Thursday, April 16, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gyrocopter-pilot-mailman-doug-hughes-neighbors-surprised/

Who is gyrocopter pilot Doug Hughes?
CBS NEWS
April 16, 2015

Perhaps nobody was more surprised by Doug Hughes' gyrocopter stunt at the Capitol on Wednesday than his neighbors in Ruskin, Florida.

"It's weird thinking somebody like that, you know, two doors down," the U.S. mailman's neighbor Ian Hopkins said.

"We were so surprised about it because you know he's a good man... he's a good neighbor," another person said.

Hughes is a married father of four who's been flying gyrocopters for more than a year. According to his website, the 61-year-old grew up in California, served in the Navy and became a mailman more than a decade ago. But Wednesday, he chose to veer off his regular route to draw attention to campaign finance reform, reports CBS News correspondent Vicente Arenas.

Hughes' so-called "freedom flight" had been in the works for some time.

In fact, Hughes alerted the Tampa Bay Times last year -- after the Secret Service interviewed him about his plans.

"Terrorists don't announce their flights before they take off. Terrorists don't broadcast their flight path," Hughes told the Times.

Hughes recently  admitted to the paper that even he thought his idea sounded crazy.

"No sane person would do what I'm doing," he said.

According to the Times, Hughes' act of civil disobedience began taking shape more than two years ago after his son committed suicide.

His grief prompted him to take a bigger stand on political issues he felt were important.
"We were trying to think of ways to get attention, and it looks like he did that," Hughes' co-worker Michael Shanahan said.

Shanahan shared Hughes' passion for politics, but wasn't on board with his bold plan.

"I told him that it was a very bad idea, extremely dangerous... but like I said, he gets like a pit bull sometimes," Shanahan said. "He gets very tenacious with his ideas and he holds onto them."

Still, Shanahan insists his friend is more patriot than terrorist.

Ahead of his landing at the Capitol, Hughes took to his website writing: "I have no violent inclinations or intent... Let's keep the discussion focused on reform -- not me -- I'm just delivering the mail."

Hughes knew what was at stake in carrying out his mission. The Tampa Bay Times said he expected to lose his job and his freedom. Hughes said he didn't tell his wife or four children about the plan because he didn't want them to be implicated.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/04/15/heres-the-web-site-of-the-man-who-flew-a-gyrocopter-to-the-capitol/

The man who planned to fly a gyrocopter to the Capitol has a Web site. Here’s what it says.
The Fix
By Hunter Schwarz April 15, 2015 

Doug Hughes, a 61-year-old Florida man who told the Tampa Bay Times he would fly his gyrocopter and land it on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol to deliver letters to members of Congress, has a Web site where he talks about the need to reduce the influence of money in politics.

"The point of the flight is to spotlight corruption in DC and more importantly, to present the solution(s) to the institutional graft," it says on thedemocracyclub.org, a Web site listed at the bottom of the letter he was to deliver to the Capitol. "I have no violent inclinations or intent. An ultralight aircraft poses no major physical threat ... there's no need to worry, I'm just delivering the mail."

[A gyrocopter just landed on the Capitol lawn]

A man who did precisely what Hughes was planning was detained early Wednesday afternoon, though it is not yet clear that the man was Hughes.

The Web site includes a section about Hughes, sections outlining what reforms he believes need to be made, and a number for the White House he asked viewers to call to tell them about his message.

Hughes said on his site that he sent an email to info@barackobama.com saying that he wasn't a threat and shooting him down would "be a bigger headache than letting me deliver these letters to Congress."

A live feed was also embedded on the site under "Live Flight." It is listed as off air and on a blog page written by "Tampadoug47" dated September 16, 2013.

It also includes links to a number of sites including Wolf PAC, which calls for a reversal of Citizens United, and Represent.US, which advocates passing an anti-corruption act.




CBS – "We were so surprised about it because you know he's a good man... he's a good neighbor," another person said. Hughes is a married father of four who's been flying gyrocopters for more than a year. According to his website, the 61-year-old grew up in California, served in the Navy and became a mailman more than a decade ago. But Wednesday, he chose to veer off his regular route to draw attention to campaign finance reform, reports CBS News correspondent Vicente Arenas. ….. His grief prompted him to take a bigger stand on political issues he felt were important. …. "We were trying to think of ways to get attention, and it looks like he did that," Hughes' co-worker Michael Shanahan said. Shanahan shared Hughes' passion for politics, but wasn't on board with his bold plan. …. Still, Shanahan insists his friend is more patriot than terrorist. Ahead of his landing at the Capitol, Hughes took to his website writing: "I have no violent inclinations or intent... Let's keep the discussion focused on reform -- not me -- I'm just delivering the mail."

