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Tag Archives: home schools
Teach the Vote's Week in Review: April 5, 2019
It was another groundbreaking week in the Texas legislature, and here's a look at the headlines from ATPE Governmental Relations:
House passes school finance bill with educator pay raises and tax relief
Senate and House education committees debate a variety of bills, from virtual schools to UIL
Senate State Affairs committee advances bills to limit educators' free speech and ability to teach students
Legislation to increase TRS contributions sees more progress
On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives passed landmark school finance reform legislation. By a vote of 148-1, Chairman Dan Huberty's (R-Kingwood) House Bill 3 passed the lower chamber, clearing the way for its consideration next by the Texas Senate.
The ATPE-supported school finance bill as finally passed by the House allocates billions in new money for public schools, reduces recapture, and provides homeowners with property tax relief. The House added bipartisan compromise language to HB 3 during Wednesday's floor debate to ensure that all full-time public school district employees in non-administrator roles will also receive pay raises.
Read more about the bill and Wednesday's major vote in this blog post from ATPE Governmental Relations Director Jennifer Mitchell. Stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates as attention turns to the Senate to find out how the upper chamber will respond to the school finance bill.
The Senate Education Committee and House Public Education Committee both held multiple meetings this week to hear a variety of education bills.
The Senate Education Committee's meeting on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, largely focused on hearing bills pertaining to dual credit. The agenda for Thursday, April 4, included a host of bills relating to virtual schools, including some bills that ATPE opposes. Other pending bills previously heard by the committee were also voted out with favorable recommendations for the full Senate. Read more about the Senate committee's activities this week in blog posts here and here from ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins who covered the hearings.
On the other side of the Capitol, the House Public Education Committee's Tuesday hearing covered topics ranging from pre-K to technology and educator preparation. The agenda for the committee's Thursday hearing also featured a wide variety of issues, including one bill that ATPE opposes to require school districts to let home-schooled students participate in UIL activities. ATPE Lobbyist Andrea Chevalier covered the House Public Education Committee hearings, and you can read her reports on the two meetings from this week in blog posts here and here.
ATPE is urging educators to oppose two Senate bills that would endanger free speech rights and limit the ability to teach students about content that relates to "a political philosophy" or "a matter of public interest." The bills are Senate Bill 1569 by Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper) and Senate Bill 904 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), and both of them got a favorable nod from the Senate State Affairs committee this week.
SB 1569 and SB 905 would expand current laws that restrict the use of public resources for "political advertising." The bills are unnecessary, since state law already prohibits using school resources for electioneering which is enforced by the Attorney General, and these two bills will have harmful unintended consequences.
SB 1569 would broaden the definition of political advertising, impose harsh restrictions on political speech by public school employees, and make it nearly impossible to teach students about elections or civic responsibility or anything deemed to fall under the vague category of "a matter of public interest." SB 904 also tries to limit political speech by restricting access to government communication systems like a school district's Wi-Fi network. It also calls for fining any third party that sends political advertising to a government email address. SB 904 will unreasonably penalize innocent third parties and have a chilling effect on free speech and political involvement by educators, even making it hard to teach students about anything related to politics.
Both SB 1569 and SB 904 appear to be reactions to the surge in educator participation in elections last year, and both bills are likely to spark constitutional challenges if passed. Based on their obvious targeting of the education community, both bills are reminiscent of unsuccessful efforts last legislative session to dissuade educators from joining professional associations that advocate for public education. With yesterday's committee vote, these two bills have the potential to reach the full Senate for a floor debate very soon. ATPE is urging educators to contact their senators and ask them to reject SB 1569 and SB 904. Read more about the bills in this blog post. ATPE members can click here to visit Advocacy Central and send a quick message to their senator.
As we have been reporting here on Teach the Vote, the legislature is considering ATPE-supported bills to increase contributions into the TRS pension fund. This week the House Committee on Pensions, Investments and Financial Services considered one of the bills, Senate Bill (SB) 12 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), which the full Senate has already passed unanimously.
SB 12 is being sponsored on the Senate side by Rep. Greg Bonnen (R- League City), who chairs the Article III (education) subcommittee in House Appropriations and is the author of another bill to increase funding for TRS via House Bill (HB) 9. (That bill, which ATPE also supports, was already heard by the House Pensions committee last week.) ATPE Senior Lobbyist Monty Exter reports that during this week's hearing on SB 12, Chairman Bonnen offered a committee substitute version of Senate Bill 12 that would replace its language with the language from his HB 9. After a brief hearing on the bill, the committee took the somewhat unusual step of immediately voting the committee substitute version of SB 12 favorably out of committee and recommending that it go to the full House for further consideration. The bill, which appears to be on an expedited track, will next go to the House Calendars Committee which has the authority to set the bill on a House calendar for a scheduled for debate. Once the bill has been approved by the full House, which it is expected to easily do, it will return to the Senate where Sen. Huffman will likely send SB 12 to a conference committee to work out differences between the House and Senate language.
While both versions of the bill would increase the overall contribution rate into the TRS pension system and provide current retirees with a 13th check, the House language does so by focusing the entire increase on the state's contribution rate without raising the rates of educators or school districts. Additionally, the House version provides for a substantially larger 13th check, up to $2400 per retiree vs $500 dollars per retiree in the Senate version of the bill.
This entry was posted in 86th Legislature, Legislative Update, School Finance and tagged 13th Check, Andrea Chevalier, ATPE, Bryan Hughes, committees, compensation, Dan Huberty, education, election, First Amendment, funding, HB 3, home schools, house, House Public Education Committee, Jennifer Mitchell, legislative update, legislature, Mark Wiggins, Monty Exter, Pat Fallon, pension, pensions, political advertising, retirement, school finance, school safety, Senate Education Committee, session, social studies, State Affairs, tax relief, teacher pay, teacher pay raise, teachers, TEKS, TRS, UIL, virtual schools, virtual voucher, voting on April 5, 2019 by Jennifer Mitchell, CAE. - Leave a reply
House Public Education Committee hears bills on home-schooler UIL participation, health and safety, and more
On Thursday, April 4, 2019, the House Public Education Committee met to hear bills on several topics, including home-schooled students' participation in UIL, student health, protected speech, and the available school fund.
ATPE supported several of the bills on yesterday's committee agenda:
House Bill (HB) 348 (Nevárez, et al., D-Eagle Pass): Would allow school districts to provide increased compensation to a teacher who completes an autism training provided by a regional education service center. This bill was not actually heard by the committee yesterday due to a last-minute change.
HB 1602 (Hernandez, D-Houston): States that a school district may not begin instruction before 8 am and calls for appropriating over $755 million to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the purpose of offsetting the additional transportation costs associated with the bill. Rep. Hernandez said that 34% of Texas schools start in the 7 am hour, and some students wait in the dark for the bus as early as 5:45 am. A student testified for the bill, saying it would help her get more sleep and receive less disciplinary action. ATPE member Yen Rabe also testified in support as one of several witnesses who cited increased safety and student well-being if the school day were to start later.
HB 2738 (Meyer, R-Dallas): Would expand educator misconduct provisions adopted through SB 7 from the 2017 legislative session to also include non-certified employees, such as those who may work in charter schools and Districts of Innovation. The bill would require TEA to create a "do-not-hire" registry of these non-certified persons.
ATPE registered in opposition to HB 1324 by Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls), which would require public schools participating in UIL activities to provide home-schooled students who meet certain eligibility requirements with the opportunity to participate in the activity. Districts would likely incur costs from this mandate, and HB 1324 does not ensure that home-schooled students would be subject to the same requirements and thus on a level playing field with their public school peers. Testimony on this bill was split between those who had concerns about implementation, costs to public schools, and increased government oversight, and those who wanted to be able to participate in UIL activities, especially sports. Read ATPE's written testimony against the bill here.
The following bills were also heard by the committee yesterday:
HB 873 (Allen, D-Houston): Would require the admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee to review students' behavior intervention plans (BIPs) at least annually for those who have a BIP as part of their individualized education plan (IEP). This bill also requires changes to the student code of conduct, including parent notification about the student's BIP or if the student needs a BIP when violations of the code occur, and it changes law around the use of restraints and time-outs, requiring detailed notification to parents. Lastly, the bill requires that if a school district takes disciplinary action against a student with disabilities that results in a change in placement, the district must conduct a behavioral assessment and develop or revise the student's BIP.
HB 1131 (Cole, et al., D-Austin): Would create the "Texas Public Finance Authority" to act as a "paying agent" under current law for the guarantee and payment of bonds. School districts could also borrow money from the new authority.
HB 1906 (Burns, R-Cleburne): Would allow a parent of a student with severe cognitive disabilities to request that the child be exempted from required assessments. The ARD committee would make further determinations on whether the student should be exempted and what the best assessment instrument for the child would be. Special education advocates testified about concerns with making sure someone is still held accountable for growth and progress of these students, and argued that assessments should be fixed rather than removing students from taking assessments altogether.
HB 2097 (Krause, et al., R-Fort Worth): This bill would allow only Arlington ISD to withdraw from TRS-ActiveCare under a pilot project. Representatives of the school district testified that healthcare costs for its employees under TRS are too high, but members of the committee were cautious and indicated there should be more study on statewide impact before allowing one district to have special treatment.
HB 2244 (González, M., D-Clint): Would define what is protected speech and require school districts to adopt a policy establishing rules regarding students' right to exercise freedom of the press at school. Testimony supporting the bill included remarks from students, teachers, a professor, and a lawyer.
HB 2393 (Burrows, R-Lubbock): Would require the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to develop a hunter education course for students in grades 7-12 that a school district can use as a part of its physical education curriculum. Rep. Burrows stated that there are barriers to children being able to take hunter education and that many violations have been committed by hunters, presumably as a result of lack of education.
HB 2555 (Parker, R-Flower Mound): Would update the guidelines on food allergies and require school boards and governing bodies of charters to update their policies on caring for students with food allergies who are at risk of anaphylaxis.
HB 2689 (Dean, et al., R-Longview): Would require each school superintendent to designate a cybersecurity coordinator to serve as a liaison between the district and TEA. Rep. Dean stated that student data, such as social security numbers, are particularly valuable and in need of protection.
HB 2739 (Meyer, et al., R-Dallas): Would require private school administrators to report misconduct by educators they employ to the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) and allow them to obtain information from SBEC any reports the board has about prior misconduct or criminal histories of such individuals.
HB 2740 (Meyer, et al., R-Dallas): Would require the Department of Family and Protective Services to release information regarding child abuse and neglect investigations and allegations to private schools, as it does for public schools.
HB 3683 (Dutton, D-Houston): Would allow the commissioner to authorize a charter or campus program to provide a dropout recovery program for grades 9-12, at which 50% of the enrollment must be students who are age 17 or older. Eligible students would include those who have dropped out or been in a disciplinary alternative education setting, as well as homeless students, working students, asylees and refugees, or at parent request. Charter school advocates testified that the bill would improve student retention and completion.
HB 4205 (Craddick, R-Midland): Would allow repurposed campuses to be operated in partnership with certain nonprofits that have a successful record of operating a campus or charter. Former Speaker Craddick stated that a school slated for closure has only two options (close the campus or appoint a board of managers), and his bill offers a third option by allowing non-profit charters to partner with the school district to reopen the school. TEA General Counsel Von Byer said the campus would still have to be closed and repurposed, and that the repurposed campus would have to serve a majority of new students and offer a distinctly different academic program.
HB 4613 (Shaheen, R-Plano): Would allow parents to request an exemption from state and federal testing requirements for special education students, potentially through a federal waiver. Special education advocates testified with concerns on meeting federal reporting requirements and having accountability for all students, including those with disabilities.
HB 4611 (Huberty, R-Humble) and its related House Joint Resolution (HJR) 151 (Huberty, R-Humble): Would propose a constitutional amendment to allow the General Land Office's (GLO) School Land Board to transfer up to $600 million to the available school fund. The current allowable contribution is only $300 million. Testimony from both the GLO and from Dr. Keven Ellis of the SBOE was neutral, focused on finding avenues to increase funds to the available school fund.
The following pending bills heard during prior meetings were voted favorably from committee on Thursday: HB 851, HB 1026, HB 1517, HB 1639, HB 1640, HB 1823, HB 2511, HB 2984, HB 3007, HB 3217, HB 3323, HB 3435, HB 3966, HCR 59, HB 843, HB 1160, HB 1276, HB 1632, HB 2030, HB 2184, HB 4310, and HB 2210.
The House Public Education Committee will meet again on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, to hear a variety of bills, mostly pertaining to charter schools.
This entry was posted in 86th Legislature, House Public Education Committee, Legislative Update and tagged accountability, ATPE, autism, charter schools, committees, compensation, Dan Huberty, discipline, education, educator misconduct, funding, healthcare, home schools, House Public Education Committee, legislative update, legislature, privatization, SBEC, SBOE, school safety, session, special education, TEA, teachers, testing, TRS, TRS-ActiveCare, UIL on April 5, 2019 by Andrea Chevalier. - 1 Reply
Teach the Vote's Week in Review: April 28, 2017
Here's this week's wrap-up of education news from the ATPE lobbyists:
House committee hears voucher arguments as deadlines loom for numerous bills
Accountability improvements sought by TEA, legislators
Final budget negotiations get underway as legislature plans future revenue decrease for public education
TRS elections end next week
ATPE Lobbyist Monty Exter testifying before the House Public Education Committee, April 27, 2017.
The House Committee on Public Education worked overnight and into the early hours this Friday morning hearing testimony on bills, including some aimed at funding private school voucher programs. Imminent end-of-session deadlines combined with a lengthy, high-profile floor debate this week on sanctuary cities resulted in late night hearings on many education bills. ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins provided a comprehensive blog update on the Thursday proceedings at which the committee voted on 15 bills previously heard and took testimony on 26 additional bills.
Bills heard by the committee overnight included a version of the "Tim Tebow" bill to allow home-schooled students to participate in UIL activities, plus a pair of bills by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) aimed at using public education dollars to help students qualifying for special education receive private education or therapies. ATPE Lobbyist Monty Exter provided testimony on both bills, suggesting alternative ways to help ensure that students with special needs have access to appropriate services while maintaining accountability and the integrity of the public school system.
ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins testifying before the House Public Education Committee, April 25, 2017.
With end-of-session deadlines looming, the House Public Education Committee packed in hearings of numerous bills this week. ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins reported on the committee's Tuesday meetings, which included discussions of Districts of Innovation and scheduling the school year, always a controversial subject. The committee also heard HB 1333 by Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), aimed partially at reducing standardized testing in Texas. For more on the committee's conversation about testing, read this piece by The Texas Tribune republished here on our blog, which also refers to testimony given by ATPE Lobbyist Monty Exter. ATPE's Wiggins also testified in support of funding for high-quality pre-K programs during Tuesday's hearing.
The House Public Education Committee also met briefly on Monday to take votes on additional bills heard earlier this session. As reported by ATPE's Mark Wiggins, the committee approved bills to eliminate state tests for writing and social studies, allow children of military families to enroll full-time in the state's virtual school network, and provide mentoring and professional development for new teachers. In a rare move, committee members also voted against a bill dealing with charter school liability and zoning laws.
The committee will meet again Tuesday, May 2, with another lengthy agenda of bills hoping to survive the May 8 deadline for House committees to favorably report out any House bills that may still be eligible for floor debate.
ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann testifying before the Senate Education Committee, April 27, 2017.
Over in the Texas Senate, proposals to change the state's beleaguered "A through F" accountability system were in the spotlight. As ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann reported yesterday on our blog, the Senate Education Committee heard bills this week by Chairman Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), both aimed at redesigning the state accountability system to incorporate different indicators and calculations. Testifying on ATPE's behalf, Kuhlmann urged the committee to consider integrating measures associated with teacher quality into the system but cautioned against the over-reliance on student test score data. Taylor's SB 2051 and Perry's SB 1173 were both left pending.
Also testifying before the Senate Education Committee was Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, who used the opportunity to promote the Texas Education Agency's new Confidential Student Report (CSR). The revamped reporting tool for parents was rolled out by TEA this week. Morath and will soon be linked to a new CSR website with additional resources related to STAAR testing.
Meanwhile, the Texas House is preparing to debate another major bill dealing with A-F on the House floor next week. HB 22 by House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood) was approved by that committee on April 4, and is now scheduled on the House calendar for floor debate on Wednesday, May 3. Stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates next week.
Yesterday, the Texas House approved a gradual phase-out of the business margins or franchise tax that generates revenue for public education. HB 28 by Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) passed the House on a 96-39 vote mostly along party lines. The bill would target the unpopular business tax for gradual elimination starting in 2019. For more on the bill, read this week's coverage by The Texas Tribune. The measure will head next to the Senate for consideration, but even if it passes, it has no direct bearing on the budget currently being considered by the legislature the next two years.
A conference committee appointed by both chambers to iron out differences in the House and Senate budget plans for SB 1 began its meetings earlier this week. ATPE encourages educators to contact members of the conference committee and urge them to send a budget compromise that adequately accommodates public education needs to the full legislature for swift approval. ATPE members can visit Advocacy Central to send messages to their lawmakers.
Stakeholders in the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) have a few more days left to cast a ballot for one of two open seats on the TRS Board of Trustees. Active members of TRS are invited to vote on a new at-large seat to be appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott based on the three highest vote-earners. Retired TRS members may vote on the at-large position, as well as a retiree position on the board. Voting closes on Friday, May 5, 2017. Learn more on the TRS website here.
This entry was posted in Accountability, Funding, Legislative Update and tagged A-F, accountability, ATPE, budget, charter schools, Commissioner Morath, Commissioner of Education, committees, Dan Huberty, education, educator quality, funding, home schools, house, House Public Education Committee, Kate Kuhlmann, Larry Taylor, legislative update, legislature, Mark Wiggins, Mike Morath, Monty Exter, privatization, retirement, senate, Senate Education Committee, session, STAAR, tax, TEA, Teach the Vote, teachers, testing, UIL, vouchers on April 28, 2017 by Jennifer Mitchell, CAE. - Leave a reply
Here's a look at this week's education news highlights from the ATPE lobby team:
House approves school finance reform plan
SBOE reviews science, language arts curriculum standards
Senate and House education committees discuss educator certification, charter schools, cyberbullying, and more
Budget conferees named by both chambers
Senate gives the nod to "Tim Tebow bill"
The Texas House of Representatives this week passed a comprehensive school finance bill, House Bill (HB) 21 by Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood), who chairs the House Public Education Committee. HB 21 is the House's opening salvo in what the bill's author calls a multi-session school finance reform effort. The bill is now on its way to the Senate where it is expected to receive a less than certain reception.
HB 21 picked up 10 floor amendments over the course of more than four hours of debate on Wednesday evening. The bill was approved on second reading by a vote of 134 to 16, and then the House passed HB 21 the following day on third reading by a vote of 132 to 15. Stay tuned later this week for a blog post by ATPE Lobbyist Monty Exter describing the details of the bill as approved by the House.
The next steps will be for HB 21 to be accepted by the Senate and referred to the Senate Education Committee, where we hope that Chairman Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) will schedule it for a public hearing. Taylor's committee heard his own school finance bill this week, Senate Bill (SB) 2145. A hearing on HB 21 would likely include a discussion of the differences and merits of the two school finance plans.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) has been meeting this week, also. As ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins wrote for our blog earlier this week, the board's agenda includes high-profile reviews of some of the state's curriculum standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
This morning, the board held a final vote on proposed changes to the TEKS for science. The biology portion in particular has been the focus of debate over the discussion of evolution. Board members began the week seeking compromise language that would satisfy scientists as well as those wishing to allow for some discussion of creationism.
The board voted down an amendment this morning by member SBOE Marisa Perez-Diaz (D-San Antonio) that would have instructed teachers to "compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, including scientific explanations for their complexity." The board then adopted an amendment by SBOE member Keven Ellis (R-Lufkin) instructing teachers "to compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and compare and contrast scientific explanations for cellular complexity." SBOE member Barbara Cargill (R-The Woodlands) assured the board that the compromise language still encourages criticism of the theory of evolution.
On revisions to the TEKS for English and Spanish language arts and reading, the board has opted to delay a final vote until May. For more on this week's SBOE deliberations, check out the latest update from ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins here on our blog.
The two legislative committees that oversee education policy for the Texas House and Senate have been busy hearing numerous bills and voting a number of them through for floor consideration.
Yesterday, the Senate Education Committee heard bills that included such topics as charter school authorizations and educator certification. As ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann reported on our blog, the committee heard both a bill that could restrict the expansion of charter schools in certain areas and a bill that would make it easier for charters to be approved. The committee also considered an educator certification bill that would make it easier for out-of-state teachers to become certified in Texas without necessarily passing an exam.
As ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann reported on Twitter, the Senate Education Committee also voted yesterday to give favorable approval to several Senate bills, many of which have been changed from their original versions that were filed: SB 653, SB 754, SB 1122, SB 1267, SB 1398, SB 1882, SB 2142, SB 2143, SB 2188, and SB 2270.
The House Public Education Committee held a full hearing for several bills on Tuesday and then met again yesterday for the purpose of voting on pending bills. As ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins wrote for our blog, Tuesday's agenda included hearing HB 306, known as David's Law, to prevent cyber-bullying and harassment that encourages youths to commit suicide. ATPE testified in support of the bill, as we similarly supported the Senate version, SB 179, during a prior hearing by the Senate State Affairs Committee. Read Mark's blog post for more on the bills that were heard and voted upon by the committee on Tuesday. During Thursday's formal meeting of the same committee, members voted to send 11 additional bills to the full House for consideration. For a list of those bills, check out Mark's follow-up blog post on Teach the Vote.
Next week, the House Public Education Committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday for consideration of several bills. The agenda includes bills pertaining to testing, instructional materials, pre-K, and Districts of Innovation. ATPE will be there to testify and will provide updates next week on Teach the Vote and on Twitter.
Both the House and Senate have announced which of their members will serve on a conference committee for the state's budget bill. The two chambers recently passed competing versions of Senate Bill (SB) 1, which necessitates a conference committee of 10 members to try to iron out the differences and forge a compromise to keep the government in operation for two more years and avoid the need for a special session.
Announced first this week were the Senate conferees for SB 1: Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), along with Sens. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), Joan Huffman (R-Houston), Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), and Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen). On the House side, the conference committee appointees are House Appropriations Chairman John Zerwas (R-Fulshear), plus Reps. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin), Oscar Longoria (D-Mission), Sarah Davis (R-Houston), and Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock).
Also this week, the Senate approved a measure known as the Tim Tebow bill, which requires the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to allow the participation of home-schooled students. SB 640 by Sen. Van Taylor (R-Plano) received the Senate's approval on Wednesday by a vote of 23 to 8. The bill still has to be considered in the House.
ATPE has opposed SB 640 and similar legislation in previous sessions based on long-standing positions in the ATPE Legislative Program adopted each year by our members. Specifically, ATPE members object to letting home-schooled students participate in extracurricular activities without being held to the same standards as their public school counterparts, such as no pass/no play laws.
Related: The ATPE Legislative Committee will be meeting in Austin this weekend to review the ATPE Legislative Program and make recommendations for any changes to the House of Delegates. Learn more about the ATPE Legislative Program and our member-owned, member-governed philosophy here.
This entry was posted in Legislative Update, SBOE, School Finance and tagged ATPE, budget, certification, charter schools, committees, curriculum, education, educator preparation, educator quality, funding, home schools, house, House Public Education Committee, Kate Kuhlmann, legislative update, legislature, Mark Wiggins, Monty Exter, SBEC, SBOE, school finance, science, senate, Senate Education Committee, session, Teach the Vote, TEKS on April 21, 2017 by Jennifer Mitchell, CAE. - Leave a reply
Senate Education Committee ramps up work
The Texas Senate Education Committee met twice this week for the first time this session, signaling things are picking up in the Texas Legislature. ATPE weighed in on two measures the committee took up this week: a measure termed the "Tim Tebow bill" and a bill pertaining to district partnerships with charters.
Senate Bill (SB) 1882 by Sen. Jose Menendez relates to a school district partnering with a public charter school to operate a district campus and share teachers, facilities, and other educational resources. ATPE shared several concerns with the bill, which included lack of clarity on which entity would serve as the educators' employer and the fact that a law is not needed to enable districts to form this type of partnership. Another concern was addressed by Senator Menendez in a newer version of the original bill; under the proposed committee substitute, neighborhood schools would still have first access to their neighborhood school regardless of the fact that a charter operator took it over.
Senator Menendez's comments included his intent to continue working to address the issues expressed by stakeholders, calling for "a community solution." That includes ATPE's concern regarding the ambiguity with regard to who would employ educators. ATPE shared that if a district teacher becomes an employee of the charter, it would affect their rights and benefits, as charter employees don't have the same rights and benefits as traditional public school employees.
The broader issue ATPE has with this bill does not have to do with opposition to locally developed partnerships between high-quality charters and districts, but with the fact that the bill only serves to incentivize this means of focusing attention on a school while not doing the same with others. Many innovative approaches or effective turnaround models, including this one, can be adopted by a board currently and has been done in various districts. This bill, however, would offer an accountability pause when this is used as a turnaround model in unacceptably rated schools and financial incentives when this sort of partnership is developed on any campus. Ultimately, this could serve to lessen the value and utilization of other models or innovative options that might be very well-suited for a particular school or community.
The committee also heard testimony on SB 640 by Sen. Van Taylor, a bill that would allow home-school students to participate in UIL activities, a bill termed the "Tim Tebow bill." ATPE opposed the legislation, pointing to a number of positions in the ATPE Legislative Program that contrast with the idea of home school students selectively choosing aspects of the public school system in which they want to participate. Home-school parents and students were present to testify in both support and opposition. ATPE's full testimony can be read here.
The Texas Legislature is picking up speed rapidly. Stay tuned for more from the Senate Education Committee next week!
This entry was posted in 85th Legislature, Legislative Update, Senate Education Committee and tagged ATPE, charter schools, committees, education, home schools, Kate Kuhlmann, legislative update, legislature, privatization, senate, Senate Education Committee, session, Teach the Vote, turnaround, UIL on April 7, 2017 by admin. - 1 Reply


Published: July 10, 2014 5:00 pm Updated: July 10, 2014 11:03 p.m.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Gaza, seen from Israel-Gaza Border, Thursday, July 10, 2014. Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza Thursday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported more than a dozen of people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel's missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country's heartland.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — The Al Haj family never heard it coming: An Israeli missile smashed into their home in the middle of the night, destroying the structure and killing eight relatives in a matter of seconds. A survivor said all the dead were civilians.
Undeterred, Hamas militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, including salvos Thursday at the country's two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, that were intercepted by the rocket-defense system known as the Iron Dome.
At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about the threats to civilians in Israel and Gaza as he urged an immediate cease-fire.
"It is unacceptable for citizens on both sides to permanently live in fear of the next aerial attack," Ban said. "My paramount concern is the safety and well-being of all civilians, no matter where they are."
Ban condemned the "indiscriminate" rocket fire at Israel. "But I am also concerned at the many Palestinian deaths and injuries as a result of Israeli operations," he said. "Once again, Palestinian civilians are caught between Hamas' irresponsibility and Israel's tough response."
Israel's U.N. ambassador, Ron Prosor, pulled out a cellphone during the meeting and played a recording of an air-raid siren as he described the difficult circumstances of people living within rocket range. His Palestinian counterpart, Riyad Mansour, decried the Israeli "barrage of death, destruction and terror."
Ban has been a key player in diplomatic efforts to halt the hostilities. Egypt, historically a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, has said it is in touch with both sides, while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. is trying to stem the surging violence.
Neither side has shown much interest in halting the fighting. With rockets continuing to fly, Israel has been massing forces along the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground invasion.
"So far the campaign is going as planned," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement broadcast on national television. "But we are expecting more stages later. So far we have severely hit Hamas and other terrorists and we will deepen the strike against them as long as the campaign continues."
He said Israel was making "every effort" to avoid harming civilians and accused Hamas of endangering the Palestinian public by "hiding behind Palestinian civilians."
Residents in the crowded Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza were at a loss to explain why the Al Haj family home was targeted in the attack just before 2 a.m. Thursday. The blast killed Mahmoud Al Haj, his wife, Basmah, and six of their children.
Yasser Al Haj, who was not at home in the refugee camp, was the only relative to survive.
"I want to see my family," he wailed. "Where is the house? Where is my family?"
Neighbor Iyad Hamad decried the deaths of "children, women and old people."
"There can't be more oppression than this in the world," he said. "Can't they see what is happening to the people here?"
It was not clear who was the target of the airstrike, or whether the family had been warned.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the incident was under investigation.
Israel has been taking precautions to protect civilians. He said when Israel identifies a home used by Hamas as a "command and control center," it calls the inhabitants and orders them to leave. It then fires a "non-explosive munition" at the roof as a warning and looks for people to leave. Only then does it destroy the structure.
But he said if a militant is actively using a house to carry out attacks, he becomes a legitimate target. "If you use civilian premises to perpetrate attacks, you are putting yourself and the people around you in a state of danger," Lerner said.
Israel says Hamas intentionally uses civilian areas, including homes, mosques and schools, for cover during fighting. "Hamas ... intentionally embeds itself in civilian populations," Lerner said.
A number of the nearly 30 women and children to die in the offensive are believed to have been killed along with relatives who were targeted by Israel.
Israel uses electronic surveillance, a network of informants and other techniques to keep tabs on wanted militants in Gaza. It has a long history of killing senior militants in airstrikes. But mistakes can happen.
Robbie Sabel, a former legal adviser for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said international laws of war prohibit deliberate targeting of civilians, but take into account that civilians may be hit in attacks on military targets as long as the response is "proportionate." Beyond the legal issues, however, is the matter of public perception.
"The moment you see a picture in The New York Times of an injured child, it's horrific. And there's no way you can come up with a legal explanation that will help us," he said.
The number of civilian casualties is sure to rise if Israel decides to launch a ground invasion. During a ground incursion in early 2009, hundreds of civilians were killed. Israel accused Hamas of putting people in harm's way, but the heavy death toll drew war crimes accusations against Israel in a U.N. report.
The report also accused Hamas of committing war crimes by firing indiscriminately at Israeli population centers. The current wave of rocket fire has placed an estimated 5 million Israelis in range, disrupting life across the country.
The Iron Dome defense system has intercepted more than 100 of the projectiles destined for major cities. The system is designed to shoot down rockets headed toward populated areas, while allowing others to fall where they can do no harm.
In southern Israel, the area hit hardest by the rockets, people have been ordered to stay within close range of shelter. Summer camps have been canceled, motorists have been forced to jump out of their cars, and high school students took their final exams in bomb shelters. Many people are using a smartphone application that alerts them to incoming rockets when they can't hear air-raid sirens.
Lian Assayag had planned a big wedding in the southern city of Ashkelon. But her special day was dashed due to the rocket fire. She decided instead to get married Thursday night inside a bomb shelter at a synagogue in nearby Ashdod.
"I have mixed feelings. Everything got messed up," she told Channel 10 TV. "It'll be OK."
Federman reported from Jerusalem. Yousur Alhou and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.


text:
TOT FOUND WITH SLAIN L.I. DAD
Selim Algar
Social Links for Selim Algar
In a heartbreaking murder that has baffled Long Island cops, a hardworking dad was found fatally shot in the chest Tuesday afternoon – with his 3-year-old son sleeping at his side.
Police said suspicions were raised when Carlton Shaw, 38, of East Patchogue, failed to pick up his 5-year-old daughter, Colleen, from her day-care center at around 4 p.m. Tuesday, and employees there called Shaw's neighbor.
The neighbor found the body outside a side door just before 5 p.m. Shaw had been shot once in his chest, cops said.
The victim's 3-year-old son, Carlton Jr., was found asleep next to his dad. Police said Shaw – who worked long hours as a line cook at three Long Island restaurants – had no criminal history or contacts with law enforcement.
Police said there was no sign of forced entry or obvious signs of a robbery at Shaw's tidy home. Police towed his black Volkswagen Jetta to see if it offered any clues.
Griselda Amaya, his devastated girlfriend of seven years and mother of his children, said she knew of no possible motive for the murder.
She was being comforted by neighbors yesterday as she struggled to explain the killing to her two children.
Amaya praised Shaw as an industrious worker whose main focus was to provide for his young family and future wife. "He just worked, worked, worked," she said in soft, broken English. "He had three jobs."
Police said they were still trying to piece together the sequence of events that led to Shaw's killing and whether his son, who was not harmed, had witnessed the shooting.
selim.algar@nypost.com
Read Next 6 NABBED IN TERROR PLOT ON FORT DIX SOLDIERS

