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With one-third of their state’s eligible voters still unregistered, according to WSPA News Channel 7, South Carolinians are steering efforts toward getting one group specifically to the polls: teachers.

Former state Teacher of the Year, Tracy Young Cooper, asks “How can we sit by and neglect our civic duty when we stand in front of South Carolina’s most impressionable citizens, our students, each and every day and work with them to instill the values of democracy?”

Earlier this week, the advocate group RISE SC (Reform, Improve, Support, Public Education) launched Goal: 100%, an incentive plan to increase voter registration among educators. Schools that participate in the program and get 100 percent of their certified staff registered to vote in the 2008 general election will be entered into a drawing to win $1,000 for their school. Ten schools will receive prize money, which comes from private donations.

State superintendent Jim Rex stresses that the effort is non-partisan. “I won the statewide election for state superintendent of education by a total of 455 votes out of 1.1 million,” Rex said, “so every vote really does count. And it’s never been more true than this upcoming election.”

Posted by Liana Heitin at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This June, Susan Romanyszyn, a veteran 4th grade teacher, was convicted of 11 counts of terrorist threats. Alleged to have been angry about her 5th grade classroom assignment, Romanyszyn was accused of making violent threats, which mentioned bombs and death, to her Longstreth Elementary School in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania. Today she is hoping three anonymous notes will persuade the judge to throw out her conviction, according to The Philadelphia Enquirer.

Two of the notes, which were purportedly handwritten by students--complete with spelling and grammatical errors--were sent to Romanyszyn’s attorney’s office. “we were tired of getting yelled at all the time,” the letters state. “we didn’t think they would think a teacher would do it. we are so sorry to Miss Romonison she should not be in trouble for something we did.”

The judge in the case also received a third note--typed with a handwritten envelope-- purportedly from an unnamed juror. That letter stated that “a couple of the jurors…had decided already that she [Romanyszyn] must be guilty because she was arrested and it was all in the news.” Last week a handwriting expert suggested a possible link to a 5th grader, who was initially suspected of the threats.

Battling cancer, Romanyszyn is under house arrest pending a decision from the judge.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Students in the North Texas hamlet of Harrold spent the week wondering which teachers were carrying concealed pistols, The New York Times reports. The town’s school board approved a policy last fall to let teachers carry concealed weapons, with requisite training and licensing, to protect against school shootings.

Brian Siebel, a lawyer for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told the newspaper that the policy is not only unwise, but possibly illegal. According to The Times, a state education statute says "'security personnel' authorized to carry weapons on campuses must be 'commissioned peace officers,' who undergo police training." The school board counters that the teachers are exempt from this law, since they are not security personnel.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry supports the school board, telling the Associated Press last week that, “There’s a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives.” Some parents are unconvinced. Traci McKay, who sends three children to the K-12 school of 100 students, wasn’t notified of the new policy until two weeks before classes started.

“I should have been informed,” Ms. McKay told The Times. “If something happens, do we really want all these people shooting at each other?”

Posted by Jeff Lambert at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

As Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama takes the podium Thursday night to end his party’s national convention, many in the audience will be educators. According to the monthly magazine The American Prospect, about one in ten delegates on the convention floor are members of teachers’ unions. Among the teachers are Dorian De Long, Monica Jurado Stonier, and retiree Marjorie Clark, who have been blogging about their experiences in Denver. Their convention commentary isn’t all politics – the posts cover everything from celebrity sightings to special interest swag.

De Long is using his blog as a tool to educate his high school social studies students in Arvada, Colo., according to Channel 9 News in Denver. "I really wanted to show them that they can make a difference," De Long told the local television station.

As the DNC comes to a close, the Republican National Convention begins Monday in Minneapolis—St. Paul, Minn. The schedule includes an appearance by National Education Association Executive Director John Wilson at the Education Forum on 21st Century Skills, which the NEA is co-sponsoring.

Posted by Jeff Lambert at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Deborah Phelps, middle school principal and mother of Michael, the most medaled Olympian in history, remembers how her son’s elementary school teacher once told her, “Your son will never be able to focus on anything.” Michael Phelps was big when he was born (9 pounds, 6 ounces), awkward as a kid, and bullied by his classmates. In preschool, his teachers complained that he couldn’t sit still. When Michael was in 5th grade, his mother and family doctor discussed whether Michael might have A.D.H.D.

His parents, now divorced, introduced him and his sisters to competitive swimming early. By age 10, Michael was nationally ranked. Deborah Phelps watched her son, who couldn’t sit still at school, wait patiently for hours at a meet to swim a five-minute race. At 11, Michael was off Ritalin by his own choice and his coach, Bob Bowman, was already predicting greatness. Bowman, who still coaches Michael, told the family then that Michael would make the 2004 Olympics and break world records by the 2008 games.

Phelps made it to the 2000 Olympics, four years ahead of Bowman’s prediction. The rest, as we have witnessed, is history. Today, the Phelps name is an adjective, as in “phelpsian,” meaning "dominating in competition." A gift, most would agree, that requires laser-like focus.

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)