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Waiting For Superman: A Review Essay
It's a question that parents keep echoing as they search for the right school for their children: Why can't every school be good? Why isn't this as easy as sending my kid to the neighborhood school?
I could read it achingly vividly in the parents' faces in Waiting for Superman. It was painfully clear in their hopeful optimism as the families of five likeable children underwent a lottery to enable their kids to attend various charter schools, and in the faces of weeping kids who didn't get into a school that could help them fulfill their dreams.
And here's the biggest trouble I have with in-demand charters, especially ones that have a high rate of success in helping kids from poor backgrounds: how do you get rid of the lottery when the scarcity of a good "free" school is what undergirds the free-market demand for the scarce resource (a successful school)? A wait-list means desirability/demand, and a wait-list ensures that the public charter school won't "go out of business," so to speak. Despite the immense good that's done by these schools, inequality is baked into the selection process in a way that it's not for public schools, which must accept all within its district borders. Why can't the successful charters take what they've learned and convert back to or import it back to public schools, where all are accepted? Do you see the logic of what I'm saying?
In a city as big as Los Angeles, the search for a good school is an epic task. When I lived within the boundaries of LAUSD, I tried to soak up wisdom about gaming the system–and an overwhelming, vast, byzantine system it is involving the accumulation of points accrued through strategic applications to schools you're not really interested in–to make sure my son got a good education. Sandra Tsing Loh did amazing work on this with her Burning Moms/Ask a Magnet Yenta series and has always had the conviction that public schools in Los Angeles have gotten a bad rap. She really bucked the tide by saying that if you look at your neighborhood school, chances are you'll see some good things happening there even if the API scores aren't "stellar."
The choice of school is so provocative people feel compelled to recite genealogies of their own educational backgrounds, mention teachers in their families, and reflect on their own years in school. (If you're interested, I've written a little bit about my own schooling here, here, and here.) As for myself, my own genealogy goes like this: father a math professor (union, btw), mother a college lecturer in cartography at a small, college town in rural upstate NY. Me: faculty brat. Attended a private elementary lab school attached to the town's teaching college (which for years I'd always thought was public). Public junior high school and 2 years of mediocre high school in the rural upstate NY town, last two years of high school in a wealthy suburban Maryland high school featured in U.S. News & World Report on the best public high schools in America. That elite public high school was where cars in the student parking lot were newer and more expensive than the cars in the teacher parking lot. Went on to public/private Ivy League college for undergrad, flagship public research university for graduate school for an M.A. and a PhD. The purpose of all those degrees was to teach at the college level. I am largely a product of the public school system and am proud I could get an excellent education. My spouse is also a public school graduate and we went to the same public/private university. We talked for a long time about where to send our kid to school, and we were committed to having our child attend public schools.
Son, now 7, attended a lovely private preschool attached to a private school that went to 8th grade. Son now attends a public elementary school in a "highly desirable" (read: the mortgage payments are killing us) and tiny school district with good schools through 12th grade near, but not in, the city of Los Angeles.
So much is embedded in where you send your child to school–what does it say about you and what you value? What are your aspirations for your kid? For immigrants, as my parents were, there's a kind of heightened anxiety about schools because they know how a good education can catapult a child, and therefore the rest of the family, several rungs up the ladder economically and socially.
We mostly think of ourselves as a "classless" society but the schools available for our children immediately puts the lie to that fiction. In sending our children to the neighborhood school, or opting for a magnet, charter, or private school, we're forced to confront all our class biases. When liberals or progressives choose schools, that's when ideology meets reality and the rubber hits the road. A progressive with kids is someone with road-tested idealism. Sometimes the results aren't pretty.
I also think of Texas, where extreme-right religious conservatives have hijacked the public school curriculum by dictating the most outrageous changes to schoolbooks that favor creationism, a certain vision of Christianity, and slanted views of history. In states like Texas or others, friends with children have fled to the safety of private schools where ironically, even if they're parochial schools, evolution and the scientific method are taught without question.
There's no way around it. Because it comes down to this: if your neighborhood public school is only mediocre, are you going to sacrifice your child on the altar of principle? The reality is that in a big city, inequality between schools is magnified, just like class differences and racial stratification. And while you are a progressive, you are also a parent trying to avoid having your kids ground up in the gears of inequality.
And that's exactly how Waiting for Superman opens: with the director, guilty white liberal Davis Guggenheim, driving by three public schools near his house as he drops his own kid off at a private school.
I liked Waiting for Superman, because I am a sucker for documentaries with children in them. It reminded me of one of my all-time favorites, Spellbound, which also illustrated in poignant fashion children with a passion to achieve and the heartbreaking reality of unequal resources at school and at home to prepare them. Again, like Spellbound, Waiting for Superman's structure builds up several children's individual stories and then brings the strands together for narrative payoff as we learn, along with the families, if their children win the lottery to attend a desirable charter school. But I wonder if successful narrative and emotional closure is achieved at the expense of a more accurate picture of what parents, teachers, administrators, and students are trying to do to make public education work for them?
Pro-Charter, Anti-Union?
Complaints among progressives about the film's pro-charter slant have been rampant. As someone who considered for five minutes sending her child to a brand new charter school (in our old Los Angeles city neighborhood) that emphasized arts curriculum, I can see the appeal of charter schools. They promise a customized educational experience, whether it's some sort of math/science/language/arts or other lens, like special needs or learning disability. They're often smaller, in general, so the class sizes are smaller and there's more chance of individualized attention. They lack the baggage of existing public schools–and I don't mean unions. I'm talking about the culture of a school–charters appear to be more nimble in responding to the needs of parents and their children because institutionally there hasn't been baggage around "how it's always been done." By nature, charter schools attract entrepreneurial administrators and teachers unafraid of breaking new ground.
The strongest criticism of charters I've seen from the left is that they're back-door union busting (although some charters do have unionized teachers, like Green Dot in Los Angeles, and there is nothing to stop teachers at a charter school from joining a union), they siphon funding from existing public schools, and they sneak in a for-profit model for what should be a non-profit endeavor.
My own reasons for not choosing a charter were much more pragmatic: while I liked the idea of fine/performing/visual arts incorporated into the curriculum from kindergarten onward…honestly? I didn't want my child to be a guinea pig. The school was just getting off the ground. It was completely untested. No track record. The other big downfall of a charter, I felt, is that existing schools for better or worse have considerable real estate devoted to them. Hopefully there are in place facilities like an athletic field, swimming pool, auditorium, science/computer lab, and other amenities, which, in a functioning school, will be decently maintained. A brand new charter school may be nomadic in its existence for the first few years. It might occupy less than desirable quarters simply because in a big city or even in a suburb, real estate is at a premium. (Side note: "conversion" charter schools can also be existing schools that decide to switch their status to charter, presumably using existing facilities.) Now, for a kindergarten class, space needs are modest, but older kids need more space. For everything. (This is also partly why I decided against the private school that went to 8th grade–the facilities were compact and even pretty generous given the dense in-city location, but on-campus green space was nil and it was hard to imagine play areas or other resources adequately meeting the needs of older kids.)
So I think right there the belief that good teachers alone can make a great school is somewhat undercut, and that's without even factoring in teachers' unions. Because a good school is also the extracurricular activities it can offer the students, and part of that enrichment involves committing bricks and mortar to those activities. The thing is, until recently many schools were sadly neglected and the facilities slid into decline from lack of attention or weren't updated because of lack of funds. So while in theory facilities existed for kids, in practice some schools had ceilings that were caving in and computer labs were a pipe dream. In California this cumulative neglect is particularly egregious because of Prop 13′s three decades of starving public schools of funding by depriving them of tax revenue from up-to-date market-value property tax rolls. Instead, houses owned or purchased in 1978 or earlier pay minimal taxes while those purchased later pay top dollar, in some cases 7 and 8 times in property taxes of what a homeowner in a pre-1978 purchased house pays. Worse yet, corporations hide behind the skirts of "little old ladies" who've owned their houses since 1978 and pay property taxes based on that valuation; corporations also enjoy artificially low property taxes on the 1978 value of their business real estate despite also banking enormous profits during the intervening 32 years.
Now as for those anti-teacher, union-busting charges–how true are they? Many critiques of Waiting for Superman decry the film for demonizing the two biggest teacher's unions in the nation, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA). When the charter schools movement launched in the 1990s in Minnesota, it was through the collaboration of an education professor in Massachussetts and the AFT. Some unions have themselves bid to run or started charter schools in cooperation with non-profit charter management organizations.
In the film, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek tells us that "the Democratic Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AFT and the NEA," with political contributions to campaigns far exceeding that of any other union. (He also points out that on the state level, the Republican Party enjoys a similar largesse from these two teachers' unions.) The point hangs in the air, but what is Alter trying to say? That union donations to politicians result in policies that favor the status quo for unions? Yet at another point in the film, we're told that because schools are funded by the states as well as the federal government, local school control is caught in a confusing thicket of rules and regulations from both sources. An unwieldy state school bureaucracy and nameless, faceless administrators who are part of the problem at failing schools aren't called out for scrutiny in Superman, though it seems to me any union dysfunction is necessarily entwined with administrative dysfunction. It may be a chicken-and-egg situation: which came first, the confusing rules or the union in interaction with state and federal mandates that created the need for complex rules?
Blaming unions is easy, but as this Nation article points out, teacher's unions are not uniform despite what seems like a cohesive national face. Local branches have worked to urge more stable school funding, smaller classrooms, and a lower teacher-student ratio–all things that are good for students and parents want as well. And a significant subset of teachers are part of a social justice movement acting from within unions to push for longer school days, greater support for kids from high-poverty backgrounds, and specialized training and support for teachers in schools with the worst achievement rates, because these teachers know that unless they address the tides of drugs, unemployment/poverty, and decimated families and communities, kids' tough lives outside of school will continue swamping their efforts to teach.
Teachers' unions are portrayed as resisting change and creating maze-like administrative procedures that allow bad teachers, "accused of everything from incompetence to sexual harassment," to languish at full pay in "rubber rooms" while they wait years for their cases to be reviewed given the complexity of union-contracted procedures to fire them. The figure thrown out regarding NYC's cost to pay regular salaries to "rubber room" teachers is $100 million per year. In Los Angeles, it's estimated to be about $10 million a year. The film highlights the difficulty of firing bad teachers: we learn from the New Yorker article on "rubber rooms" I just linked that bad teachers and ones held on the reserve list who don't appear to want to work comprise about 2600 teachers out of NYC's over 800,000 teachers. Tenure–lifetime job security–makes the bar high for administrators who want to fire poor teachers. Superman portrays union resistance to a new pay structure that would allow teachers to choose between a modest increase in salary and retain tenure, OR give up tenure and instead make almost twice as much money if they agree to be measured on how well their students perform as reluctance to embrace what's best for students. Union advocates have been slow, in some cases, to understand the depth of parental outrage over "rubber rooms" (Drunk in the classroom? Molesting students? No lesson plan?) and unions need to address how they protect these offenders. It may not be a large number of teachers who inflict educational malpractice on children, but even one child molested or abused by a teacher is one too many. I don't think "rubber rooms" are a partisan issue. They're a blight on the profession and need to be dealt with quickly and at minimal cost to school districts. Teachers who can't or won't teach need to be ushered quickly out of the classroom and guided to another role, or counseled to find other work. (Since the New Yorker article and the making of Superman, NYC's "rubber rooms," at least, have been dismantled and the union process sped up for reviewing disciplinary and other poor teacher performance.)
In my school district as well as over much of California, school budget shortfalls have also undercut that "lifetime tenure" for teachers. While it's true firing a teacher for cause is difficult, it's been all too easy for the state to issue pink slips to teachers due to insufficient budgets and a broken California state budget process that delivers budgets months late and with the maximum amount of Republican obstruction. I have tremendous sympathy for teachers who receive pink slips in May and then don't find out if there's enough money to be rehired until August. How does one plan a life this way, not to mention develop curriculum for the coming year? This I find more corrosive to a greater number of teachers, especially new teachers with less seniority but perhaps the most enthusiasm, than any attempt by charter schools to bypass the unionization process. And this is something I wish Waiting for Superman addressed better.
Maybe instead of tenure, unions and administrations could agree on 3-, 5- and 7-year renewable contracts. This is an option offered at the college level to some professors in lieu of lifetime tenure and it seems to strike a middle ground between protecting teachers from politically-motivated firing and ensuring that teachers enjoy some stability in their jobs. Something I found shocking about tenure for K-12 teachers: not even college professors gain lifetime tenure after only two years of work. Geoffrey Canada freely admits in Superman that he himself was only a mediocre teacher three years in. He only felt he became a master teacher five years in, with much coaching, feedback, and mentoring from other, more experienced teachers. Why can elementary and secondary teachers gain tenure with only two years of experience in the classroom, when by the admission of many teachers themselves they probably have not developed full mastery of the process?
Tenure review at a university occurs about 5 years in and involves a comprehensive review of publishing and teaching. Here's an example of how tenure works at the College of Southern Maryland, with stepped reviews of probationary periods before final tenure grant. Here's an example of how renewable 3- and 5-year contracts work on the college level in lieu of a lifetime tenure grant, with commentary by a community college dean. Perhaps with each long-term contract renewal, the whole of a teacher's career to date as well as the most recent contracted period could be reviewed and discussed, so that periodic checks are a built-in part of the process. Let's face it, even excellent teachers get stale or need renewal or inspiration, if not required to explain themselves in a thorough self-review.
As head of the AFT, Randi Weingartner is nominal villain of the film. She's struggled to correct and update the view of unions as obstacles to change in various interviews and articles since the film's release, instead arguing that unions have nothing to gain by protecting bad teachers.
"We have spent a lot of time in the last two years looking at ourselves in a mirror, trying to figure out what we've done right and what we've done wrong, and we're trying to reform," Ms. Weingarten said in an interview.
