A federal jury found 30-year-old John Puglisi guilty Friday of producing child pornography, possessing child pornography and persuading, inducing and enticing a minor to engage in sexual conduct.

He faces at least 15 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Nov. 23.

Puglisi, a father of two, is a former social studies teacher in Newark Valley, 60 miles south of Syracuse. He was accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old girl.

The girl testified that she didn’t consider herself a victim and viewed the relationship as consensual.

Puglisi also faces a rape charge in state court.

Newsday

A Connecticut middle school principal has laid down the law: You put your hands on someone — anyone — in any way, you’re going to pay.

A violent incident that put one student in the hospital has officials at the Milford school implementing a “no touching” policy, according to a letter written by the school’s principal.

East Shore Middle School parents said the change came after a student was sent to the hospital after being struck in the groin.

Principal Catherine Williams sent out a letter earlier in the week telling parents recent behavior has seriously impacted the safety and learning at the school.

“Observed behaviors of concern recently exhibited include kicking others in the groin area, grabbing and touching of others in personal areas, hugging and horseplay. Physical contact is prohibited to keep all students safe in the learning environment,” Williams wrote.

Students and parents are outraged. They said the new policy means no high-fives and hugs, as well as horseplay of any kind. The consequences could be dire, Williams warned in the letter.

“Potential consequences and disciplinary action may include parent conferences, detention, suspension and/or a request for expulsion from school,” Williams wrote.

Many think the school’s no tolerance policy goes way too far. Others said it’s utterly ridiculous.

“Now it’s almost as if it’s a sanitized school. Where you have to keep your distance from everybody? And that’s not what school is about,” one father said.

“What if they are out on the playground at recess, or in gym class?” parent Kathy Casey wondered. “You know, gym class is physical.”

In a spring rite that has become as predictable as cherry blossoms in the nation’s capital, public school employees throughout California warned of wrenching classroom cuts as local officials faced a deadline for issuing layoff notices to educators.

The state Department of Education estimates that preliminary pink slips will have been handed to 26,500 teachers by the Sunday cutoff – two-and-a-half times as many as were issued last year. Another 15,000 bus drivers, janitors, secretaries and administrators also were expected to receive the written warnings, said Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.

Because of the state’s less-than-rosy economic outlook, California’s 1,000 K-12 school districts have been instructed to absorb more than $8 billion in funding cuts over the next year. To draw attention to the situation, teachers and parents wore pink clothes and waved pink protest signs for a day California’s largest teachers’ union dubbed “Pink Friday.”

Rosemarie Ochoa, a fifth-grade teacher who’s in her third year with the San Lorenzo Unified School District, said she was pulled out of class Monday by a district official bearing a pink slip.
“I smiled at her because I knew what she was there for,” said Ochoa, 28, who was among 76 of the district’s 640 teachers who got a notice this week. “Then I had to go back to my students and retain my composure.”

But in another annual ritual, many, if not most, of the early layoff notices could end up being withdrawn by June, especially if the state can devote some of its federal stimulus money to education, officials said.

Six years ago, for example, all but 3,000 of the 20,000 teacher pink slips that went out statewide were rescinded.

O’Connell, who donned a pink tie for an appearance at Gianola’s school Friday, allowed that tens of thousands of teachers were unlikely to be let go, but said that with so huge a budget gap to fill, schools would probably increase class sizes, reduce library hours and lose counselors.

Ochoa said officials in San Lorenzo, a working class suburb 15 miles east of San Francisco, told her that some of the cuts probably would be permanent as the district planned to increase primary grade class sizes to save money.

Another unknown is whether the state’s financial picture will worsen in the months ahead. If voters do not approve the spending package that will be the subject of a special election in May, schools would have to cut even more deeply and be unable to avert mass layoffs, he said.

“The cuts we are experiencing in public education are debilitating. These cuts have real consequences for real students,” he said.

O’Connell, a Democrat who is considering a run for governor next year, said the dispiriting cycle would continue until state officials find a long-term and reliable way to pay for schools.

