Detroit schools has a difficult start to the 2006 2007 school year

Detroit Schools’ Teachers Delay School Starts with Strike There has been a slow and turbulent start to the Detroit Schools ’ new school year. In a battle over contracts, some 7,000 teachers and 2,000 staff members refused to start school in September. These contract disagreements lead finally to a court battle. The contract disagreement began on August 28 after the Teachers Union rejected a two year contract that included salary cuts of 5% and increased health insurance co-payments. Detroit Schools wants an $88 million concession from the Detroit Schools’ Teachers’ Union to help with the $105 million deficit to its $1.36 billion budget. On September 16, Detroit Circuit Court Judge Susan Borman ordered that the 7,000 striking Detroit Schools’ teachers return to work. After this order, Detroit Teachers’ Union president Janna Garrison read the order aloud to 3,000 Detroit Federation of Teachers members but did not comment or give any instructions as to whether the order should be obeyed. The vast majority of the teachers did not return to work. Detroit Schools’ spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo stated that under state law teachers who defied the order could face penalties which include fines and other actions. Oguntoyinbo said that Detroit Schools would go back to the courts and request that the order be enforce. As of the 18th of September, teachers had not returned and Detroit Schools has not decided what action it would take. On the official first day of school, the 130,000 students in the Detroit Schools were greeted by their teachers not in the classroom but protesting outside. The picketing teachers were most of the teachers, only about 9% of Detroit Schools had returned to work. The Detroit Schools Board of Education worried that the strike would cause students to pull out of the Detroit schools and that their families will leave the city, however most parents support the teachers. Detroit Schools’ Teachers Return to Work Even though the contract issues have not been fully resolved but the Teachers’ Union has announced that the teachers returned to work on September 20. This was mainly due to pressures from the court and not due to reconciliation between the Detroit Schools and the teachers. Many Union members, parents and other supporters of the teachers do not want the issue to remain tabled. These supporters want the Detroit Schools system revised. They claim the administration is top heavy and each position should be justified in some way. Others want the Detroit Schools to consider the consolidation of schools. This idea has fewer supporters because it would involve school closures that would greatly affect parents and neighborhoods. Even though this would be the most drastic of the possible ways to change the Detroit Schools, it may be the most cost effective. Like all issues there are many sides. Some wish the Detroit Schools top be run more like a business, which would include offering teacher buyouts, others believe education should be the main focus no matter what the costs.

Pronunciation get better in another language

Pronunciation can affect how we communicate. Many people, who have had a go at learning a foreign language, have experienced that sinking feeling when they try a well-constructed sentence in another language only to be met with a blank face. Why is this? Languages are built on sounds. If I speak English and live in an English-speaking country I expect a speaker to say sounds in a particular way. In French or Spanish I would expect to hear different sounds. When we can’t recognise the sound we try and adjust how we are listening, a bit like tuning a radio, but if we can’t guess the sound, the chances are we won’t understand what is being said. The Blocks of Pronunciation Pronunciation has two main aspects to it, physically producing it and the sound that is produced from it, the hearing of the sound. As we get older the ability to do both of these, i. e. physically work out how to make the sound and recognise it, can diminish. This doesn’t mean we can’t continue to learn new languages but we need some extra tricks to help us. Let’s look at some ideas on what we can do when we learn a new language. How am I saying it? Try saying the letters. Notice how your mouth is working. If you don’t know how a sound is physically made you may find it harder to say it. What sounds are the same? English has many more sounds than other languages but it also has a lot of sounds in common with other languages. Good dictionaries in a new language will usually offer an English sound or word to compare with. Use it to check what sounds are similar. Which sounds are hard to say? Go through the alphabet of the new language and mark out the ones you find hard to say. Give them some attention. Try and physically make the sound and see how your mouth works. Say the alphabet. Look at how children use the alphabet song in English to help them remember the alphabet, doing the same in a new language will also help memorise the letters and sounds. Read out loud. Find some reading form your course book or any other book. There are two advantages here. One you get to say the letters and words. Secondly you get to practise sounds that you expect to hear and you become accustomed to the sounds of the language. How good do I need to be? There is much discussion on this. For many of us the ability to get by in other languages is good enough. If we can say what we want, simply, slowly and the person we are speaking to, can understand us, then our pronunciation is probably good enough. After that it is a matter of choice. Some people become very good at other languages and get to very good levels of pronunciation. Not many of us are such gifted linguists but there’s no reason why we can’t make the words so that people can understand us.

Florida schools go virtual

In this day and age, we are required more and more often to be technologically literate. Florida Public Schools need to adapt to that technology or fall behind. We are becoming a mobile society, with the ability to talk to anyone at anytime from anywhere; we can even do a “virtual commute” and have an office at the park, in the coffee shop, or even at a bookstore. While some districts are slow to rise to the task, others have stepped up to the plate. The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was founded in 1997, and was the country’s first state-wide Internet-based public high school. In fact, other states wishing to implement this kind of learning opportunity for their students look to FVLS as the model to follow. This is the only one of Florida Schools where funding is tied directly to student performance. Leaders of the FLVS serving Florida Schools students are committed to deliver high-quality, technology-based education. They hold the following core beliefs about education: • Every Florida Schools student is unique, so learning should be dynamic, flexible and engaging. • Studies should be integrated rather than isolated. • Students, parents, community members, and schools share responsibility for learning. • Students should have choices in how they learn and how they present what they know. • Students should be provided guidance with school and career planning. • Assessments should provide insights not only of student progress but also of instruction and curriculum. Courses are available to any and all public, private, and home-schooled Florida Schools students. Out-of-state and international students may attend the virtual school by paying tuition. FLVS is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. FLVS employs 380 full-time and 180 adjunct Florida Schools teachers who reside throughout Florida and some who live beyond the state’s borders. All FLVS teachers possess a valid Florida Schools teaching certificate and are certified specifically in the subject they teach. All of this information is definitely impressive. It is easy to imagine what kinds of students would benefit from this type of Florida Schools education. Those Florida Schools students who are home-schooled, have various psychological challenges, social disorders, or other disabilities may find success by attending Florida Schools online. Are there drawback? Of course, nothing is perfect and snowy white. Never meeting face-to-face with one’s instructor can hinder the learning process. So much is communicated through body language, and the student would miss out on this valuable information by only studying online. The obvious lack of social interaction with one’s peers also exists; students who attend more traditional Florida Schools have a variety of opportunities to experience activities with other kids their age. While there are easily recognizable, positive aspects for Florida Schools students who wish to attend a virtual school, it is also important to recognize and consider the drawbacks to never setting foot inside any of the Florida Schools classrooms that exist in the state’s 67 districts.