Early this year, she delivered a major policy speech that embraced tying teachers' evaluations in part to students' scores on standardized tests, a formula that teachers — and Ms. Weingarten herself — once resisted.
Speaking as someone who taught undergrads in a classroom for four years as a graduate teaching assistant, I can empathize with the reluctance of K-12 teachers to be assessed by student performance. I can use every trick in the book to motivate, encourage, remediate, inspire, provoke, and entice my students to embrace the material, but I cannot FORCE a student to deliver work, be curious, or want to excel. TEACHING IS MORE ART THAN SCIENCE. It bears repeating: TEACHING IS MORE ART THAN SCIENCE. Good teaching, which I've have the incredible good fortune of experiencing in my life on several occasions both as a student and once or twice as as the teacher, is a complex alchemy of teaching style, the teacher's personality, the dynamic of the classroom, the culture of the school, the subject matter, the kinds of skills the students bring as a whole, the quirks of an individual student, the materials available to spark engagement in a student's mind, the connection the teacher makes to the class as a whole and to individual students, and a good dose of motherwit about people and commonsense psychology.
Good teaching is good standup comedy in slow motion. Punchlines might take years to land. The laughter from a flash of discovery might not happen for months after you tell the story and set up the joke.
Even excellent teachers will tell you that there have been students they lost to family problems, drugs, poverty/homelessness, the student's mental health issues, or other serious factors outside the teacher's control. Especially excellent teachers will tell you this–the students that slip through the cracks weigh heavily on your heart, and there will be those students no matter what.
So you need not be a crappy teacher to hesitate at having your work assessed by student performance when so many factors affecting that performance are the very things you yourself are battling alongside your student. Moreover, how do excellent teachers daring to teach at the worst school with the lowest student achievement scores escape measurement that doesn't fairly record student progress? If not carefully implemented, value-added teacher assessment based on test scores alone can exacerbate the inequality in school systems and punish those teachers willing to work in the toughest schools.
One other thing leapt out at me as I watched the film: at one point, we see an animated segment that explains how "even the top 5% of American math students are only among the top 23% globally." Math achievement measured among the general American student population was much less impressive: we rank number 25 among all countries. Yet when asked how confident they were about their abilities in math, American students ranked number one in confidence. Overinflated ego mismatched with fair-to-middling results? What would this be the definition of–denial, or delusion? Years of watching my father grade blue test booklets of his college math students and listening to him complain about their poor preparation from the 1970s to the 2000s has instilled in me this conviction: not enough middle class parents value education in this country. If they did, high school math teams would rival high school football teams for status. There is a culture of anti-intellectualism in this country that serves us poorly. We made fun of pocket-protector "geeks," and now they're kicking our asses all the way to the bank. The home-grown ones, that is. Superman discusses briefly how Silicon Valley companies have many high tech jobs requiring STEM prowess, but they cannot find enough qualified applicants to fill those jobs. So we have to import them from elsewhere: East Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe.
And I have to say, along with calling out the lack of respect for learnedness in this country by parents and other adults, I have to call out in a huge way fundamentalist religion that is actively hostile to science. Religionists who put any credence in creationism are hobbling this nation and holding it back from competing with the rest of the world, which is not so benighted to believe the same. China and India, thankfully not yet overtaken by fundamentalist anti-science religion, will be happy to kick our asses while Big Religion decides it prefers Dark Ages reasoning to the Enlightenment, and Big Money/Big Oil convinces people global climate crisis is a myth when it's not.
No, good teachers will find themselves saddled with poorly performing students in every class and improvement will be incremental. Is it fair to make the entirety of the teacher's professional advancement dependent on how his or her students perform? No. Where, for example, are parents in supporting their children in this equation? No one is blaming working poor parents for not caring about their children's educations–if anything, I loved Superman's message that working class brown and black parents treasure a good education and do everything they possibly can to give their kids opportunities, despite burdens that come from many jobs held or even intermittent joblessness. If anything, the people who seem most unreasonably hostile to education are a certain segment of middle class white Christians who should know better. I sat there in the theatre seeing Superman's motivated children yearning for a chance to get a good basic education and then I see Glenn Beck offering spurious, hideously distorted, misleading and outright false information FOR A FEE as part of "Beck U." to people who presumably aren't from impoverished backgrounds and I. FEEL. SICK. WITH. RAGE.
So parental support for education is also a big factor in how well kids do that teachers have no control over. Should measuring student achievement still matter somewhat in teacher assessment? Yes. But. The devil's in the details. But what is the consequence for parents of students who don't seem to care about their children's education? Perhaps if we had a more cosmopolitan population, we'd be shocked and dismayed at how poorly trained our students are compared to students in other nations. And if we had any honesty at all, we'd have to look at ourselves to understand why we allow bullying, why teen pregnancy happens in the frequency it does, why helicopter parents consistently take the attitude "my child, right or wrong." And we'd have to look at ourselves as a society to ask why so many children are homeless and hungry, or have completely dysfunctional parents. Those are things no school or union or single teacher can fix. Too many of the worst schools try to put a bandaid on a hemorrhage when it's full service pre- and post-natal care, parenting classes, excellent child care and preschools, counseling and social work to address imprisonment and drug addiction that would really help. Yet it's these social service programs that are consistently cut.
Charter School Funding
Do charter schools siphon public funding from existing public schools as many progressives allege?
I didn't quite understand how schools are funded in California, period. So I searched for charter school funding guidelines (pdf) and worked backward from that.
California's charter schools are funded much like other non-charter California public schools. They receive funding from local property taxes, state education aid programs, the California Lottery, the federal government, fundraising, and other sources. They are prohibited from charging tuition, but may charge fees for certain items to the same extent as non-charter public schools may.
Charter schools are entitled to funding from five primary sources:
• The "Charter School General Purpose Grant,"
• The "Charter School Categorical Block Grant,
• State categorical and special-purpose programs,
• The California Lottery, and
• Federal categorical programs.
Remember my concern about facilities at the beginning of this essay/review? Applications from charters that serve communities where 70& of children get free or subsidized lunch, or are located in communities where that's the case get highest priority from state school facilities funds. California charter schools also have two pots of money specifically allocated to them for facilities funding via bond measures Prop 47 (2002) and Prop 55 (2005). That's only right, as many of the most sorely needed charters are the ones that serve low-income communities. And a few of these charters have done a magnificent job instilling a love for achievement and learning, and giving students actual support through tutoring and other programs so their skills meet or even exceed state averages. It's middle-class charters that offer specialized approaches (an arts focus, special attention to learning disabled children, etc) that often fall by the wayside when it comes to securing funding to lease or buy space.
Insofar as charter schools draw from the same sources as existing public schools, yes, they do make the pot smaller for all schools. We have not raised taxes to compensate for a larger number of schools per same pot of money, although the bond measures were designed to keep facilities funding from burdening the overall pot. However, since many charters also get funding from outside sources, such as foundation grants and so on, charters can't be said to completely rival existing public schools for facilities funding. But it's just common sense: if there are no additional revenues to enlarge the pot, but numbers of charters added to existing schools increases the total number of schools, it's hard not to see charter and existing public schools pitted against each other for funding. We could alleviate this by raising taxes to fully fund existing and additional charter schools, but so far have voters and legislators shown the political will to do this?
I think parents absolutely need the choices that publicly-funded charters, private schools, and public schools provide. But the answer is not to make the pot of money for public education smaller, but bigger. And the answer is also to assiduously cull the "laboratories," or public charters, that are underperforming and plow insights about what did work back into the existing public schools.
The unspoken truth is that charters can't spend as much per student if more of each school funding dollar has to go to facilities.
The unfortunate reality is that per-pupil operating funds for charter schools are almost always lower than those for traditional public schools in their districts. Currently, charter schools receive per-pupil operating funds at an average of only 73 percent of the amount given to traditional public schools in the same districts.
If many charter schools tend to receive $.73 to the dollar that existing schools get for operating funds, and then must spend a proportion of that $.73 to secure facilities that are less developed than existing schools (which theoretically have no facilities cost beyond upkeep), it would seem that charters are hobbled by startup costs that existing schools are not. Given that many, though not all, charters are set up in urban locations to serve impoverished communities, they'll have to contend with the expense of urban real estate or request that school districts re-allocate space from existing schools. Suburban charters find it no less a challenge to secure adequate space. After all, the most brilliant chemistry teacher can only do so much if there are no science labs for students to do experiments.
Additional expenses that charter schools typically incur that existing schools may not are consulting fees to the for-profit companies set up to help guide newly-minted grassroots charters through the minefields of school financing, grant applications, and state education requirements, as is offered by companies like this one. It's unclear whether these additional expenses would come from the same per-pupil charter school dollar or if these could be covered by add-on grants. For-profit charter management organizations like Mosaica Education, Inc. are used by many charter schools to subcontract out administrative work and also purchase curriculum. Why does this need to be the case, when there's existing school administrative staff? Does the purchase of Mosaica's curriculum discourage teacher input or flatten the personality of each school in the system? I'd like to see more economists familiar with education financing address this issue, because if anything, this seems like privatization of work that was previously done by state employees (also unionized). It would seem to me that district-dependent charters–charters that rely on existing public school infrastructure for administrative and other operational needs–would be a more cost-effective and efficient way to deliver the needed services.
I'd also like to see existing schools make public the budget for consulting fees, because I suspect there's fat here as well. In fact, I would LOVE a widget that shows how much of a public dollar goes to the student. Private schools and public charters might also be well-served by that kind of transparency and accountability as well.
Charter School Performance
It's been argued that charter schools in impoverished neighborhoods are getting great results with students and developing a record of success in placing graduates in two- and four-year colleges. Are these studies trustworthy?
I think it depends on several factors:
- The region or city being studied–local results matter most for parents
- The methodology of the study
- The results charters claim to achieve
- The study's funder
Rather than focus on statistics that can be manipulated to show charters as effective or ineffective, I prefer to focus on practices that charters often incorporate that I'd like to see existing public schools adopt if they don't already:
1. uniforms
2. parent/child learning contract with the school and the teacher, including specific parent involvement tasks
3. longer school day/longer school year
4. summer enrichment classes
5. tutoring for children who need it before it becomes a problem
6. wrap-around services in the poorest neighborhoods to the families most in need, including language instruction for parents if need be
7. occasional parenting academy/parenting Q&A presentations
8. integration of math & language arts across the curriculum
9. ongoing professional development for teachers including coaching and mentorship built into the school year at periodic times to address challenges on the fly
10. consistent non-violent class discipline coaching for teachers, including anti-bullying strategies
I'm a supporter of public schools and voted to help meet a budget shortfall with a parcel tax in my community. But I think being willing to raise taxes on ourselves, even in a time of financial hardship, has to happen on a statewide level in order for all public schools to improve. And I think while charters are a great choice serving many different kinds of populations, there should be greater oversight of the ones that are just as much a drain on the public funding system as existing "dropout factory" schools. This is both for the health of the charter school in question, so more of each dollar can go directly to the student, and to cut out redundancies in what the private sector provides over what the public sector already provides.
Because introducing privatization for its own sake is bad– profit always comes from somewhere: a teacher's salary that would be higher than otherwise? An amount spent on the student that would be higher otherwise? Duplication of what state school district employees do otherwise? At an extreme, abuse of public funds leads to corruption and self-dealing by charter management organizations, and we can't rely on an industry that essentially wrote and lobbied its own laws to also self-police.
Examples of fraudulent use of taxpayer money cited in Congresswoman Judy Chu's proposed Charter School Good Governance and Transparency Act:
In Los Angeles, a principal at the New Academy Canoga Park Charter School allegedly misappropriated $2.6 million, which directly led the city to begin the process of closing the school.
An investigation into Philadelphia's charter schools revealed that 13 schools were involved in complex real estate maneuvers, apparent conflicts of interest and lucrative CEO salary arrangements. The city's investigation has resulted in 9 criminal investigations by the US Attorney's Office.
In Texas, a statewide audit revealed that half of all the charter schools in the state had overestimated enrollment counts, resulting in an extra $26 million in payments to charter schools. The state estimates that it will only be able to recoup $17 million because $9 million went to charter schools that have closed their doors.
This is ultimately why, given my layperson's understanding of how charter schools are managed, I feel uncomfortable with charter management organizations increasing the share of administrative work they do and funneling public money to textbook suppliers and curriculum developers without taking advantage of economies of scale, and why I oppose the excessive use of state education money for "consultants" to either existing public or charter schools (who primarily exist to perpetuate their own livelihoods). Public auditing of charter schools and existing public schools should be widely available.
Kids should come first. To steal from kids from impoverished or working class backgrounds who simply want to flee bad local schools but end up in a badly or criminally-run charter school is abominable. And teachers should have the freedom to teach the state-mandated curriculum in the way that's worked well and is meaningful to them without being locked into curriculum that, however well-designed, imposes another kind of uniformity that many parents and children seek to escape from their unresponsive local schools.
DISCLOSURE: As stated at the top of this post, I and four other bloggers attended a showing of Waiting for Superman as guests of the charter home school company, K12. The other bloggers are (host) SoCalMom, YvonneInLA, Elise'sRamblings, and Sarah'sBlog. I appreciate K12.com's generosity in enabling me to see a matinee at my favorite Hollywood theatre.
I look forward to learning more about charter schools and how they're run. I'm genuinely excited about charters as laboratories for experimentation and I know teachers at my child's public school borrow and incorporate tools that have been tested in private, charter, and existing public schools. At the same time, I believe taxpayer support for public schools, where all can receive a tuition-free education, is probably the single most precious gift I personally (my parents as well) have received from America and regardless of what personal choices I make for my own child's schooling (in this case public elementary), I happily pay taxes toward everyone's education.


