Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today. These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.
AFT, NEA Offer Black History Month Teaching Tools AFL-CIO (blog) – AFT and the National Education Association (NEA) have compiled a variety of resources to help educators celebrate Black History Month, …
Black History Month Quotes: Famous, Inspirational Sayings To Reflect On … Huffington Post (blog) – ? Black History Month 2010 begins today, Feb. 1, 2010, and Black History Month quotes help put the month into perspective. Here is a compilation of 15 quotes …
Black History Month 2010: Discussion and Activities CNN – When is Black History Month observed? When did Black History Month get its start? Who was Dr. Carter G. Woodson? What was his role in the establishment of …
Black History Month Still Relevant In 2010 Black State – ?Black History Month was started by scholar Carter G. Woodson in 1926, Carter G. Woodson sought to raise awareness to the contributions of people of African …
Jesse Jackson: Obama ‘is the result of our struggles’ Chicago Sun-Times – By 1976, it morphed into Black History Month — a celebration of the contributions of blacks to America and their struggles to overcome. The Rev. …
State News 
Race to Top takes toll on transparency; it can be fixed
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – Mike Lawrence – Illinois’ deadline dash to enact education reforms that could entice $500 million in “Race to the Top” federal funding was truly remarkable in this era of dysfunctional state government, but it took a toll on transparency. The measure resolutely makes student growth a significant factor in evaluating the performance of teachers and administrators; yet, it bars disclosure of how specific educators fare with the elevated level of accountability. So, while many cheer the new law as moving Illinois “light years ahead,” others chastise the darkness.
Schools eye bottom line as revenue dips
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – CRYSTAL LAKE – Schools throughout McHenry County and the nation are looking for ways to save money as revenue projections dip. In recent weeks, several local districts have announced plans to cut millions in expenses. Huntley District 158 wants to pare $6.6 million from its budget. Carpentersville District 300 plans to trim $6.4 million. Cary District 26 is facing $5.4 million in cuts. McHenry District 156 is considering $2.3 million. Woodstock District 200 is debating $2 million.
Superintendents in nine-county area in Illinois anticipate cutting 329 jobs for next fiscal year if state funding woes aren’t corrected
Quincy Herald-Whig – The superintendents suggested that with legislators’ help, districts can bring in some more money or cut costs. For instance, if a tax cap on special education costs were lifted and districts were allowed to tax to the level of their costs, then the entire district could share the communities’ special education expenses.
How District 207’s budget crisis came about With the vote to cut 137 Maine Township High School District 207 teachers and employees looming today, the factors that
District 207 offers teachers a concessions option
Chicago Daily Herald – Maine Township High School District 207’s administration is offering its teachers union a last-minute deal to save roughly 40 to 45 teaching jobs, officials said Friday. District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace said on Monday he will recommend to the school board
Plainfield District Cuts 7 Positions
Chicago WFLD (Fox) – The district held a special meeting last night to discuss a $16 million deficit. On the line were 222 jobs including teachers, and programs like band, art and choir. The community begged the school board to reconsider.
District 205 Board votes to cut $1.58 million from next year’s budget
Elmhurst Press – Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205’s Board of Education voted this week to eliminate $1.58 million from the 2010-11 budget, but it remains to be seen where the cuts will be made and whether that amount will be enough.
New Lenox schools giving raises while slashing jobs
Lincoln-Way Sun – nd less because there will be less staff, Associate Superintendent Peggy Manville said. Some said it would hurt morale to not give some type of a raise to the nonteachers when, per their contract, teachers will receive raises between 5 percent and 5.25 percent. “I feel we are being fiscally responsible by giving minimum raises,” Kedzior said.
Talk of school cuts has parents on edge
Joliet Herald News – Parents, teacher aides and other employees of Minooka Grade School District wanted answers from the school board. About 100 people attended to hear about upcoming staff and program cuts
D301 board member clarifies position on home-school athletes
Elgin Courier News -The policy decision facing Community Unit School District 301 regarding non-public school student participation in district sports has school board members struggling with what is fair for all taxpayers in the district. Forced to weigh the rights of a taxpayer to participate in the district versus the long-held expectation
District 186 eyes countywide school sales tax idea
Springfield State Journal Register – If the Springfield school board adopts a resolution Monday night exploring support for a Sangamon County school sales tax to fund physical improvements for public schools countywide, much still must be done
Program draws dads to Chatham school
Springfield State Journal Register – the PTO has focused on increasing parental involvement. “There’s a really large body of evidence out there that shows us that the involvement of the male parent in early childhood education is critical to a child’s success,” she said. “All indication is the more involved the male parent is, the more academically successful the child would be.”
Political News
Parents protest lack of school funds during Quinn visit
Belleville News-Democrat – Gov. Pat Quinn came to Alton on Friday to talk about high-speed rail, but a group of demonstrators had the issue of education funding on their minds. Several parents and children attended the news conference at Alton’s Amtrak Station, carrying signs asking for the state to make its payments
Gubernatorial candidates on education
Peoria Journal Star – Andrzejewski and Proft: The state should stop funding education bureaucracies and invest directly in students and families through school choice options. Dillard and McKenna: Increases in education funding haven’t resulted in better student test scores. Dillard opposes raising income taxes to bolster the existing school finance system. McKenna urges more education dollars
‘Nasty’ gov. campaign turns off some voters
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – Dan Hynes and Gov. Pat Quinn courted African-American voters Sunday in the campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination while continuing to hurl accusations that seemed to turn off at least some of those voters. Hynes and Quinn hop?ped from black church to black church in Chicago to tell worshippers about the importance of helping others
Quinn, Hynes woo black congregations
Chicago Sun Times – So, I’m kind of upset with the candidate about that. I don’t think that was fair,” said Belinda Jenkins, a 49-year-old Chicago banker, as she arrived at Salem. “On the other hand, with Gov. Quinn, I haven’t seen enough of him out there, pushing or doing anything.” Meanwhile, in the six-way GOP race for governor, state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) moved to resume his campaign
Both parties have full slates for U.S. Senate nominations The race for the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama is wide open, since appointed incumbent Sen. Roland Burris isn’t running for election this year. Polls show GOP U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park the frontrunner in his race. The race on the Democratic side is closer, according to pollsters. But the candidates say voters – not polls – will determine the outcome.