WASHINGTON POST – “The Web site includes a section about Hughes, sections outlining what reforms he believes need to be made, and a number for the White House he asked viewers to call to tell them about his message. …. A live feed was also embedded on the site under "Live Flight." It is listed as off air and on a blog page written by "Tampadoug47" dated September 16, 2013. It also includes links to a number of sites including Wolf PAC, which calls for a reversal of Citizens United, and Represent.US, which advocates passing an anti-corruption act.”

One conservative commentator has characterized Hughes as a “left wing nut job,” and maybe he is, because he has been deeply involved in liberal politics for at least a few years (as have so many of us!!) and his attention-getting maneuver is “extreme.” I'm glad to see a left wing nutter out there rather than just all those neo-Nazi nutters who usually make the news, however. While this event is slightly embarrassing to the left, at least it shows that there is a progressive movement alive out there in Internet world, and countless others who can be brought out to the polls on election day to kick out the local and national “conservatives.” Actually, as I have said at least once before, attempting to take over the US government and set up a dominionist state in its place is not “conservative” at all, but very radical. Hughes seems to me to be intelligent and not really crazy – a little too focused perhaps. Like all visionaries who see what exists without the smoke and mirrors, he is simply following his own drummer, and the drummer is leading in the right direction. END CITIZENS UNITED.





CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA – THREE ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dispute-among-san-francisco-catholics-gets-hotter/

Dispute among San Francisco Catholics gets hotter
CBS NEWS
April 16, 2015

Photograph – Salvatore Cordileone, the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, walks through a gate to Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory school after students, teachers and supporters gathered for a vigil outside of St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 6, 2015.  AP PHOTO/JEFF CHIU

SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 100 local leaders are calling on Pope Francis to replace San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in an open letter in Thursday's San Francisco Chronicle, notes CBS San Francisco.

The newspaper calls it "an unprecedented move."

"The plea follows months of dissent within the archdiocese over Cordileone's emphasis on traditional, conservative church doctrine," the Chronicle reports.

Among the contentious issues -- so-called "morality clauses" Cordileone has included in contracts for teachers and staff at four Catholic high schools.

"Holy Father, please provide us with a leader true to our values and your namesake," the letter reads in part.

Signers include alumni of San Francisco Catholic schools, church volunteers and former board members of Catholic Charities. One signer is Tom Brady Sr., father of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Chronicle says.

The group claims the clauses have caused division in the community.

The clauses call for teachers to abide by the church's stance against things like sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.

Attorney Frank Pitre who, along with his wife, Diane, signed the letter, told the Chronicle, "It seems he is going in a direction that is completely opposite where Pope Francis is going and creating an atmosphere of complete intolerance. Hopefully, this is going to get someone's attention."

Archdiocesan officials have already responded to the ad.

"The advertisement is a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, a misrepresentation of the nature of the teacher contract, and a misrepresentation of the spirit of the Archbishop," the Archdiocese said in a statement. The clauses call for teachers to abide by the church's stance against things like sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.

Attorney Frank Pitre who, along with his wife, Diane, signed the letter, told the Chronicle, "It seems he is going in a direction that is completely opposite where Pope Francis is going and creating an atmosphere of complete intolerance. Hopefully, this is going to get someone's attention."


The Chronicle advises its readers not to "expect Cordileone to start soft-pedaling his opposition to same-sex marriage. He's encouraging the faithful to join him at a big march in the nation's capital in favor of 'traditional' marriage on April 25, three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could result in the justices declaring a constitutional right for gays and lesbians to wed."




"The plea follows months of dissent within the archdiocese over Cordileone's emphasis on traditional, conservative church doctrine," the Chronicle reports. Among the contentious issues -- so-called "morality clauses" Cordileone has included in contracts for teachers and staff at four Catholic high schools. "Holy Father, please provide us with a leader true to our values and your namesake," the letter reads in part. …. Signers include alumni of San Francisco Catholic schools, church volunteers and former board members of Catholic Charities. One signer is Tom Brady Sr., father of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Chronicle says. …. The clauses call for teachers to abide by the church's stance against things like sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. Attorney Frank Pitre who, along with his wife, Diane, signed the letter, told the Chronicle, "It seems he is going in a direction that is completely opposite where Pope Francis is going and creating an atmosphere of complete intolerance. Hopefully, this is going to get someone's attention." …. The clauses call for teachers to abide by the church's stance against things like sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. Attorney Frank Pitre who, along with his wife, Diane, signed the letter, told the Chronicle, "It seems he is going in a direction that is completely opposite where Pope Francis is going and creating an atmosphere of complete intolerance. Hopefully, this is going to get someone's attention."

