Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Father Daughter Relationship Importance
A little girl gives her trust in her father to guide her as she grows up not fully understanding what impact it will have on her.
As a little girl, the first love in her life is her father and how he treats her will have an effect on her relationship with men later on in her life.
Things that are similar
Each child looks up to their father and in many instances imitates his gestures. As daughters grow up they sometimes look for traits and facial expressions that resembles their father's expression.
Building self esteem
Father making time to spend with his daughter helps build his daughter's self esteem. When daughters feel love and support from their father they generally have good relationships in marriage.
Images of the father around the house cleaning, cooking and helping out have an impact on his daughter's perception of what men role in a family relationship is all about.
Things she sees
Things that parents do such as co-operating, responsibility, sharing, compromising, and mutual respecting each other affect his daughter's view of relationships. As the daughter grows up it is both individuals' responsibility to maintain and continue to strengthen their relationship, if this is done when she was younger it will be easy later on.
Daughter grown up
A father may feel his relationship with his daughter becoming distant as she grows older and it is his chance to allow their relationship to grow and change and to remind himself the teachings he has given to her.
Responsibility for the job
When a father takes his responsibility as a guide to his daughter future knowing fully well that this will have an impact on his daughter's life he becomes a co participant in creating a better future for his daughter.
The author grants full reprint rights to this article. You may reprint and electronically distribute this article so long as its contents remain unchanged, and the author's by line remains in place. Francis is the owner of trans-formers.com if you want more information on relationships in your life you can Visit http://www.trans-formers.com/free-relationship-advice.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francis_Hosein
National PTA beams up P.G. schools chief
Comments by Kevin Davis
There is little evidence to suggest he is supportive of true parental engagement. The entire department of Family and Community Outreach was shut down and nothing or no one has assumed the role of reaching out to parents beyond cursory attempts.
While I wish him the best, I pray he does not do for parental engagement on a national level that he has done in our County.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Information for the Engaged Parent and Dedicated Educator
website - www.bsmartesbn.com
Personal Email - bsmart56@yahoo.com
Cell - 202-580-5817
Fax - 301-932-7047
24 Hour Hotline - 1-800-563-2632
You may have entered believing you are ordinary.
You will leave knowing you can produce extraordinary results.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Mrs. Kimberly K. Parker Discusses WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL.
WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL
The last time we met here was seven weeks ago. Do you remember? I began counting down the number of weeks left for school, marveled at how quickly the time had passed, and offered a few additional ways children can make their time out of school filled with fun. Well, those seven weeks have come and gone and school is once again in session. With that, I bid you a hearty “Welcome back!”
Kimberly K. Parker is the President and CEO of Writing Momma Publishing, LLC (www.writingmomma.com). This past summer, her company published three books for young authors age nine to nineteen! This fall, she will host “Write On!” an eight week writing program for youth and she is currently looking for a few young writers who want to participate. Visit http://www.writingmomma.com/ for more information. Kimberly is a ghostwriter, author and blogger living in Maryland with her husband and three children.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Men Make A Difference Day: 10.10.11
The Million Father March 2011 on August 22, 2011
Men Make A Difference Day 2011 on October 10, 2011
“Children with involved fathers, on average, do better in school, have a greater motivation to succeed, have higher self-esteem and more confidence in unfamiliar settings, and are less like to be delinquent or abuse substances like drugs and alcohol” (Battaglia, 2006, p.2).
Fathers/significant male role models: Have a major impact on student success.Data shows that when fathers and significant male role models are involved students:• Make As and Bs • Have greater motivation to succeed • Have higher self-esteem • Have less health and emotional problems • More confidence • Are less likely to use drugs • Girls are less likely to engage in pre-marital sex • Are less likely to become teenage parents
Six Prince George's County Public Schools will remain closed on Friday, August 26
UPDATE: Six Prince George's County Public Schools will remain closed on Friday, August 26.
August 25, 2011
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Office of Communications
301-952-6001Weekend and After Hours (for press inquiries ONLY): 240-619-6293
communications@pgcps.org
Upper Marlboro, Maryland (8:30 p.m.) – Today, Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) announced that six schools will remain closed on Friday, August 26. All other schools will open on time. The following 6 schools are awaiting final inspection:
• Beltsville Academy• Bradbury Heights ES • Port Towns ES• Potomac HS• Suitland ES• Forestville Military Academy
Comments From Dr. Juanita Miller, chair of the NAACP Education Committee for the Prince George’s County Branch
This is to apprise you that the NAACP will be working collaboratively with the unions, the County Council of PTA’s, the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce Education Committee and other community organizations to investigate and hopefully resolve the numerous complaints filed with our office. To be specific would take longer than the 3 minutes allotted. However, some of the complaints involve reassignment/replacement of the mentoring teachers, misuse and waste of funds by school system personnel and harassment of teachers by principals to name a few.