Diversity in chicago schools

On the last day of the 2006-2007 Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts announced a decision that will inevitably stir up diversity issues within schools across the nation, and the Chicago Schools. It will most certainly change the way most school systems, including those within the Chicago Schools, run their magnet programs. And it will affect how they decide which students to steer towards, and to accept into, each program. The decision decried racial balancing in schools where race is used for magnet programs. Many of the magnets within the Chicago Schools use race as a factor in accepting students into their programs. There is one group of magnets in the Chicago Schools that selects students based completely on racially weighted lotteries. The students’ applications are sorted according to race, and then drawn in lotteries. This is meant to achieve racial diversity. Acceptance into other magnet programs is based on grades, test scores, academic achievement, and extracurricular involvement. Race is used as a minimal determining factor. Some administrators in the Chicago Schools fear that this threatens the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education; the decision in which segregation based on color was denounced. Patrick Rock, the attorney for Chicago Schools, stated that the decision will only affect Chicago Schools if and when a federal justice agrees to release them from a desegregation consent decree which dates all the way back to 1980. He stated that at some point in the future the Chicago Schools may ask to have the decree dissolved but states ”‘the question is when”. Rock also said that the Supreme Court ruling only affects how the Chicago Schools run their programs after the decree is dissolved. That may not be until the fall of 2008. This is when the application process will begin for the 2009 school year. In the meantime Chicago Schools’ magnets will continue to use the same criteria for admittance into the programs. Administrators say that Chicago Schools use race as a determining factor to keep schools racially diverse. Not as a means to segregation. The Supreme Court ruling does not disallow the Chicago Schools from using race. It simply states that a valid and compelling reason must be given for doing so. In the Chicago Schools these reasons often include ensuring racial diversity in the many areas where it doesn’t exist. Rock doesn’t feel that the Chicago Schools will eliminate magnet programs in order to avoid litigation, however, there are those on the Supreme Court who feel that many school systems nationwide may begin to dissolve their magnet programs to avoid litigation and its ensuing costs. The Chicago Schools may choose to use race as a way to determine where to build schools to ensure this diversity, how to fund schools in certain areas, and which programs to steer students towards - based more on their talents and achievements and not solely to fill a certain percentage of racial mix.

How to get your online it degree

You’ve made the decision to get your IT degree. Now come the questions of how to pursue it. Researching which college is best. Finding out how much will it cost. More and more, people are turning to online universities to further their education. According to a recent study by the Distance Education and Training Council in Washington, over 2.25 million people are registered for online studies in the United States alone. And it’s with good reason. An online IT degree offers unmatched flexibility and could save you a lot of money in the long run. Most online programs are much more affordable than attending a traditional college. The flexibility alone makes online learning attractive to most working adults. And, if you think about it, there’s really no field better suited to an online environment than IT. Since the computer is your classroom, an online education makes the most sense for anyone who’s comfortable working with computers. One thing to remember is that not all online universities are created equal. And going back to school is a huge commitment. You need to be sure that it’s money and time well spent. Here are just a few tips to get you going in the right direction. Find out if the college is reliable and has the required accreditations. This shouldn’t require too much legwork on your part. Just make sure you find this out. Otherwise, you probably won’t receive the education you’re paying for and employers will know the difference between an accredited and non-accredited education. One final word of warning that can save you headaches down the road. You should find out who the accrediting agency is. Confirm that they are approved by the U. S. Department of Education. Check in to what kind of financial aid the school has to offer. You’ll find that some colleges are more generous than others. Getting your online college degree doesn’t have to break the bank. While most schools offer student loans, the better ones also have scholarships and Pell grants for qualifying individuals. Research the types of online degrees the college has to offer. You will want to find out if the college has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management and Information Systems, or a B. S. in Network Management, or a Master's degree in Cyber security. Obviously, whichever online IT degree it is you seek, will greatly affect your choice in college. Ask about the person who will be teaching the class. Find a school that has teachers with real-world experience. You wouldn’t want to take a network management class from someone who hasn’t had years of experience as a network administrator. If you don’t find this out ahead of time, you run the risk of learning from someone who has no more experience than you. Check on the level of customer support you will receive. One of the best parts of pursuing on online IT degree, is that you can do your coursework wherever and whenever you want. However, this perk can turn into a nightmare if there isn’t a support staff on hand to answer any technical questions you may have. Find out about any extra fees other than tuition costs. In addition to tuition, check for other fees such as lab fees and textbooks. These costs can quickly add up. Do some research and check up on the online college you are considering. Read blogs and message boards. Ask professionals their opinion of the online school. Post questions on Yahoo! Check with alumni. Make sure you are receiving unbiased opinions from other students. Don’t just go by the information you find on the website. Ask questions. The bottom line is that it’s really up to you to make sure you’re getting the education you’re paying for. A little extra grunt work before you enroll could save you in the end.