Family Bank Troubles Surround Giannoulias
Peoria WEEK (NBC) – Candidates are already making their last minute pitches before voters go to the polls on Tuesday. On Sunday night, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias stopped at the Peoria Labor Temple to rally voters. But, his race against David Hoffman has become heated. The Illinois Treasurer is under fire for the financial woes of his family’s Chicago bank.
Bernard Schoenburg: Who will win in Tuesday primary vote?
Springfield State Journal Register – Among Democrats, RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI of Hoffman Estates has worked hard and has a nice TV ad. But I think longtime state Rep. DAVID MILLER of Lynwood, a dentist who has long toiled for better education funding — and, like Krishnamoorthi, knows Obama — will get the nod. And in the race for the Democratic nomination for state treasurer, I think a former state representative,
Durbin: Use TARP funds to promote employment
Springfield State Journal Register – He stressed the importance of creating incentives to avoid layoffs by school boards and city governments because they damage communities, and by extension, the nation.
Obama administration prepares to send Congress a $3.8T budget with emphasis on job creation
Chicago Tribune – President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan Monday, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion.
Obama budget will face tougher reaction from Dem, GOP lawmakers
The Hill – President Barack Obama’s budget Monday will get a much tougher reception from lawmakers than last year’s request. That’s because it will pinch pennies whereas his budget last year increased spending to jump start the ailing economy. With unemployment still at 10 percent, congressional Democrats are opposing Obama’s expected pivot to deficit
Obama puts emphasis on nuclear energy
Washington Times – President Obama is endorsing nuclear energy like never before, trying to win over Republicans and moderate Democrats on climate and energy legislation. Mr. Obama singled out nuclear power in his State of the Union address, and his spending plan for the next budget year is expected to include billions of more dollars in federal guarantees for new nuclear reactors.
Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget would cut some, add some
USA Today – President Obama will unveil a record $3.8 trillion budget for 2011 on Monday that would boost war spending, trim domestic spending and rely on $1.3 trillion in new borrowing. The budget would be the third in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion. The red ink would be cut nearly in half by 2014, mostly by allowing tax cuts on families making more than $250,000 to expire in
National News
Can Republicans Win Big as the Party of No? Republicans have succeeded by standing united against most of Barack Obama’s agenda. But they know that they can’t afford to be perceived as opposing everything
Who’s to Blame for Suspending Haitian Medevac Flights?
Fault of the Concorde: An Aviation Icon Has Its Day in Court Nearly a decade after a spectacular Concorde crash in Paris, the French are bringing several people to trial over the accident that led to the demise of an engineering icon
Fox News’ Roger Ailes Offers to Pose Naked Ailes offered to pose nude for $100, defended Glenn Beck against the critique of Paul Krugman and Arianna Huffington, and finished by offering President Obama some political advice
Océans: George Clooney Meets the Deep Blue Sea His Up in the Air may be a global hit but, in France, the Ocean’s 11 star gets stuck behind la mer
Haiti and the Art of Survival: Lessons from the Streets
Unbowed on Iraq, Blair Makes the Case for Targeting Iran Britain may have soured on a war whose basis was undermined by the absence of WMD in Iraq, but the former Prime Minister would do it all over again
Obama’s Job-Creation Tax Credit: Will It Work? In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he mentioned a proposal to offer tax credits to businesses that hire workers. It sounds promising — and expensive — but would it really work?
Is GDP An Obsolete Measure of Progress? Most economists are cheering the 5.7% GDP growth rate estimated for the U.S. 4th quarter. But increasingly people are asking whether there’s a more holistic way to measure a nation’s growth
J.D. Salinger: “Keep Your Hands Off My Legacy” The author was as protective of his writings as he was of his privacy. And that is likely to remain even now that he has died
WashingtonPost.com
‘Wired’ conservatives get the message out
In November, the morning after Election Day, a conservative blogger in Georgia blasted an e-mail to 65,000 people.
(By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post)
Where a $56 million dome couldn’t fetch 600 grand
Pontiac ponders whether the sale could kick off a rebound
(By Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post)
Haitians implore U.S. to ‘take over’
American officials try to lower expectations about extent of role
(By Peter Slevin, The Washington Post)
Jon Stewart’s Obama quips create buzz
(By Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post)
‘Wired’ conservatives get the message out
In November, the morning after Election Day, a conservative blogger in Georgia blasted an e-mail to 65,000 people.
(By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post)
Who’s been raking in the cash, and who hasn’t
(By Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post)
With chances dim, advocates push for immigration bill
FRUSTRATION WITH OBAMA
Little will in Congress seen for action soon
(By Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post)
Localities are promised a say in trials
White House says it will hear cities’ concerns about terrorism cases
(By Associated Press, The Washington Post)
U.S. faces myriad challenges in training Afghan soldiers
TROOP ‘SURGE’ HAS BEGUN
Goals include improving literacy and diversity
(By Keith B. Richburg, The Washington Post)
Word of the Day for Monday, February 1, 2010
mondegreen \MON-di-green\, noun:
A word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard.