The Real Cost of Special Education: Considering the Return on ...

Blog by Summer Stech, Esquire ? TACA?s Legal Advocate

TACAnowblog new series:? Legal Advocacy

Return on investment is defined as ?a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an?investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.? ?The benefit of the investment made is divided by the cost.[1]? A greater benefit is always worth an increased cost.

Last week U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told a U.S. Senate panel that spending for students with disabilities could be reduced by $900 million next year.? A reduction like this will not only impact the 6.6 million children across the country who receive special education services, but potentially 10?s of thousands of teachers and paraeducators[2], and ? more importantly -? society as a whole.? Continuing these drastic and painful reductions on educational spending for students with disabilities shows a complete disregard for the future of our country and the return on our investment.

Every day we make an investment in our future through our children.? We make that investment by ensuring their education in a public system, providing necessary therapies, making healthy dietary decisions, providing good medical care, securing money in college funds, special needs trusts, and other futures planning.? We are always hoping for the highest return on our investments.

Since Congress passed the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, we have been subject to many discussions about the cost of special education (investment), but we often forget to discuss the benefits (return).? In the last decade we have seen a major erosion in education funding leading to more attention to the critical issue of cost.? However, we must stop to analyze the high cost of having children with disabilities leave the educational system without the knowledge and skills to be contributing members of their communities.

According to the Youth Transition Demonstration, funded by the Social Security Administration, youth with disabilities transitioning into adulthood may face health/disability issues, social isolation, lack of job skills/experience and lack of access to services and supports.[3]? Limiting special education spending will likely lead to long-term poverty, isolation and dependence.? This dependence is not relegated to parents and family, but dependence on the social security, Medicaid and other welfare systems. Including state spending, the welfare system has been estimated to cost the United States nearly $900 billion in 2011.[4]

What do you want to spend ? $900 million today or $900 billion tomorrow?

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?Summer Stech Biography:

Summer Stech is an California licensed attorney and is currently working as TACA?s Legal Advocacy Coordinator and Interim Program Director. ?Stech also works as an instructor for the University of San Diego Special Education Advocacy Certificate Program and as an Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University teaching Special Education Legislation, Leadership and Management.? Having worked in the fields of Special Education and Special Education law and advocacy for the past fourteen years, Stech has worked as a solo practitioner,? a Program Specialist, a Staff Attorney for Legal Aid Society of San Diego, a Special Education teacher, an ACES Supervisor and an instructional assistant.? In 2006, Stech was granted the prestigious Equal Justice Works fellowship grant with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. (sponsored by Latham & Watkins LLP), where she managed and developed the Children & Youth Advocacy Project (CYAP). Through her project, Stech worked primarily with indigent transition-age youth with disabilities as they transitioned from school to adulthood.

Summer is writing an on-going series on TACANOWblog regarding Legal Advocacy, autism and what families need to know.

Parents: where to get help:

If you are seeking special education legal advocacy, please note that TACA currently has limited resources to assist members in this area throughout the state of California.? If you live in California and would like more information, please contact the TACA office at? (949) 640-4401.

If you are outside the state of California, there are many resources that will assist you in finding local legal advocacy resources:

National Disability Rights Network http://www.napas.org/en/ndrn-member-agencies.html (Listed by State)

Disability Rights Advocates http://www.dralegal.org/

Office of Special Education Programs http://www.parentcenternetwork.org/parentcenterlisting.html (Parent info Centers)

ADA Guide to Disability Laws http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm

Office for Civil Rights http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html

Wrightslaw? http://www.wrightslaw.com

COPAA www.copaa.org/

NOTE: TACA is actively looking for additional funding to provide more services to families, including legal advocacy across the U.S.

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Source: http://tacanowblog.com/2012/08/02/the-real-cost-of-special-education-considering-the-return-on-investment/

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ComScore: Android back above 51 percent of US share, iOS still growing briskly

We're starting to see a distinct shift in US smartphone market share that leaves Android having to share the spotlight. ComScore's results for this past June have Google hitting a new high of 51.6 percent share, which still gives it something to crow about -- that's both a small increase over a month earlier and a return to the 51 percent mark. However, Android is still competing with an iOS platform that's been growing at a healthy rate, reaching 32.4 percent of the American space. The fuel for both sides comes from an all too familiar decline in BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows share. Samsung is still in the top spot as far as manufacturers, although it's shrinking where Apple and HTC are on the way up. We'll be looking to see how much the Galaxy S III affects the numbers during the summer, but less patient observers can get the manufacturer results after the break and the full scoop on current market share at the source.

