about 1,000 fans per day. Of course, with "hella" being (mainly) a Northern California slang word, its getting a lot of popularity on Facebook.

Although it seems like "Hella" will not make it into the science or math world, students, scientists, and some adults would be happy to see it go through

hella can be used in front of so many words i cant even list them, just go
to urbandictionary.com (linked to "hella" page) and just look at the left column!

So what was the point of this particular blog? The point was, hey if you have an idea, try it out, test it out, send it to people to get it out in the world. Don't just let it sit in the back of your head as a "shoulda' coulda' woulda' didn't". As people say "If at first you don't succeed, try try again"!

Congressman Bart Stupaks view of the health reform bills

Congressman Bart Stupak, representing Michigan's 1st District, stated last week that it any federal funding for abortion was on the health care reform, they are "prepared to strike [it] down". On Monday "he is 'more optimistic' than he was... regarding legislative negotiations." Stupak says that both he and President Obama do not

want to expand or restrict current law (on abortion). [Although Stupak is] satisfied with the current House bill... he has been vocal in his opposition to the Senate bill... the Senate bill is 'unacceptable' on the issue of abortion...[White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says] ultimately, 'this is not a bill about abortion. This is about health care reform.'... Stupak's coalition, saying, 'The bottom line is that Pelosi needs Stupak's supporters to pass health care reform. She doesn't have the votes any other way.' 'Now, she doesn't want to alienate the pro-choicers. So that's why she, Hoyer and Stupak are working on language that's more conservative than Nelson's in the Senate but a bit more liberal than Stupak's. How they thread that needle is anyone's guess,' Stricherz said.

So pretty much Stupak is happy to pass the House bill, but feels that the Senate be needs to be fixed, and that the only way Pelosi will get this reform passed is with Stupak's supporters.

A few Solar Power Benefits

Today an NBC news station WCSH6 reported some solar power services. In Portland, Maine(News Center) environmentalists are urging Maine's state leaders to include Solar Power Energy use in "Maine's future energy plans".

Hopefully, not only other states in teh United States, but other countries in the world will follow this path in the future of using (a) more efficient energy source.

The report released on Tuesday pointed out key benefits and usues of solar Energy. "They say the sun produces more energy in an hour than all of the coal mines and oil wells do in a year. They also point out that solar energy is cheap, clean and easily accesible."

Solar energy is defenitly cheap to recieve, but puting up the panels is very expensive, "is more expensive than some technologies like wind or coal, but the cost of solar becomes increasingly cheaper as production expands, so it will only get cheaper in the long run."

So what can we/you do? The more people that buy solar panels, the higher the production rate of the panels, inturn lowering the price of the panels because they have more. And to all of those environmentalists or scientists that may read this blog? Keep working, and thanks for working towards making our planet a better and healthier world for all.

.

There will hopefully be a weekly post about solar power, and its advantages and disadvantages...

Mind Break 3/8-3/12

This is a great video. A new game kittens have created: Who ever stays on the longest wins, but watch out for the cabinet and the turns!!



Hope you enjoyed it, and laugh a little!!

President Obama's Newest Education Plan

In the below video, News Channel 3, Obama's newest education plan is explained. His new plan will help school districts in states across the country to "cut down on drop-out rates and improve under-performing schools."will t he $900million in grants and another $50 million being given in total to school districts in the United States the "5,000 of the nation's worst school [will get] back on track over the next five years."

One main question that I have about his is, Where is all of this money coming from? Don't we have debt to other countries, oh China for example that we need to pay off??

Obama's small speech

This past Thursday the Health Care Reform Summit was held. Both the Democrats and the Republican main leaders were there to argue and agree on the Health Care Reform.

After the Summit, Obama gave a mini speech.
Some main areas where Obama says the two party's agree is that the rise in cost of Health Care is a huge problem for families, small bissinesses and our federal budget. They also agreed that

"... small businesses and individuals should be allowed to participate in a new insurace market place that would allo them to get a better deal from insurance companies" Another area where Obama agrees with the two party's is that "people with preexisting problems should be able to get coverage".

A difference that Obama acknowledges is how people with preexisting problems should get coverage, and whether companies should be held accountable when they deny a person care or if they should arbitrarily raise premius. Obama also says in his little speech that he agrees with this.

Here are two (somewhat) inspiring quotes to get this done.

Obama said at the end of last Thursdays Summit that “I’m eager and willing to move forward with members of both pary’s on healthcare if the other side is serious about coming together to resolve our differences and get this done”

“Let’s get this done” says Obama at the end of this speech. Him saying means that he wants the refor to be passed because the United States needs it now not later. I agree with Obama’s last sentence.

Here is the video where I got my quotes from

Obama's Letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform

In his letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform March 2nd, he mentioned the Bipartisan Health Care Reform Summit. He stated that in the summit, he was glad that the opposing sides were able to show their difference, and share some common goals. He also has become convinced "that the Republican and Democratic approaches to health care have more in common than most people think."

Obama then listed some examples where the Democrats and Republicans agreed. The three main ideas that the two party's agreed on was

“the need to reform our insurance markets. We agree on the idea of allowing small businesses and individuals who lack insurance to join together to increase their purchasing power so they can enjoy greater choices and lower prices. And we agree on the dire need to wring out waste, fraud and abuse and get control of skyrocketing health care costs.”

Obama also listed some of the areas of disagreement between the Democrats and Republicans. These disagreements include "what role the oversight of the health insurance industry should play in reform". And Obama adds his opinion by stating that

“I believe we must insist on some common-sense rules of the road to hold insurance companies accountable for the decisions they make to raise premiums and deny coverage. I don’t believe we can afford to leave life-and-death decisions about health care for America’s families to the discretion of insurance company executives alone.”

Obama, in his letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform, also goes to write the "four policy priorities identified by Republican Members at the meeting that [he is] exploring"