I introduced Scratch to a new group of 8th graders today. I got a little carried away with the example I gave them showing how they could take an existing game on the Scratch website and modify it to make it your own. Since today is Super Tuesday I thought it would be appropriate to make a MOD of Angry Birds using the candidates heads and throw in a bunch of the ridiculous things they've said on the campaign trail. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Friday, April 1, 2011
Minnesota GOP Education-Health Care Double Standard: Evoking the 10th Ammendment
The political climate in Minnesota right now is toxic, especially around the issue of education. The legislature recently passed it's omnibus spending bill, a bill with deep cuts and many changes to public education. These cuts and changes, should they become law, would directly effect the district I currently work for in a big way as much of our funding comes from an item targeted by Republicans for cuts: integration revenue. Needless to say, between this and the high stakes testing that is at our doorstep things are not very pleasant around the office.
Another thing in the cross hairs of the Republican controlled House and Senate is funding for the Minnesota Department of Education. In recent testimony regarding the House version of the bill, Commissioner Dr. Brenda Cassellius had the following testimony:
This was eye opening for me in a few ways. First, I did not realize that the MDE was already 60% federally funded. This, despite the fact that most of our school funding comes from state revenue from property taxes and only a small percentage of funding for Title I programs and federal grants comes from the fed means that most of the oversight of how we spend our education dollars and how we educate our kids is done...federally. So, if these cuts to MDE find their way into the final bill, which I don't think they will at these numbers at least, then lets do the math:This bill will affect MDE’s ability to properly account for and manage public money and hold other education entities accountable, both academically and financially.
· $11.25m cut in this biennium represents a 34% cut below the base state appropriation and could eliminate 50 of approx. 200 state funded employees. As we testified at an earlier hearing, the agency is already 60% federally funded because of years of cuts to the agency. A reduction of this nature in the agency’s state workforce would seriously hamper our work.
· If we add in the unfunded mandates in this bill for new tests, Q Comp expansion, early graduation scholarships, and teacher and principal evaluation proposals, the real cut to MDE is even greater - and our ability to deliver on our promise of better support to school more severely diminished
50/200=25% cut in current funding to MDE from the state. If 200 employees currently represent 40% of MDE staff then:
40/100=200/total number of current MDE employees
total number of current MDE employees=500
total number of federally funded MDE employees=300
now, with the cuts,
% of state funded MDE employees/100=150/450
% of state funded MDE employees=33%
which means that now 66% or 2/3 of oversight of how Minnesota spends it's own state's tax money on public education will be overseen by federally-funded employees. People tend in their jobs to be accountable to those who are funding their positions. These people at the MDE would then be accountable to the federal government and not the people of Minnesota. This seems to me like it is an open door policy for the deployment of national standards and Common Core Curriculum.
What boggles my mind is that the same party that is quick to stand up for state's rights and smaller federal government is so quick here to increase the influence of the federal government in our pubic schools.
The problem with the tenth amendment is that it is so vague. It's language opens it up for great interpretation, as do many of the other amendments in the U.S. Constitution. I guess this is why the party of No can evoke it when trying to deny health care coverage to residents of the state and at the same time sit back and let their schools be taken over by the federal government and federal policies. Seems like a double standard to me.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Why This Year's Midterm Election Is So Important For Education #edchat
We are just one week away from the midterm elections and I wish to spend just a little bit of time today in this post to flush out why this midterm election season is so important for education. True, midterm elections are never as sexy or sensational as the years we have to decide on a president but a very strong case could be made for why this midterm election should weigh at least as heavily on our conscious. This year there are are gubernatorial races in thirty-seven states and two territories. Most of these are open seats.
I don't think most people understand the weight the people who will fill these positions will carry with regards to public education. One can think of a Governor as sort of the superintendent of all schools in a state. They get to decide who the commissioners are in the state departments of education. They get to set the agenda for legislation regarding education including school funding. They have veto power for all state-level education policies. Plus, as the chief individual in charge of the public trust and Education spending in most states being one of the top two categories of state spending when you hire someone to serve as your governor they better understand education issues (By the way, we have seen steady growth in Health and Human Services spending and I believe the 08-09 report is the first time in MN I have seen it eclipse education spending).
