Dear Commons Community,

The presidential campaigning is heating up a bit now that Mitt Romney has named Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate and as both parties draw near their annual conventions.  The news media yesterday focused mainly on comments Mitt Romney made indicating that he has paid at least 13 percent of his income in taxes in each of the past ten years.  Specifically as reported in the New York Times:

“Mitt Romney said Thursday that he paid at least 13 percent of his income in taxes each year during the past decade, again confronting a vexing issue that Democrats have used to portray him as out of touch with middle-class values.

Calling the interest in his personal tax returns “small-minded” in light of the nation’s problems, Mr. Romney said that he had nonetheless examined the last 10 years of his personal tax returns after Democrats suggested that he might not have paid anything at all in some years.

“Every year, I’ve paid at least 13 percent,” he said, referring to his effective federal income tax rate, which is a higher effective rate than most people pay.

Mr. Romney’s decision to address the tax question on Thursday appeared to be an off-the-cuff attempt to put the nettlesome issue behind him once and for all. But at least initially, it had the opposite effect. Democrats seized on his comments to revive the issue and to once again demand proof of his claims by releasing multiple years of his tax returns.

“We would say: ‘Prove it, Governor Romney,’ ” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for President Obama.

The re-emergence of the tax issue consumed another day of the campaign and added to the sense of a shift in direction for a candidate who had once steadfastly refused to talk about anything other than job losses during Mr. Obama’s tenure, the unemployment rate and the nation’s growing debt. “

This is a step in the right direction for Mr. Romney but before the campaign is over, he is going to have to release more of his income tax information.

By the way, if anyone is interested,  I pay approximately 25 percent of my income in taxes each year.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A new coalition, New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, is planning a campaign to counter StudentFirstNY, a political group that was formed earlier this year to influence public policy and to support candidates sympathetic to their ideology.   StudentsFirstNY is led by the likes of Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein, former school chancellors.  The New York Times reports:

“Hoping that New Yorkers will think of “Romney” as a dirty word, a coalition of labor unions and liberal advocacy groups is beginning a campaign on Thursday to tie the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to defenders of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s education policies.

The coalition, New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, said it planned to highlight donors who supported both Mitt Romney and StudentsFirstNY, a political group formed as a counterweight to teachers’ unions that oppose much of Mr. Bloomberg’s education agenda.

The line of attack is somewhat selective — the StudentsFirstNY board includes several major Democratic donors, as well as several well-heeled Romney contributors — but the offensive, described in interviews this week, is a sign of the increasingly blunt gamesmanship in the continuing debate over the future of the city’s schools, a topic that is expected to be a key issue in the 2013 mayoral race.

Teachers’ unions, which are major backers of the group behind the new campaign, said they hoped to stymie some of Mr. Bloomberg’s more contentious plans, including the expanded use of teacher evaluations and charter schools. StudentsFirstNY, an offshoot of the national school-reform group founded by Michelle Rhee, the former schools chancellor of Washington, was created to push back against the unions.

As part of its new campaign, called “RomneyFirst,” the union coalition planned to call on political candidates to reject contributions from StudentsFirstNY, which donates to lawmakers who share its views.”

It is unfortunate that so much money and energy will be spent on political campaign and influence peddling but it is my opinion that the likes of Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee did absolutely nothing for urban education except create toxic environments where negotiation and compromise were impossible.   The environments they created in their school systems now move to a larger stage.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

With all of the pundits and columnists  weighing in on Mitt Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan as his running mate, it was just a matter of time for Maureen Dowd to cast her barbed opinion.  In her New York Times column today entitled, When Cruelty is Cute,  she comes out with both barrels firing.  In her introduction, she characterizes Ryan as:

“He’s the cutest package that cruelty ever came in. He has a winning air of sad cheerfulness. He’s affable, clean cut and really cut, with the Irish altar-boy widow’s peak and droopy, winsome blue eyes and unashamed sentimentality.

Who better to rain misery upon the heads of millions of Americans?

He’s Scrooge disguised as a Pickwick, an ideologue disguised as a wonk. Not since Ronald Reagan tried to cut the budget by categorizing ketchup and relish as vegetables has the G.O.P. managed to find such an attractive vessel to mask harsh policies with a smiling face.

The Young Gun and former prom king is a fan of deer hunting, catfish noodling, heavy metal and Beethoven. He’s a great dad who says the cheese, bratwurst and beer of Wisconsin flow in his veins. He’s so easy to like — except that his politics are just a teensy bit heartless.”

She goes on to discuss his positions on supply-side economics, abortion, health care and social security.

Her conclusion:

“Ryan should stop being so lovable. People who intend to hurt other people should wipe the smile off their faces.”

