April 2013 – kimi blog

2013043020221207

HIPAA offers no privacy or protection to an ill child

Joey Furlong is a Bethlehem, NY 4th grader interned in hospital for a life-threatening condition and awaiting brain surgery. This week, he was approached by one of the teachers employed by the hospital, who wanted the boy to take a standardized test. CBS News reports (Tami is Joey’s mom),

Tami’s husband was in the room when one of the teachers came in talking about the test but she wonders what would have happened had he not been, “I would like to hope she would not have taken his arm that has an IV and oximeter on it and put a number 2 pencil in it, I would like to hope that she would wait to talk to the family.” read more

2013043020131213

Bergen CC NAACP screens Half the Sky today 4/29

Bergen Community College Chapter of NAACP in Paramus is sponsoring a screening of Half the Sky today 4/29 at 11:45am-2:15pm in Room A-104 (in the Student Center atrium), followed by a panel discussion on empowering women as full citizens across the globe and ending targeting violence against women. Please feel welcome to join.

Renée from Half the Sky organization is coming out from their New York office to tell us about the movement that has been sparked by the book and film, and as one of the discussion panelists I (Kimi Wei) will share my own perspectives as a widow, single mom, domestic violence survivor, sustainability advocate and Happiness trainer. read more

2013043020131213

Poverty creates poor school performance. Time to stop it.

Bobby Kennedy made hunger and poverty relief a top priority with his Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, but 50 years later the United States has the 2nd highest rate of poverty among industrialized nations. And Dale Hansen of the Detroit News is asking, if poverty is the biggest problem education faces, why aren’t we more focused on relieving it? Dale supplies his own answer: Republicans are way too committed to their war on public education to allow positive change to get in their way. read more

2013042820131213

New report shows ed reform is failing our kids

The report Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality issued this month (April 2013) by the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education concludes that so-called education reforms have led to bigger gaps and lost ground, “for the students they were supposed to support” – low-income, low achieving and Abbot District students. Outcomes were measured in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Market-driven education is a concept introduced by Milton Friedman in his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom. read more

2013042520221207

Baby Micah & the magic tearing paper

Baby Micah loves to see his dad magically transform paper and celery into musical instruments by tearing them into little pieces. Micah laughs and laughs when these inanimate items suddenly spring to life with unique sounds of their own – that they won’t make for him but make for Dad every time. So fun to watch!

2013042020131213

Czech Embassy issues statement: We are not Chechnya

Where Czech Republic & Chechnya are on the map

I mention to people fairly often that I don’t know where countries are because geography isn’t taught in US public schools. Here, we have something called “Social Studies” instead of history or geography, which is supposed to teach how people in different cultures live and think. But wow! The world is finite and countries change borders or names fairly infrequently. Can’t we take a few months in one of the early school years to focus on teaching US students where other countries are on the world map? People from every other country I’ve ever met learn this in school at a pretty young age. Only in the United States, our students don’t know. read more

2013042020221207

Free prom dress programs across NJ and US

April is prom month. If you’re a young lady of modest means you can be the belle of the ball with a free or low-cost designer dress ($10 is low, right?) in beautiful condition from one of the prom dress giveaway programs in New Jersey and around the country. Act soon though. Giveaways are going on right now all over the New York/New Jersey area and in many cities across the country! Some programs provide accessories and shoes to match gowns … and they may share tasty treats and other gifts with “shoppers” and their moms, as well. The idea is, that every young person should have the chance to attend prom dressed fabulously and fashionably, whether they have lots of money or don’t. read more

2013041720131213

Customers petition Verizon to cut prices

Talk about hard to find! I learned from a Facebook post by Mayor Wayne Smith about 55,000+ customers petitioning Verizon to cut their fees. I looked at the Techyville article but founc no link to the petition. Several Google searches I ran through – web, Google News and a Google power search on the change.org website where the petition is supposed to be, didn’t pull anything up either.

Then I found an article which links to the petition at the end of a post. But then I stumbled across another url that couldn’t be any simpler: just change.org/contracts and this is the one I’m sharing. I can’t remember where I found it (oops) but no matter. The point is, you can now navigate to the petition and sign away! read more

2013040820131213

Pro-public education Board of Education 2013 candidates

Board of Education budgets are typically 3 times as big as the entire budgets of the municipalities in which they’re located. Those hugs pots of money are why Big-Business supporter Gov. Chris Christie and his GOP colleague Mitt Romney are so eager to get their hands on public education funds. They can’t stand money being spent to actually improve the lives of vulnerable children, and students of color, across America when that money could go to make their own children and grandchildren richer. read more

2013040520131213

Stop Your School from Being CLOSED by Paying Close Attention!

When the district hands down the list of schools to be closed each year, most of the reactions from parents, staff and students come after the fact. As a result, many of the planned school closings occur and the people most impacted feel voiceless. Join us for a session that will teach you how to ask questions, examine data, and make sure the school has all it needs, which will both improve student outcomes and take your school off the “closing block”. Protests and Speaking are not enough to keep schools from being closed. Early preparation will work! read more

2013040420131213

Twins prove student performance no good for assessing teachers

Mother Crusader tells why she knows that student performance – as demonstrated by standardized testing – can never be accurately used to determine how good a teacher is: her twin children have been with the same teachers since pre-K and their student performance is radically different. Mother Crusader recommends that parents opt their children out of standardized testing, and cautions that in New Jersey it will be used against teachers beginning next year:

And here is a GREAT reason why to opt your kids out. One of the “high stakes” attached to state tests is teacher accountability. These tests are NOT designed to evaluate teacher performance, yet that is EXACTLY what they will be used for. read more

2013040420131213

How old people get help from the police

Great story shared by my Uncle Robert Pitts.

George Phillips, an elderly man from Tampa, Florida, was going up to bed when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?”

George replied “No, but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.” read more

2013040420131213

How to Stop Your School from Being CLOSED

Saturday, April 6, 2013
10am-1pm
Rutgers University-Newark
Boyden Hall Room 100
195 University Ave.
Newark, NJ 07102
Cost: Free

When the district hands down the list of schools to be closed each year, most of the reactions from parents, staff and students are after the fact. As a result, many of the planned school closings occur, and the people most impacted feel voiceless. Join us for a session that will teach you how to ask questions, examine data, and make sure the school has all it needs, which will both improve student outcomes and take your school off the “closing block”. Protests and Speaking are not enough to keep schools from being closed. Early preparation will work! read more