It is our hope that quelling these complaints will minimize the already astronomical costs to the system from a failed real estate venture, labor department fines and current law suits which, in total, range in millions of taxpayer dollars.
It is our intent to work with the school system to promote equity in the work place for its employees and most important to provide the best services to our stakeholders, the students. This can be accomplished throughout the school year beginning with transparent operations by the School Board and Superintendent—not “spoon fed” “feel good” rhetoric but the truth. I’d like to note that on a recent blog radio broadcast, Board member Armwood stated that Prince George’s Schools was no longer ranked #24 in the state but had moved up. When asked by the host the basis of his information and the current ranking, Mr. Armwood stated that he didn’t know and that Dr. Hite told him that we are no longer at the bottom. No hard data to support this claim was provided.
An earnest start would be with the Board responding to the request for a forensic audit which would provide a more comprehensive picture of the system’s financial operations. Stakeholders would get an understanding of whether funds and expenditures are utilized for more direct services to students or for maintaining programs that have been non productive with no accountability. Also, the audit would reveal the impact of the various litigation and (failed) real estate costs have had on the budget.
Another concern is the recent reorganization of the system by the superintendent to adjust to the budget cuts. Note: At this point, the NAACP is publicly requesting an organizational chart listing positions, names, and salaries of personnel. It appears ludicrous that executive level positions have been expanded while teacher, psychologists, counselors and other direct service provider positions were cut! Thus, the shortage of teachers on the first day of school.
The list is long but progress can be made. It is our intent to work diligently with the School Board to ameliorate the negative and move toward promoting a world class school system that will prepare our future leaders, engineers, technicians, other professionals and workforce persons who deserve not just better but the best.
Respectfully submitted,
Juanita Miller, Chair
Education Committee
NAACP Prince George’s County
You can listen to the interview with Mr. Armwood http://www.blogtalkradio.com/educationaljournal/2011/08/22/parent-talk-live-back-to-school
Monday, July 25, 2011
Meet Mike Robinson -- An Advocate for Prince George's County Students
By Khadijah Ali-Coleman
“While the economic outlook remains bleak, [the Prince George’s County Public Schools] budget will maintain the core instructional programs and services needed to support teaching and learning ...,” county Schools Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. wrote to school board Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs in a letter of proposed budget cuts for the 2011-2012 school year.
The letter, sent last year as the new school board members were sworn in and local residents were winding down for the holidays, was given minimal attention -- aside from a few local media outlets and bloggers.
Yet, Laurel resident Mike Robinson, a self-appointed advocate for county parents and students, immediately picked up the story.
“This is big news,” he recalled.
Robinson not only posted the letter on his Parental Engagement with PGCPS blog, he began researching and posting the strides that parents in other states are taking to make schools better for their children.
In California, for instance, there's the controversial "Parent Trigger" Law instated last year. Under the state law, school districts must take drastic actions to overhaul schools if parents petition for the change. The changes could include firing school staffers, hiring new administrators or reopening as a charter school.
“Parents in [the Prince George’s County school] system have lost avenues to become engaged,” Robinson wrote on his blog. “Parents have seen doors closed in their faces. Attempts to silence their voices have reached epic proportions ranging from the loss of Parent Liaisons to the elimination of parental engagement programs and services.”
Robinson, father of two daughters in the school system, is the former Coordinating Supervisor for Parental Engagement and Community Outreach for Prince George’s County Public Schools. Although he was laid off last summer due to budget cuts, Robinson wanted an active network among parents with children in county schools.
The school system has not refilled Robinson's position or developed a similar position.
“There is absolutely no one at my daughter’s school who makes dealing with parents a priority,” said Lisa, a Fort Washington resident who declined to give her last name.
Lisa's daughter attends Avalon Elementary School in Temple Hills. “I enjoy Mike Robinson’s blog because he gives you tips on navigating the system and answers questions that even the staff at my daughter’s school either don’t have or don’t want to give," Lisa said.
Robinson hosts a weekly radio show podcast and maintains an active community of more than 400 parents. As he puts it, he wants to bridge a widening communication gap between parents and school system administrators.
“I just want to see that we are helping to build high-performance schools," Robinson said. "I work with an organization that works in the foster care system. I find the energy and find the time. It’s my passion."
For Robinson and his wife, the first priority is to provide a "better life" for their two daughters -- aged 5 and 15.
And, after learning that Prince George’s County schools are some of the lowest performing in Maryland, Robinson is clear that parental advocacy is key in helping students excel academically.
“For too long, parents get information spoon fed or at the last minute,” Robinson said. “I try to approach my role from the perspective of a parent. What would I want to know? Even if it’s not germane to me, it may be something that may relate to a neighbor."
