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Support Public Education, Support CPS!

December 10, 2009 by

Dear CPS Members and Education advocates:

I write to you to urge you to support CPS.

Last year when I retired after teaching for 32 years, I found myself, at long last, with time to advocate for and support public schools. I looked for a place where I could make a positive impact for the children and teachers in our public schools.

I found Citizens for Public Schools because I understand that they are the only ones in the state whose sole function is to support public schools. CPS does not have a vested interest when it works to promote, preserve and protect public schools and public education.

Volunteering steadily with CPS this year, I have been really amazed at the interconnections of CPS and so many organizations that directly or indirectly support our students, educators and communities.

I had never before spent time on Beacon Hill because I was always working during the hours that one could testify or visit legislators in their offices.   → Read More

Filed Under: Education-Other

A Good Thing: House Puts Brakes on Ed Reform Bill

November 24, 2009 by
Just when it looked like the Education Reform Act of 2009 was going to speed through the legislative process with virtually no time for public comment or scrutiny, the House of Representatives sensibly put the brakes on the bill’s progress and adjourned. This gives us all time to consider the original bill, Senate amendments and to let our state representatives know what we think.

Longtime Lincoln-Sudbury High history teacher Bill Schechter does a great job in his letter to the editor of the Boston Globe (published Nov. 27, 2009) of articulating why it’s a good thing that someone hit the pause button on this bill.

To the Editor:

A recent Globe editorial criticizes the state House of Representatives for adjourning and urges it to go back into session to pass a “landmark education reform initiative” so that Massachusetts can compete for federal education dollars (“Fix schools and budget – Legislature’s recess can wait,” November 20, 2009).

   → Read More
Filed Under: Education-Other

Education Legislation Alert: Act Now!

November 16, 2009 by

Dear CPS Members and Education Activists:

CPS will be delivering the memo below to all legislators. We urge you to read it and call your Senator and Representative immediately. The Senate is expected to take up the bill today, Monday, Nov. 16 (Tuesday at the latest). The House immediately after.

The legislation is on a fast track—The 65-page bill was released on Monday night, embargoed to the public, and passed without debate (no amendments allowed) by the committee by an email or vote by phone.

If you don’t know who are your legislators go to www.wheredoIvoteMA.com.

Best regards,

Marilyn J. Segal

marilyn@citizensforpublicschools.org

To:  Legislators

From: Marilyn J. Segal, Executive Director

Re: Proposed Education Reform Act of 2009

Date: November 13, 2009

Yesterday the Federal Department of Education released regulations for the Federal Race To The Top funds. These regs do not require expansion of the current cap on charter schools.   → Read More

Filed Under: Education, Legislation

CPS ‘Educating the Whole Student’ Conference Informed, Inspired

October 19, 2009 by
Panelists (from left) Willie Rodriguez, Carl Sciortino, Barbara Fields and Jay Kaufman.

Panelists (from left) Willie Rodriguez, Carl Sciortino, Barbara Fields and Jay Kaufman.

Parents, teachers, administrators, policymakers, legislators, researchers and others filled a large conference room at Bunker Hill Community College Saturday and were treated to a rich presentation on “Educating the Whole Student.” A dynamic group of speakers and participants informed, inspired and challenged us to do the work needed to bring about the change we need. We may have miles to go to reach our goals and vision, but we have a large and growing community of thoughtful, dedicated and energetic allies ready to make the journey.

Keynote speaker Deborah Meier set the tone by urging us to be feisty and flex our democratic muscles to remake schools so that all children can bring their innate drive and curiosity and trust that it won’t be crushed. We need to fight for schools that model and nurture the skills needed for a vibrant democratic society, not schools that train children to choose a predetermined right answer.   → Read More

Filed Under: Conference, Education, Film

Conference Honoring Darwin | Nov. 20, 2009

October 2, 2009 by

On Friday, November 20, 2009, a conference for scientists and science teachers will be held in Cambridge, MA, at the Whitehead Institute, honoring the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.”

A morning session for the MIT community will feature lectures by some of the foremost experts in the evolution of the vertebrate eye and vision science (8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.).

A special two-hour afternoon session beginning at 4:15 p.m. will be geared towards high school biology teachers, with the opportunity to hear from the same experts who lectured in the morning, including Darwin scholar John Durant, director of the MIT Museum; Dr. Graeme Wistow, section chief on Molecular Structure and Function at the National Eye Institute; Prof. Nancy Kanwisher, investigator at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research; and Prof. Constance Cepko, a Harvard Medical School geneticist.

After the afternoon talks, breakout sessions will allow teachers to explore specific topics in small groups with the scientists.   → Read More

Filed Under: Conference Tagged With: ,
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