Senior Dad Briefing Room

Lice. Even saying the word can make your scalp itch. I can remember that creepy feeling each time we received a note form school informing us that lice have been detected in our school. Check the heads, wash the linens and heads with toxic soaps and think unkind thoughts about the children that brought that unwelcome vermin into our environment. And then do it again 10 days later. Dale Clayton is an entomologist, a professor at the University of Utah, and he tells us new things about lice, and shatters common accepted beliefs about the little pest. Dale teaches us that a new way to treat lice that can come to market in less than a year, with no consumables. A real money saver for schools as children don’t miss school and the per diem funding doesn’t slow down. Dale Clayton, lousebuster.

Nancy Kalish is an education activist. She frequently appears on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. She co-authored “The Case Against Homework” with Sara Bennett, a contributor to Senior Dad.  In conversation with Stan Goldberg she alerts us to a key reason our teens seem to be asleep the first period of the day.  After that she fills us in on what’s been happening around the country as homework policies change, including new ideas about school work at home and why some of our children are not learning to love to read.  These topics and more in “Nancy Kalish—Unvarnished Truth”.

Heddi Craft is an educator. She has taught school on most levels K-6 and has been a consultant for the Curriculum Leadership Institute. After moving to Santa Cruz, California, and beginning to raise a family she noticed how quickly her son learned the lessons from his $12-20 puzzles. Looking around for a better solution than purchasing more learning tools at the pace of her son’s voracious appetite, she founded the Educational Resource Center of Santa Cruz, a membership based lending library of educational toys, games, and learning materials. In conversation with Senior Dad, Stan Goldberg, she shares her ideas of “No Child Left Behind”, homework, teacher retraining and actions for parents. Heddi Craft reaching children differently

There was a time that Robyn O’Brien never gave a thought to what she or her family ate. One day at breakfast, her fourth child ate a scrambled egg, turned red, started looking like a blown up balloon, and changed Robyn’s view of allergies and nutrition forever. Nutrition education became a basic of Robyn’s family. As Robyn learned more about how food is produced, she was alarmed by all the dangers we are never told about. She shares what she has learned in a conversation with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg, as they talk about what to feed your family, the links from genetically engineered milk hormones to breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and ovarian cancer. They talk about government penalties to organic growers, and about school lunches. Robyn O’Brien, “The Mighty Nutritionist”

Every parent wants to have a happy child. Some are born happy and some are not and that’s that. Maybe not. Christine Carter, Director of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California at Berkley, shares techniques that you can use to make your child happier. A child’s feelings of happiness can be adjusted as much as 40%. Senior Dad Stan Goldberg chats with her about happiness habits, the happiness set point, learning how to correct a child’s mistakes without damaging the child, how to raise emotionally literate children, and benefits from altruism. Christine Carter- Teaching your child happy ways.

Do we have freedom of speech in schools? Over the past several years we have seen an assault on free speech. Onerous censorship not only gagged the mouths of our scientists, but perhaps more troubling, there is a pervasive involuntary censorship that citizens have placed on themselves for fear of speaking out. What are students and parents rights to speak out at school? Can someone edit your email? Can your viewpoint be censored in committee? Can a student article in the school newspaper be censored? Will the IRS take away the tax status of a 501(c)3 because of something said on non-profit’s listserv? Should free speech of members be restricted? Senior Dad Stan Goldberg is joined by David Greene, Executive Director of THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROJECT, Mike Hiestand, Legal Consultant for the Student Press Law Center and Rachel Norton, Mother, Listserv Moderator and newly announced candidate for School Board.

What if all your family’s medical history could not be accessed? Not for you parents, nor your grand parents. It would definitely make it difficult to figure out to which illnesses your child is susceptible. Unfortunately, this is what has happened to medical research and illness data in this country. Derva Davis, author of “The Secret History of the War on Cancer”, and is the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, talks with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg about the negative effects of censoring and withholding information by our Federal Government. She describes the very real risks we face as we follow this dangerous policy. Are fear, intimidation, and donor profits now the main driver of government funding? How can we change the course? Derva Davis- A voice of courage.