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Bachelor's Degrees in K-12 Education
To become a K-12 teacher you will need to acquire a bachelor's degree and pass a state licensing exam. Learn about these requirements and the opportunities available to teachers. Schools offering Early Childhood Education degrees can also be found in these popular choices.
Will a Bachelor's Degree in K-12 Education Qualify Me to Become a Teacher?
While a bachelor's degree alone isn't enough to become a K-12 teacher, most undergraduate programs include the courses needed to obtain state licensure. You can expect to take classes like educational psychology and classroom assessment that prepare you to take state licensing exams. It's a good idea to check with your state's licensing boards before you begin the program to make sure the school you choose offers the requirements you need to become a licensed teacher.
|Career Preparation
|Program includes courses that prepare students for state licensing exams
|Online Availability
|Online programs are available with in-person requirements for student teaching and classroom observation
|Common Courses
|Child development, teaching methods for science, teaching technology, classroom management, teaching methods for math
|Median Wage (2014)
|$53,760 (for kindergarten and elementary school teachers)
|Job Outlook (2014-2024)
|6% growth (for kindergarten and elementary school teachers)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Can I Earn This Degree Online?
Several schools offer online education bachelor's degrees that prepare you for state licensing exams. The coursework can be completed entirely online with the exception of student teaching and classroom observation requirements. You can access your coursework through the Internet, participate in online discussions and work in groups with other online students.
The education you receive through the online program follows the same curriculum as the program for on-campus students. If you are interested in taking both online and on-campus courses, you can find schools with hybrid programs that allow you to do both.
What Will I Learn?
Most schools don't offer a general K-12 education degree, instead requiring you to specialize in elementary, secondary or early childhood education. Your coursework will directly relate to the education level you plan to teach and can include teaching methods for reading, math and science. You can also take courses in teaching technology, child development and classroom management. A student teaching experience working in an actual classroom setting is required for the bachelor's degree program.
What Career Opportunities Are Available?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), teaching opportunities for kindergarten and elementary school teachers are expected to increase by 6% during the period of 2014 to 2024 (www.bls.gov). The BLS reports that a large number of teachers are expected to retire during this same period, creating more job opportunities for newly licensed teachers. More opportunities are available if you are interested in teaching in rural or inner-city schools, and earning a master's degree often boosts a teacher's salary potential. According to the BLS, the median salary for kindergarten and elementary school teachers in May 2014 was $53,760.
To continue researching, browse degree options below for course curriculum, prerequisites and financial aid information. Or, learn more about the subject by reading the related articles below:

