| Hearings begin tonight on schools budget proposal
County public school administrators spent hours last month commenting on the superintendent's $178 million budget proposal for the 2007-08 school year.Now it's the public's turn.The Cecil County Board of Education is holding a special hearing in Charlestown Tuesday night to give teachers, parents and taxpayers an opportunity to ask questions and offer opinions on the proposed spending plan.Numerous new positions, initiatives and programs are proposed as a part of the $16 million in spending increases Superintendent Carl Roberts has requested for the 2007-08 school year.Roberts' spending plan calls for the hiring of approximately 60 additional teachers, 33 more paraprofessionals, 23 new instruction-related positions and 11 more administrators.About 70 of the new positions are needed, according to administrators, to support the school system's expanding special education program.Additional positions are also needed to teach 45-minute special courses being offered at the county's 17 elementary schools, as well as expanded foreign language programs in the middle schools and academic intervention at the high school level, according to administrators.One potentially controversial initiative Roberts proposed is an expansion of the school year at Thomson Estates by 10 days, while also reducing the length of annual holiday breaks.
Gatlin Learning and Minnesota State College Southeast Technical ...
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Red Wing, MN, United States, 02/28/2007 - Gatlin Learning, Inc. has partnered with the Minnesota State College Southeast Technical Department of Custom Training and Education to host a Website for The eLearning Center, a comprehensive resource of continuing and business education courses. .
Trustees concerned more kids may be walking to school
Local Catholic school trustees are concerned that a new provincial bussing initiative will see more kids from their board walking to school.At a meeting last week, trustees of the Huron Superior Catholic District School Board expressed concern that the province's new bussing consortium will force them to modify their walking distance policies to bring them in line with other local boards.At present, Catholic students have shorter walking distances than their counterparts at the Algoma District School Board."Right now the Ministry [of Education] has not asked us to harmonize our walking policy and there is no indication that they will," said Chris Spina, chief financial officer with the Catholic board.Board members asked Spina if some students from their board might be getting on a bus while students from the public board in the same grade would have to walk that distance."Yes," Spina said.
Paul Donnelly wins international professor award for architecture
Paul J. Donnelly, the Rebecca and John Voyles Chair in Architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has received the Distinguished Professor Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Donnelly is one of only five professors to receive the annual honor, which recognizes sustained creative achievement in architectural education through teaching, design, scholarship, research and service. An awards ceremony will be held March 9 during the 95th ACSA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. .
Sorority addresses inequality, sex education
The Zeta Omega Eta feminist sorority gathered for its first workshop in the Interfaith Center to discuss issues ranging from women's body image to abortion. The event was held in conjunction with the first weekend of Women's History Month.
The ZOE sorority leader, Erica Dodt, a junior from Kankakee in women's studies, said the group is discussing its stance on a variety of issues.
"The reason why we have so many broad topics is so we can be bombarded by it and come back together and have a discussion about what we want to do with all of this," she said.
One topic the group will address in the future is sex education in Carbondale, because the local public schools only teach students to abstain from sex, Dodt said,
"It's not addressing any of the issues - the fact that we are having sex," Dodt said.
Smutz to lead Penn State Continuing and Distance Education
University Park, Pa. -- Wayne Smutz has been named to succeed Gary Miller as associate vice president for Outreach and executive director for Continuing and Distance Education. Miller will retire from the University in June. Smutz will assume the role effective July 1. The leadership transition process will start immediately. Smutz currently serves as executive director for Continuing and Professional Education at the University where he oversees the programming, student services, marketing and budget of three units: Penn State Continuing Education at University Park, Professional and Organizational Development, and Community Engagement. In his new role, he will have oversight of Penn State Continuing and Distance Education, which is comprised of continuing and professional education at all Penn State campuses, Penn State's World Campus, Professional and Organizational Development, Community Engagement and Penn State Conferences, which arranges programs for more than 45,000 participants a year and includes such varied divisions as the Intensive English Communication Program, Penn State Sports Camps, Shaver's Creek Environmental Center and Summer Education Abroad.
Raffle's chances
Was your Feb. 12 article ("Lottery idea: $20 a play for $1 million") on the upcoming state raffle a math test for us, or was it to see if we were paying attention?Recently you reported that the lottery might be falling short of expected revenues, and some noted that North Carolina pays a smaller percentage back to the players (about 52 percent) than many states, including South Carolina (59.9 percent) and Virginia (58.1 percent). According to your article on the raffle, it will pay even less than that -- 50 percent. It would take another $200,000 given out in prizes to meet the 52 percent return (I would suggest 2,000 winners of $100 each).You also reported that if all tickets are sold [the plan is to sell 500,000 tickets at $20 each], the game will generate $3.5 million for education. Granted, that is the 35 percent designated for education, but that leaves $1.5 million left over.
Mentoring programs aim to retain new teachers
West Middle School Principal Suzie Lipps spent 12 years as an English teacher before entering administration - and she said she never thought about walking away from education. The good thing about teaching is every year is different, she said. Even though youre doing the same thing, you have different students, different parents. Lipps said she has seen, however, that for teachers just starting the job, it can be difficult to stick with the profession. The successes with teaching are private successes a lot of the time, she said. You feel good when a student understands a concept or improves a letter grade. You dont get a big bonus at the end of the year, and they dont appoint you vice president because youre a good teacher. Theres no merit pay involved.
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