July 2009 Archives

According to this story from Time magazine, a new study has linked environmental pollutants during pregnancy to a four-point drop in children's IQ scores by age 5. That doesn't sound like a lot, but...

"A difference in four points could be educationally meaningful in terms of school success,"

says Frederica Perera, director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health and lead author of the study. The effect is comparable, she says, to the damage seen in children exposed to low levels of the toxic metal lead.

The study focused on exposure to substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a by-product of the incomplete burning of gas, diesel, oil and coal.

According to this Washington Post article, President Obama has launched a $4.35 billion competition for federal education funds "urging states to ease restrictions on charter schools, link teacher pay to student achievement and adopt common national academic standards to be eligible for the money"

An excerpt:

In a speech at the Education Department, Obama joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan in announcing draft criteria for the "Race to the Top" fund, which the administration is billing as the "largest-ever federal investment in education reform."

"The future belongs to the nation that best educates its people," Obama said, while acknowledging that the U.S. education system "has fallen short" in some areas compared to other countries.

LONG BEACH -- Members of the California State University faculty union have voted to support a plan requiring them to take two unpaid furlough days per month for a one-year period, union officials announced Friday.
Members of the California Faculty Association voted 54 percent to 46 percent in favor of the furlough plan proposed by the CSU administration as a budget-saving measure, union officials said.
Voting results for Cal State Long Beach faculty were not immediately available.
"This vote has been a painful exercise. The choices were terrible," CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of history at CSU Los Angeles, said in a statement. "There were principled positions on both sides of this thorny question."

Long Beach School Board member Michael Shane Ellis, who has not attended a board meeting since May 5, last week told district officials that he would be present at today's board of education meeting (July 7). Board members meet in closed session to discuss sensitive or confidential matters before gathering in open session, where members of the public can attend and address the board.

Today's closed session began at 3 p.m.. As of 3:20 p.m., Ellis was not at the board meeting and had not picked up his board agenda packet, which contains information on items to be voted on at the meeting, district officials confirmed. The open session is set to begin at 5 p.m.

Check the Press Telegram web site later tonight to see if he showed up at a later time.

This post was written at 3:26 p.m.