subset: commoncrawl


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Source: BCG Report, The Connected WorldShow me the facts
Although many small-business owners claim that word of mouth is their best marketing, it probably shouldn't be. When it comes to making big purchases, 81% of consumers go online before heading out to a store.Source: GE Capital Retail Bank's second annual Major Purchase Shopper Study
97% of consumers search online for products and services—yet 47% of small businesses do not have a website.Source: Google and http://www.statisticbrain.com/small-business-website-statistics/
83% of surveyed US consumers reported that having a website and using social media was a factor considered of high importance when choosing small businesses.Source: Survey by web.com and Toluna
70% plus of U.S. households now use the Internet when shopping locally for products and services.Source: The Kelsey Group; ConStat
61% of searchers consider local results to be more relevant than standard search results.Source: http://localvox.com/resources/small-business-marketing-statistics
94% of smartphone users have looked for local information. 84% have taken action as a result.Source: thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/databoard.html
57% look for local info at least once a week. 25% look for local info daily.Source: thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/databoard.html
When it comes to mobile searches, more than half (55%) resulted in conversions within one hourSource: Entrepreneur - 6 Ways to Market Your Small Business for Less Than $100
73% of mobile searches trigger follow-up actions, including purchases, calls, visits and sharing.Source: Google-Nielsen Study
61% will leave immediately if a website is not mobile-friendly and move on to another site.Source: thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/databoard.html
When you first try to start an online presence you're faced with a daunting amount of unfamiliar choices. Maybe modern technology is foreign to you and you don't know what to expect. Maybe you're ready but you don't know where to start, or maybe you just need someone to talk to about how and where to start. Your smartest choice is to turn to a local independent expert to consult with that can explain expectations such as different online marketing options, project development schedule, how long it would take, and what the time and budget would be. You need to look for a consultant that is capable of earning your trust.
Please allow me to introduce myself...
CDGWORKS is the online name for my business, Crosbee Design Group. My name is Robert Crosbee and I live in Bluffton, SC - near Hilton Head Island and Savannah.
I am a web designer and developer with near two decades of experience guiding business owners to achieve success with their online marketing and presence. I build solutions that address the needs of the business along with the wants of the visitor and effectively positioning their online marketing. I am a web designer and web developer, a project manager, a consultant. I have a Bachelor's of Fine Arts and an Associate's of Arts in computer programming. I am someone you can trust with your online presence. I have worked with agencies in Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, designing and building websites for some of the most prestigious businesses in that area. I've freelanced for most of career, helping business owners realize solutions for their Internet presence - keeping their business relevant and effective online.
Good question. I'll tell you why...professionalism and experience.
Do you want to trust your business to someone who has little experience, not only with web development, but the other main factors of any successful campaign - understanding your business needs and being able to interpret them into fully developed ideas that visitors will embrace? I've managed hundreds of project over the years for an unbelievably varied range of businesses and I have succeeded because I listen. I listen to your needs, your concerns, your goals, and I understand. I provide a way forward that will impact the success of your business online.
I provide the most cost effective solutions to my clients.
I understand my clients concerns and goals. For years, I have consulted with clients - provided strategic pathways for the survival and success of their online presence and kept them informed and at ease throughout the process.
Design is not detached from development. Integration of knowledge from both sides results in a website which is that much better at appealing to the visual sensibilities of a visitor while simultaneously providing intuitive website functions.
Responsive design means knowing that your website will be viewable on mobile devices, which is very important to the ever-growing amount of mobile visitors. If your site is not responsive, you are turning away customers without even knowing it.
I've consulted, designed, developed, and managed hundreds of web development projects. I know what's important to you, and how to be effective for your business while managing the project for a smooth experience with amazing results.


