The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, together with The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, will host a large public forum on May 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., where a panel of scientists and policy experts will discuss the impacts of “Global Warming in the Delaware Valley.” This free, town hall-style meeting is one of many installments in the Academy’s “Town Square” series, which is taking place at the museum’s headquarters near Logan Square on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“As scientists, it is critically important to share the latest facts and to hear what people are most concerned about. That is the goal of this forum,” said Dr. Danielle Kreeger, science director at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. “We also want to think strategically about needs and actions in the future. For example, what do we do when changes in climate begin to interact with changes in our backyard, like land use and water management? These are just a few of the things we’ll discuss.”

Prior to the evening’s discussion, scientists will be joined by policy makers and resource managers, among others, for a day-long technical workshop on climate change in the Delaware Estuary. The goal of this earlier gathering is to compare data on climate change in a way that allows professionals to move forward in a concerted, regional approach to natural resource restoration and protection. The results of the workshop will be presented during the evening’s Town Square meeting in an effort to gather public input.

“This is a much needed information exchange and discussion for scientists, resource managers and the public on a very important topic,” said Dr. David Velinsky, an environmental biogeochemist and vice president of the Patrick Center for Environmental Research at the Academy. “The outcomes of this forum will be used to advise environmental leaders regarding the ways they can adapt to the local aspects of climate change we expect to see in the next 10 to 30 years.”

The evening’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, president of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment. Panelists will include Carol Collier of the Delaware River Basin Commission, Barry Seymour of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, and Jennifer Adkins of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the latter of which will serve as moderator.

“Town Square” is made possible thanks to the financial assistance of the Claneil Foundation and the Environmental Associates of The Academy of Natural Sciences. For more information, please visit www.DelawareEstuary.org or www.ANSP.org/townsquare.

More than 9,000 items of fake Tiffany jewelry is headed for the scrap heap in England.

Trading standards officers in Stockton, U.K., a city just south of Liverpool, said the counterfeit necklaces, earrings, and bracelets are set to be smelted down at a foundry in the northern British city of Middlesbrough so it can be recycled, reports the Northumberland Gazette.

The items were part of a haul seized from two Chinese nationals operating from an address in Thornaby, which is near Middlesbrough, the newspaper reports.

The man and woman living at the address and believed to be behind the operation did not answer bail and are believed to have fled to China, the newspaper reports.

The Stockton council issued a warning asking consumers to be on the lookout for fake Tiffany jewelry on auction Web sites, the newspaper reports. The council said large amounts of fake goods were being sold on a UK-based Internet site.But I think tiffany jewelry is really good in tiffanyin
also I like try on tiffany jewelry in tiffanylife.

I've written quite a bit about tiffany jewelry and charm jewelry. I am very interested in charms strictly due to their historical use in ritual jewelry. Back in the day charms were used to bring about a certain effect - for example - the four leaf clover. Finding a four leaf clover is an example of a charm that is supposed to bring good luck.

All ancient cultures had certain gemstones, metals and shapes that were thought to bring good luck, wealth or love - especially when consecrated in ritual. Many of these old beliefs are still widely utilized today without the user knowing the why or the history of the lore. I just recently finished designing and casting a mermaid charm in the shape of Sirene, the protective loa of the oceans, to be used in my line of surfer jewelry.

In any event, charm jewelry is one of those perpetual favorites whose popularity ebbs and flows throughout the years but never truly goes away.

TIffany and Co. has come out with a new line of totally cool sterling silver lock charms. Their Charmed by Tiffany section of their website has a link to customized your own charm jewelry in gold, silver and platinum, a link to look at some of their most popular designs and a link to get some design ideas for necklaces and bracelets.

Their site is very informative and well worth a look. Want to do it yourself for a fraction of the price? My next article will show you how to make my Surfer Girl tiffany bracelets using Loc-Links.

