AngryVillagers.net

The Friends of Dave name has served me well on my blog since March 31, 2004. The idea for the name "Friends of Dave" came in a conversation with my sister. We were talking about possible names for my blog and we came up with that name.

The other day at work, the idea of using a domain name involving torches and pitchforks came up as we were discussing a future project. That got me thinking. I've posted a number of times about the lack of outrage over the slow pace of education reform in our state. Many times I've used the pitchforks and torches phrase. As I was thinking about variations on the pitchforks and torches idea, the notion of the angry villagers came up and my blog's new name was born.

While the name has changed and the visual theme I'm using has changed as well, there probably won't be a lot of other changes. My interest in technology, politics and education reform remain. My narcissism which leads me to post personal tidbits here will also pop up from time to time, although most of that now exists on my Facebook page.

I hope to add some graphics to the heading of the site soon. An artist of my acquaintance is going to create some imagery that goes with the new name of the site. Hopefully that will be online soon.

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Read the rest of this post!

Sometimes I think those that claim to be looking out for poor and minority students cause the greatest damage. This San Francisco Chronicle story is a great example.

De facto segregation is alive and well in public schools in virtually every state, but is more common in charter schools - an educational option increasingly endorsed in state and national reform efforts, according to a national study released Thursday.

The trend is particularly severe for African American students, the UCLA researchers found.

Nearly 3 out of 4 black students who attend charters are in "intensely segregated" schools with student populations that are at least 90 percent minority, according to the study by the UCLA Civil Rights Project. That's twice the rate of regular public schools.

Almost a third of those black students are in what the researchers called "apartheid schools," where 0 to 1 percent of their classmates are white. Charter schools in the Bay Area and California have similar rates of racial isolation.

These are "the very kind of schools that decades of civil rights struggles fought to abolish in the South," researchers said.

“When there is an achievement gap, there is often a safety gap and a student-engagement gap,” Austin said. “We are dealing with perceptions. But perceptions are real.”

Schools nationwide struggle with an achievement gap between higher-performing groups of white and Asian students and their lower-performing black and Hispanic counterparts. For example, about two-thirds of white and Asian 10th-graders in San Diego County scored proficient or better on state standardized English exams last year. Black and Hispanic scores were roughly half that.

The new state workbook aims to close the gap among ethnic groups, special-education students and among students in migrant education programs.

The workbooks include results of the voluntary surveys that were given to school employees and students in grades five, seven, nine and 11. The data show the disparity in how students and school employees perceive everything from expectations and academic rigor to campus safety and discipline problems.

I thought this quote from Larry Schumway, Utah's Superintendent of Schools represented a feeling that a few more Superintendents should share.

“I hope you you’ll come away from this meeting with a knot in the pit of your stomach about how far we have to go. It should keep you up at night.”
-Larry Shumway, Utah Superintendent of Schools

CaliforniasCapitol.com is reporting that Secretary of Education Glen Thomas is resigning so he can take care of his aged mother.

In explaining his departure, Thomas said:

“My 96-year-old mother is not well. Twenty-four years ago I cared for my father and I told my mother that when the time came I would do the same for her. It’s been the highest honor to serve in the administration but family is always first priority.”

With my own 79-year-old father's recent health problems, I can relate and appreciate Glen's decision. It is a lot better reason that some of the previous education secretaries. Here's a quick recap of the ones I can remember from the current administration:

• Richard Riordan (2003-2005) left because he lost interest.
• Alan Bersin (2005-2006) left to go serve on the San Diego Airport board.
• David Long (2007-2009) left to pursue an unnamed opportunity which turned out to be with the California School Board Association (CSBA).
• Glen Thomas (2009-2010) left to take care of his aged mother.

With the Governor a lame duck at this point, he is going to have a hard time finding anyone who will take the job. I'm thinking that he's going to need to post it on Craigslist at this point. Read the rest of this post!