W. Norton Grubb, the director of a principal training program at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of “The Money Myth: School Resources, Outcomes, and Equity,” agrees that years of uncertainty take their toll on schools even when layoffs do not come to pass.

“What is happening in these schools when the pink slips go out is everything stops, everyone is discouraged, everyone is busy worrying whether the money will come through, and all the efforts to get schools going basically grinds to a halt and remains ground to a halt for the rest of the spring,” Grubb said. “A state that has these kind of crises year after year is really doing a poor job of planning.”

Teachers, students and parents at Alhambra High School, located in the eastern Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, were familiar with the Pink Friday routine from previous years. Some parents dropping off their children at school had pink paper taped to their car windows or honked to show their support for the 40 teachers who stood outside in pink wigs, bows and T-shirts.

Justin Li, a 17-year-old senior, photographed the protest for the school paper. The effects of the budget cuts have been noticeable, he said.

“We are seeing teachers being laid off year after year and we want to do something, because all the good teachers are leaving and more and more classes are being cut,” Li said. “Teachers work too hard to lose their jobs.”

The Alhambra district has seen a $6-million budget cut this school year and 38 teachers have received layoff notices, said Rosalyn Collier, vice president of the Alhambra Teachers Association.

“The cuts have left no wiggle room in the master schedule for the fall. Every class will be at 36 students and no less,” said Kathleen Tar, an English teacher for 33 years. “So, if we have honors classes that do not meet 36, those classes will go away.”

This week was the third time Steve Chambers, 47, a 5th-grade teacher at Allen At Steinbeck K-8 School in San Jose, has gotten a pink slip, but this is the first time that he has been truly worried. The economy is so bad everywhere, he has little confidence he would be able to get a teaching job elsewhere.

“It’s irritating, the fact that I am an eight-year veteran and I could be out of a job for a year,” said Chambers, who brought his class to listen to O’Connell’s remarks.

Besides Chambers, Principal Nico Flores gave pink slips to four other teachers, one of his vice principals and a counselor. Flores said San Jose is better off than many school districts because it had a spending freeze and large reserve fund in place, but the topsy-turvy budget situation for schools makes him nervous.

“It’s like crying wolf, crying wolf, and then suddenly the wolf is really coming and no one is listening,” he said.

Venessa Mills was in the fourth year of home schooling her children who are 10, 11 and 12 years old. They have tested two years above their grade levels, she said.

“We have math, reading; we have grammar, science, music,” Venessa Mills said.

Her lessons also have a religious slant, which the judge said was the root of the problem.

“My teaching is strictly out of the Bible, and it’s very clear. It is very evident so I just choose to follow the Bible,” Venessa Mills said.

In an affidavit filed Friday in the divorce case, Thomas Mills stated that he “objected to the children being removed from public school.” He said Venessa Mills decided to home school after getting involved with Sound Doctrine church “where all children are home schooled.”

Thomas Mills also said he was “concerned about the children’s religious-based science curriculum” and that he wants “the children to be exposed to mainstream science, even if they eventually choose to believe creationism over evolution.”

In a verbal ruling, Mangum said the children should go to public school.

“He was upfront and said that, ‘It’s not about religion.’ But yet when it came down to his ruling and reasons why, ‘He said this would be a good opportunity for the children to be tested in the beliefs that I have taught them,’” Venessa Mills said.

All sides agree the children have thrived with home school, and Vanessa Mills thinks that should be reason enough to continue teaching at home.

“I cannot sit back and allow this to happen to other home schoolers. I don’t want it happening to my children,” Venessa Mills said.

Mangum said he wouldn’t talk with WRAL News Thursday about the details of the case because he hasn’t issued a written ruling yet. He said he expected to sign it in a few weeks.

An estimated 71,566 students were taught at home during the 2007-08 school year, according to figures released by the state Division of Non-Public Education. The enrollment amounts to about 4 percent of students ages 7 to 16 in North Carolina – students in that age range are required by state law to attend school. About two-thirds of the schools classified themselves as religious schools.