Maureen has hit the nail on the head, again!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Barbara McKenna from the AFT sent along this piece on Randi Weingarten’s  keynote at the AFT convention in Detroit  in July.  Weingarten called for “solution-driven unionism,” a new vision that advances solutions focused on uniting union members, the people they serve and the communities in which they live.

Weingarten said that America’s workers face a new normal—with severe budget cuts jeopardizing public education, healthcare and other critical services; families losing more than 30 percent of their wealth during the economic crisis; and more than 100 bills introduced in state legislatures to demonize public employees and undermine public services. “More than ever, we need to act in innovative, creative and new ways,” she said, “simultaneously refuting our critics, advancing our values, connecting with community and proposing solutions. That’s solution-driven unionism.”

Read the full text of the speech

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

To update the story on the shooting near Texas A&M.   A gunman opened fire on police officers near the Texas A&M University campus shortly after noon yesterday, killing at least two people, including a local constable, and wounding four others, the police said. The gunman, who was shot by officers, died after he was taken into custody.

The police identified the constable as Brian Bachmann and said he was shot after approaching the gunman’s house on Fidelity Street about two blocks from campus. A 43-year-old man, Chris Northcliff, who was outside at the time, was also killed.

The gunman, who was identified as Thomas Caffall, 35, opened fire with what a witness said was an assault rifle and was then shot by the police and taken into custody. An unidentified 55-year-old woman was wounded and was in serious condition after surgery. Three College Station police officers were also wounded: Officer Justin Oehlke was shot in the calf and was in stable condition, and Officers Brad Smith and Phil Dorsett were treated at a hospital and released.

The police said that Mr. Bachmann, 41, had gone to the house to serve an eviction notice. It was unclear whether Mr. Caffall took aim at the victims or whether they were killed in the exchange of fire with officers.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Various media sources are reporting that the police near Texas A&M took a gunman into custody 15 minutes after issuing a “Code Maroon” alert at Texas A&M at 12:29 this afternoon. The Huffington Post is reporting that one policeman and one civilian were killed.

The Maroon alert distributed electronically to students, faculty and staff warned people to stay away from the intersection of Welborn Road and George Bush Drive and part of Fidelity Drive in College Station, Texas, according to CNN. The message also told residents in the area, which is near the school’s football stadium, to stay indoors.

The Atlantic Wire commented that the shooter appeared to be firing an automatic weapon from a home in the area.

The shooting  comes on the heels of the mass shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh temple on Aug. 5, and the massacre at a Colorado movie theater on July 20.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

In the past week, there have been several showdowns between two controversial school reform advocates, Diane Ravitch and Michelle Rhee. The New York Times reported on its Schoolbook blog that WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show

“…aired interviews with the Michelle Rhee, former Washington, D.C. schools chancellor and the founder of Students First, on the occasion of launching a New York chapter, studentsfirstNY.

The show also aired a taped interview with Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University and author. The discussion focuses on school performance and the frustration some teachers feel about standardized testing.

The Rhee versus Ravitch showdown also appeared on CNN this week. In an interview, Ms. Rhee decried the results of a study that ranked the U.S. 25th in education internationally and said one of the most important fixes to education is to improve teacher quality.

But, in an online rebuttal, Ms. Ravitch argued that the rankings do not take into account the most serious factor affecting performance.

Why are our international rankings low? Our test scores are dragged down by poverty. On the latest international test, called PISA, our schools with low poverty had scores higher than those of Japan, Finland, and other high-scoring nations. American schools in which as many as 25% of the students are poor had scores equivalent to the top-scoring nations. As the poverty level in the school rises, the scores fall.

Rhee ignores the one statistic where the United States is number one. We have the highest child poverty rate of any advanced nation in the world. Nearly 25% of our children live in poverty.

This is a scandal. Family poverty is the most reliable predictor of low test scores. How can we compare ourselves to nations like Finland where less than 5% of the children live in poverty?”

Ravitch went on to comment that Rhee is wrong and misinformed.  Indeed she is.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The response to Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate is getting mixed reviews.  The Huffington Post reported that the Republican audience in Norfolk, Virginia, at Ryan’s acceptance speech yesterday greeted him with applause and a degree of enthusiasm:

“And as Ryan got going into his remarks and warmed up, he gathered momentum. It was clearly evident that Ryan is going to supply Romney with intangibles that favorability polls suggest the candidate has sorely lacked: energy, vigor, emotion, feeling.

“America is an idea. It’s the only country founded on an idea,” Ryan said emphatically. When he mentioned that rights come from God and not from man — a bedrock belief of conservative governance — the crowd broke into lusty chants of, “USA, USA, USA!”