Cordileone is organizing a large march in Washington DC on April 25 in favor of “traditional marriage” in the hopes of influencing the Supreme Court judges to rule against gay and lesbian marriage three days later. Catholic Charities is an organization of long standing and impressive actions. They deal directly one to one with any person suffering destitution and in danger of homelessness to pay their bills for them. That is people of all types and groupings. You don't have to become a church member like you do to get help from the local Baptist Church. They also run a food pantry and thrift shop.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vatican-unexpectedly-ends-crackdown-on-u-s-nun-group/

​Vatican unexpectedly ends crackdown on U.S. nun group
AP April 16, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican announced the unexpected conclusion of its crackdown of the main umbrella group of U.S. nuns Thursday, ending a controversial takeover of a liberal group and signaling a major shift in tone and treatment of U.S. sisters under the social justice-minded Pope Francis.

The Vatican said it had accepted a final report on its overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and declared that the "implementation of the mandate has been accomplished."

In a final joint report, the congregation and the LCWR said the group's statutes had been revised to show its focus on Christ and being faithful to church teaching. It said an advisory committee would be created to ensure manuscripts submitted for inclusion in LCWR publications are doctrinally sound. It said speakers at LCWR events must use the "ecclesial language of faith" in their remarks and said there was a revised process for selecting award winners.

When the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith took over the LCWR in 2012, it accused the group of taking positions that undermined Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

It envisioned a five-year doctrinal overhaul, fueled by concerns among U.S. conservatives that the group, which represents 80 percent of the 57,000 Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S., had strayed from church teaching by not focusing enough on issues like abortion.

The takeover, combined with a separate Vatican investigation into the quality of life of U.S. nuns, had deeply wounded the U.S. sisters who oversee the lions' share of the Catholic Church's social programs, running schools, hospitals, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. The crackdown resulted in an outpouring of popular support for their work and fueled allegations of the church's heavy-handed, misogynistic treatment of women.

In December, the Vatican's quality of life investigation ended with sweeping praise for the sisters for their selfless work caring for the poor. Thursday's conclusion of the doctrinal assessment signaled a similar positive conclusion.




“The Vatican announced the unexpected conclusion of its crackdown of the main umbrella group of U.S. nuns Thursday, ending a controversial takeover of a liberal group and signaling a major shift in tone and treatment of U.S. sisters under the social justice-minded Pope Francis. The Vatican said it had accepted a final report on its overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and declared that the "implementation of the mandate has been accomplished." …. It said speakers at LCWR events must use the "ecclesial language of faith" in their remarks and said there was a revised process for selecting award winners. When the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith took over the LCWR in 2012, it accused the group of taking positions that undermined Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." …. It envisioned a five-year doctrinal overhaul, fueled by concerns among U.S. conservatives that the group, which represents 80 percent of the 57,000 Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S., had strayed from church teaching by not focusing enough on issues like abortion.” …. In December, the Vatican's quality of life investigation ended with sweeping praise for the sisters for their selfless work caring for the poor. Thursday's conclusion of the doctrinal assessment signaled a similar positive conclusion.”

This looks like a witch hunt promoted by conservative Catholics against democratization of the American organization, in its focus on helping the poor over eliminating abortions and its willingness to look at women's issues including power structure in the church. Pope Francis's role in stopping the intervention by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with the decision that the Women's organization was performing its duties properly.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Wikipedia, is described below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_for_the_Doctrine_of_the_Faith

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith(Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, C.D.F.) is the oldest among the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. It was founded to defend the church from heresy; today, it is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.[1] …. Founded by Pope Paul III in 1542, the congregation's sole objective is to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines".[1]Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just outside Vatican City. The congregation employs anadvisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, laytheologians, and canon lawyers. The current Prefect is Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

Role

"The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."[3]

This includes investigations into what are known as "delicta graviora"; i.e., the crimes which the Catholic Church considers as being the most serious of all: crimes against the Eucharist and against the sanctity of the Sacrament of Penance, and crimes against the sixth Commandment ("thou shall not commit adultery") committed by a cleric against a person under the age of eighteen.  ….  The Congregation has a membership of some 18 other cardinals and a smaller number of non-cardinal bishops, a staff of some 38 priests, religious andlay men and women, and some 26 consultors.[7]”





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vatican-starts-trying-to-make-amends-with-american-nuns/

Vatican starts trying to make amends with U.S. nuns
AP December 16, 2014

Photograph – Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, left, flanked by Sister Sharon Holland, center, and Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, speaks during a press conference at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014.  AP PHOTO/ANDREW MEDICHINI

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican went out of its way Tuesday to mend fences with American nuns, thanking them for their selfless work caring for the poor and promising to value their "feminine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to survive amid a decline in their numbers.