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Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
July 5, 2006
The most amazing thing happened to me the other day.
Back when I hit my teens, I graduated from comic books to hifi magazines, partly because DC and Marvel started simultaneously sucking in the 80s but mainly because I wanted to build a stereo so loud it would drown out my dad's screaming at me to turn that @%#$ music DOWN for @%#$'s sake.
Most of the guys who wrote for hifi magazines in those days were, as they are now, pussies, but there was one guy who towered above them all and who wrote with such a powerful, stripped-down elegance that I became kind of a fanboy and actually went looking in libraries for old back-issues just so I could read more of his stuff. His name was J. Gordon Holt, the best and most important audio writer of them all.
Gordon not only invented subjective (i.e. opinionated) hifi reviewing, but birthed the high-end audio industry itself. Before Gordon launched Stereophile Magazine in 1962, there was no such thing as specialty audio, or audiophiles. The "audio hobbyist" magazines of the 1950s assured their readers that everything sounded pretty much the same, i.e. "just fine".
Gordon was the first person to say, "Wait a minute — some of this gear sounds like crap, and some of it sounds like live music, and here's what I'd buy if I were you". It was a radical stance at the time, and it sparked an upheaval that changed the audio industry on not just the publishing side but the manufacturing side as well.
As high-end audio grew into a billion-dollar industry, Gordon continued to burnish his position as the only rock star audio journalism has ever produced. And years later when I found myself writing for Stereophile and barely believing we shared a masthead, Gordon couldn't have been more kind, generous, and supportive despite the fact that he was a classical music buff on first-name basis with conductors while I eschewed underpants and judged speakers based on how pristinely they conveyed the harmonic delicacy of the Sonics.
So anyway I got an email out of the blue recently from a fine young gentleman named Charles who introduced himself by saying we'd actually met fifteen years ago in Santa Fe when he was a kid and I was writing for a magazine there which had been founded thirty years earlier by his father — Gordon Holt!
Charles had come upon Shaveblog without knowing of my connection to his father — just another guy looking for a better shave. So we e-yakked about shaving and he caught me up on what his dad's been up to since he "retired", and now miracle of miracles, Gordon and me are emailing each other on our Macs after over a decade since we last spoke. I'm thinking god, how "Circle Of Life" is this? I'm a kid who went looking for info and found Gordon, and now his kid's gone looking for info and found me, which led me back to Gordon.
So then Charles says he has something to send me. A few days ago I get a large package in the mail, and it's a framed, signed print of an old cartoon that Gordon drew back in the '50s for the Saturday Evening Post back when he thought he wanted to be a cartoonist.
It's a guy. Shaving. On TV.
I'm not even sure my parents had secondary hair when this ran.


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http://www.ted.com Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity -- caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait. But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of behavioral tests, on primates and other mammals, that show how many of these moral traits all of us share.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate
If you have questions or comments about this or other TED videos, please go to http://support.ted.com


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Level II coaches course gets underway in Mauritius
Port Louis, Mauritius, November 26, 2013 – A Level II Coaches Course, sponsored by Olympic Solidarity, is currently underway in Mauritius.
The course led by course director André Glaive and course instructor Fayzal Bundhun began on November 24 and will continue through to December 6.
The opening ceremony on Saturday took place in the presence of the President of the National Olympic Committee of Mauritius, the President and Secretary General of the Mauritius Volleyball Federation as well a representative of the Ministry of Sport.
In all there were 35 candidates who participated in the course, comprising 29 men (four were observers) and six women (two observers). Among the male participants, five are from Madagascar, one from Seychelles, one from Comoros and 22 from Mauritius.
The course subjects include volleyball history and fundamental techniques of the sport in addition to the ways in which coaches can motivate players and enhance their confidence through the practice of the sport. Other subjects that will also be discussed are offensive organisation, defense, transition games, different styles of play and the physical preparation of players.
Participants will also learn about high performance volleyball, key elements of successful serving, defense formation and match preparation including coaches' game plan.
The objectives of the coaches course are as follows:- To improve the knowledge and competence of coaches and teachers so that they may gain recognition as FIVB coaches.
- To present the most recent trends of the modern game of volleyball.
- To establish in so far as possible a unified system for training coaches in all zones. - To enable each National Federation to develop national courses and an internal method of training and qualifying coaches and teachers.
- To exchange ideas and experiences.
Participants will be required to pass both the theoretical and practical components of the course in order to acquire certification.


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I keep getting futher and further behind on my blogs. I am now on about 109 of my photos and only 73 of my blogs. Ack! I'm starting to forget why I did them. This one was taken from our family Christmas photo (see below). I had been really enjoying the look of the double mirrored image, hence why it showed up again here. It was still Christmas time, obviously, so I went with the red and green combo. One side is negative, one poistive. I don't really like this one. It was the best I could come up with at the time.
"At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year" ~Thomas Tusser
Family X-mas card photo, I make my own every year.


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Fibromyalgia is an oft-unpleasant condition that can cause pain and tenderness throughout the body. While fibromyalgia can affect anyone, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases notes that between 80 and 90 percent of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women.
While there is no consensus among medical professionals as to the cause of fibromyalgia, there are several recognized symptoms. Women who learn to recognize these symptoms may be more quick to seek treatment, which can include a combination of medication and physical therapy and possibly additional treatments depending on the plan designed by a woman's physician.


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Watchung Reservation
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
- Distance:
- 6 mi/9.7 km
- Location:
- Plainfield, NJ
- Get directions
Additional Notes/Directions:
Located between Routes 22 and 78 in Union County, NJ. Take Exit 44 East off I-78 and turn left at the traffic light. After a mile or so, turn right onto Route 645. Watch out, it`s easy to miss this turn. After a short but very slow ride through a forest you arrive at a circle. Take the first right (Summit Rd) and then the next right (Providence Rd). Soon you`ll reach the parking lot.


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Makale özeti ve diğer detaylar.
Distance education is a contemporary education system realized with the help of educational technology and distance teaching methods in a setting that learner and teacher are not face to face. In the foundation of the system lies the facilitating technologies that provide a person learn himself. These are printed materials, TV, radio, video, computer and so on. The most important education medium is the printed material at the Open Education Faculty of Anadolu University. 382 course books for all program have been published and produced so far. 399 editors and 1050 authors have had the responsibility of preparing these books.


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Are women more involved today, compared to years past, when it comes to the enjoyment of craft beer? It's a simple observation, really, about what I've noticed over the last decade in terms of craft beer involvement. I admit it, I bought into the cliché that beer just seemed like a thing for guys, and that ladies just preferred wine. Of course, over the years a lot has changed with beer; we now have the distinguishing characteristics between domestic and craft-made beer. With so many styles and flavors being produced at a level locally, I began to see women around me, many I knew personally, drinking and talking about beer with a passion that bested even my experience and knowledge. I was impressed and wanted, no needed, to know why this was happening.
My friend Christine, a pastry chef who lives in southern California, will drive to Arizona just to get Odell 90 Schilling because she can't get it in California. Locally made California craft beer is what opened her eyes and brought her into the fold. I asked her if she thought women were getting more involved, and she responded simply, "Yes, we are more involved because of the variety of styles and flavors that are created toward a women's palette, and if shown something they like, their eyes will open up to other styles and flavors." I liked this very much, and found myself digging into this more.
Another friend, Megan, a teacher here in Fort Collins would run into me from time to time at Odell Brewery. She surprised me when she said that beer had always been her drink of choice and never really wine or liquor. When I asked her about the increased involvement of women and craft beer she asserted, "Oh yeah, there are a lot more of us getting involved because craft beer is more artistic and fine-tuned, where it's not about how much you drink, but rather about the quality of beer you drink." I found myself agreeing with everything I was hearing so far, and found it very similar to my own thoughts on craft beer. So, I kept digging further.
I turned to another friend, Erika, a student at the University of Northern Colorado who has always enjoyed the beers at New Belgium Brewery. To her, domestic beers are just boring and bland. Whereas the craft beer she tried, she found really fun to guess what was in it. When she got tired of a certain style she would move on to another style. Posing the same question about the increased involvement of women, she replied, "Yes, there are a lot of factors where women are becoming more ingrained into the craft beer industry. But, I think the biggest reasons are the social sphere that surrounds craft beer, and there's a flavor that any woman can find at any brewery in Northern Colorado that they find drinkable."
The greatest thing to drink, for me, is a quality locally-made craft beer. Interviewing Christine, Megan, and Erika challenged the cliché that "beer is just a guy thing", and I found myself understanding exactly where these ladies were coming from. I honestly enjoyed the insight and learned that their tastes aren't so different from my own tastes in craft beer, why I'm involved, and why I like to drink craft beer. Women aren't just drinking beer either. They're getting involved in talking, writing about and making craft beer as well. It's not just a guy thing anymore and perhaps never really was. It's good to have more involvement, for this will help locally made craft beer grow even bigger I believe. Ladies, whether you are recently, or always have been, a part of craft beer culture, welcome to the fold.