Home school students and their parents plan to come to Raleigh on March 24 to lobby at the state Legislature. They want to demonstrate they have a strong voice regarding education.

WRAL

A license isn’t necessarily a guarantee of quality. It merely shows that the facility has met the minimum health, safety, and teacher training standards set by the state. In some states, having a license means only that a preschool has registered as a business; in others, it means a preschool has passed a stringent test. In any case, ask to see the preschool’s license when you visit to make sure it’s at least up to date, and check here to see what it takes to get one in your state – http://nrc.uchsc.edu/states.html. You can also check a preschool’s license by calling your state or county social services department (look in the phone book).

What does it mean if a preschool is “accredited”?
Accreditation may be a more telling sign that you’ve found a good preschool. Look for one that has passed the tough accreditation process formulated by the National Association for the Education of young Children (NAEYC), a benchmark of quality. So far, NAEYC has accredited only a fraction (approximately 6,000) of this country’s more than 96,000 licensed preschools and daycare centers. About 12,000 more have ordered materials from NAEYC that outline what a center must have to be accredited. Keep in mind that the accreditation process can take up to 18 months and cost more than $400, which is one reason why so few centers have yet to seek that stamp of approval. What’s more, preschools must update their accreditation every three years, and this can be time consuming for a small school with limited personnel.

To search NAEYC’s database and find out whether your preschool has made the cut – http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/center_search.asp

[via Parent Center]

Most preschools operate on an installment plan, and the more quickly you pay the tuition in full — in two installments, say, rather than monthly — the cheaper it will be for you. Many schools charge interest if the tuition payments are spread out over a period of months.

Parent-run cooperative preschools generally cost less but require more of your time. Fran Brook, a mother of three in Novato, Calif., chose a co-op when she sent her third child to Novato Parents’ Nursery School. “I spent one day there every other week leading the kids in activities the director had planned,” she says. “We also had one evening meeting a month and one or two work Saturdays a year.”

Brook still had to pay something, but she estimates it was half what a regular school would have cost. What’s more, it was a great way to become part of the community. “I was new in town,” she says. “Through my son’s preschool I got to meet other parents with similar interests.”

[via Parent Center]

Watch your children for signs of fear and anxiety they may not be able to put into words. Have your children become extra clingy, needing more hugs and kisses than usual? Have your children started wetting the bed or sucking their thumb after you thought they had outgrown that behavior? They may be feeling the pressure of what is going on in the world around them. Use play to help your children express their fears and encourage them to use art or pretend games to express what they may not be able to put into words.

Use your family like a security blanket for your children: wrap them up in family closeness and make sure your children have lots of family time. During times of stress and change, spend more time with your children playing games, reading to them, or just holding them close.

Young children especially crave routine and rituals. If bedtime is the time you read stories to your children, make sure you keep that time for stories. Your child may be less able to handle change when he or she is going through a particularly rough time.

[via APA]

For every 100 girls that are conceived 115 boys are conceived.
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3840.html

For every 100 girl babies born there are 105 boy babies born.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/vitstat.pdf

K-12 Education

For every 100 girls enrolled in nursery school there are 112 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in kindergarten there are 116 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in elementary grades there are 107 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in ninth grade there are 101 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in tenth grade there are 94 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in eleventh grade there are 109 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in twelfth grade there are 98 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in high school there are 100 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in gifted and talented programs in public elementary and secondary schools there are 94 boys enrolled.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_055.asp

For every 100 girls who graduate from high school 96 boys graduate
(NCES, unpublished tabulation.)