When we first met Senior Dad-to-be, Bob Brockob, he was filled with the anticipation of impending fatherhood. On this his forth visit to our show we have a 10 month check in with Bob to find out how this minimalist architect and education chair of OceanFilmFest.org is adjusting to being the dad of Max and how it has changed his life.

‘Quality Counts’ is the comprehensive annual survey of education in the 50 states of the U.S. It compares reading and math scores as well as a number of additional factors such as funding, education gap, opportunity gap, chances of success in school, and then grades the states on these criteria as well as many others. The study is produced by the Research Center for Editorial Projects and Education, a non-profit arm of the publishers of Education Week. To help me grasp the dimensions of the data, Chris Swanson, the Director of the Center joins me to share some insights. A new feature this year is the ability to adjust the weighting of each of the factors so the viewer can see the data based on their own priorities. Chris and I discuss some of the funding inequities that effect education, after school programs, education reform, decreases over time in reading scores, and of course everyone’s favorite, “No Child Left Behind”. While some of the numbers are troubling, it becomes apparent that there is a need for a universal intake assessment tool for children when they first enter school. This type of assessment would give educators a sense of how much the child has developed to date and what areas need to be addressed. Such assessments can also give us a yardstick in evaluating the effectiveness of preschool education from year to year.

The city council of Santa Monica withheld funds from their school district because the city council was uncomfortable with all the non-disclosure agreements that the school district was requiring to settle special education lawsuits. What are non-disclosure agreements (gag orders) and who do they help and who do they harm? Three experienced special education advocates join me in conversation: Ellie Goldberg, advocate, author and legislative chair of the Massachusetts PTA; Pat Howey, advocate and nationally known special needs presenter at WrightsLaw seminars; and Katy Franklin, advocate and a leading voice towards revising the San Francisco Unified School District’s educational practices towards children with extra needs. They explore the Santa Monica case and discuss actions by other school districts that not only harm the children the school districts are entrusted to teach, but cause all taxpayers to pay more to compensate for their school districts improper education strategies. All this, in light of current special education enrollment at 10–12 % and rising rapidly, due to epidemics of allergies and autism. As I listened to this show I developed a feeling of unease. I always thought that school district administrative personnel were working with the best interests of educating the child. I now question the validity of that feeling. I think all of us should explore if the administrators in our school districts have lost touch with that goal. This is a difficult issue to visit. We all want to trust. We all want to believe. To gag or not gag, that is the question.

The news business has been changing even before that runner burst through the door, breathless to deliver her earth-shattering news. Nanette Asimov was not in the business that far back, but has been the mainstay of the Education Beat for the San Francisco Chronicle for over twenty years. Her focus is on state and national issues and has recently begun investigating special education and autism. Her stories are insightful, informative, and occasionally controversial, as her words describe a vision that is uncomfortable for some. Speaking with Nanette gives us insight to the person we meet so frequently at our breakfast table. Nanette Asimov- The Observant Witness.

A Senior Dad Briefing Room Brief. Mel Levine and Stan goldberg chat about rules. 8:47 minutes

Laurie Rogers, parent and school volunteer, was just not hearing the answers that she expected. Laurie volunteered at her child’s school. She has a teaching and math background so it was natural that she would be interested in what they were doing with math at the school. What she saw got her digging deeper. She researched until she found that the math scores in the district seemed to be in trouble. She tried to ask questions but felt she was getting the runaround. When she got meetings, she felt she got no answers. This is her story and what she did next.

Without the catalyst generated by an Op-Ed piece placed in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1999, the two founders of Parents for Public Schools San Francisco (PPSSF), Sandra Halladey and Deena Zacharin, would not have been able to generate the interest and funding to start PPSSF. This is the story of the genesis of Parents for Public Schools San Francisco and the people who crafted it. Cindy Rambo of the Zellerbach family foundation, Jane Beach of Parents for Public Schools and two dedicated parents, Deena Zacharin and Sandra Halladey.

Kris Olson went to Waco, Texas public schools as a child. It was quite natural when her first child entered kindergarten to show up at the school and ask to pitch in. When Kris saw that a large number of her contemporaries were choosing to send their children to private schools or moving to the suburbs, she and some other parents decided to act, leading to the formation of Parents For Public Schools, Waco. This action changed the Waco public schools and the parent involvement there forever. PPS- Waco the Genesis.