The long-awaited report of the Vatican's sweeping three-year investigation into U.S. women's religious orders, was most remarkable for what it didn't say. There was no criticism of American nuns, no demands that they shift their focus from social justice issues to emphasize Catholic teaching on abortion, no condemnation that a feminist, secular mentality had taken hold in their ranks.

Rather, while offering a sobering assessment of the difficult state of American congregations, the report gave a positive view of the sisters' contributions to the church and reflected a pastoral and encouraging message that is characteristic of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope.

The report, as a result, offered a radically different message, in both tone and content, to the 50,000 sisters living and working in the U.S. compared with that of another Vatican office investigating an umbrella group of their leaders.

That investigation, conducted by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, resulted in a Vatican takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in 2012. The doctrine office determined that the LCWR, which represents the leaders of 80 percent of U.S. sisters, took positions that undermined church teaching and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The Vatican's congregation for religious orders has long sought to distinguish its broad investigation into the quality of life of American sisters from the more narrow doctrinal assessment carried out by the orthodoxy office, and its report Tuesday made clear that two very different messages are coming from the Holy See.

Both investigations were initiated under Pope Benedict XVI within months of one another in 2008 and resulted in tremendous feelings of betrayal and insult from the sisters, some of whom refused to cooperate fully.

The probes also prompted an outpouring of support from rank and file Catholics who viewed the investigations as a crackdown by a misogynistic, heavy-handed, all-male Vatican hierarchy against the underpaid, underappreciated women who do the lion's share of the church's work running Catholic hospitals, schools and services for the poor.

Theological conservatives have long complained that in the years after the revolutionizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, women's congregations in the U.S. became secular and political while abandoning traditional prayer life and faith. The nuns insisted that prayer and Christ were central to their work.

Tuesday's overwhelmingly positive report was cheered by the sisters themselves, dozens of whom swarmed the Vatican news conference announcing the results in a rare moment of women outnumbering men at the Vatican.

Sister Sharon Holland, who currently heads the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, made clear that the investigation was initially met with apprehension and distrust, particularly among elderly sisters who "felt that their whole lives had been judged and found wanting."

But she said the results showed that the Vatican had listened and heard what the sisters had to say.

"There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this report," she told the news conference. "Challenges are understood, but it is not a document of blame, or of simplistic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on."

The report outlined the bleak reality facing American women's congregations today: The current number of 50,000 U.S. sisters represents a fraction of the 125,000 in the mid-1960s, though the report noted that that high was an atypical spike in the history of the U.S. Church.

The average age of U.S. nuns today is mid-to-late 70s. They are facing dwindling finances to care for their sisters as they age and haven't had much success in finding new vocations. The report asked the sisters - gently - to make sure their training programs reflect church teaching and ensure their members pray and focus on Christ.

It stressed appreciation for their work and expressed hope that they take "this present moment as an opportunity to transform uncertainty and hesitancy into collaborative trust" with the church hierarchy.

It noted that many sisters complained that their work often went unrecognized by priests and requested improved dialogue with bishops to clarify their role in the church and give them greater voice in decisions that affect them or in areas where they have experience.

The report noted that Francis, who has pledged to bring more women into decision-making positions in the church, has recently asked the Vatican to update a key document outlining the relationship between bishops and religious orders - male and female - amid tensions that sometimes exist.




“... thanking them for their selfless work caring for the poor and promising to value their "feminine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to survive amid a decline in their numbers. The long-awaited report of the Vatican's sweeping three-year investigation into U.S. women's religious orders, was most remarkable for what it didn't say. There was no criticism of American nuns, no demands that they shift their focus from social justice issues to emphasize Catholic teaching on abortion, no condemnation that a feminist, secular mentality had taken hold in their ranks. …. reflected a pastoral and encouraging message that is characteristic of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope. The report, as a result, offered a radically different message, in both tone and content, to the 50,000 sisters living and working in the U.S. compared with that of another Vatican office investigating an umbrella group of their leaders. …. its report Tuesday made clear that two very different messages are coming from the Holy See. Both investigations were initiated under Pope Benedict XVI within months of one another in 2008 and resulted in tremendous feelings of betrayal and insult from the sisters, some of whom refused to cooperate fully. …. Theological conservatives have long complained that in the years after the revolutionizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, women's congregations in the U.S. became secular and political while abandoning traditional prayer life and faith. The nuns insisted that prayer and Christ were central to their work. …. "There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this report," she told the news conference. "Challenges are understood, but it is not a document of blame, or of simplistic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on." …. The average age of U.S. nuns today is mid-to-late 70s. They are facing dwindling finances to care for their sisters as they age and haven't had much success in finding new vocations. The report asked the sisters - gently - to make sure their training programs reflect church teaching and ensure their members pray and focus on Christ. It stressed appreciation for their work and expressed hope that they take "this present moment as an opportunity to transform uncertainty and hesitancy into collaborative trust" with the church hierarchy. …. The report noted that Francis, who has pledged to bring more women into decision-making positions in the church, has recently asked the Vatican to update a key document outlining the relationship between bishops and religious orders - male and female - amid tensions that sometimes exist.”

