Posts Tagged ‘department’
First Summit on Bullying : Secretary Duncan discussed myths about bullying at the Department’s first Bullying Prevention Summit.
In the wake of several high-profile bullying incidents, the Department of Education is hosting the first federal school bullying summit Wednesday and Thursday. Suicides linked to bullying – including the January suicide of Phoebe Prince, which has resulted in nine felony charges against her Massachusetts classmates – have drawn particular attention to the issue, and several states are considering or enacting anti-bullying laws. “People are really feeling the heat now,†“This is the first time this kind of initiative has taken place, bringing together so many disparate elements, and there really is a hope that it will create a critical mass or tipping point … and out of that will create a more strategic and aligned and leveraged effort,†In his opening remarks, Education Secretary Arne Duncan made clear that he sees addressing bullying – and the broader issues around ensuring that students feel safe and have a school free of disruptions – as integral to education policy.
With the Obama administration pouring billions into its nationwide campaign to overhaul failing schools, dozens of companies with little or no experience are portraying themselves as school-turnaround experts as they compete for the money. Enlarge This Image Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times Manny Rivera, right, and Rudy Crew formed Global Partnership Schools to overhaul public schools.
As the academic year at Columbia Secondary School in Harlem drew to a close, students, parents and teachers reeled from the death of a 12-year-old pupil on a class field trip to a beach last month. Related Teacher Fired Over Field-Trip Drowning of Girl, 12 (July 15, 2010) But feelings of grief have turned into anger after an inquiry by city investigators that faulted the middle school for the way it had organized and supervised the outing, which ended with the drowning of Nicole Suriel on a Long Island beach that had been closed and where no lifeguard was on duty. Hours after a report by the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation was released on Wednesday, Erin Bailey, the first-year teacher who chaperoned the trip, was fired, and the school’s principal and assistant principal were disciplined.
There were the hugs goodbye, the exchanges of phone numbers and the almost sure to be broken promises of keeping in touch. They packed up their bags one last time and left Room 619, which had been their daytime home for months, if not years.
The Education Department said Tuesday that it had split off and delayed a decision on the most controversial part of proposed new student-aid regulations — the treatment of for-profit college programs whose graduates do not earn enough to repay their loans.