For every 100 girls suspended from public elementary and secondary schools 250 boys are suspended.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_144.asp

For every 100 girls expelled from public elementary and secondary schools 335 boys are expelled.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_144.asp

Special Education

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a special education disability 217 boys are diagnosed with a special education disability.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a learning disability 276 boys are diagnosed with a learning disability.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with emotional disturbance 324 boys are diagnosed with emotional disturbance
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a speech impairment 147 boys are similarly diagnosed.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with mental retardation 138 boys are diagnosed as mentally retarded.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with visual impairment 125 boys are visually impaired.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with hearing impairment 108 boys are diagnosed as hearing impaired.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with deafness 120 boys have deafness.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with orthopedic impairment 118 boys have orthopedic impairment.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with other health impairment 127 boys have other health impairment.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with multiple disabilities 189 boys have multiple disabilities.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls that are deaf/blind 98 boys are deaf/blind.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

Higher Education

For every 100 women enrolled in college there are 77 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the first year of college there are 79 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the second year of college there are 71 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the third year of college there are 75 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the fourth year of college there are 94 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the fifth year of college there are 65 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the sixth year or more of college there are 78 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women living in college dormitories there are 87 men living in college dorms.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 American women who earn an associateís degree from college 67 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_262.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a bachelorís degree from college 73 American men earn a bachelorís degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_262.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a masterís degree from college 62 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_265.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a first-professional degree 107 American men earn a first-professional degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_271.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a doctor’s degree from college 92 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_268.asp

Other Indicators

For every 100 females ages 15 to 19 that commit suicide 549 males in the same range kill themselves.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/LCWK1_2002.pdf

For every 100 females ages 20 to 24 that commit suicide 624 males of the same age kill themselves.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/LCWK1_2002.pdf

For every 100 girls ages 15 to 17 in correctional facilities there are 837 boys behind bars.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 21 in correctional facilities there are 1430 men behind bars.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 22 to 24 in correctional facilities there are 1448 men in correctional facilities.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women living in military quarters there are 642 men living in military quarters.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 24 years living in emergency and transitional shelters there are 86 men living in similar shelters.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 24 years living in-group homes there are 166 men of the same age living in-group homes.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

The latest research shows mixed results. According to an ongoing study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., which has tracked more than 1,300 children in 10 cities since 1991, preschoolers who attend day care for a year or more have an increased chance of discipline problems through the sixth grade, regardless of sex, family income or the quality of the day care center. On average, the more time that a child spends in day care (especially as an infant or toddler), the more problems arise.

But the study, published in the March-April issue of Child Development, also found that high-quality day care attendance is linked to children’s higher vocabulary scores through elementary school.

The takeaway message is that both the quantity and quality of child care do matter,” says Sharon Ramey, director of the Georgetown University Center on Health and Education in Washington, D.C. As a result, Ramey recommends that working parents should try to arrange their schedules creatively so that a child doesn’t have to be in nonparental care for excessively long periods of time — say, more than 30 to 40 hours a week.

In addition, Ramey says that research is just starting to show that not only is it important to find high-quality child care, but it’s also important to find the type of care that works best for your son or daughter and that takes his or her personality and individual needs into account.

In other words, a place that works for one youngster may or may not be the right place for another youngster. Thus, working parents need to be on the lookout for any signs of stress or distress in a child who attends day care — such as unusual crying or hitting incidents — and deal with them proactively.

Still, despite the somewhat troubling research findings regarding day care and discipline problems, Ramey notes that this new study “also affirms, again, that home environment has the largest and most lasting effect on a child.” This includes the overall quality of parenting — which is a stronger and much more significant predictor of developmental outcomes than any early child care experience.  

[via Revolution Health Group]

Greek-lettered organizations. Their purpose and function can become blurred not only in the eyes of the university, but with its members.

Is Greek life compatible with Christianity?

Recently, a debate over Greek-lettered organizations and their relationship to Christianity has emerged — a debate that goes back at least to the mid-1980s.

The campus of Prairie View A & M University in Prairie View, Texas, experienced this debate firsthand and with full effect: The president of the campus chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., stepped down and denounced his membership in the organization.

The events began with an opinion piece in the student newspaper, the Panther, “Why God wants you to denounce your letters.”

A student anonymously urged others to denounce their Greek letters or steer clear of Greek-lettered organizations.

He said fraternities and sororities were “idols to themselves and to people who long to be a member of them.” He said these organizations take the place of God in some people’s hearts because they spend time “worshiping” the organizations and not God.

