{"id":23609,"date":"2019-07-07T00:21:13","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T08:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=23609"},"modified":"2019-07-07T00:21:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-07T08:21:13","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-the-nea-ra-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-the-nea-ra-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: The NEA RA and MORE!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hong Kong police move to forcibly clear protesters occupying legislature complex (video within)<\/h1>\n

Police used force early Tuesday to clear thousands of protesters in and around Hong Kong\u2019s legislative building after some broke in and occupied it\u00a0Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the semiautonomous city\u2019s return to Chinese rule.<\/p>\n

The escalation has brought Hong Kong into unprecedented and uncertain territory, and represents the biggest test of Beijing\u2019s grip over the global financial hub and the status under which it operates.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, Hong Kong\u2019s streets were reopened, the rush-hour traffic flowing through like on any other day.<\/p>\n

But outside the Legislative Council building, piles of broken umbrellas, traffic cones and jumbled barricades zip-tied together by protesters littered the sidewalk. Cleanup and repair operations, which are expected to take weeks, had begun with garbage trucks carting away the wreckage. Police officers stood around the perimeter of the building, where tempered-glass doors and windows shattered by demonstrators had been cordoned off by flimsy blue-and-white tape. Graffiti denouncing the police could be seen just inside the major public entrance to the building.\u00a0 www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/hong-kong-police-clash-with-protesters-on-anniversary-of-return-to-china\/2019\/06\/30\/7f0a05ae-9b3c-11e9-83e3-45fded8e8d2e_story.html?utm_term=.22162b0c5b78<\/a><\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dD19FYPqpj8<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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University Of Alaska Readies For Budget Slash: ‘We May Likely Never Recover’<\/h1>\n

The University of Alaska System is bracing for a 41% cut in funding it receives from the state, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a $130 million line item in the state’s budget.<\/p>\n

The announcement came last Friday, three days before the fiscal year began on July 1. Dunleavy vetoed roughly $400 million in items<\/a> in the budget, with education receiving the largest cut.<\/p>\n

The university system will lose $130 million from the veto \u2014 on top of an additional $5 million previously agreed upon by legislators. The governor’s 182 line-item cuts also included Medicaid, senior benefit payments and homelessness services.<\/p>\n

University President James Johnsen says he was caught by surprise.<\/p>\n

“I was pretty stunned. No question it was a grim day,” Johnsen tells NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. “To get this huge reduction on top of all the cuts we’ve already taken is extremely challenging. … There aren’t any nickels and dimes laying on the floor anymore. It has to be \u2013 to borrow a medical term \u2013 amputation at this point.”<\/p>\n

That means faculty layoffs, furlough notices for 2,500 employees and a freeze on hiring and travel. Johnsen envisions having to close down one of the system’s three universities \u2014 with main campuses in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau \u2014 and all of its 13 community campuses.\u00a0\u00a0 www.npr.org\/2019\/07\/03\/738569508\/university-of-alaska-readies-for-budget-slash-we-may-likely-never-recover?ft=nprml&f=1001&fbclid=IwAR3j8QQagdYG2lIe0TbJjl-JU93fXAHDEhd7npUqOq6q5r1lzp8RrTEXc8o<\/a><\/p>\n

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USC to pay $50 million and apologize to UC San Diego for poaching its Alzheimer\u2019s research program (in capital’s schools, it’s all about the money)<\/h1>\n
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USC has agreed to pay UC San Diego $50 million and to publicly apologize to the school for the way it wrested control of its prestigious Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Cooperative Study in 2015 during a raid that led to a highly contentious lawsuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The penalty and apology have resulted in the settlement of a lawsuit the UCSD and the UC Board of Regents brought against USC in San Diego County Superior Court.<\/p>\n

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The move also represents an extraordinary turnaround from four years ago, when USC took control of the program\u2019s data and contracts worth tens of millions of dollars<\/a> and gave jobs to the program\u2019s star researcher, Paul Aisen, and some of his staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cUSC and Dr. Paul Aisen regret that the manner in which Dr. Aisen and members of the ADCS staff left UC San Diego and brought research assets to USC [and] created disruption to UC San Diego,\u201d the university said in a statement late Tuesday.\u00a0 www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-usc-apologizes-uc-program-20190703-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Financially struggling River Rouge district officials travel big on school dime<\/h1>\n

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River Rouge school Superintendent Derrick Coleman says money he and other top administrators spend\u00a0traveling to places like Las Vegas, Orlando, Anaheim, Nashville and Washington, D.C., is educational.<\/p>\n

“This is training that we don’t believe we can find locally that’s offered nationally,” Coleman said. “And so we choose to, you know, send\u00a0qualified people there. They’re bringing that information back.”<\/p>\n

The district has spent more than $288,000 on out-of-state travel over the past six years, including almost $23,000 this past year alone.<\/p>\n

The district has about 2,300 students, about\u00a075% of whom qualify for free or reduced price lunches because their family incomes are so low. Household income in River Rouge is about half the state average, according to census figures.\u00a0 www.freep.com\/story\/news\/education\/2019\/07\/01\/river-rouge-schools-travel-expenses\/1514275001\/?fbclid=IwAR2hWpluWbOIoql3uTjg2YlH_M9FSoMiBX2e56hQOxw2iWcqsQ7AmYzYBAs<\/a><\/p>\n