Every day, thousands of kids are getting pharmacologic treatment with psychotropic drugs they probably don't benefit from and that may well endanger them. New Jersey, like other states, has formed a task force to probe the use of antipychotics in children. Until very recently, these drugs were not evaluated with adequate and well controlled trials in children or approved for use in the pediatric population. To make matters worse, it appears as though children may have been prescribed these medications to treat indications that weren't even studied or approved for adults. It's most likely a majority of these kids may have been given these meds to treat ADHD and the prescriptions were not given by psychiatrists treating significant and/or moderate to severe mental health disorders. I am not a Xenu-phobe, I do not think that psychotropic drugs are evil or should be banned and I am fully aware that there are many people, including some children, that have significant and severe mental health disorders that warrant psychological and pharmacological intervention. I also know that there are some kids whose inability to concentrate/focus is so far from the norm of his/her age group that it is and should be treated as pathological in order to try to get the child back on track - but this is not true for all children diagnosed and treated with ADHD.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is not a problem with psychiatry or even a problem with the Pharmaceutical Industry (though Pharma takes great advantage of it). This excess, injudicious use of medications is a problem with our society.

I don't know why pediatricians and GPs/FPs are willing to capitulate on prescribing these drugs to appease people instead of trying to determine which child really has a significant problem (and then probably turfing them for a psych/neuro consult) and which have the immature frontal lobes that leads to poor impulse control because, as children, their neurological development is ongoing.

Unfortunately, doctors don't seem to be willing to say no to patient/parent demand for a pill to cure our ills (real or imagined). Two things need to happen to rectify this situation:

1. Physicians need to stop treating patients/parents as clients and start evaluating them clinically to treat them as patients
2. We, as a society, accept that children are children and that means they will act like children (poor impulse control and all), we will continue drugging those who do not need and are unlikely to benefit from these medications.

Both of the above will have to occur to make any real change, our children and our society will be stuck between the extremes of those who do not want to acknowledge or treat any mental health disorders and those who are too willing to drug others to control them.

Walking the Walk is a six part series that will analyze the ways in which Mayor Nutter can implement his plan for public education. With the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers opening contract negotiations with the School District of Philadelphia, now is the time for the mayor to make good on his campaign promises and truly “put children first”. He can do so by working with Sandra Dungee-Glenn and the School Reform Commission to build a contract that will give teachers the resources needed to provide our city’s children with a first rate education.

“As Mayor, I will call for a reduction in contracts with outside contractors unless there is a compelling educational purpose for renewing the contract.”

--Michael Nutter, Putting Children First

Cassandra W. Jones, the Philadelphia School District's interim chief academic officer, recently recommended overhauling 70 of the district’s lowest-performing schools by bringing in outside management. Although EMOs (educational management organizations) such as Edison Schools, Foundations Inc., Victory Schools, Universal Companies, Temple University and University of Pennsylvania have produced mixed results, the district is still considering investing millions of dollars in them.

This is yet another situation where Mayor Nutter can implement his plan for public education and truly “put children first”. He can make good on his campaign promise to “call for a reduction in contracts with outside contractors unless there is a compelling educational purpose for renewing the contract.” Is there “a compelling educational purpose” for contracting out more of our public schools?

According to a story run last year in The Bulletin, the answer would be no: “The RAND Corporation, a national research organization, and Research for Action, a Philadelphia-based non profit organization working in educational research and reform, released a study assessing student achievement here. It concluded in a single italicized sentence, In sum, with four years of data, we find little evidence in terms of academic outcomes that would support the additional resources for the private managers. To put it more simply, the EMOs receive an additional $18 million per year, approximately $768 more per pupil, to run their schools with no measurable difference in test results.”

You would think the conclusions drawn by RAND and Research for Action would be enough for the SRC to pull the plug on EMOs once and for all. Yet, with outside contractors producing no significant academic gains, the district continues to award them lucrative contracts. The question in my mind is WHY? Is the SRC so isolated in their corporate world that they can’t—to use a cliché—see the forest through the trees? Are they too stubborn? Gullible? Naive?

In my opinion, the school district continues to consider EMOs because they do not have a grasp of what is truly wrong with education in the city of Philadelphia. They still fail to see that a student’s HOME ENVIRONMENT means more than the length of the school day, the rigor of the curriculum, the training of the staff. And how have EMOs improved the HOME ENVIRONMENT of their students? How have they stabilized neighborhoods and brought safety into the community? How have they helped non-English speaking parents speak English to help with their child’s homework? How have they solved addiction problems? Employment problems? Anger management problems? How have they stopped the “no-snitch” mentality? How have they made education a priority in every home in Philadelphia?

The answer is, they haven’t! As research shows, these outside contractors can do a lot of shuffling and restructuring of staff, curriculum, and resources (at exorbitant prices), but when the smoke clears, our children aren’t any better off then before; in fact, they are worse off, because we’ve taken money out of the system and wasted it on unwise educational experiments.

