Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 09:13:44 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: Cable Network looking for teachers in CT, NJ, NY || VERY BAD NEWS RE MA BD OF ED -- ACTION ALERT >Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 16:24:15 -0700 >From: alexdn@ix.netcom.com (Alex Damien ) >Subject: RNN, Regional Network Network > >Regional News Network, RNN, is a cable station in CT, NJ and NY >suburban areas surrounding NYC. They are doing research at the present >time for *** any teachers that have had trouble due to their sexual >orientation.*** They can be contacted at: > >721 Broadway >Kingston, NY 12401 >914-339-6200 > >One Stamford Landing >62 Southfield Avenue >Stamford, CT 06902 >203-406-1024 > >120 Centennial Avenue >Piscataway, NJ 08854 >908-885-0505 > ------------------ ------------------ [well, folks, MA used to be the leader in educational equity efforts for LGBT people. this seems to mark a sharp veering from that course. it's ironic, as weld has done much by executive order, yet his board apptmts are really really retrograde] VERY BAD NEWS RE MA BD OF ED [based on facts in an Associated Press Story of 8-9-96] Gov. William Weld appointed nine people to serve on Massachusetts' State Board of Education, and they are almost all white conservatives. At the same time, he tapped new members for the enlarged Education Reform Review Commission. The nine board members are: - State education czar and Boston University Chancellor John Silber. He will serve as chairman. - Boston University School of Education Dean Edwin J. Delattre, who testified last year on Capitol Hill to end the national endowments for both the arts and the humanities. He is a a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. - James A. Peyser, director of the Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank that supported the creation of charter schools of Dorchester. - Roberta R. Schaefer, head of the Worcester Municipal Research Bureau and a frequent critic of public education. - Abigail M. Thernstrom, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who pushed for overturning a 22-year-old law that rewards school districts for creating racial desegregation plans. Thernstrom is currently on the Board, so this reflects a re-appointment by Weld. - Patricia A. Crutchfield, the only minority named to the board. No other information was available on her. - William Irwin, representing the AFL-CIO. - Stanley Koplik, Chancellor of the Board of Higher Education. - Alexis Vagianos, of Melrose, a student. Previously, the board had two African-American, one Asian-American and one Hispanic-American members. Twenty percent of Massachusetts students are minorities, and the African-American and Hispanic-American populations are the state's fastest-growing groups. Weld also announced his additional selections for the Education Reform Review Commission. Two new parents were appointed in Kristen J. McCormack and Denise A. Jordan, both of Dorchester (where a movement to establish charters schools recently occurred). The four new public members are Dr. Rosalie P. Porter of Amherst; Thomas Chin of Newton; Sister Kathleen Keating of Chicopee; and Frank E. Thompson, Jr. of Springfield. The Chairman of the Board of Higher Education, currently James Carlin, holds a an ex officio position on the review commission. The 13 remaining members of the review commission are appointed by groups representing different educational interests. All these nominees must be approved by the Public Education Nominating Council, which also is appointed by the governor and therefore has usually rubber stamped his choices. WE ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW TO CONTACT THE PUBLIC EDUCATION NOMINATING COUNCIL...BUT IF ANY OF YOU KNOW, PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP AT SO WE CAN TELL EVERYONE ON OUR LIST. MEANTIME, YOU CAN STILL WRITE TO BOTH WELD AND HIS NEW BD OF ED MEMBERS AS SHOWN BELOW: Governor Weld: email= State House, Room 360, Boston, MA 02133 (617) 727-6250 fax: (617) 727-9725 TTY: (617) 727-3666 Springfield Office, 436 Dwight Street, 3rd floor, Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 784-1200 State Board of Education: 350 Main St., Malden MA 02148-5023 617-388-3300, fax= 617-388-3394 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts. "Americans spend 9 times as much on home video games ($1.5 billion) as they do on school library materials for their children." [bulletin of the Oakland (CA) public library]