District Administration - March 2012 - (Page 24)

NewsUpdate Climate Change Is the New Evolution Debate iN NOvEMBEr 2011, ThE NaTiONal Science Teachers association (NSTa) polled its 600,000 members and found that 82 percent had faced skepticism around climate change education from their students, and 54 percent faced skepticism from parents. Most notably, NSTa reported that several of their respondents noted the political polarization of climate change education and the effect it has on their teaching. Climate change has been a divisive issue, particularly regarding its role in the classroom, for a number of years. in 2007, President Barack Obama—then Sen. Obama of illinois—introduced a bill to Congress to establish the Climate Change Education Program, which ultimately never became a law. The decision to include this discussion in the curriculum and how to tackle it has been largely left to states and individual districts. Br iefings Many legislators are asking that climate change be treated in a similar fashion to their handling of the evolution vs. creationism debate—that equal time is offered for their skeptics to weigh in. Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Kentucky have introduced state laws with these standards, reports the Wall Street Journal. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE), a nonprofit providing resources to schools and parents, has made one of its core missions advocating for evolution and now climate change in classroom discussions. “We have been hearing for several years now that teachers were getting pushback on teaching climate change, and some of the playbooks used by those promoting teaching ‘both sides’ was very similar to the attempt to have evolution ‘balanced’ by creationism and intelligent design,” said Mark McCaffrey to Oregon Public Broadcasting in January. McCaffrey is spearheading the Center’s new initiative. “From my experience working with teachers, it is clear that the so-called ‘controversy’ about climate change science is a major impediment to teachers and the polarized political climate around teaching the topic is a big problem.” New national K12 science standards are expected to debut at the end of this year that many predict will include climate change. Educators and legislators alike foresee the debate will only intensify from here. continued on page 29 FCC Issues Mandate to All Two-Way Radio Users WArning: All school Districts thAt use tWo-WAy rADios Will hAve less than one year to comply with the Federal communications commission’s narrowbanding mandate, or risk losing all communication capabilities. narrowbanding is part of a continued effort by the Fcc to ensure efficient use of the spectrum and greater access for public safety and non-public safety users. narrowbanding, which operates at 12.5 khz, will allow additional channels to exist in the same spectrum and support more users. More than 50 percent of call signs still need to be narrowbanded to meet compliance by Jan. 1, 2013. •Which two-way radio users are affected? Land mobile radio systems operating in the 150-512 Mhz radio bands using 25 khz efficiency. (vhF: 150-174 Mhz and uhF: 421-512 Mhz) •How much will it cost? Districts will need to pay reprogramming and licensing fees, which vary based on the make and model of the two-way radio. •When is the deadline? Jan. 1, 2013—Any users in violation are subject to FCC enforcement action, including fines or loss of license. •Where can I find more information? FCC: transition.fcc.gov/pshs/public-safety-spectrum/narrowbanding-faq.html#question_1_0 BearCom Two-Way Radio Narrowbanding Guide: www.bearcom.com/resource-library/BearCom20112012NarrowbandingGuide.pdf —Courtney Williams Reader Poll: Dressing for Class With Class Does your District have an official dress code policy for teachers and personnel? Do you encourage your teachers to balance professionalism and comfort? What are the most important guidelines, particularly for younger teachers, to follow? Please share your ideas with us and other readers at www. DistrictAdministration.com. 24 March 2012 District Administration http://www.DistrictAdministration.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/public-safety-spectrum/narrowbanding-faq.html#question_1_0 http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/public-safety-spectrum/narrowbanding-faq.html#question_1_0 http://www.bearcom.com/resource-library/BearCom20112012NarrowbandingGuide.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2012

District Administration - March 2012
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Research Center
CIO News
Building an Ed Tech Dream Team
Are you Ready for Common Core Math?
A Crystal Ball for Student Achievement
The Single Largest Education Donor Comes With Controversy
Models of Education Reform
Noteworthy Books
New Products
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion

District Administration - March 2012