It’s insulting to me as a teacher that the school district feels it must bring in outside management to properly educate our children when the problem lies so far outside the classroom. The district needs to take all the money they are spending on EMOs and reinvest it in programs to help struggling parents and neighborhoods gain some stability. They need to take this money and invest it in a LARGER TEACHING STAFF to lower class sizes, and use it to update technology and classroom materials. To give our children a skill and a life purpose.

As Mayor Nutter announced in his education plan outside Samuel Powel School last fall, “We know that contracting out to the education management organizations—the EMOs—are not producing results . . . that are any better then many of our regular public schools. So instead of allowing consultants to profit, we should return some of the consultant money to the classroom.”

Amen. Now let’s hope Mayor Nutter will use his political influence to persuade the school district to stop doing business with outside contractors.

Walking the Walk is a six part series that will analyze the ways in which Mayor Nutter can implement his plan for public education. With the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers opening contract negotiations with the School District of Philadelphia, now is the time for the mayor to make good on his campaign promises and truly “put children first”. He can do so by working with Sandra Dungee-Glenn and the School Reform Commission to build a contract that will give teachers the resources needed to provide our city’s children with a first rate education.

“As Mayor, I will direct my appointees to the SRC to clarify budget priorities and eliminate administrative costs in order to put money back into the classroom. . . . Some of the ideas that I will explore include: Limiting the role of the School District’s Central Administration to functions that create economies of scale, and directing as many Central Administration personnel as possible back into the schools to serve as teachers or principals.”

--Michael Nutter, Putting Children First

Last month, Allyssa Schmitt, principal of Thomas Mifflin Elementary, resigned because of accusations that she said Muslim children looked like “flying nuns”. Whether or not Schmitt is guilty of discrimination remains the subject of an investigation. However, the interesting part of the story is that during the controversy, district officials said Schmitt was—and I quote the Inquirer—“weighing whether to take a job in the central office or move to another principal’s post.”

It’s curious how a job in the district’s central office happened to pop up just as Allyssa Schmitt planned to step down as principal. It’s also interesting that the school district would pay Schmitt to perform this office job when the budget is so tight to begin with. Couldn’t the district’s money be better spent? Couldn’t we use Schmitt’s proposed “central office” salary to open a new library in a North Philly elementary school, or pay an ESL teacher to help students in West Kensington neighborhoods speak English?

The district is overblown with positions that lure educators (and money) out of the classroom. Think of all the former principals and teachers who now serve as district officers; or regional superintendents; or administrative assistants to regional superintendents; or writers of district curriculum; or administrative assistants to writers of district curriculum; or school growth teachers; or academic coaches. The list goes on and on.

Cassandra W. Jones, Interim Chief Academic Officer of the Philadelphia School District (and former teacher), is a case in point. The Inquirer reported that Jones receives an annual pension of $36,900 in addition to her yearly salary of $231,394. Incredible. And how about Lori Shorr and Sharon Tucker, Mayor Nutter’s “dynamic duo” of education? Although the two women never worked in the classroom, their salaries are still exorbitant. Shorr, as Nutter’s new Chief Education Officer, will be making $115,000 a year, while Tucker, acting as Shorr’s deputy, will be pulling in $95,000; at 30 years old, Sharon Tucker will be making $15,000 more than the highest paid, most experienced teacher in the Philadelphia School District.

This is exactly where Mayor Nutter should start putting children first—by funneling money and resources back into the classroom where they belong. He must sit down with the SRC and tighten the screws. He must follow through with his promise to do an independent audit of the district’s finances, to determine, as he states in Putting Children First, “whether the School District’s funds are being well spent.” He must make the budget more transparent to the city’s tax payers, so we can see exactly how our dollars are being spent. Then, as citizens of Philadelphia, we can give the SRC and the district’s central office a “report card,” just as the press so callously gives our region’s teachers and principals.

If Mayor Nutter truly wants to achieve the goals set forth in Putting Children First, he must set the tone early. He must become an active part of the contract negotiations between the Philadelphia School District and the teacher’s union. He must remind Sandra Dungee-Glenn and the SRC that the district’s recent financial deficit has already resulted in the cutting of badly needed resources—such as libraries, sports programs and other after school activities—and that if money becomes an issue during contract negotiations (which it undoubtedly will), the cuts must be made primarily on the administrative side, away from the classrooms and the teachers who run them.