It seems to me that all religions tend to be unfair to women in their treatment, both inside the church and among the laity. I came through in the 1950s when the life of women in the US was relaxing somewhat, but it was still easier for a woman to be harshly blamed for the “sins of the flesh,” though men were clearly more likely to do the sinning. Short skirts or a slip or bra strap showing was considered very low class. Unfortunately a strap that isn't sufficiently tight may slip down on the shoulder before you notice it. What bothered me more, though, was the lack of encouragement for women to achieve in the world of work, with indeed the expectation of women's being homemakers only, or “barefoot and pregnant” as some men chose to phrase it. I remember many television ads showing a housewife vacuuming her carpet in a full dress with a crinoline under it, full face makeup and sprayed hair style and the ever-present high heeled shoes. Nobody cleans the floor in high heels, and I certainly don't wear makeup and a skirt at home.

All these changes of the late 1900's have undoubtedly affected what treatment and roles nuns are now expecting in their lifetime within the church. They want more authority. Some suggestions have been made that women should be able to be priests. I don't see that in the near future, of course. Women have, however, come to be valued for their inner achievements more than their external appearances nowadays, and that is simply progress toward a valuable goal – equality in society as well as under the law. Of course, women are still blamed in the courtroom when it is a rape trial. Juries, however, will not necessarily follow the defendant's lawyer in his characterizations these days, and there is a more general recognition that saying No means NO. That issue came up again in the recent college campus rape cases in which sometimes the administration did not encourage the woman to make a complaint. There has been progress, but there is more to be done.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/common-core-whats-right-for-special-educations-students/

Common Core: What's right for special education students?
By HEBA KANSO CBS NEWS
April 16, 2015

Photograph – Julie Cavanagh (Left)
CBS NEWS

NEW YORK - Nothing lights up 10 year-old Billy Flood's face brighter than when you talk to him about music. The pint-size Beatles fan loves writing his own songs, and playing the keyboard and bass. However, when getting on the topic of Common Core and end-of-the-year testing that light dims a little.

"It was kind of a nerve-wracking experience," said Billy, a fifth-grader at a public school in Brooklyn, New York. "I think I was pretty nervous taking the test."

Billy, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of more than 180,000 special education students in New York state learning the Common Core state standards and who took the state test at the end of last year.

More than 40 states have implemented the Common Core State Standards Initiative setting specific achievement targets in math and English language arts.

Since Common Core was launched in 2009 - New York adopted it in 2010 - there has been a divisive national debate on these standards.

Within that debate, there are also questions as to whether special education students should be measured by the same standards and taking the same tests as general education students.

"He's come home saying things like 'I don't know anything. I can't do anything.' This is based on the two prior years of him taking the test - third and fourth grade," said Lynda Flood, Billy's mother. "It rips my heart out because I know how smart he is; I know how intelligent he is; I know what he can do. Those tests, they don't prove at all what my child is capable of doing."

Special education students in the United States have what is called an Individualized Education Program (IEP). It provides support and services for each student depending on their learning needs. Some of that support comes in the form of accommodations during test-taking like getting extra time, having some questions read out loud (depending on the test), and being in a different testing location.

However, even with these accommodations, special education teacher Julie Cavanagh doesn't think that's enough with regard to the Common Core. She firmly believes that the new standards have made learning more difficult across the board, especially for special educations students.

Cavanagh, who teaches third and fifth grade at PS 15 Patrick F. Daly in Red Hook, Brooklyn, said the new standards represent a "developmentally inappropriate curriculum" for special education students and has had the additional effect of "taking away from schools' and educators' ability to really focus on differentiated and individualized sort of goals for those students."

Cavanagh specifically teaches students who take alternate assessments, which means they don't take the same standardized tests as everyone else. These special education students also have IEPs but might receive more accommodations and modifications than other special education students because their learning disabilities are more significant.

Alternate assessment allows Cavanagh to write her own version of the end-of-the year state tests - still based on the Common Core, but modified for her students.

However, some special education teachers think the basic accommodations for their students - the IEPs - are enough to help them succeed within the Common Core framework.

"I believe that given the opportunity, special education or not, the standards should be set high because once we're out of school, the standard is set high. So there is no real benefit for the child to set the standard low in their early life so that when they get out of school they are now not functioning as well as they could have," said Dan Blackburn, who teaches special education for kindergarten through fifth grade at Amber Charter School in Manhattan.