However, others are expressing seriously concern about Ryan and his fiscal plans for the country. A New York Times editorial warns that Ryan has little sympathy for those in need:

“As House Budget Committee chairman, Mr. Ryan has drawn a blueprint of a government that will be absent when people need it the most. It will not be there when the unemployed need job training, or when a struggling student needs help to get into college. It will not be there when a miner needs more than a hardhat for protection, or when a city is unable to replace a crumbling bridge.

And it will be silent when the elderly cannot keep up with the costs of M.R.I.’s or prescription medicines, or when the poor and uninsured become increasingly sick through lack of preventive care.

More than three-fifths of the cuts proposed by Mr. Ryan, and eagerly accepted by the Tea Party-driven House, come from programs for low-income Americans. That means billions of dollars lost for job training for the displaced, Pell grants for students and food stamps for the hungry. These cuts are so severe that the nation’s Catholic bishops raised their voices in protest at the shredding of the nation’s moral obligations.

Mr. Ryan’s budget “will hurt hungry children, poor families, vulnerable seniors and workers who cannot find employment,” the bishops wrote in an April letter to the House. “These cuts are unjustified and wrong.”

The Times has it right.  Paul Ryan’s plans for America will hurt the people who need its help the most.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

All the major media sources are reporting that Mitt Romney will announce Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate today.  The Huffington Post commented:

“Ryan is a bold pick who will energize the Republican Party, but putting him on the ticket is fraught with risk…

Romney will announce his choice in Norfolk on Saturday morning at the beginning of a four-day bus tour through key battleground states, the campaign said Friday night”.

The New York Times reported that:

“A confidant of Mr. Ryan’s confirmed early Saturday that aides believed Mr. Romney had settled on the Wisconsin congressman to join the Republican ticket, but all advisers had been sworn to secrecy. Three senior Republican officials said that they, too, believed that Mr. Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, had emerged as the top choice.”

The Weekly Standard reported earlier Friday that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been asked to be ready to make the case for Ryan beginning Saturday.

“Romney’s alliance with the 42-year old Ryan has become the most dramatic development of the 2012 presidential campaign. Romney had been presumed for much of the last few months to be set on a safe pick, such as Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), or former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

But now, Romney, who is 23 years older than Ryan, will signal that he is willing to roll the dice. President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign and Democratic political groups have been eager for Romney to pick Ryan, the architect of plans to slash government spending and overhaul entitlement programs that Democrats believe are political losers.”

In sum,  liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans will be thrilled with Romney’s choice.  But what about the middle of the road independents?

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Tom Cavanagh, a colleague of mine from the University of Central Florida, sent me an email (below) announcing a MOOC that UCF will be offering on blended learning.  Given the initiatives here at CUNY on blended learning, some of you might be interested in enrolling.  In addition, you would get the chance to experience a MOOC.

Tony

===============================

Dear Colleagues,

Last year, UCF conducted a successful MOOC (massive open online course) on the subject of Blended Learning as part of a Next Generation Learning Challenge grant. We plan to offer anew and improved section this fall. Would you mind helping us to spread the word? I have included an announcement below for convenient copying and pasting.

Thanks in advance!

Tom

Thomas Cavanagh, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President, Distributed Learning

University of Central Florida

3100 Technology Parkway, Ste 234

Orlando, FL 32826-3281

407-823-4913

[email protected]

Twitter: @tbcavanagh

http://online.ucf.edu/

—-

Dive into Blended Learning!

The University of Central Florida (UCF) announces the second offering of its popular MOOC (massive open online course) for blended learning faculty and designers: BlendKit2012. Based around the open-licensed BlendKit Course instructional materials contained within the http://BlendedLearningToolkit.org web site, BlendKit2012 will run as a five-week cohort (from Monday, September 24 to Monday, October 29, 2012) facilitated by UCF’s Dr. Kelvin Thompson and Dr. Linda Futch. The goal of BlendKit2012 is to provide assistance in designing and developing your blended learning course via a consideration of key issues related to blended learning and practical step-by-step guidance in helping you produce actual materials for your blended course (i.e., from design documents through creating content pages to peer review feedback at your own institution). Unlike many traditional courses, registrants are encouraged to select the course components they find relevant as they participate at one of several engagement levels (i.e., completer, participant, auditor).  Course components include regular communications from facilitators, weekly readings, hands-on tasks, a variety of real time and asynchronous interaction opportunities, and weekly webinars with experienced blended learning instructors.

Registration is free of charge.

For more information or to register, please visit: http://bit.ly/blendkit2012.