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According to the NY Times, GMAC and Bank of America are restarting foreclosures. As a result, those homeowners who were in the hunt for short sales are now being frozen out — even when it doesn't make economic sense for the banks. Read on to find out more.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage application volume was down for the second week in a row. High unemployment and souring home prices helped fuel the decrease.


Find the herbs to save your tribe. Escape rabid wolves. Shoot buffalo. All while practicing multiplication, division and a tiny bit of geometry.
Want games playable on the web? Need games for Chromebooks? Here you go!
Looking for iPad / iPhone games? Look no further!
Want it on Google Play? Our Android apps are here.


text:
Wolfgang: Disney+ Debuts Official Trailer For Documentary STREAMING FRIDAY, June 25
Posted by Ryan Bueta | Jun 10, 2021 | Trailers, Movies, News | 0
One of the world's most renown culinary chef and restaurant owners, Wolfgang Puck, will be soon having a feature film of his own.
It has been announced that high profile celebrity chef Puck will be starring in a biographical documentary film about his life and incredible culinary career. The documentary film with revolve around Wolfgang's early life including his difficult childhood and the hard work he did in order to achieve his incredible career as a star culinary chef.
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The documentary will also teach viewers the importance of perseverance, hard work, determination, and never giving up on your dreams. Hopefully viewers will be inspired and connect with this documentary of one of the world's most renown and inspiring culinary superstars Wolfgang Puck, premiering on Disney Plus on June 25, 2021.
Wolfgang Tells His Story
Today, Disney+ revealed the official trailer for "Wolfgang," the Disney+ original documentary film chronicling the inspiring true story of Wolfgang Puck, a man who survived a troubled childhood filled with a series of challenging obstacles and whose perseverance led him to become one of the most prolific chefs of our time and a household name.
From Emmy® Award-Winning director and producer David Gelb("Jiro Dreams of Sushi"), and the creators of "Chef's Table," the candid, inspiring and emotional film will be available to stream on Disney+ beginning June 25.
As a teenager in Austria, Wolfgang Puck harnessed his love of cooking to escape the harsh rule of his stepfather. A local apprenticeship forged his path to train at a revered French restaurant before landing in America at age 24.
In 70s Hollywood, Puck began working at Ma Maison, crafting an original menu around fresh ingredients, making the once-tacky eatery a popular, acclaimed darling. Still, the lack of acknowledgement from Ma Maison's owner pushed Puck to take the biggest risk of his career and open his first restaurant, Spago, an instant hit where famous clientele dote equally on Puck's new American cuisine and personality.
Almost by accident, Puck created the concept of a "celebrity chef" with his decades-spanning television appearances, building a staggering global empire of restaurants, cafes and products for home cooks. But at home, the frenetic professional demands disrupted his family life.
Are you excited for more documentaries like this on Disney+? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments below, and check back with The Illuminerdi for more Disney news and features.
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Ryan Bueta
Just an average person that loves all thing Pop Culture. I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science In Public Health at California State University Northridge. Was exposed to Pop Culture Media in October 2015 at Los Angeles Comic Con (Formerly Stan Lee's Comikaze). Started being involved in the Pop Culture journalistic world by interviewing Power Rangers Actors in 2016. Then I created my own Social Media Outlet called Morphin Network where me and my team interview former Power Rangers actors, and report Power Rangers related news. Now currently I am a creative writer for the Illuminerdi
America The Motion Picture Review: Hail to the Insanity
Did Tom Holland Just Say Spider-Man No Way Home is the End of the Franchise?
Emily Blunt In Talks To Join Christopher Nolan's New Project
Guz Martin And Stuart Martin Weigh In On Their Characters Future In Zack Snyder's Army Of The Dead Franchise: EXCLUSIVE