Blackburn's school doesn't have alternate assessment and students have to take the standardized test at the end of the year. He agrees with raising the standards and having them applied consistently across the United States. While Blackburn acknowledges there are some difficulties that come with Common Core, he believes "with the right persistence and the right attitude that it's going to help our students learn to be productive global thinkers."

Imelda Vazquez's daughter Crystal is in Blackburn's fifth-grade class. Crystal has a learning disability and English isn't her first language, but Vazquez said she is happy her daughter is held to the same high standards as the general education students.

"If she leaves [graduates] without being well prepared, it won't serve her. So it [Common Core] has to be helping her a lot," said Vazquez.

Even Cavanagh agrees there shouldn't be a two-tiered system where children who have IEP's are working toward one set of standards and children who don't have IEP's are working toward another, but feels the Common Core's "over-emphasis" on testing "really undermines the work of that individualized, differentiated experience" that has become the hallmark of special education.

Cavanagh also says the focus on teacher accountability can be counterproductive. In New York, 20 percent of an educator's evaluation is based on students' standardized test scores. Cavanagh said this puts an immense amount of pressure on the teachers as well as the students.

"I think where we run into a problem is expecting that children with or without an IEP are going to be able to demonstrate proficiency on those skills at the exact moment that the state or some [policymaker] has decided that they should be doing that."

This year, Billy's mother, Lynda, has decided her son won't take the state test, though schools with less than a 95 percent participation rate in the assessments risk losing "significant federal funding," according New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch.

As for Billy, he's just trying to stay positive.

"My mom always tries to push me into confidence, no negativity. ... It works actually. ... The confidence works."




“Billy, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of more than 180,000 special education students in New York state learning the Common Core state standards and who took the state test at the end of last year. …. Within that debate, there are also questions as to whether special education students should be measured by the same standards and taking the same tests as general education students. "He's come home saying things like 'I don't know anything. I can't do anything.' This is based on the two prior years of him taking the test - third and fourth grade," said Lynda Flood, Billy's mother. "It rips my heart out because I know how smart he is; I know how intelligent he is; I know what he can do. Those tests, they don't prove at all what my child is capable of doing." …. Special education students in the United States have what is called an Individualized Education Program (IEP). It provides support and services for each student depending on their learning needs. …. Cavanagh specifically teaches students who take alternate assessments, which means they don't take the same standardized tests as everyone else. These special education students also have IEPs but might receive more accommodations and modifications than other special education students because their learning disabilities are more significant. …. Alternate assessment allows Cavanagh to write her own version of the end-of-the year state tests - still based on the Common Core, but modified for her students. …. So there is no real benefit for the child to set the standard low in their early life so that when they get out of school they are now not functioning as well as they could have," said Dan Blackburn. .... While Blackburn acknowledges there are some difficulties that come with Common Core, he believes "with the right persistence and the right attitude that it's going to help our students learn to be productive global thinkers." …. Even Cavanagh agrees there shouldn't be a two-tiered system where children who have IEP's are working toward one set of standards and children who don't have IEP's are working toward another, but feels the Common Core's "over-emphasis" on testing "really undermines the work of that individualized, differentiated experience" that has become the hallmark of special education.”

"My mom always tries to push me into confidence, no negativity. ... It works actually. ... The confidence works." We should be aware that even with students who are not considered to be learning disabled, they still have varying abilities in the different subject areas. There is particularly a gap between mathematical and language abilities, with most boys achieving more easily in math and a majority of girls in language. I was in the fourth grade before I took my first standardized test, which was an IQ test. There was also a general achievement test in high school, which measured among other things my vocabulary and English skills. Then the last, of course, was the College Board. In the tenth grade we took a quirky test called the Kudar Preference Test, which zeroed in on what field we should perhaps enter in college and adult life. My test came out that I should be a game warden due to my interest in animals and being in the out of doors. Women weren't game wardens then. They are, of course, now.

My point, though, is that we weren't overburdened with standardized testing when I went through, and as a result I really loved school for its interest value. I was a naturally good reader and read even informational material for fun. I had some very interesting teachers who used class discussion and logic as the primary teaching method. Math didn't come to me easily, but that wasn't considered unusual for girls in the day. I would also like to point out that my College Board test was not to measure exactly what I had learned in high school and judge me on it, but to make a judgment of what my overall knowledge level was. Failing it would not have kept me from graduating from high school in any event. The FCAT scores of today can keep a kid from graduating, no matter what their cumulative course grades were. It is quite possible for a kid to do well in the eyes of his teacher, but fail a standardized test on the subject, unless of course the teachers all “teach to the test.”