The student said, “demons used the founders of secret societies and Greek/Egyptian organizations to create a stronghold for young people for years to come.” He claimed these demons purposely work against the will of God.

“Organizations encourage members as well as potential members to dedicate all their time and efforts to their success,” he said, which conflicts with God’s will.

The debate lasted until the semester’s end. In response to “Why God wants you to denounce your letters,” the Panther published, “Why God is ONE with my letters.”

The author of that piece, B.J. O’Neal, summarized the opposing arguments as “a common mishap that occurs when religious people err in their understandings or over-interpret human action as it relates to historical events documented in the Bible.” He argued that people should realize that “the true intentions of Greek organizations are in fact aligned with what God would have his people doing.”

O’Neal supported his statements by citing personal experiences and Bible verses.

Fuel was added to the fire when the president of the Eta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Asad Abdul-Salaam, stepped down and denounced his fraternity membership. Abdul-Salaam wrote, “Why I denounced my letters.”

Abdul-Salaam condemned Greek images and symbols, and called the rituals “anti-Christian.”

“Asad was a great president,” said Mark Anthony Williams II, the new president of the Eta Gamma Chapter. “He was somebody that I truly looked up to and still do. It takes bravery to work hard and to get somewhere but also to step down due to religious reasons. I don’t know a lot of people that would do that.”

“We, as Alphas, don’t look at him differently. We don’t talk about him behind his back. I still love Asad to death,” Williams said. “If he believes his walk with God will be greater, it’s not for us to judge. Asad is not a sporadic guy; it was something well thought out.”

However, Williams said, “I personally know a lot of people that are extremely involved in church — preachers, deacons, mothers — and it’s all about how you personally portray your letters,” he said. “Your organization may be flawed, but you can try to help it become better and [get] back to its original intent.”

Williams said it would be better to have written about how Greek life has digressed from its original path.

The Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke Sr., a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and director of Cornell United Religious Work at Cornell University, traces the current debate to such ministers as Frederic Hatchett and Gail Gray, who condemn Greek-lettered organizations.

Hatchett is the founder of the Web site www.dontgogreek.com and author of “Coming Apart at the Seams: Biblically Unravelling the Evils of Sororities and Fraternities.” On his Web site, he claims to have 21 years of “experience” with Greek-lettered organizations, “six years as an outsider looking in, five as an insider, 10 and counting as a born again, denounced member.”

Hatchett says the origin of these organizations can be found in the “Ancient Cults of Babylon,” which can be proved in “SEVEN undeniable similarities between Ancient Babylonian Cults and Greek Organizations today.”

Gray is the author of “Greek-Letter Organizations: Offspring of Abomination.” Her mission is to teach about “the spiritual conflict surrounding Christian membership within secret societies,” according to her Web site, www.gailgray.com.

Clarke says of these critics, “They take text [from the Bible] that supports their case with a snip of a ritual and say it’s evidence. You can’t take a quote out of an initiation without putting it into context,” Clarke said.

Clarke said he finds this difficult to do if you have not been a part of a Greek-letter organization because, he said, members understand the symbolism behind the rituals.

“For example, I shouldn’t know what a Kappa ritual means as an Alpha any more than a Kappa should know about Alpha’s rituals,” he said.

He also said, “some of the language of the rituals are used symbolically and not to be taken literally.”

He maintains that some rituals have been handed down throughout history and have historical hreferences or hreferences to African culture.

“I have never had to make a decision between Alpha Phi Alpha and my faith,” Clarke said. “No one is asked to serve something else other than God, just have a commitment to your organization.”

Clarke said he is concerned that this debate will affect younger members who do not have tight grasp on their organization’s history or black history.

Thus, Clarke says it is essential for older members and graduate members to converse with the younger ones and help them to have a better grasp of their organization’s past and of the purposes on which they were founded.

“These arguments are problematic,” he said. “Christianity, as well as other religions, are most potent, most transformative when they clarify what they stand for as opposed to misguided interpretations of faith that speak about what they are against.”

[via The Black College Wire]