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text:
Q: Jquery .change() on select causes Foundation Section to disappear until window is resized I'm using Zurb Foundation as a framework, and jQuery to show/hide a
 containing a Foundation based on a <select> dropdown box. The jQuery is pretty simple:
$(document).ready(
  function()
 {
  $('.dropdown').hide();
  $('#divsp1').show();
  $('select').data("previous-value", $('select').val());
  $('select').change(function() {
    var previousValue = $(this).data("previous-value");
    $('#divsp' + previousValue).hide();
    $('#divsp' + $(this).val()).show();
    $(this).data("previous-value", $(this).val());
  });
}
);

Simplified HTML is as follows:

Section 1

Content of section 1.

Section 2

Content of section 2.

Section 1

Content of section 3.

Section 2

Content of section 4.

<form autocomplete="off">
<select>
  <option value="1">1</option>
  <option value="2">2</option>
</select>
</form>

Selecting anything other than the initial value causes the selected
 to disappear. It only reappears if the window is resized. I've also captured this behavior in a video here.
Once the window is resized, the jQuery select functions as desired. I'm seeing this issue in Firefox and Chrome, both on Windows and Mac OS X.
Is there something wrong with my jQuery that is causing this issue?
EDIT
I narrowed this down to an issue with Foundation and jQuery. I created a site with vanilla Foundation and tried to do the same thing:
 containing Foundation Panels that are switchable via jQuery. No luck. I'll have to find another way to achieve the same thing.

A: Can you please check by replacing with this one..
please this line......
$('.subProductBox#div' + $(this).val()).show();

with this........

$('#div'+ $(this).val()).show();

I hope this will be helpful

A: I didn't read the documentation thoroughly enough. Adding one simple line to the .js file fixes it:
$(this).foundation('section', 'reflow');

I found the line in the Section documentation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Keyword Search of pics
How to Graduate
Honors Plan
Empathy Through Expression
PICS senior Matt Harmon and colleagues facilitate theatre workshops in Kosovo
By Matt Harmon
The theatre is a place to develop empathy and explore one's own humanity. By creating together, we can break down our differences and see each other as humans. With Political Science and Program in the Environment senior Emily Russell and two Kosovar colleagues, we founded and facilitated Playwriting for Peace, a five-week theatre and playwriting workshop in Pristina, Kosovo this past summer. Thanks to a Kathryn Davis Projects for Peace Fellowship, we were able to work with an incredible group of young creatives in both the capital city and in regions around Kosovo, building relationships around the art of theatre.
The idea for Playwriting for Peace originated from the glaring lack of creative arts interventions in post-conflict countries. The Kosovo War (1999) undermined institutions and deepened riffs between ethnic groups in the region. Kosovo declared its independence only a decade ago in 2008, and its sovereign status is still not accepted by nearly half of UN member states nor by neighboring Serbia. With a majority of Kosovo's population under the age of 25, young people have the power to either slide back into conflict or resist and create a peaceful, prosperous future.
The workshops utilized multiple forms of verbal and nonverbal techniques as well as varied artistic mediums, including visual arts, text, music, and movement. Working with a variety of different cultures and languages, the nonverbal activities allowed many different groups of people to collaborate on storytelling and innovate new ways to converse.
During the course of the five weeks, students wrote their own ten-minute plays on a variety of topics, from domestic violence to climate change. By putting pressing social justice issues into their scripts, participants embraced the stage as a valid and impactful venue for political and social dialogue. While writing and rehearsing, students were cast in each other's plays, giving them experience in telling each other's stories. This allowed the students to know each other more profoundly and envision themselves as members of the same complex world. In one instance, a male participant was cast as the abuser in a play about domestic violence, which he said opened his eyes to how women experience trauma in their daily lives.
The program culminated in a Final Revue performance at an iconic Pristina theatre. In the audience were friends of the participants, local collaborators we had met during our time in Pristina, and members of the public who wanted to hear the words of young playwrights.
In an effort to help Playwriting for Peace continue to work in the region, we developed a Training Manual with all of our activities that we used during the program. We also hosted Facilitator Trainings in Pristina and Mitrovica, a contested city split between Kosovo and Serbia, which helped establish a cohort of participants who can facilitate future workshops for peace in applied theatre techniques in Kosovo. Additionally, we established a fund with 7ARTE, a local arts organization, to provide future facilitators with the necessary funding to run their own workshops.
We know that providing a toolkit for expression can act as a deterrent to violence, and we are hopeful that Playwriting for Peace can bring students on opposing sides of cultural and national boundaries closer to a universal language. Playwriting for Peace hopes to demonstrate that peacebuilding is not over when country borders are solidified, but rather, is a journey that is just beginning.
More information on Playwriting for Peace and week-by-week reflections can be found at https://playwriting4peace.wixsite.com/kosovo
Program in International and Comparative Studies
Program in International and Comparative Studies (PICS)
is-michigan@umich.edu
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Recently, research on the causes of the Great Depression has shifted from a heavy emphasis on events in the United States to a broader, more comparative approach that examines the interwar experiences of many countries simultaneously. In this lecture I survey the current state of our knowledge about the Depression from a comparative perspective. On the aggregate demand side of the economy, comparative analysis has greatly strengthened the empirical case for monetary shocks as a major driving force of the Depression; an interesting possibility suggested by this analysis is that the worldwide monetary collapse that began in 1931 may be interpreted as a jump from one Nash equilibrium to another. On the aggregate supply side, comparative empirical studies provide support for both induced financial crisis and sticky nominal wages as mechanisms by which nominal shocks had real effects. Still unresolved is why nominal wages did not adjust more quickly in the face of mass unemployment.


Interactive, outdoor theatre for you to book today!
If you would like further information about our work, or would like to book The Walking Theatre Company for an event in your location, contact our team who would be delighted to discuss your project!
You can contact us via the form below, or call us on 01369 510 898.
Thank you for your interest in The Walking Theatre Company!
We look forward to 'walking' with you soon!


text:
Stark Campus employee celebrates 42 years on job
Becky Smith
An original Stark campus staff member celebrated her 42 years of service Friday.
Linda Harsh, Stark campus admissions specialist, was honored by the campus community at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Balloon Classic Invitational.
Harsh started at the Stark campus at the age of 16 as a student worker in the admissions department. When she graduated high school she wanted to be a teacher, but financial troubles prevented her from attending college, so she chose the secretarial route and stayed at the Stark campus.
Harsh said a lot has changed in her 42 years at the Stark campus.
"In the time I've been here, one of the biggest challenges I have faced is learning new technologies," Harsh said.
Harsh and her colleagues went from carbon paper and electronic typewriters to computers.
But these new technologies didn't stop Harsh from working hard.
Mary Southards, assistant dean of enrollment management for the Stark campus, said that over the years she has known Harsh, she never saw her resist change.
"To me, she is just amazing," Southards said. "She steps up and says, 'OK, tell me what I need to do.' Some people are hesitant to change, but Linda has never been that way."
Harsh said the campus itself has kept her at there for so long.
"I enjoy being in the college atmosphere," she said. "When you're with young people it helps you keep a fresh outlook on life."
While she has no plans to retire any time soon, Harsh advises those who desire longevity at their jobs to have a positive attitude toward everything.
"Look for the good things you see each day in your workplace," she said. "You can still find satisfaction and fulfillment in the place where you are. You just have to have the right attitude."
Contact international affairs and regional campuses reporter Becky Smith at [email protected]


The chancellor has pledged a further £20m to fund the operation of Transport for the North (TfN) over the current Parliament.
George Osborne, during his Spending Review, said that the government would be extending the Summer Budget commitment to fund TfN with a total of £50m.
"This will further accelerate the pace of progress, as TfN develops plans to transform the north's transport connections and help forge a single regional economy," he said.
Osborne added that the government is building on the progress already made by TfN by providing £150m of funding to support the delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across local transport and rail services in the north.
As part of its work, TfN will produce a regional implementation plan, in partnership with the DfT, by Budget 2016. This will support TfN's plans for a ticketing system that makes it simple and easy for people to travel across the North by bus, tram, metro and rail.
Osborne said the government supports the upcoming publication of TfN's interim report, which will set out the rapid progress TfN has made in the last six months across all elements of its Northern Transport Strategy, as well as the significant steps taken to develop TfN as an organisation.
This includes appointing Merseytravel's David Brown as TfN's its first chief executive, the upcoming appointment of a new chair, and the introduction into Parliament this month of legislation to put TfN on a statutory footing by 2017.
Recently, Lord Adonis said the work of TfN will bring transformational change by making the sum of the northern city regions more than their parts.
Lord Adonis, best known for initiating the work on HS2, and heading the newly launched National Infrastructure Commission, linked the future work of TfN with the ongoing developments as part of the Northern Powerhouse, set to transform the connectivity between all northern regions.
RTM contacted TfN for a comment on the extra funding, but at the time of publication had received no reply.