The article above mentions the Common Core standards in general, but not the math curriculum in particular, as did another article several months ago on Common Core. That article didn't discuss the affect of any learning disability on test scores, but dealt with normal and typical students. Many people feel that the type of math instruction in Common Core is very difficult for kids who are not gifted in math to absorb and learn. They simply may not understand it and be left behind. When I went through I learned the old math and not the “new.” I think that while it was easier for me to learn it may have set me back as far as understanding what higher mathematics is all about. The extremely abstruse way math is being taught under the Common Core in both lessons and testing, has been raised as a complaint by a number of adults, even if they do approve of Common Core. Some teachers – and especially parents who didn't learn math that way either – have criticized it as being unnecessarily complicated and illogical. I'd love to see one of those tests to see what the parents are talking about. A math teacher, when interviewed, said that one question on the test in particular was impossible to understand and may even have been incorrectly written. No wonder the kids and their parents are confused.

Nowadays even kids who are not developmentally disabled are intimidated by the tests. It is also a very bad idea, in my opinion, for student achievement scores to be used to reward “good” teachers and fire less effective ones, as though their teaching is the primary reason for the discrepancies in student scores. That was one of the brilliant ideas of some conservatives when the annual testing was brought into practice. Education has become a “cookie cutter” product rather than a creative involvement of student and teacher, fueled by curiosity and varying to a fairly great degree between individuals.

Not all high school and college trained people learned exactly the same things, or in the same way. Knowledge isn't a black and white issue, but instead a series of gray areas. There are some FACTS, however, that a well-prepared student should know, and those are the things that are on the College Board test. College courses are aimed a higher level of information and difficulty, so kids need to be able to keep up. If a person does not intend to go to college, they may not need to know all those things. If you're going to work in the business world you need to know both math and language skills, with some kind of specialization. An accountant or statistician doesn't need to do well in English Literature, but he must know his math. Whatever work we do, however, we should know some history, be able to read a daily newspaper, do general math or arithmetic calculations, hear and understand verbal instructions, and understand something like an insurance policy or legal document. A law office typist needs to do more than just type, in other words.

Grammar and vocabulary also need to be up to a pretty high standard if you work in business. If you don't know those things you will have to do construction, maintenance or car mechanic work, sell something, or get a job on an assembly line or in some other physical occupation. It is my opinion that police officers should have at least good language and problem solving skills, some psychology, and good manners, but unfortunately they don't all. These different skills do allow us to fit into one occupational slot or another, and business has specific needs. One or two plans have been in the news recently, since the high level of unemployment has been under discussion, to have business leaders involve themselves in deciding what things will be taught in schools. Education should be geared to a goal for best effectiveness. We could prepare our population much better for work if we would view education from that angle.

In my opinion when kids are curious and enthusiastic about learning they will learn more and retain it more easily, because it will be connected with other things that they have already learned and will simply make more sense to them. If teachers, instead of being a creative leader in the classroom, are drilling kids on what they need to say on the test, they can't possibly be as interesting to the students, and learning will be a miserable chore for all concerned. That, to me, is not an argument against Common Core which guides where the education should go, but rather against over-testing in general and how those tests are used. A friend of mine whose daughter is bright and very clever, looked absolutely miserable one time when her FCAT test was coming up. The kids are terrified of flunking it. It can keep them from being promoted to the next grade, after all, and getting into college.






http://www.cbsnews.com/news/attacks-against-jews-spiked-in-2014-israeli-researchers-say/

"Explosion of hatred": Anti-Semitic attacks spiked in 2014
CBS/AP
April 15, 2015

Photograph – Armed soldiers patrol outside a School in the Jewish quarter of the Marais district on January 13, 2015 in Paris, France. Thousands of troops and police were deployed to bolster security at 'sensitive' sites including Jewish schools.  JEFF J MITCHELL, GETTY IMAGES

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Jewish communities around the world faced an "explosion of hatred" last year, with the number of violent anti-Semitic attacks rising by 38 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by Israeli researchers.

With most of the violence concentrated in Western Europe, Jewish leaders warned that many in their communities are questioning whether they have any future in the region.

The report by researchers at Tel Aviv University recorded 766 incidents - ranging from armed assaults to vandalism against synagogues, schools and cemeteries - compared to 554 in 2013.

According to CBS Radio News' Robert Berger, the report says that most of the anti-Semitic incidents occurred in France.

"We're speaking about a change in environment in Europe, and Jewish life in Europe is at risk," said researcher Arie Zuckerman of the European Jewish Congress.

Many Jews feel like "they are facing an explosion of hatred toward them as individuals, their communities, and Israel, as a Jewish state," wrote the researchers from the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry.

The center releases the report every year on the eve of Israel's Holocaust memorial day, which begins Wednesday at sundown.