Continue reading ComScore: Android back above 51 percent of US share, iOS still growing briskly

Filed under: Cellphones

ComScore: Android back above 51 percent of US share, iOS still growing briskly originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/AWlvFpCWBsY/

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Lufthansa Q2 profit falls on fuel costs, taxes

BERLIN (AP) ? German airline Lufthansa is blaming high fuel costs and new taxes on air travel in Germany and Austria for a 24 percent decline in second quarter earnings.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG says Thursday that net earnings fell to ?229 million ($270 million) from ?301 million a year earlier. Revenue grew by 6 percent to ?7.9 billion and the number of passengers between April and June rose slightly to 27.5 million.

The Lufthansa group includes Austrian Airlines and Swiss. The Cologne-based company also holds stakes in Brussels Airlines and JetBlue of the United States.

Lufthansa's second-quarter performance followed a loss of ?397 million in the first three months of the year, also blamed on high fuel prices.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-08-02-Germany-Earns-Lufthansa/id-af9da32022c845d6a525954b4d736338

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Grow 10,000 heads of lettuce in your parking spot

2 hrs.

John Roach

Want a steady supply of veggies on a crowded, warming planet? Then ditch your car and invest in a parking-spot sized hydroponic cube that can grow 10,000 heads of lettuce per year.

With an initial cost between about $70,000 and $100,000, Daiwa House Industry?s Agri-cube is unlikely to solve any looming food crises in the developing world.?

But it is a piece of technology similar to the vertical farms concept to consider when thinking about the food needs of a species increasingly packing into the world?s megacities.?

Once installed, the system costs about $4,500 a year to run, which translates to about $0.45 per vegetable, according to?video news site Diginfo TV.

The costs are primarily for electricity, which is used to run fluorescent lights and control the temperature. You?ll also need to pay for seeds and fertilizer, as you would on a farm.

While hydroponic growing is nothing new, the Agri-cube comes as a complete package including a fertilization and drainage system that makes being a green thumb simple for people inexperienced with grow lights.

In addition to lettuce, company research shows that 23 different types of vegetables can be grown at the same time, including small root veggies such as radishes and turnips.

The company is eyeing the restaurant industry as customers. Other potential clients include hotels and hospitals, even convenient stores.

The Agri-cube hit the market in April.

--?Via Diginfo TV

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/technology/futureoftech/grow-10-000-heads-lettuce-your-parking-spot-918506

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World Bank to help Myanmar clear arrears

YANGON (Reuters) - The World Bank will provide a restructuring loan to help Myanmar clear $397 million in arrears by January, a senior official said on Wednesday, as the Washington-based development bank opened an office in the country and prepared to step up aid work there.

The World Bank has not made any loans to Myanmar since 1987 but is returning to the country, along with other big donors, after its former junta stepped aside in March 2011 and a quasi-civilian government embarked on political and economic reforms.

Clearing the arrears is a condition for restarting loans.

"We have worked out a way to clear those arrears and we hope to do that by January," said Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific.

"We need to do it together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB); we're working very closely with them on a common schedule," she said during the opening of the office in Yangon, the former capital and still the main commercial city.

"I do want to emphasize we're not forgiving the debt to Myanmar. We're just clearing the back interest payments and Myanmar will resume paying its debts to the World Bank and the ADB," she added.

Myanmar also owes nearly $500 million to the ADB, which has played a lead role in advising the government's economic teams.

The ADB has also opened a small office in Yangon, while the International Monetary Fund is opening an office in neighboring Thailand aimed at providing technical assistance to Myanmar.

Paying off the loans and restoring aid flows is crucial for Myanmar, struggling after decades of army rule, trade-crippling sanctions and economic mismanagement. Aid could also pave the way for greater private investment.

Cox also said the World Bank was considering $85 million in grants to the country for community-based projects, subject to approval by its board and shareholders. The bank aimed to grant the money by October, she said.

RE-ENGAGEMENT

"We're here to say that the World Bank is back to re-engage with the country, with the government, but most importantly with the citizens of this country to help them have a better life in the future," Cox told reporters.

The bank has already started work, in a limited way, carrying out research in a country notorious for its lack of accurate data. It is also advising Myanmar on how to modernize its financial system and improve the business environment.

During her visit, Cox has met President Thein Sein and cabinet members, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained for years under the former junta but now sits in parliament after winning a by-election in April.

The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank that invests in the private sector, has begun assessments in areas critical to private sector growth such as access to finance, the investment climate and infrastructure.

The European Union, United States and other countries have lifted or suspended sanctions on Myanmar in recognition of the government's economic and political reforms.

Since Thein Sein took office in March last year, the government has freed hundreds of political prisoners, legalized trade unions, signed peace deals with ethnic minority rebels, eased censorship and reformed its currency.

Cox said the bank's support would be quid-pro-quo, with the amount of aid determined by the performance and commitment of the government towards reforms and further opening up its economy.

"We need to make sure that the government has the budget system, transparency, the basic economic infrastructure to provide services," she added.

Another focus for the bank would be support for the agriculture sector, which 70 percent of the population depends on, plus increasing emergency electricity supplies, Cox said.