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Although the majority of Scottish LADs have seen a slight increase in the amount of earnings devoted to mortgage payments when compared to Q4 2015, mortgage affordability in Scotland has improved by 17.5 percentage points since reaching a peak of 37.3% in Q3 of 2007. Historically low mortgage rates have been the main driver behind the significant improvement in affordability since 2007.
Despite average Scottish house prices growing by 9% in the past year, mortgage affordability in Q4 2016 rose only marginally from a year earlier, rising from 19.4% to 19.8%. However, this is comfortably below the long-term Scottish average of 28.5%2. This proportion has stayed low due to further falls in mortgage rates during 2016, from an average of 2.49%1 in Q1 to 2.17%1 in Q4.
There have been improvements in affordability in all Scottish LADs since 2007. Mortgage payments as a proportion of average earnings have fallen by at least 15% in 21 areas. East Dunbartonshire has seen the smallest change in mortgage affordability since 2007, falling 12.8% during that time.
Clear north / south divide.
Mortgage payments are at their lowest as a proportion of disposable earnings in Scotland (19%), Northern Ireland (20%), North (23%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (23%) and the North West (24%).
Payments are highest in relation to earnings in Greater London (49%), the South East (41%) and the South West (34%). London is the only region where current rate is above its long-term average.
The proportion of disposable earnings devoted to mortgage payments by a first-time buyer in Scotland stood at 23%3 in 2016 Quarter 3; this is below the long-term average2 of 27%. This is a substantial improvement since 2007, when this figure reached a peak of 36%.
Record low mortgage rates have helped reduce this cost as a proportion of homemovers' overall outgoings. In Quarter 4 2016, mortgage payments in Scotland accounted for 28%3 of homemovers' disposable earnings – below the long-term average2 figure of 35%. This is a substantial improvement since the peak in 2007, when average mortgage outgoings accounted for 48% of homemovers' disposable income.
"Scottish homeowners have seen a decent improvement in housing affordability since 2007 as record falls in mortgage rates have offset higher house prices. As a result mortgage payments account for a lower proportion of disposable earnings than anywhere else in the UK.


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Boasting ski-to-door access, this resort is centrally located in the Sun Peaks ski village. A cable TV is offered in each room. Spa and sauna facilities are available on site.
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This traditional hotel is a ski-in/ski-out property located in the middle of Sun Peaks Resort in Sun Peaks, British Columbia. It is steps away from chair elevators and hiking/biking trails.
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Located at Sun Peaks Ski Resort, this boutique hotel features a hair salon and sauna. Serving Asian fusion, Black Garlic Restaurant is on site. All guest rooms have a kitchenette.
Residences at the Sun Peaks Grand is 2 minutes' walk from Sun Peaks village center. All apartments come equipped with a kitchen. Free wireless internet access is provided.
Offering mountain views, 24 Village Walk Sun Peaks is a property located in Sun Peaks, an 8-minute walk from Sun Peaks Ski Mountain and 500 yards from Morrisey Express.
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Featuring ski-in, ski-out access, this two-bedroom corner apartment is located in Sun Peaks, is just 12 minutes' walk from the village core.
Featuring a hot tub, Fireside Lodge Village Center - FS409 offers ski-in, ski-out accommodations in Sun Peaks village, 0.8 mi from Sun Peaks Ski Mountain. A gas fireplace is provided.
Located in Sun Peaks, Stone's Throw Condos - ST50 has ground floor entry and ski in/ski out access to the Mt. Morrisey chairlift.
Trail's Edge Townhouses - TE17 is located in Sun Peaks. It has ski-in access and is less than 10 minutes' walk from the Mt. Morrisey chairlift.
91 properties found in Fireside Lodge ().


text:
ECV
Since 1984, the French school of reference in the areas of Design, Animation, Game and Digital.
Documentation Interview
Study abroad in France
ECV schools are today the largest French network recognized by professionals in the field of Design and Advertising.
Foundation Year in Art & Design
Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design
Masters' degree in Design
Bachelor's degree in Interior Design 🆕
Masters' degree in Interior Design & Scenography 🆕
By opening 20 years ago a course dedicated to 2D / 3D Animation, the ECV was one of the first French schools to meet the needs of the new professions that accompanied the digital revolution.
Foundation year in Animation & Game
Bachelor's degree in Animation 2D/3D
Masters' degree in 2D/3D Animation
The ECV Game programmes, based in Paris, Bordeaux and Lille, trains professionals with an artistic profile, capable of combining creativity and technique and integrating both independent studios and major studios in the sector.
Bachelor's degree in Game
Master's degree in Game
The ECV Digital programmes offers an educational program based on the triptych that can not be dissociated from digital technology, creation and e-business. Students develop curiosity and analytical skills to adapt to changes in this sector in perpetual excitement.
Bachelor's degree – Digital project manager
Masters' Degree in Digital
Download a brochure Request an application form
Homepage > Animation > Programmes > Bachelor's degree in Animation 2D/3D >
After the acquisition of basic knowledge through the Foundation year, ECV students in Animation get to learn the fundamentals of animation and of digital creation.
2nd year animation course
After the acquisition of basic knowledge, ECV students in Animation get to learn the fundamentals of animation and of digital creation. They study illustration, the creation of universes and characters in either two or three dimensions. They will also be familiarising themselves with 3D techniques, from video, to image processing and motion capture in order to make their first animations.
This year will allow you to acquire a real methodology of work. Training is structured around practical projects allowing the appropriation of knowledge, the concrete acquisition of abilities as well as the development of a particular artistic identity. Throughout the 2nd year, students will produce, as a team, a 2D animation and motion design short-film, carried out as a semester project.
3rd year animation course
During the 3rd year, each student individually produces an animation short film, allowing him to comprehend the full chain of production which is can be broken down to three phases: pre-production, production, and post-production.
Pre-production: pre-production allows the assessment of the creative project, the development of the script, the visual content, the storyboard, and the 2D or 3D animation.
Production: production will materialise the project, through modelling, setup, animation, lighting, etc.
Post-production: last part of the project, post-production leads to the final outcome of the piece, through special effects, compositing, editing, sound design and sound mix
The creative dimension of the students work is supported by the elaboration of an animation project or of a demo reel.
At the end of this year, students confront themselves with professional reality with an internship. An necessary experience at this stage of the course.
When I was shown the Bachelor's degree in 2D/3D Animation during an open day, it just clicked for me. At that moment, I knew that was what I wanted to do !
Marine Rabino
2D/3D Animation's short film
Leonoardo - Damien Desvigne
OS-CAR
OS-C4R - Elie Boudalier
Bachelor's degree courses
Character design is a highly valued position in video game and animation studios. Charisma, proportions and style are all key factors in the creation of a good character. Beyond the actual drawing, students need to capture the character's typology by defining its psychological and sociological attributes to create a better design. These are also determining factors for the animation in production.
Outdoor sketching
Students practice sketching in an environment outside of the school such as museum exhibits, public gardens, train stations and streets. The drawing of architectural spaces and statuary develops respect for proportions, volume and perspective, in the foreground and background. Students learn how to make choices, capture the essence, and draw quickly.
Probably the most important course and also the most extensive. Students have to design a self-consistent environment that can then be used in a work of animation. Perspective, volume, morphology and analysis of movement will define the specifics of the characters populating this imaginary environment.
The main assistant to the director, the storyboarder divides a story into images and makes framing and editing decisions. After scripting their stories, students will learn how to illustrate short sequences in precise images, an essential step in film production.
Traditional 2D animation is essential for mastering the complexity of animation, for that is what brings drawn characters to life. The many technical constraints involved are difficult to grasp and provide students with a rich learning experience. Softwares: Flash, After Effects.
Rigging is a 3D animation technique for constructing a character's skeleton. The armature needs to be built to match the animation, based on the character's morphology and specific features. The stage after rigging, skinning is the process of binding a character's mesh to the skeleton, adjusting joint bends and verifying the accuracy of the model's deformation.
Modeling is used to create backgrounds, vehicles, characters, etc. Once this technique has been acquired, students can transform their creations into 2D and 3D. Softwares: 3DS Max, Maya, ZBrush.
3D Lighting
Scenography is the art of staging in which lighting plays a key role. The effect of light on textures and backgrounds will set the scene's realism, tone and style. Softwares: 3DS Max, Maya.
The objective of this course is to acquire the skills necessary for setting a character or object in motion. Based on the modeling of shapes, students bring their creation to life. Softwares: 3DS Max, Maya, Motion Builder.
Request an application form
Établissement d'enseignement supérieur privé - ECV ©
Réalisé par tequilarapido x La Jungle
@ecv2022
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After 7 months of hard work, Sinnside´s become a reality. We finished it! So now we are going to start next phase, distribution, screenings and festival attendance.
We are very happy to announce that its official premiere is at Sitges Fantastic Film Festival! It´s my second time at this festival, last year I also premiered there my shortfilm Llagas. There´s going to be two Sinnside screenings at Sitges: the premiere on sunday 13th October at 13.00 pm and another screening on tuesday 15. It´s very hard to be selected in this festival, so we are very happy.
Our next Sinnside stop will be at Valencia Zombi Party 2013, saturday 19th October; I´ve prepared a workshop about Llagas and then a screening of Sinnside. Valencia Zombie is a very cool event at my city were people do zombie walks, cinema festivals and a lot of activities that have to do with zombies. All the revenues they get are given to charity. The projection will start at 22.30.
After this one, comes a very shaky week: Sinnside will also be screened 25th October, 29th October and 1st November.
The first date is Sustefest, México (it´s going to be Sinnside´s first international screening!), second one is at Semana de Cine Fantástico y de Terror de San Sebastián and Molins de Rei film festival, Barcelona. In this last one we are nominated for 6 different awards.
11th of November there will be another festival in Madrid, we are officially selected for Angelika short film competition!
Except for Sustefest in México, I´m going to be attending every festival, so Sinnside´s first 3 weeks of life are going to make me travel a lot through Spain!
I will let you know how the experience is and any anecdote that may happen!