But I have faith in Mayor Nutter. Which is why—as a dues paying member of the PFT—I voted to endorse him during the 2007 general election. I also have faith in Jerry Jordan, our union president, and the entire Collective Bargaining Team. Our union will stand strong and convey the message to Nutter that he mustn’t become a liability like former Philadelphia mayor John Street and make us work with a sub-standard contract or no contract at all. I have full confidence that PFT President Jerry Jordan and the CB Team will start putting the wheels in motion NOW—in the month of February—to open the lines of communication with Mayor Nutter so he can fulfill the promises he made when we voted to endorse him last fall.

Public education can work in Philadelphia. By cutting the dead wood in the district’s central office, the SRC can free funds to build a new and improved teachers’ contract, and bring about the needed changes to truly put our children’s education first.

First Person Arts launches Memoir at Middle Age:
An Introductory Workshop for Women

PHILADELPHIA – First Person Arts is seeking women ages 50 and older from underserved Philadelphia-area communities to share their stories as part of Memoir at Middle Age: An Introductory Workshop for Women. The free six-week community workshop series is designed specifically for beginners and will be led by Dianna Marder, feature writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Marder will guide the women in documenting their personal histories through short, descriptive pieces about their life experiences. Memoir at Middle Age aims to honor individual self-expression and help its participants recognize the value of sharing their personal experiences and observations.

Memoir at Middle Age will run on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m., April 3rd through May 8th at the Inquirer building, located at 400 N. Broad Street. Participants will attend all six workshops. The workshop series is free and open to women 50 and over who qualify following a brief registration interview. Please contact Dianna Marder at (215) 854-5702 or at dmarder@phillynews.com to register or ask questions. Go to www.firstpersonarts.org or call (267) 402-2056 for information about First Person Arts.

Dianna Marder has teamed up with First Person Arts, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to developing and presenting the memoir and documentary arts, to conduct these workshops. Memoir at Middle Age seeks to respect and promote the voices of what Marder calls "The Ignored Generation." "I call them the 'Ignored Generation' because these matriarchs often shoulder responsibility for their own parents, their grown children, absent husbands, infant grandchildren, their churches and their communities,” says Marder. “Their remarkable resilience deserves more recognition.”

Memoir at Middle Age, part of First Person Arts' Community Writing Project, is designed to help the participants feel accomplished and respected instead of burdened and unappreciated by encouraging them to reflect on their lives and share their stories in a supportive, emotionally safe environment. Throughout the six weeks, they will be guided in writing family histories, creating personal journals, and discovering the benefits of writing and self-expression. Marder and First Person Arts hope to build bridges of understanding between diverse groups and individuals through the power of the personal stories shared in these workshops.

About First Person Arts
Founded in 2000, First Person Arts transforms the drama of real life into memoir and documentary art to foster appreciation for our unique and shared experience. First Person Arts supports the development of new memoir and documentary work and creates opportunities for it to be seen and appreciated by many through workshops, events, memoir and documentary contests, and the annual First Person Festival. The organization reaches across cultures and communities to attract a diverse audience, and explore the stories of people from all walks of life. For more information, please visit www.firstpersonarts.org or call (267) 402-2057.

Press Contact:
Canary Promotion + Design
Megan Wendell, (215) 242-6393, meganATcanarypromo.com
High-resolution images available upon request and online at: www.canarypromo.com/firstpersonarts

Ten years ago, when I first began teaching in the Philadelphia School District, I asked my department head to order a class set of The Autobiography of Malcolm X so I could use it with my English classes. Without hesitating, she gave me the following advice: Stay away from Malcolm X. When I asked her why, she told me he was too difficult a subject, and that if I wanted to do an autobiography of an important African American, I should instead try Gifted Hands, the remarkable story of neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

Although I never taught Gifted Hands, I stayed away from Malcolm X. I knew from studying him in college that his autobiography was filled with challenging subject matter, and as a white teacher educating a multi-racial class of students, I didn’t want to butcher the material; I was afraid of sounding either too bleeding-heart or too insensitive.

As time passed, however, and I gained confidence in the classroom, my fascination with Malcolm X took hold once again; it wasn’t long before I began experimenting with his autobiography in class—teaching it in bits and pieces—tinkering with lessons in a trial-and-error sort of way.

