Classroom Politics

Part 1: Classroom Politics in the Media

• Feel free to link to any material that you think I would find helpful for the show. Articles can come from the mainstream media, your favorite blog, or your own website. Make sure to leave your name and a link so that I can thank you during the show. Also: If you are not sure if your item belongs in the media section or in the comments section feel free to put it in either and someone will move it for you.

• Honk for peace' case tests limits on free speech from the San Francisco Chronicle: Deborah Mayer is a former elementary school teacher who was fired for expressing her views about the war in Iraq in the classroom. It turns out that teachers are not protected by the first amendment in the classroom, and this article also gives other examples of teachers who have been fired. (from TftF 75)

• Parents chafe at eviction of preschool from the Boston Globe:

• Presidential hopefuls to lay out national proposals Clinton backing a prekindergarten program, McCain calling for ethics in government from the San Francisco Chronicle:

• A physics teacher begs for his subject back: An open letter to the AQA board and the UK Department for Education:

• Obama's `Youth Mojo' Sparks Student Activism, Fueling Campaign: "Obama's strategy is visible on the Internet, where at least 325,000 young people have signed on to his biggest support network on Facebook.com. That far outpaces support for his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York: Her most-active page on the social-networking Web site has just more than 19,000 members."

• Indian slum girl 'makes good' from Al Jazzera:

• A Travesty Of Justice Averted: "Judge Hillary B. Strack-bein delivered a major surprise. She overturned the jury's conviction, citing new evidence presented belatedly by the state that suggested jurors received erroneous information. It was computer geeks who helped Ms. Amero.

Following her January conviction they petitioned Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane and asked his office to take a second look at the information. They argued that a Norwich detective who testified that Ms. Amero intentionally accessed pornographic Web sites and failed to turn off the computer when the illicit images flashed on the screen, was wrong on both counts. She could not stop the pop-ups, and she had been told not to shut the computer down, and did as directed.

Furthermore, the computer experts argued that Ms. Amero, and other teachers, were not trained to deal with such circumstances, and therefore should not be held accountable."

• Student arrested for humorous sign aimed at Religious Protesters.:

• Woman seeks damages from primary school from EarthTimes.org:

Part 2: Audience Comments

• Your Name and Your Website: Here you can leave your comments about how assessment effects you, your community, your classroom. This section is for opinion and personal stories so if you are quoting or discussing something you read feel free to put it in section one.
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Part 3: Interview

Here you can suggest guests for the show or questions you want to have answered. I will try to get to as many as possible.