(FR) Interview Keren Elazari : " Les hackers ont le potentiel disruptif dont nous avons besoin"
Could you talk us through your background a bit? What were the milestones of your journey towards cybersecurity and hacktivism?
The funny thing is, cybersecurity and the hacker world is not just my background, it really defines who I am. Even as a child, I was always really interested in technology and curious about how things worked. I would break things, take them apart, crawl under the table to disconnect the cables and see what happens if I put them somewhere else. My parents have a lot of stories about my childhood pranks!
I think one of the first milestones was getting the Internet, which was in 1993 in Israel. I was around twelve or thirteen and super excited about it—though I didn't really know what it was! I spent so many hours exploring this world that would never end. That's how I got interested in this idea of being a hacker.
Sometimes I would find password-protected websites and get really curious about how to get passed those restrictions. I first learned by copying and pasting other people's tricks and spent a lot of time on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), which was one of the earliest chat networks in the world. That's where I met some of the first hackers in my life and learned from them. I actually learned English there, at least how to have a written conversation in English through the computer. Later, I met some of these hackers in the real world when I went to a hackers' convention in Israel. It was in 1999, I was around 17.
Another important milestone is the movie Hackers that came out in 1995. I always talk about this movie in my presentations, because it really gave me the calling. It showed me a hacker could be a hero of a story, and could be a girl! In the movie, it's Angelina Jolie, pretty much the coolest person in the world from my point of view. Everything was exactly right for me in that cultural moment, exactly what I needed to see and hear to understand it was my calling. There is a scene in particular where the leading characters, the hackers in New York, ask other hackers around the world to help them. You see a montage of hackers in France, Korea, Spain, Germany… That's what gave me the clear understanding that being a hacker was not just an isolated, local thing. It's a global phenomenon. I belonged to this "hacker nation"—this was where I wanted to be. You could say I have a romantic vision of hacking!
A lot of people criticized the movie for not being technically accurate. It was very different from the series Mr. Robot, for example. Everything in Mr. Robot is absolutely legitimate, even scripts and codes (I checked!). The movie Hackers was not like that: these kids could do pretty much anything: control traffic lights, hack into the FBI database … this was not realistic in 1995. But much closer to reality now!
You started in "information security" but now it is called "cyber security." What is the difference and when did that transformation occur?
That's a fundamental question. Information security used to be about protecting information, secrets. It might be our credit card number, or the secret formula for Coca Cola or Chanel N°5. That's what information security professionals wanted to protect. Today, it's not just about protecting secrets, it's really about protecting things like the traffic light system, the energy system, airplanes, navigation systems, GPS, medical devices like pacemakers… We're clearly dealing with something other than secrets. In my opinion, the global and cultural change from information to cybersecurity occurred in 2010—specifically in the summer of 2010—that I like to call "The Summer of Stuxnet." That was the code name for the virus that disrupted the uranium enrichment facilities and centrifuges in Iran. Stuxnet as a software showed the world that 15,000 lines of code could actually disrupt physical infrastructures. It was huge in terms of geopolitics. Heads of governments probably understood then the strategic impact it could have. Some countries had realized it earlier, some would later. But generally, the decade of cyberwarfare officially began in the summer of 2010.
Some media actually relate this event to the situation with North Korea today and how cyber weapons might be… the best of the bad solutions!
I'm not going to make any moral judgment about Stuxnet, and will look at it from a purely logical point of view. Or even from the point of view of cost effectiveness. If you consider developing that kind of cyber weapon, with the best experts, it might cost you 2 or 3 million dollars, or even 10 million dollars. Then you can deploy it over a period of time, covertly—so without a big "bang", without people even noticing— and actually achieve your goal. If we contrast that to the cost in human lives, and in US dollars, of sending a bunker-busting bomb on a hyperjet and maybe having an international conflict break out because of it… well that's easy math!
If I was a head of State, it would be very clear to me that cyber weapons are the best "tools" available. Not just because countries like Iran and North Korea are hard to reach diplomatic agreements with, but also because it's a very effective way of making geopolicy or enforcing a policy in the world.
It's thus not a surprise that we are seeing this same approach—that is using cyber weapons to influence and manipulate the geopolitical landscape—with Russia and the United States… It should be very clear that, if you are a politician who wants to influence the world and you have great hackers in your country, you would use that power to shape the world to your liking. We shouldn't be so shocked to know that—it's a reality. Truth is, there are ways to manipulate democratic elections or the public's perception of a democratic process. Simply by providing lots of data, conducting espionage and leaking emails, you can actually change the course of an election. You probably have the same kind of thoughts in France, especially now with the elections. There are lessons to be learned from what happened in the United States. And they better be learned now!
I'd like people at USI to start thinking very differently and very critically about how cybersecurity changes our world, as well as about the world of hackers.
Precisely, how can we change the negative connotations that are attached to hacking so that this becomes a valid career that our next generation will be encouraged to pursue?
Right now, hackers represent an incredible force for change. It doesn't have to be a scary change or have a negative impact, as we often imagine. It really depends on how companies, governments or organizations learn to collaborate with hackers or harness their power.
One great example is the Bug Bounty Program. It's kind of like the Wild West, where a sheriff could offer a bounty to get the public to help him find the bad guys. The Bug Bounty program is a way for companies like Microsoft, Google, Paypal, (amongst many others) to offer a reward to hackers for finding problems: security issues or software bugs from their websites and online products, etc. This program is not a solution to all cybersecurity problems in the world. But it represents an incredible force of working with hackers in a productive way.
The Bug Bounty programs have become very much mainstream and getting more adopted by more traditional organizations. It's not a surprise that companies like Facebook or Tesla work with hackers and learn from them. The Pentagon itself launched a program with hackers called "Hack the Pentagon", because even the most-established icon of defense has leaks and security breaches. "Hack the Pentagon" has people all over the world that have applied to participate and help them find bugs. It's not just a great way to find security problems, again, it's cost effective. Last month I met one of the women that manages the program and asked her how they convinced the Pentagon to open up and work with hackers. She said that it was not the policy of working with them, but the economic benefit that was convincing!
When I suggest to a company to run a Bug Bounty Program, I often get this question: "Aren't we actually asking the bad guys to hack us?" But here is the wake up call: bad guys, criminals, don't need an invitation. They are already hacking anyone they can just to make money and get information. This is why I use the term "criminal". They are very well organized and very well funded.
With programs like Bug Bounty, we create an incentive and the opportunity for hackers to actually report problems, get recognition for their job and maybe even earn some money.
There are more than 100,000 friendly hackers registered in a variety of programs like BugCrowd and HackerOne—which are like social networks for friendly hackers. They are from everywhere in the world: Europe, US, Asia, South America, the Middle East… In some countries, hackers never had the opportunity to legitimately do security research work and legitimately get paid for it by big companies. This is a major development. It's not just helping companies—it's creating the future workforce. These programs are also creating an alternative to the criminal cyber world, especially for young people. You can start considering making this a life-long career like I did. This is changing the face of the industry.
I was very lucky to be born in Israel where being a hacker is not seen as a criminal thing. Being a "hacker" was also the nickname for being clever, creative… When I joined the army, I was able to say "I am a security expert, a hacker. Here are the things I know. I would like to help the army defend its own system". And I was able to find my way into that instead of being criminalized. I had an alternative. It's not the case in the majority of other countries.
Hacking is condemned by the law, yet some governments actually work with hackers. Let's set aside the hypocrisy here… Do you see anything changing in the legislation itself that could lead to legalizing this field in the near future?
That's a really good question. I'm not a lawyer, but my sister is! She's an expert in cyber law and intellectual property. Apparently, law systems around the world criminalize hacking in different ways. Changes in the legislations are already happening. Sometimes because governments or lawmakers like congressmen and senators feel like they need to change it, or the FBI or police ask them to. But sometimes the change is driven by organizations like the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) in the US.
The EFF has been working on changing the legislation, especially the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It was originally created in the 80's or 90's so it can't possibly match the reality of today. This hacker-minded organization is actually looking out for our liberties. They are leading battles against surveillance, defending people's rights to digital privacy, etc. This is the kind of organizations that we need, and there are not many of them in the world. There is La Quadrature du Net in France.
Hacking doesn't have to be illegal by definition. See how Hackathons work! Hacking is about creating new technologies, cultivating new ideas and innovation. It's about curiosity, the pursuit for knowledge, wondering what else you could do with a specific technology. I can relate this to movies like The Matrix; it's about not accepting reality as a "read only" situation. It's about changing our technical reality, or even our political reality. It's about making a difference, even as an individual.
Is it the same with hacktivism? How exactly would you define this movement?
The outlines are perhaps not as clear.
We all know Anonymous, but let's talk about a different group called Telecomix. They are mostly European hackers (including French and Canadians), and they are the ones that actually helped the Egyptians have access to the Internet during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Which wasn't legal at all from Mubarak's government's point of view. But sometimes, especially in dark times, there is a different type of civilian action that needs to be taken. And hacktivism actually creates the path for people to do something.
In the past years, we witnessed the rise of ISIS and other terrorist groups. These groups use Twitter, chat rooms and the Internet to radicalize people and lead their hate propaganda. Anonymous and other hacktivists actually have techniques to take down their networks, or at least make their life harder. That's very strategic because they are acting in domains where law enforcement is still rather weak.I showed some officials in my own country how the fight against ISIS works on social media, and even people working on social media diplomacy didn't realize the impact that ISIS had on twitter and they didn't know that hackers could decide to make an organized action against ISIS in the digital realm. Of course, we could argue that taking down a twitter profile is not the same as stopping a bomb from blowing up, that's true. However, it has been proven by counter-terrorism experts that the digital realm is a significant field of operations, radicalization and media for organizations like ISIS. As a hacktivist, you can play in that native playground against ISIS and actually create some sort of disruption.
What is the most promising and exciting idea you see coming from the hacking world in the future?
There are two specific areas that I'm very excited about. One is medical devices and the hacking of medical devices. The other is automotives. As you heard, I'm sure, there have been proof-of-concept demonstrations showing the capacity to take over a vehicle, like a Jeep, or to connect remotely to a pacemaker and change the way it works.
I'm really excited that the past few years, there has been a really strong movement of friendly hackers who have focused their energy and research not just on showing and demonstrating the vulnerabilities, but also on working with the industry and the regulators in some cases, to make a safer world. If you consider the way everything is becoming digital, we should consider that a car company also has to become a cybersecurity company. Same with medical companies or airline companies. By providing internet access on their airplanes, they have to start thinking like an ISP (Internet Service Provider). They all have to understand that their products are now closely connected with cybersecurity issues. And that's a difficult thing for them to do.
I can see a fantastic dynamic interest in the friendly hacker community in these areas. It's more and more about collaboration between hackers and governments, and most importantly with the companies that make these products and technologies.
I'll give you an example: one of the hackers movements that I'm a part of, called I Am The Cavalry, invited one of the chief regulators of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to come to Las Vegas to a hackers' convention and meet some of the hackers that are looking into medical device hacking. They also invited the person in charge of product security at Johnson & Johnson. And because of this conversation, when a hacker found a vulnerability in one of Johnson & Johnson's devices, he was actually able to show them the problem, solve it, and get the regulators' blessings for doing so! You know regulators don't usually move fast and companies don't like to make regulators nervous! Reporting on a security vulnerability in a life-saving product is something that could make a regulator pretty nervous and damage the reputation of a company. By having this conversation, they were actually able to make a safer product, faster than ever. Now I think about Johnson & Johnson in a different light. In my opinion, they gained a more sophisticated approach to cybersecurity. They understood hacking was a valuable asset.
That's what friendly hackers are capable of, when you have the open mind to listen and work with them. That's the reason I'm coming to USI. That's what I'm all about.