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Painting by: Terry Gibbs
Watercolour of Iris plants on the edge of a small formal pond. Watercolour on Paper. Framed.
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Author Notes: Lasagna for Thanksgiving is an Italian-American tradition. No, the pilgrims didn't have lasagna, but it is nearly 400 years later, right? I think one of the very nicest things about our country is the veritable melting pot of food traditions. Each of our cultures brings something to the table to be thankful for during this holiday. This recipe is a twist on the traditional. Using seasonal delicata squash makes this not only a delicious addition to your holiday table, but beautiful as well.
—Maria Reina
Makes: a 13x9 pan.
tablespoons butter
tablespoons flour
cups milk
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Ground nutmeg
1 3/4
pounds delicata squash, 2-3 small
box oven ready lasagna
ounces ricotta, fresh or container
ounces arugula, about 4 cups
cups shredded goat gouda cheese, about 8 oz
Scallions, garnish
In This Recipe
- In a heavy bottom pot, over medium heat melt the butter. Once it gets foamy add the flour and whisk until it's incorporated. Let the flour cook for about 3-4 minutes, continuing to whisk. Add the heated milk slowly continuing to whisk.
- Once the milk is incorporated pay very close attention to the pot. You need to keep an eye on your beschamel and continue whisking so the bottom does not burn. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Once the sauce thickens slightly turn off the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt, pepper and nutmeg as desired and whisk.
- While the sauce cooks work on your delicata squash. Make 8 - ¼" whole slices for the top. Cut the centers out with a small cookie cutter or sharp knife. For the rest slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Lay on the flat side and slice in ¼" half moons.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11x13" pan with vegetable spray and spoon in 1 cup of the sauce. Set 3 pasta sheets down. Alternate the arugula and squash with the pasta. You will have 2 layers of each. Drizzle sauce over the pasta and add ricotta and shredded cheese. Save one cup of the sauce for the top layer. Make a design with the squash rings on the top and end with cheese.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Test the squash on top to see if it's tender. Turn the broiler on and broil for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve warm.
More Great Recipes:


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WGSN discovers: Almaty Fashion Week, Kazakhstan
May 23, 2019 | By Alice Gividen
Feb 18, 2015
By Jaclyn Jones
New York: This season Michael Kors was inspired by the yin and yang of an American attitude from people such as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Babe Paley. The collection exhibited opulent restraint and an overall composed and understated sense of glamour and indulgence. Menswear influences were seen throughout the collection with military accents, guncheck plaids, haberdashery capes, and burnished leather oxfords. Feminine accents and contradictions came through in simple bias cut dresses and subtle yet extravagant embellishments such as caviar beading, feather embroidery, and crystal patterns. The fox furs throughout the collection were breathtaking from oversized striped coats to sheared mink damask patterns, and bold peacock and claret colors. Michael Kors continues to design a new type of eveningwear with less focus on a gown and more on modern separates. This season he created lavish pajama sets with crystal embroidery and fox scarves as well as and evening skirt suit with floor length skirt and cropped jacket. Closing the show were two sparkling evening gowns with a simple bias drape capturing the understated opulence of the collection. –Jaclyn Jones
Theme: Understated glamour
Key Items: Fox fur coat / Chesterfield cape / Double breasted coat / Balmacaan / Trench coat / Tailored jacket / Trench cape / Pullover sweater / Turtleneck sweater / Aran pullover / Cardigan / White poplin shirt / Bias cut dress / Sweater dress / Flare midi dress / Slip dress / Pencil midi dress / Bias gown / Tuxedo gown / Knit skirt set / Woven skirt suit / Trumpet skirt / Pleated skirt / Double vent pencil skirt / Pajama pant set / Wide leg trouser / Cropped trouser
Color: Olive / Fawn / Barley / Chocolate / Charcoal / Black / White / Navy / Claret / Peacock / Topaz / Peridot / Slate / Gold
Materials and Trims: Damask / Velvet / Tweed / Mohair / Fox fur / Fisher fur / Cashmere / Poplin / Flannel / Bouclé / Wool melton / Sheared mink damask / Jacquard / Fil coupé / Lace / Silk georgette / Broadcloth / Crepe
Print and Pattern: Gunchecks / Glen plaid / Foulards / Paisley
Accessories and Footwear: Burnished leather footwear and accessories / Structured travel bag / Crocodile clutch / Satchel / Lean shoulder bag / Jelly roll handbag / Fox muff and scarf / Skinny belt / Circular tortoise shell sunglasses / Menswear oxfords / Brogue slides / Monk strap shoes / Chelsea boot / T-strap heels / Peep-toe Mary Janes
Know what's next. Become a WGSN member today to benefit from our daily trend intelligence, retail analytics, consumer insights and bespoke consultancy services.


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Singing Cedar Apiaries Honey and Honey Cremes
Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Our honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with Raw Honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment. -Roland Smith


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Wearing the Color Block Mini Dress from my Fall 2012 collection. Styled with my favorite $30 target wedges and knee high socks. My favorite detail on this dress is the burnout velvet printed houndstooth collar, its super cool. I feel so 60s mod in this outfit :)
Check out my new shop design & read my designer diary on www.alyssa-nicole.com !


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How I Love the Bureaucrats! Let Me Count the Ways!
Monday, July 25, 2011 at 03:09PM
Pythagorean Theorem: 24 words
Lord's Prayer: 66 words
Archimedes' Principle: 67 words
10 Commandments: 179 words
Gettysburg address: 286 words
Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
U.S. Constitution with all 27 Amendments: 7,818 words
U.S. Government regulations on sale of cabbage: 26,911 words
(h.t. Rod Rosenbladt)


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Oceania: West Papua Genocide
Thousands face genocide by Indonesian military09 Dec 2004 03:24 GMT
attacking villages in the heavily forested highland district of Puncak Jaya of West Papua. Dozens have already been killed; either directly by bullets from helicopter gun ships or from starvation in the crowded makeshift camps that now adorn Pancak Jaya the highest mountain in Australasia...
The subsequent state reaction has led to "internal refugees" now exceeding 15,000 people from 147 villages. Some are forced to hide in caves in the mountains in the central Puncak Jaya district.
People are starving. The death of 15 people, mainly children, was reported on November 27th. There are 2800 troops in several locations around Puncak Jaya, blocking off access to the Papuans who fled into the forest seeking refuge. As well as direct attacks on people the troops have been destroying village houses, wrecking food gardens, killing domestic animals etc.
Against this huge state assault the tribes have shown their instincts for both flight AND fight. In mid November after much of the population had fled into the forest a government convoy on the way to the area was ambushed. One policeman was killed and 12 officials, police and local media were injured.
The helicopter gunship herding of the main mass of tribes people up onto the mountain peaks probably serves three functions:
Violence and Kyoto are infinitely connected.
Aaron Vallejo 09.Dec.2004 04:57
We gringe at this information above. These tradegies MUST stop.
look up...
THoreau 14.Dec.2004 14:58


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February is a certified lover's month for most of us. In my world, it's the month for puffy gowns and pink skirts. It's absolutely the month when new and old clients visit my shop for repairs or adjustments. By this time, my secretary is well-informed that I won't accept prom projects. I don't like rejecting clients. At the same time, I dislike working on a project in short notice. However, there are exceptional cases.
I received a call from a sorority sister last night. She asked me to do the prom dress of her youngest sister. I couldn't say no to her request after all what we've been through in college. I've seen her sister once or twice. She has a plain face, fair skin, and skinny body tone. I remember that she used to join the basketball team in high school. I've seen her with shorts and shirts only. According to my friend, her sister didn't change that much. I decided to accept the project not only because we're sorority sister. Also, I realized how exciting this project is for me. I see this as a challenge because I only have few days to work on it. I only have 15 days for the design, sewing, fitting, and adjustments. Right after the phone call with my colleague, I started sketching.
In designing a dress, it is important to know the client. Aside from the basic measurements, a designer should consider the client's personality and taste. The design should not only suit the client's figure. The design should also match her attitude. Aubrey is the name of my friend's sister. As I've mentioned, Aubrey is quite simple. I chose red as the color of her dress. I'll be doing a long plain ball gown. I'll put on some red gemstones on the lining of her tube. I'm still thinking about how heavy the fabric should be. The drawing is only a draft. I still need to meet up with Aubrey for the finalization of the design. We have an appointment scheduled tomorrow. I am thrilled to see her and hear her opinion on the design.