Today I have enough familiarity with his autobiography that I teach it from start to finish—from the Forward by Malcolm’s daughter Attallah Shabazz to the Epilogue by Alex Haley. Because I believe Malcolm’s life story is as inspiring to white students as it is to black ones—I’m sharing five tips I’ve learned to better teach Malcolm X to a 21st century, multicultural class of high school students.

According to a recent PA Department of Education study entitled “Costing-Out the Resources Needed to Meet Pennsylvania’s Public Education Goals,” Philadelphia public schools—as well as 95% of the state’s 501 school districts—are under funded. The report estimated that it would take $14,131 per pupil to bring every student in Philadelphia up to proficient on state reading and math tests by 2014. Currently, Philadelphia students only receive $9,947 each; they fall short of the recommended spending formula by $4,184.

But will an increase in funding produce the kind of results the “costing-out” report indicates?

Last fall, US NEWS & WORLD REPORT released its annual “America's Best High Schools” list. Philadelphia’s Julia R. Masterman and Chester County’s Conestoga made the top 100. On the honorable mention list were Philadelphia’s Bodine, Central, Carver, and Girls (all special admission schools), as well as Montgomery County’s Lower Merion and Bucks County’s CB East and Bristol high schools.

Of the nine area schools on the list, seven are under funded. Masterman, Bodine, Central, Carver, and Girls are under funded by $4,184 per student. CB East (which spends $8,915 per student) is under funded by $1,486, and Bristol (which spends $11,949 per child) is short on district spending by $2,096.

So what’s the deal? How can some schools perform at high levels with low funds, while others continue to struggle? How does CB East out perform 62 of Philadelphia’s 67 high schools when CB East spends over $1,000 less per student than Philadelphia? Why do Philadelphia’s state test scores continue to lag behind those of their under funded suburban counterparts?

In my opinion, the answer has more to do with community than it does with spending. According to a 2006 survey by the US Census Bureau, 1 in 2 families in Philadelphia are headed by a single parent; 1 in 4 Philadelphians don’t have a high school diploma; 1 in 5 speak a language other than English in their home; 1 in 9 are unemployed; and 1 in 17 aren’t even a US citizen.

When it comes to parenting, education, employment, citizenship and the English language, how does Philadelphia fair in comparison to the suburbs?

Here’s a quick breakdown:

BUCKS COUNTY:
Families headed by two parents: 82.5%
Residents with High School Diploma: 90.7%
Residents with Bachelor’s Degree: 35.2%
Residents Who Speak a Language Other Than English: 9.8%
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Residents Who Are Not a US Citizen: 3.5%

CHESTER COUNTY:
Families headed by two parents: 83.5%
Residents with High School Diploma: 91.6%
Residents with Bachelor’s Degree: 45%
Residents Who Speak a Language Other Than English: 9.5%
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Residents Who Are Not a US Citizen: 4.3%

MONTGOMERY COUNTY:
Families headed by two parents: 80%
Residents with High School Diploma: 92.2%
Residents with Bachelor’s Degree: 43.4%
Residents Who Speak a Language Other Than English: 10.5%
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Residents Who Are Not a US Citizen: 3.7%

PHILADELPHIA:
Families headed by two parents: 51.8%
Residents with High School Diploma: 77.5%
Residents with Bachelor’s Degree: 20.7%
Residents Who Speak a Language Other Than English: 19.8%
Unemployment Rate: 12.4%
Residents Who Are Not a US Citizen: 6.3%

These statistics are eye-opening indeed. They paint a lot clearer picture of the realities of our students’ lives then district spending. Philadelphia’s education advocates should continue to lobby law makers to increase state funding, but they must also rally to get Philadelphians to make better choices with their lives.

Education does not take place in a vacuum. Our city’s school system is only as strong as the community that supports it.

With Temple University dean Kent McGuire dropping out of the running, Arlene Ackerman and Leroy D. Nunery II are the two finalists for the top job in the Philadelphia School District. Although a 45-member citizens advisory chose Ackerman and Nunery from 37 applicants, Governor Rendell and School Reform Commission Chairwoman Sandra Dungee-Glenn have made it clear that the search will remain open until the district has a capable CEO.

Here are some pros and cons of the two finalists:

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