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Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder named Harvard fellow (Then not)<\/h1>\n

A former Michigan governor who’s been criticized for his administration’s role in the Flint water crisis is headed to Harvard University to teach and study subjects related to state and local government.<\/p>\n

Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government announced Sunday that Rick Snyder <\/a>begins work as a senior research fellow Monday. His fellowship is with the school’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government.<\/p>\n

Center Director Jeffrey Liebman says in a statement the two-term Republican governor brings “expertise in management, public policy and promoting civility.” Snyder says he looks forward to sharing his experiences.<\/p>\n

He’s previously said he’s most proud of Detroit’s turnaround and keeping young people in Michigan.<\/p>\n

He’s acknowledged failure at all levels of government for the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint that began in 2014.\u00a0\u00a0 www.clickondetroit.com\/news\/former-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-named-harvard-fellow-1?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wdiv4&fbclid=IwAR2HmyQk7wmjg0PBKRY0tEqurNDghZ1OE_GhHVFb0KcOgqf4AbOlpNDUWhU<\/a><\/p>\n

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State auditor attacks SDSU for dearth of student parking<\/h1>\n

Qualcomm time bomb<\/h3>\n

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As the clock continues to tick on super-secret talks between San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer<\/strong> and the California University System over turning over the city-owned stadium formerly known as Qualcomm to San Diego State, a newly-released audit has cast a pall over the university\u2019s integrity. \u201cUnder a 2015 bond, San Diego State took on nearly $900,000 in annual debt payments to finance a 300-space parking facility in a housing and retail development,\u201d says the June 20 report by California State Auditor Elaine Howle<\/strong> regarding SDSU\u2019s high-end commercial redevelopment featuring Trader Joe\u2019s, Verizon, Eureka! and a bevy of other tenants.<\/p>\n

Said a May 2017 SDSU news release, the parking garage \u201cis intended for the general public with paid hourly parking<\/a> and validation from participating businesses in South Campus Plaza. SDSU parking permits will not be valid in the South Campus Plaza parking structure.\u201d Notes Howle\u2019s audit: \u201cAlthough students who purchase semester parking permits are not eligible to park within the new facility, the campus is using those students\u2019 parking permit fees to make its debt payments related to the facility\u2019s construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report goes on to blast the school for misrepresenting student parking demand in order to justify the commercial center\u2019s parking charges. \u201cSan Diego State\u2019s transportation management plan indicates that although campus-wide student parking was below practical capacity, some facilities were completely full during peak times.\u201d In addition, auditors charge that university went out of its way to hide closed-door development wheeling and dealing from students, the public, and local transit authorities. \u201cAlthough state law requires alternate transportation committees to consult with students and local government officials, not all campuses required their committees to include representatives from these groups,\u201d says the document. \u201cIn practice, San Diego State generally has only parking and administrative staff serving on its committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The school broke the law by failing to consult with city officials about burgeoning traffic and parking loads, per the audit. The secrecy has bled over into the wrangling for a sweetheart deal on the city-owned Mission Valley stadium acreage, with CSU refusing to release details of its lobbying arrangement<\/a> with the high-dollar downtown law and influence peddling firm of Sheppard Mullin.\u00a0 www.sandiegoreader.com\/news\/2019\/jul\/03\/radar-state-auditor-attacks-sdsu\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Former O.C. high school employee is suspected of embezzling student council funds<\/h1>\n

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A former finance clerk is suspected of embezzling at least $859,000 in funds<\/strong> <\/em>that belonged to Esperanza High School\u2019s student council, according to a statement from the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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State auditors identified 270 checks that didn\u2019t correspond with the Anaheim school\u2019s financial records. The vast majority of the checks were made out to the former finance clerk who oversaw the books, while others were written to two of the clerk\u2019s relatives, the district said.\u00a0 www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-esperanza-high-school-theft-allegations-20190627-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Why We Shouldn’t Teach Literature With Excerpts<\/h1>\n

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At this moment in the field of English\/language arts, I\u2019m noticing an odd friction between two significant, growing movements that touch our work.<\/p>\n

The first one, to me, is perhaps the most exciting thing going on in education right now, period: the bursting field of new literature written for children and young adults by an increasingly diverse field of authors. Wonderful titles are released almost daily\u2014and maybe for the first time it doesn\u2019t feel like a huge struggle to find books that represent the diversity of our students and the real world. While more work needs to be done to reach full representation and challenge stereotypes<\/a>, the movement forward is undeniable. A great many educators are passionate about bringing diverse texts into our classrooms<\/a> and disrupting traditional canons<\/a>, and they\u2019re spreading the word in their schools and on social media. In so doing, we are helping to create life-long readers who learn empathy and self-determination through powerful storytelling.<\/p>\n

This literary boom is very much centered on books, especially novels, as a major format for reading. And when we think of the voracious young readers we know, books are generally what they like to read. While I\u2019m all for including and honoring all mediums and genres for reading, I believe that the practice of reading actual books plays a key role in developing engaged readers.\u00a0 www.edweek.org\/tm\/articles\/2019\/06\/26\/why-we-shouldnt-teach-literature-with-excerpts.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2&M=58873316&U=1666178&UUID=1077d6867cfb1e9eaaaa4a81b0c3ab4b<\/a><\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n