The researchers said the increase in attacks on Jews was partly linked to last summer's conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as to what they called a "general climate of hatred and violence" fostered by the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East.

The report said 2014 was the second most violent year for Jews in a decade after 2009, which also saw a surge in anti-Semitism following an Israeli military operation in Gaza.

The violence in 2014 spiked during the July-August war in Gaza, particularly in demonstrations organized in France, Germany and other countries, during which protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans, looted Jewish shops and attacked synagogues as well as people identifiable as Jews.

However, researchers stressed that attacks had been on the rise also before the summer and said the controversy over Israel's operation was used as a pretext to attack Jews.

"Synagogues were targeted, not Israeli embassies," said Dina Porat, a historian who edited the report.

The reported incidents do not include the killing of four shoppers at a kosher supermarket in Paris following the deadly shooting at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, since those events occurred in January.

However, the researchers noted that the wave of attacks has continued this year, and that the gruesome acts and ISIS propaganda videos are also encouraging the radicalization of Muslims in the West.

Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing communities across the continent, said Jewish life has reached a "tipping point" in Europe.

"Some are choosing to leave the continent, many are afraid to walk the streets and even more are retreating behind high walls and barbed wire," Kantor told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "This has become the new reality of Jewish life in Europe."

Kantor said that while governments have pledged to boost security for their Jewish communities, they must do more at a pan-European level to share intelligence, toughen legislation and combat pervasive anti-Semitic attitudes in the general population.

"European Jews should not leave out of fear and should push their leaders to defeat anti-Semitism and radical Islamist terrorism," he said.

As in past years, the highest number of attacks was reported in France, which saw 164 incidents compared to 141 in 2013. In Britain there were 141 attacks, up from 95, and in the United States there were 80 incidents versus 55, including a shooting at Jewish sites in Overland Park, Kansas, that killed three people.

Some western European countries saw even greater increases, with the number of incidents more than doubling in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Sweden. The attacks also target individuals more frequently, with 306 cases involving people as victims, a 66 percent increase.




“With most of the violence concentrated in Western Europe, Jewish leaders warned that many in their communities are questioning whether they have any future in the region. The report by researchers at Tel Aviv University recorded 766 incidents - ranging from armed assaults to vandalism against synagogues, schools and cemeteries - compared to 554 in 2013. According to CBS Radio News' Robert Berger, the report says that most of the anti-Semitic incidents occurred in France. "We're speaking about a change in environment in Europe, and Jewish life in Europe is at risk," said researcher Arie Zuckerman of the European Jewish Congress. …. The researchers said the increase in attacks on Jews was partly linked to last summer's conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as to what they called a "general climate of hatred and violence" fostered by the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East. …. The violence in 2014 spiked during the July-August war in Gaza, particularly in demonstrations organized in France, Germany and other countries, during which protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans, looted Jewish shops and attacked synagogues as well as people identifiable as Jews. However, researchers stressed that attacks had been on the rise also before the summer and said the controversy over Israel's operation was used as a pretext to attack Jews.…. "Some are choosing to leave the continent, many are afraid to walk the streets and even more are retreating behind high walls and barbed wire," Kantor told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "This has become the new reality of Jewish life in Europe." Kantor said that while governments have pledged to boost security for their Jewish communities, they must do more at a pan-European level to share intelligence, toughen legislation and combat pervasive anti-Semitic attitudes in the general population.”

This isn't just a movement against the Jews, but the blacks and brown skinned people. There is an overall increase in international and religious tensions worldwide, between the radical Islamic elements, the rise of an attempt to insert Christianity as a state religion here in the US – and that is unprecedented within my knowledge – the fear and hatred across the West against Islamic refugees from the Middle East and Africa, increased right wing social and political activity in the US against blacks, Islamic people, Hispanics and Asians. The amount of stress is increasing worldwide, at least in Europe and America.

One thing that is helping to stir these conflicts up is that the increasing economic pressure on the Middle Class and the poor is intensifying – jobs are scare, pay scales are still mostly low, unions have almost disappeared – while the larger members of the business world grow more fatter and more wealthy under the Republican management. When people are financially strapped to the degree that they are now they become disgruntled and afraid, and begin to look for a scapegoat. The old claim against the Jews from the Hitler years was that they were all extremely wealthy and running the world, while the local Germans and Frenchmen, etc., were starving. Then there is always the intense loyalty to ones own religious framework or cultural characteristics as opposed to that of other groups. Like, why do the Jews wear those long curls and go to their religious services on Saturday? Then there's always, “The Jews killed Jesus.” We really need more good common sense and toleration. Jesus' maxim “Love thy neighbor as thyself” would work in ordinary times, but at this time Christians are joining in the culture wars rather than obeying his words.