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The Slime Dungeon Chronicles (prequel)by
Chapter 16- Emergency Quest; Save the Town! (Part 1)
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"Fiora and her party is ready to fight." Fiora, Gran, Nat, and Jonas hurried over. Jare gave them a glance and nodded.
"Good to see you have recovered; let us exchange greetings later."
Fiora nodded. More C-ranked adventurers joined them until they were a group of 20.
"Alright, that seems to be the limit of what we are getting. Follow me, and let's speak as we run." Jare turned and began running for the gate that connected to iron town.
"For those of you who don't know, I am Jare of the beast-man group 'Brother'. This is my brother William and my brother Anhel." The two mentioned waved as they turned down a street. "This is a special emergency mission, so if you survive be sure to report in to the adventurer guild for rewards."
"Sir Jare, what is going on here? What is that thing?" Nat spoke up from behind him.
"It's just Jare, no need for sir." He corrected her, "That THING there is one of the legendary phantom dungeons that was caused untold death for a century or two. It's called 'The Tomb of the Forgotten King'."
"I've heard about that!" One of the new adventurers called out, "Isn't it one of the few undead dungeons that the church has never been able to destroy?"
Jare nodded, "It's a dungeon that can teleport and hide it's aura during the full moon. It is also corrupted dungeon."
Gasps were heard from the majority of the group as they passed through the gate.
"The reason why I mobilized everyone is that this dungeon's worst trait is it's consumption of entire villages and small cities. It purposely moves itself to consume all living things, but especially people. It's rather surprising it appeared here, where the defenses are much stronger. That doesn't bode well for us though if it is confident enough to attack here."
"How does it devour villages? Is it a monster that eat people?" One of the adventurers was hyper-ventilating now."
Jare snorted, "No, it's a dungeon through and through. Problem is, as a corrupted dungeon, It's influnce stretches quite a bit from it, which allows it to . . ."
They were alerted to screams as they all halted. From the ground, skeletons began to arise, their naked bones glowing with a dark, red light. A small fire burned in their eyes as they brandished sword, axes, and spears."
Jare cursed, "By the nine hells, it's started already. THE INVADING DUNGEON IS SPAWNING SKELETONS WITHIN THE WALLS! WE MUST HOLD OUT UNTIL THE CHURCH CAN BLESS THE LAND AND STOP IT OR UNTIL THE SUN COMES OUT. WE MAKE OUR STAND HERE, FOR THE TOWN!"
"FOR THE TOWN!" The high ranked adventurers scattered and threw themselves into battle.
Magic flew everywhere and sword clanged as the sound of battle spread through the iron quarter. Those who slept here ran for the gates, as the undead were only appearing here for the moment. Screams rose up from the unfortunate who were cornered and slain by the skeletons. To make matters worse, those who were slain soon rose back up.
"Damnation," Jare cursed as he saw a body rise, "These skeleton foot soldiers are bad enough, but those animated corpses are going to make this worse." Jare turned to Anhel, who was firing away with his magic. "Anhel, I need the spirit of the owl to connect me."
"Jare, that will debilitate you for the rest of the day. We need you here." Anhel was fully concentrating on the battle at hand as his fireball smashed through another skeleton"
"It's fine; as long as they know what to do we can easily survive this first night. Hurry!"
Anhel shook his head, but opened his book and chanted a spell. The spirit of a mighty owl appeared and flew behind Jare, resting on his back. Jare closed his eyes and kneeled down.
"Attention, this is Jare the beast-man to everyone who can hear me." Jare's voice rang out in the minds of everyone in the iron quarter; from fleeing townfolk, to newly arriving adventurers, to the strong adventurers currently fighting.
"The dungeon can only spawn skeleton foot-soldiers for the moment. They are weak to fire and blunt weapons. If you can fight, join the battle across the quarter. If you cannot, flee otherwise your body will come back as an animated corpse. As long as we kill the mosnter quickly, everything will be fine."
"However," Jare continued, "Do not allow them to remain longer than an hour, or they will evolve. The battle will be won when the church blesses the land or if the sun rises. That is in a few shirt hours, so fight with everything you've got!"
His message complete, Jare collapsed onto the ground, every muscle in his body screaming in pain. "Shit, I forgot how bad this was." He chuckled painfully as he collapsed onto his back and panted.
"We'll protect you big brother, so take your rest now." Anhel spoke up. William nodded in agreement, "Rest now, fight later."
"Okay, night then." Jare's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell unconscious.
Across the way, Fiora smashed her sword through two skeleton heads. "Oy, did you guys hear that?"
"I did." Jonas spoke up, sending a fireball smashing through a group. He winced as it struck a buliding and set it ablaze, "Whoops."
"As did I; Jonas you need to watch your spell strength." Nat spoke up next to him. Her daggers weren't doing much work, so she pulled her broadsword out and used it to smash her enemies.
"Likely the beast-man payed a price for such large scale magic, but he did good in telling us the weaknesses and calming down the general populace." Gran observed, his arrows flying out and hitting the eye holes. His shots were good, but ineffective against the skeletons. He sighed, "Using a sword is not as graceful, but I guess I have to.
Fiora rolled her eyes, "Why complain when your silver sword is blessed by light and earth magic? It's the perfect thing right now."
Gran didn't bother answering her, but his sword flashed out and skeleton after skeleton disintegrated.
"Jealous." Said Fiora.
"Too strong." Said Nat.
"Stop showing off." Said Jonas.
Gran nearly tripped in surprise at his friend's words, "Shouldn't you guys be complimenting me or something like other humans?"
"No." Said Fiora.
"Don't feel like it." Said Nat.
"Stop feeling and start killing." Said Jonas.
Gran, even with his superb control over his own emotions, really felt like crying now. "Fine, let's just beat these things until the regret ever intruding here." He muttered to himself as he brandished sword yet again.
Thankfully, with Jare's direction the majority of monsters were easily beaten back and the quarter was soon cleared. However, the skeletons had continued to arise unhindered outside the wall in front of the dungeon. All the adventurers were gathered in front of the gate to iron town as they gazed out, nervously, at the horde of skeletons.
Jare, propped up against the wall, shook his head, "Damn, the sun won't be out for another hour, and those bastards are already evolving."
Fiora, who was leaning against the wall as well, cocked her head to look down at Jare, "Do you happen to know the undead evolutions."
He shook his head, "No, I just know the basics."
"Then you should have listened to me more when I lectured you." A chortling voice made everyone turn their head in surprise.
An old man in plain, black robes was chuckling as he stroked his beard, "My, my, I came here to learn about slime evolution, but it looks like I'll also have the opportunity to study the undead as well. Life goes so well when one has accumulated so much good karma."
"You and good karma are like oil and water." Jare muttered, "Where have you been you old coot?"
"Oh, just here and here, saving the rather balmy fellow trying to flee with full money purses." The old man said evenly.
"Who's the old guy?"
Jare sighed, "May I introduce one of the leaders of the Adventurer Guild, Magus Falcon the Evolutionist. He's also a teacher of mine.
Falcon chuckled, "Don't brag boy, you'll make me look bad for having a student like you. Seriously, you could have used a number of ways to communicate rather than sacrificing your own body. Now I have to reveal myself and save you. I was looking to having more fun too."
Jare rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say old man; you were going to join in anyway."
Falcon grinned and coughed loudly, "Now, everyone, if I can get your attention here please." He waited a moment, "Now, you lot have been fighting basic skeletons and skeleton foot soldiers. Please know that the horde before you has many other types now that it has had time to evolve itself."
"First, skeleton cultists. They are on the same level as a foot soldier and can cast small spells of various type. Second, I spy a few slingers in the mix over there. They use slings to throw stones, so try to block them if you can."
"Those are the basic enemies, but enough time has passed that the 2nd tier monsters have begun to appear. Swordsmen are stronger sword users, shield wielders will block your attacks on the weaker skeletons, and warriors will charge you with their axes and daggers."
"On the other side, the cultist can evolve into a specific element type of mage or an acolyte which can curse us and heal skeletons."
"Everyone got that?" After watching heads nod, Falcon grinned.
"Good, because I think they are tired of waiting."
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Armarium @Armarium ago
Hmm, I wonder what compelled the undead dungeon to appear at a well defended town instead of a little village.
Oh and found some small errors: Jare nodded, "It's a dungeon that can teleport and hide it's aura during the full moon. It is also a corrupted dungeon."
"That THING there is one of the legendary phantom dungeons that has caused untold death for a century or two. It's called 'The Tomb of the Forgotten King'."
Stormbringer @Stormbringer ago
Great chapter ! Saw a small mistake :That is in a few shirt hours, so fight with everything you've got!"
TJ Demuyt @TJ Demuyt ago
"Objectively wrong":
that was caused untold death
should be
that has caused untold death OR
that was caused BY untold death
Magic flew everywhere and sword clanged
should be swords
mosnter, fear the mosnters :)
a few shirt hours <- My kind of party ;)
"is blessed by light and earth magic?"
This could have been communicated (blessed/light weapons)
these things until the regret
the -> they
"Alright, that seems to be the limit of what we are getting.
"Alright, that seems to be all we are getting.
That doesn't bode well for us though if it is confident
Remove though
I was looking to having more fun too."
->looking 'forward'?
I like the story/world/combat a lot, I am less fan of the childish talking between the Dungeon and the Fairy.