And the information Robinson shares is of interest to most parents. He profiles on his blog interviews with parents actively engaged in the schools — such as Eileen Collins, president of the Laurel Elementary School PTA, and area activist Nakia Troi Ngwala, a local advocate for universal Pre-K, who became invested in county schools when she was barred from enrolling her young son in pre-K because of income restrictions.
Robinson informs parents of news that they may not know unless visiting the county’s website, as well as commentary from national education leaders who speak on trends in education ranging from technology to school choice.
“I had an opportunity recently to interview Dr. Mavis Sanders, author of Principals Matter: A Guide to School, Family, and Community Partnerships,” Robinson said. "And, she said that when you have school systems who want parental engagement, they will have it. When a school system doesn’t have it, then they don’t want it. You don’t make it difficult for contact. You don’t make it difficult for your consumers to find you. We just have lip service here in PG County schools.”
To learn more about Mike Robinson’s efforts to support parent advocacy in Prince George’s County, visit him at Parental Engagement with PGCPS.
US Labor Dep't bans hiring of Pinoy teachers in Maryland county
OXON HILL, Maryland - Hundreds of Filipinos teachers trooped to the Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) in a desperate bid to hold on to their jobs by carrying letters of appeal, following the decision of the US Department of Labor to bar it from hiring Filipino and other foreign teachers for 2 years.
The DOL reaffirmed a decision last April that concluded the PGCPS willfully violated H-1B visa rules by requiring an estimated 800 Filipino teachers to pay visa and other fees that should have been shouldered by the school system. The PGCPS has already agreed to pay back $4.2 million in back wages to the teachers.
Both the PGCPS and Filipino teachers appealed the DOL's findings, many of the mentors saying they paid the fees voluntarily and were more concerned about keeping their jobs.
A majority of them have been working in the Prince George's public schools for the past 4-5 years, with a smaller number who arrived last year and presumably, were still working off the expenses of resettling in Maryland.
"Under the statute governing the H-1B program," the DOL statement read, "willful wage violations are subject to a debarment period of at least two years. Violations are willful when an employer knew or acted in reckless disregard for whether its actions were impermissible."
"Due to the willful nature of some of the violations, PGCPS also has agreed to pay $100,000 in civil money penalties and to be debarred for two years from filing new petitions, requests for extensions or requests for permanent residency for foreign workers under any employment-based visa program," the statement read further.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis stressed that "the Labor Department has the responsibility for ensuring that employers who use the H-1B program follow the law and do not place U.S. workers at a disadvantage to H-1B workers."
The Filipino teachers vowed to challenge what they saw a "unjust labor practices", pointing out that they are being penalized for a wrong committed by their school employer.
"They will be performing a series of actions geared towards ultimately attaining what is most precious to them, which is keeping their jobs," declared Maricris Urbano in a statement given to ABS-CBN News.
She said this afternoon's "silent walk-through" at the PGCPS Board of Education office in Upper Marlboro, Maryland was just the beginning. They are blaming the school system for "unfair terminations as they capriciously allowed working visas to expire."
Urbano feared these developments would eventually lead to an exodus of Filipino teachers back to the Philippines.
The Filipino teachers have also hastily organized a town hall meeting with visiting Philippine Congressman Erin Tanada at the Philippine Multicultural Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland this evening. They will be asking for help from the Philippine government.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, in his Independence Day address at the Philippine Embassy here last month, cited the struggle of the Filipino teachers in Prince George's county. They were able to convince PGCPS officials to reverse their decision not to renew work visas for Filipino teachers in "non-critical" subjects; but that victory has been erased by the DOL decision.
If the DOL decision is upheld – it still has to be approved by an administrative law judge – only a handful of Filipino teachers will survive the cut. They belong mostly to the first batch of mentors recruited in the Philippines in 2003-2004 and who've gained legal permanent residency status or the so-called "green card". But they are very few.
Maryland schools sought teachers from the Philippines to fill vacancies and help meet federally-mandated "No Child Left Behind" standards imposed by former President George W. Bush.
The DOL order does not cover about 600 Filipino teachers in Baltimore, Maryland public schools, who were subjected to the same hiring practices that got the Prince George's public school system in hot water. The Baltimore Public School System (BPSS) is trying to avoid a similar fate by reportedly quietly paying back the fees that were illegally collected from their Filipino teachers.
The collection of fees from the Filipino teachers brought about a disparity in wages between foreign and local teachers doing the same job. "The H-1B program allows employers to hire foreign professionals in certain specialty occupations to work temporarily in the U.S," the DOL explained.
"Workers hired under the H-1B program must be paid at least the same wage rates and benefits as those paid to U.S. workers doing the same job in the same area, so that the wages of similarly employed U.S. workers are not adversely affected."
Photos of the 2010 Parental Engagement Conference
