Local Time:

GMT:

Feedback welcomed:
Help-Desk

Opt-in to stay posted.

Buzz

Harry Potter found lying in a field..

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003202221,00.html

Learning

Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.
Jim Rohn

REGIONAL LEARNING ALLIANCE LAUNCHES

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, U.S. Representative Melissa Hart, and U.S. Representative Phil English worked to deliver $200,000 to Slippery Rock University for the establishment of the Regional Learning Alliance "educational mall." Currently in the design phase, this new 20-acre campus and conference center in the Cranberry Woods Office Park will be the only one of its kind between Erie and Pittsburgh.

Regional universities can lease space to provide job training and workforce development programs. Current plans for the mall include high-tech classrooms, specialty-manufacturing training centers, conference space, a virtual library, childcare center and food service operations.

Working with our regional partners and educational institutions, the PRA is focused on improving the region's access to new job opportunities and highly trained employees. For more information about how we can help your business address its workforce needs, please contact Kurt Foreman, PRA Senior Vice President, Existing Business Services, at kforeman@regionalalliance.org or (412) 392-4555, Ext. 4536.

3RC

Three Rivers Connect and Wilkensburg

CHILDREN STRIDE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore examined the access US children have to both computers and the Internet. According to the report, 95 percent of children in the richest bracket of American society have access to a computer while only 33 percent of the poorest enjoy the same benefit. Similarly, there is a 49 percent difference between the same income groups for Internet access. The divide does not end there, however. The study also showed a marked difference in what children of different backgrounds are using computers for. Well-off children use computers for word-processing and homework, but poorer children tend to use the technology to play games.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2117000/2117927.stm

DIGITAL DIVIDE PERSISTS

A new study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation indicates a persistent and wide gap in access to technology for households of different incomes and races. For those with household incomes of at least $75,000, computer access is 95 percent and access to the Internet is 63 percent. For households with less than $15,000 annually, those numbers drop to 33 and 14. Despite significant jumps in the access for black and Hispanic groups, 46 and 47 percent respectively, they still lag far behind the 83 percent access of whites. Wide differences in access also exist from one state to another, and the study shows significant gaps for access among suburban, rural, and urban households.

Statement before the Pittsburgh Public School's Board and Administration

April 15, 2002

From Mark Rauterkus, 108 South 12th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Message Center = 412-481-2497

My name is Mark Rauterkus. I live at 108 South 12th Street on the South Side.

In three minutes I'll introduce myself, talk of a systematic problem, inject a solution request, and ask for your support.

Personal Introduction

I'm the son of a retired Pittsburgh Public School teacher. My uncle, cousins, sister and many friends had been and are teachers and employees in the district. My wife is a Pitt professor. My first son is a first grader at Phillips, in the Spanish magnet who happily just attended his first day at scholars.

I went to graduate school in a School of Education. I had the pleasure to work for a time at the very best public school in North America as featured in Town and Country Magazine. (New Trier, Winnetka, IL) I have also been employed by cities (Waco, Tx; Athens, Ohio) park districts, state universities, private universities and religious universities.

I've worked for many school districts, coached swimming for six seasons at the NCAA Division I level, and kids I coached have set state records in 4 different states including WPIAL and PIAA records.

I've published 100 text books and coaching manuals.

I'm serious about literacy, education, technology and making contributions to community.

Presently I'm a staty-at-home dad, a key-communicator, parent communicator. I'll be at the Parent Leadership Conference on April 30.

My last visit before the board was when privitization was the hot issue nearly two years ago. Then I approached the board about interactions with the Mayor's Race. I was on the ballot in 2001.

I've come to know many of you on the campaign trails, at community meetings and with web site visits.

Problem

In my humble opinion, a massive weakness of this district and the city as a whole is within our after-school landscape. Our building use for community building in nights, weekends and summers begs for new models. This is about LIEF-Long Learning.

Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned that we live in puzzled and troubled world. I agree these are puzzled and troubled times. The solutions we build can't be puzzled nor troubled.

Suggested Solution

In the South Side, we want to create an endeavor, 5-nights a week, with roundtable discussions, on-line experiences, from 8 to 9:30 pm -- all with NO Negative Budget Impacts on the backs of the PPS budget.

Starting in the fall of 2002, we want to create a model that can then be repeated throughout the district and the region.

Call

Please visit a web site: CLOH.Org. Come to understand it's vision. I'd like you to consider its merits and then send us a letter of support. Today I'm asking each of you for a letter of support.

CLOH.Org means: Community Learning Outreach Hub.

We need a personal understanding and buy-in from each of you -- including Dr. Thompson. And then we'll need to get a blessing from the board to launch such an endeavor.

Let's talk again soon.