Weekend Roundup

This kind of story reminds me that there are people who identify as religious, Catholic and progressive! Almost makes me want to drink coffee, too.

Hmmm...better late than never. Wish they would have thought better on how to capitalize on Jaime Escalante's legacy a long time ago ... and in more imaginative and useful ways.

Library wars ... I know times are tough, but when you are about to dig up a park to the tune of millions to make it more fancy, you'd think you could afford to pay for the library ... ridiculous.

This is an interesting turn in the teacher pay and lay off debate. It is about the third story (here's the second) I have read with parents standing up for their children's teachers. I wondered how it would go down once the situation was less abstract (those greedy teachers) and more concrete (hey, they just laid off my son's teacher)... maybe the middle class is waking up after all: the US's most notorious sleeping giant.
Some quotes from these two stories:

"Enough is enough," said Amanda Millet, who has two kids at the school. "This year we stand to lose some of our best teachers, the very best. It's amazing that the teachers and their union are being blamed for what is happening with the economy right now.... I see a lot of very nice new buildings housing the LAUSD administration. They should get out of those offices and see what's happening at a school like ours, a place that needs to keep all the good teachers it can." [LA Times story]

"My husband works in Sunnyvale. It's not for convenience that we stay in Oakland," said Heather Siglin, who has a first-grade student at Glenview Elementary School. "We built a solid school in my neighborhood. I trust my son's teachers, I trust my principal, and assuming they have the job in the fall, I'd like to give the power back to my school. I want the money to go to my teachers.

"A lot of my neighbors have opted to send their children to private school. Why should I stay?" [SF Chronicle story]

This is what I expected would happen... hope it is the isolated case:

Not everyone was in lock step. Jean Higgins led about a dozen parents from Think College Now, a Fruitvale District charter elementary school, in urging the civic leaders to develop creative layoff plans to avoid layoffs by seniority that would more deeply affect certain schools. Teachers in the audience responded with shouts of "No layoffs!" and "Don't pit teachers against teachers!" [Oakand Tribune story]

For fun, because there is not nearly enough fun in my life right now. And after you read it, it will confirm just how lacking in fun my life is... ah.... how many more weeks until the end of the semester??

Steve Lopez, from the Los Angeles Times, takes on the budget and immigration.

And the LA Times also takes on the issue of how to handle the rampage via youtube.

And one for the silver lining file... NPR has been doing a series on youth violence in Chicago... Sunday's entry was particularly hopeful even if the situation itself isn't. Gotta start somewhere... and I am heartened by what these folks are trying to do, and particularly how they are including the community in the solution.

Also saw a wonderful story on Sixty Minutes. Click here if you want to be inspired. It also belongs in the silver lining file.

Back to the grind for a few more days before I head out to Los Angeles for the Oral History Conference... hoping that I will be going there with my master's paper done... cross your fingers for me.