Myanmar, which exports the vast majority of its power, has been hit by protests over outages. Three-quarters of the population do not receive regular electricity and the intermittent supply is a concern for would-be investors.

(Editing by Alan Raybould and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-help-myanmar-clear-arrears-072306633--business.html

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CloudBerry Lab Review - Online Backup Reviews

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A good online data backup and storage service is something that everyone needs. It transfers data to a secure remote location away from the computer on which it was created, and keeps it there, safe from unauthorised access, until it is required. It can be downloaded, edited, and backed up again in its new form, while previous ones are kept available if needed.

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CloudBerry Lab sells products for specific uses. For example, its flagship product is the CloudBerry Explorer for Amazon S3, which makes it easy for users to manage their files. An industry-leading user interface to Amazon S3 accounts, files, and buckets, lets them manage files in cloud storage in the same way as they would on their own PCs.

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Built on tried and trusted Microsoft.Net platform it has many users at leading Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Accenture, Oracle, Sun, SAP, Cap Gemini, and many more.

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CloudBerry Lab offers quick and efficient backup, via CloudBerry S3 Backup, to Amazon S3, and Windows Azure cloud, and is suitable for personal users and small offices.

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CloudBerry ?Online Backup is a secure online backup solution for individuals and businesses to store backup copies of their files in online storage. An effective Backup and Restore? program makes disaster recovery easy, but affordable, and data can be accessed using other cloud storage tools, too. Users can backup at any time and from anywhere that has an internet connection. Military grade encryption keeps it safe and inaccessible to anyone without the user?s permission. Backup size is reduced by data compression.

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Pre/post actions enable the user to configure jobs to run before and after backup, and Windows Event Log support ?reports backup status? to the Windows Event Log.? If backup is interrupted, it can be configured to start again as soon as possible.

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Setting Up

Cl;oudBerry? Online Backup is easy and quick to install, and offers three backup plan options; My Documents, My Pictures, and My Internet Bookmarks. These are pre-defined, but the user can create any backup he wants and the Backup Wizard will take him through the process step by step.

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Cost Calculator

A cost calculator on the website enables the user to specify the number of licenses of each product he needs. Backup Desktop, for Windows XP, Vista, and 7,? costs $29.99 for one license. Backup Server, for Windows 2003/2008, costs $79.99 per license, Backup WHS for Windows Home Server v1/2011, costs $29.99, and Backup for SBS Essentials (Windows Small Business Server) is $69.99.

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When completing the calculator form, users will need to select the storage provider from Amazon S3 Storage, Reduced Redundancy Storage ( RRS, which enables data to be stored in S3 at a 33% discount on standard costs in return for a reduced level of durability), Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage.

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They will then be asked to specify the required data size in GB (gigabyte).

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Data Restoration

With CloudBerry Online Backup, data is restored via the Restore Wizard. The user selects the file version he requires (which could be the most recent or a previous one). If the file was encrypted when it was backed up, he will need to use the same password to decrypt it when it is downloaded, which means that passwords need to be kept safe.

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Security

Once a user has created his Amazon S3 account, he will need to generate an S3 Access key and Secret Key from the Security Credentials page. The keys need to be copied and pasted into CloudBerry Storage from the Amazon site.

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Customer Support

CloudBerry Lab?s customer support consists of a FAQs page (with no search facility), and a Support Forum that users can access to post their own questions, and check out the answers to those of other users. Alternatively, there is a Customer Support form which users can complete, with name and email address, a description of the problem, and the relevant product and product version. There is choice of boxes to check to ensure that the form gets to the right department; they are ?Suggestion?, ?Support question?, and ?Issue Report?.

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A telephone number is also available for technical support.

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Conclusion

This is not simply a service that a user pays for on a monthly or yearly basis. CloudBerry Lab offers a range of backup software products that cover every requirement. The user pays a flat one-off charge, and pays for backup to Amazon S3. He will need to keep an eye on his requirements and usage because, depending on how much he backs up to Amazon S3, he could well be better off opting for one of the many unlimited backup plans that are available today for around $5 per month.

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CloudBerry Lab offer great software products, but they are suitable primarily for the technically-savvy user, not for the novice who would do better to choose a service from an online backup provider.? There is a free thirty-day trial with CloudBerry, however, so there?s nothing to prevent a user from having a go.

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Visit?www.cloudberrylab.com

Source: http://www.online-backups.net/cloudberry-lab-review/

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Panasonic tries to MILC the London Olympics with the DMC-G5

Still not convinced that a Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera (MILC) can replace your Digitial Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)? ?If Panasonic has its way, you will. ?While the MILC format has slowly gained ground, it’s still never been considered a “serious” contender for “professional” photographers, so Olympic sponsor Panasonic has give their new DMC-G5 to?Getty Images sports [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/08/01/panasonic-tries-to-milc-the-london-olympics/

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