So, who we elect, what their views on education are, and who they surround themselves with matter greatly. With a solid majority of our states governor seats up for grabs next week the outcome of those races will largely determine the path we take with education reform. What we need to be asking these candidates and what I believe every person (and educators in particular) is how they plan to deal with the budget issues caused by having a disproportionate number of teachers at the top of the pay scale, what they plan on doing by the end of their first term when we will have a projected massive shortage of teachers when this group retires,
how do they plan on dealing with issues of equity in education,
and what purpose does public education serve.
Which of these candidates in Minnesota sound like they have thoroughly thought about these issues, what about candidates in other states?
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Consequences of Digital Illiteracy
Disclaimer: This post is not about politics, nor is my intent that it be political. It is about technology and digital literacy (or digital fluency).
How is Technology Affecting This Election?
Like many people, I have been following this US presidential election and noticing how much technology has changed things this time around. The essential question that emerges for me from this spectacle is, "What are the consequences of digital illiteracy?"
When looking at the role of technology in this election it is easy to see some of the triumphs. First there were the YouTube debates last winter that at least gave the impression that regular everyday citizens could have a greater voice. Then there was the promise by Obama to announce his running mate first via text message. Even though his pick was leaked and reported first on the cable news the stunt gathered for the Obama camp an impressive bank of emails and cell phone numbers. It will be interesting to see how these are used as we draw closer to the election.
The third thing I have noticed was how much social networks have played a role in this election. Obama is the first US Presidential candidate to use one as his campaign website. While members of this social networking site can't do much more than donate money and get their friends to donate money it is the start of what could be a new model of how to tap into the power of the social web to aide in the running of a campaign.
What the Obama campaign has done with technology seems to contrast strongly with what I see coming from the McCain camp and I can't help but think their lack of fluency with digital media is going to hurt or has already hurt his campaign.
Back in July the New York Times published an interview with McCain where he said he was learning how to get on the internet himself and relied on those around him to help him do things on the web. Here is an excerpt from that article:
This brings us to what I find a striking contrast in how social networking has affected this campaign season. Since McCain has picked Sarah Palin as his running mate there has been a firestorm of controversial debate online about Palin's values and her ability to effectively mother her own children. Most of this debate stems from the circumstances surrounding her 17 year old daughter's pregnancy. However, things get worse when you look at the boyfriend's MySpace page or even the boyfriend's sister's Myspace page (which have both now become private but the damage I am afraid has already been done). Nevermind the whole teenage pregnancy issue or the vulgar self description that reportedly appeared on Levi Johnston's (the daughter's boyfriend) MySpace page. On Levi's sister's page there appeared this photo:
The girl sitting in the chair is Levi's sister and the baby she is holding is Trig. This image is most likely the image that set in motion the rumor online that Trig is not really Sarah Palin's son but is her Grandson. Whether that is true or not, the political damage has probably already been done. I can't help but think that if McCain were more technically literate he might have had the foresight to investigate his running mate's own web presence before tapping her as his #2. I guess in November we will see if his own inability to use the internet will hurt McCain or not. One thing I think is a pretty safe bet is if McCain-Palin win in November we probably won't see any love for MySpace or other social networking sites from that administration.
What skeletons do you have in your online closets? Couple suggestions:
1. Google yourself regularly (or sign up for Google Alerts and let them push new sites with your name, company name, or username as they are posted)
2. Watch what other people around you post
3. If your kids have an account on a site like MySpace or Facebook create one for yourself and insist that they make you one of their "friends." See what they are posting and follow what their friends are posting.
4. If you are hiring a new employee, do a search for their name.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Twitter Political Widget
This election season I have mostly been following news using Twitter Search. Unfortunately, our school district currently blocks twitter and we are still not sure it is appropriate for student use. However, I do see huge advantages to having the ability to view tweets as they flow in, especially regarding current events. Therefore, I created widget using Feedburner that pipes tweets related to the election to this rss reader widget:
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