Whether you're a long time homeowner looking to spruce things up, or just recently bought a fixer-upper, home improvements can be a daunting challenge. Figuring out how to finance it can be even more of a task. This guide to financing for home improvements will walk you through the process and make undertaking a renovation a lot more manageable.
You may have never heard of asking for a written lien waiver from your contractor, but if they used sub-contractors for any of the work, then the contractor is responsible for paying those sub-contractors, not you. Having this waiver is important because the document verifies that those workers were paid.
Now that you have a plan in place and a trusted contractor picked, you need to take a look at how you're going to pay for your home improvements.
Cash – This is obviously the easiest, most straight-forward way to pay. If you have the funds available, not having to worry about financing is nice—and so is knowing that your home renovations are paid for.
Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) – This type of loan uses the equity that you have built in your home to obtain the funds to pay for a home improvement. This type of loan uses your home as collateral, so it's a lien on your property, just like any other type of mortgage.
But with a HELOC, you can use it, pay it down, and still have access to the line of credit. You will also get to deduct the mortgage interest points from your taxes, if you itemize your deductions.
Interest rates for HELOCs are typically pretty low and the term is usually several years- 5- to 15-year terms – so that keeps the payment relatively low. This type of financing is good for larger loan amounts, like $50,000 or more.
Credit cards – If you have access to a line of credit on a credit card, this can get you the cash that you need very quickly to pay for your home renovation. However, it can make a huge difference in how you use your credit card to pay for the home improvements. For instance, if you pay for it as a regular charge, the interest rate may be pretty high because it will be compounding at the standard interest rate. However, sometimes, credit card companies will send you checks that can be used to access cash and those may have short-term deals of low or 0% interest for a set period of time, such as a year or two. Using these checks typically have some sort of associated fee associated, so make sure you know the details of the offer before using them. Credit cards should only be used for smaller home improvements, of less than $15,000.
Personal loans – These are unsecured loans, so you don't have to use your home as collateral. But like a HELOC, personal loans can be taken out for longer periods of time, and offer higher loan amounts. However, because they are unsecured, like a credit card, the interest rates are often higher. Because personal loans are relatively easy to apply for and usually offer larger amounts than credit cards do, it may make sense to choose a personal loan for medium sized projects – between $15,000 and $50,000.
Local bank – This is the most common place to get a loan. But recently, lending regulations have tightened and it has become increasingly harder to qualify for loans.
Credit union – Much like your local bank, credit unions offer traditional lending options. However, you typically need to be a member in order to qualify for a loan. Because credit unions are not-for-profit, you will most likely find that they offer the lowest rates.
Peer to peer lending – This is a new method of online lending. While very nontraditional, peer to peer lending connects borrowers with their funds from investors. Investors put money into the company with the prospect of earning higher rates of return on their investment than a traditional savings accounts, and borrowers are able to apply for a loan, just as they would through any other type of lender.
While these options might not be the first place to start for a home renovation, they can be used for larger home improvement projects.
Home equity loan (2nd mortgage) – Differs from a HELOC because it is for a fixed term, a fixed amount, and fixed payment.
Cash out refinance – You can refinance your first mortgage and get a bit of cash out as a part of the refinance. Of course, there are closing costs involved, so when using this method of financing, make sure that you are getting other benefits of refinancing, such as a lower term or consolidating other debts.
401k loan – You may not realize that you have access to your 401k before retirement—without cashing it out and paying the tax penalty. But you do. You can take out a loan against your 401k, which you payback just like any other loan. The good news here: you're paying the interest back to yourself instead of a bank.
and most importantly, credit score.
Your personal credit score is probably the biggest factor in determining your rate because the higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate will be. Check your credit score for free here, or have only one lender pull credit. You should shop around for rates and products to find the best program, but don't allow everyone that you speak with to pull your score, to avoid a ding on your score.
This article was originally published on Super Money.