text:
The Fairy Festival this year was so much fun! Not only did Boy Scout Troop 228 provide a pancake breakfast alongside our board members, but we had face painting, a photo booth, and all kinds of wonderful supplies for attendees to make their fairy shelter.
The Fairy Festival, also known as the Fairy Berry Breakfast, was started by Linda Davies as an awareness campaign to remind the community that "Domestic violence is not a fairy tale". Children and their parents are encouraged to create fairy homes using their own materials and that which is provided by the center. At the end of the morning, a lovely fairy comes to find which house would be the coziest to live in, and the houses are auctioned off to benefit the center.
This year's celebration was slightly truncated due to prior obligations, but all the attendees had a wonderful time. See further coverage through KHTS, and we hope to see you at next year's!


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During recent conversations and presentations, the topic of best practices for social media came up a few times. Most companies do not have formal policies for social media participation. Well, I just saw a new checklist collection published by the Blog Council:
This document is a draft series of checklists to help companies, their employees, and their agencies learn the appropriate and transparent ways to interact with blogs, bloggers, and the people who interact with them.
The council has published six checklists in their document.
- Disclosure of Identity
Who's the author? Who do they work for? How to communicate with them…
- Personal/Unofficial Blogging and Outreach
(clearly Identify business affiliations, say which posts are personal opinions vs. business position.
- Blogger Relations
Always be truthful, never ask bloggers for fake endorsements, never SPAM, be transparent about relationships with the author.
- Compensation and Incentives
What are policies for 'review products', clearly disclose paid reviews, no link manipulation for traffic,
- Agency and Contractor Disclosure
Disclose relationship with company with which you're doing blogger relations, never deceive bloggers, enforce requirements on subcontractors.
- Creative Flexibility
Best practices for artistic/entertainment value where temporarily obscuring a sponsor of a site is necessary or appropriate, e.g. pretend blogs, clues to a mystery, etc. but not fake consumer blogs.
Whether you're an independent blogger or a Fortune 500 company, I think the document is a good start in avoiding problems and reaping rewards… plus, since it's open source it will surely evolve. I wish that the document (note: word doc) had been published as a wiki that we could all contribute to online. But they are soliciting participation and will be publishing policies from companies soon.


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Tag: necessary
Buying Cookies On The Web Is Convenient And Simple
admin — July 23, 2018 comments off
Giving gift is centuries old tradition that has not lost its place during modern days. Really, people give and receive gifts with elevated enthusiasm and happiness than previously. Giving gift can be... Read more »


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Rich Vader
Rich Vader has been a professional tattoo artist for over 20 years. His expertise is the result of not only personal experience and training in tattooing, but also from meeting, learning and working with some of the greatest tattoo talent in the industry.
His love of tattoos began when he was young, but turned into a passion/obsession when he was 17 years old after getting his first tattoo from a tattoo shop in his home town Waukesha, Wisconsin.
He has traveled extensively and incorporates these experiences in his custom designs. While he prefers to develop custom tattoos designed specifically to the unique qualities of an individual, he is not above doing work from 'flash'. His attention to detail extends beyond his master ink-work to providing the utmost safety and hygiene procedures.
His work has been featured in some of the world's top tattoo magazines. His tattoo designs and expertise provide extraordinary results for his clients without a "rockstar" attitude. From beautiful to the bizarre; realistic to abstract, check out the ink-inspiring designs of Rich Vader.


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There are lots of companies and individuals, who are engaged in designing and development of apps, which are playing important role in our uses of mobile phones, especially the new generation smart phones. The Free Stickers box Use the chat is one of such apps that enables us to prepare a message or crafting an email, by the use of some excellent stickers, through this immaculately prepared app.
As the name suggests; the Free Stickers box Use the chat has some versatile options for its users, which have immense potential of supporting the creation of an SMS or mail that enthralls the recipient. While this app provides thousand plus stickers, even the decorative stickers, free of cost; there is no need of registration to get this app on any specific device.There is no need of divulging any email address or other personal information.
Not only general stickers, this application provides stamps like; animals, yuru kyra, surrealistic, completely free, which are all potential of supporting the user to decorate his or her specific message or other documents. The use method of this particular application is very easy – one van comfortably accessed the app directly from social media e.g. facebook or LINE.
Apart from facebook and LINE, this particular app is compatible with some other applications, such as; Twitter, WhatsApp, Wechat, Kakao Talk and Skype, which are all important part of the social media network family. This application is already tested and completely virus free, thus, the user doesn't have to worry in using this vehicle in daily life. The app is completely user-friendly; while the installation is very easy, at the same time, the deletion can be done straight away from the smartphone's screen without any hindrances.


text:
Field Sales – UK – Asset Finance
Role: Field Sales – BDM
Salary: Competitive salary package
Location: Wales/Northern/Kent, UK
My client is currently looking for an experienced Asset or Equipment Finance field sales person to join a vibrant company based in Hertfordshire, looking to cover the various regions. Looking for those with strong relationships within their field.
Your Role:
• Visit all existing and new suppliers regularly as set out in your KPI's. Minimum of 1 new supplier (actively writing business) to be introduced to my client monthly. Diary to be kept up to date with all appointments.
• Maintain and grow new and existing equipment supplier relationships through effective account ownership; this includes identifying areas in which my client can add value to the supplier's overall service offering whilst increasing gross profit return to my client.
• Pursue new equipment supplier relationships through a variety of different means; cold calling, door to door canvassing, attending trade shows and via introductions from existing equipment suppliers.
• Provide the management team with all relevant information relating to your suppliers in order to facilitate full supplier approval & analyse overall lease potential
• Strategy plans in place for all key equipment suppliers & involve the management team and/or other representatives from my client where relevant in order to increase business and/or improve service
• Provide your equipment suppliers with lease and/or document completion training if required. Provide regular MI to equipment suppliers regarding portfolio performance
• Accompany your equipment suppliers as a representative of my client at trade shows and/or social functions where relevant
• Provide your equipment suppliers with up to date rate charts and special quotes for individual deals, ensuring all information relating to general supplier info & rates is accurately recorded on Capitalise. Ensure CRM is kept up to date with all relevant information for your suppliers and new business leads
• Work in conjunction with your appointed New Business Executive to ensure all proposal information is correct and fed through to the activations team, and all proposal decisions are relayed to your equipment suppliers in a timely manner.
• Contact end user customers in order to secure new proposals and seek out new supplier relationships
• Provide accurate monthly GP (Gross Profit) forecasts to the management team & communicate any changes in a timely manner
Please ONLY apply for the above position, should you have strong equipment or asset finance experience in a field sales role. Contact Danielle via firstname.lastname@example.com