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Posted: February 25, 2012 at 2:02 pm
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Bill to rewrite controversial online education law advances
Posted: at 2:02 pm
A bill that would rewrite a new, controversial online education law advanced out of committee Friday evening.
Advocates of HB147 say it would help schools offer online courses more cost-efficiently. But opponents say it would mean less choice for students.
The bill would repeal a law created last year that allows high school students to take up to two classes online from other districts and charter schools, instead of at their regular high schools. Under that law, school districts must send about $727 for each full-year course a student takes from a provider outside his home district to the provider.
HB147 would rewrite that law, still allowing students to take two online courses but only from their own school districts or own charters or an outside entity with which a school district chooses to contract. Under HB147, school districts would be required to contract with at least one outside entity other than the Electronic High School (which would continue to offer free online classes), to provide courses.
Bill sponsor Rep. Brad Last, R-Hurricane, said many school districts and charters are now worried that they’re paying more to outside providers per student than they’re receiving. He said his bill would remove "one of the real disincentives" for schools to put their kids in online classes because they would no longer have to pay providers $727 a class, instead negotiating their own prices with whomever they chose to contract.
It was a bill a number of school district and charter school leaders spoke in support of Friday.
"If we’re going to sit here and say, ‘We’re not going to do anything. We’re going to let [the current online education law] roll on,’ we’re going to bankrupt schools completely," said Heidi Ross with the Tooele School District.
Royce Van Tassell with the Utah Taxpayers Association, however, opposed the bill, saying that it would mean less choice for students, as they would no longer be allowed to take online courses from any other district or charter in the state.
"By having a wide variety of access to all the options in the state, we can ensure parents will be able to partner their students with programs that help them the most," said Judi Clark, executive director of Parents for Choice in Education.
She also noted that lawmakers are already considering a separate bill to change the cost structure for online classes under the current law, though opponents of that bill say the prices it sets are still too high.
The committee passed HB147 by 9-2, meaning it now heads for the House floor.
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Bill to rewrite controversial online education law advances
First female trainer in Japan eyes coaching job in NBA
Posted: February 24, 2012 at 2:48 pm
TOKYO: Just 157cm tall, Natalie Nakase (pic) has never let her size stand in the way of her big dreams on the basketball court.
And now the 31-year-old American and first female head coach in Japan�s professional men�s league, has her sights set firmly on the NBA.
If her dream comes true, it would be another breakthrough for women in sport as the National Basketball Association, the sport�s premier league based in North America, has never had a female head coach or assistant coach.
There have only been some women in such positions in the NBA�s minor league.
�I�m starting to realise that I have the responsibility of giving women hopefully a chance to see that they can do it too, even not in basketball,� the five-foot-two Nakase said.
�It could be in a working field.�
�Being a part of a programme in the NBA, reaching the highest level in your sport, I think, that�s definitely a goal of mine,� said the former point guard from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Nakase has been piloting the Saitama Broncos of the Japanese league since November when she was promoted from assistant coach to replace Dean Murray when he was fired.
But things are not going all that well at the moment.
The Broncos lost 94-84 to powerhouse Osaka Evessa at home on Sunday to leave them languishing second from bottom in the league�s 10-team eastern conference with nine wins and 23 defeats in the October-April season.
They have never finished above fourth place in the seven years the league has been going in a country where baseball, sumo and football tend to push others out of the limelight.
But Nakase remains hopeful. �Our confidence is growing as we�re playing close to some of these high ranking teams,� she said.
�It�s still a long way ahead.�
Her life as a coach began in the women�s top league in Germany in 2008 after a knee injury cut short her playing career.
A three-year captain at UCLA, she also played for two seasons for San Diego and San Jose in the now defunct National Women�s Basketball League.
She coached a women�s team in Germany for two seasons before coming to Japan � where her grandparents were born � in 2010 to visit her friend Darin Maki and his wife.
Maki was playing for the Tokyo Apache and he introduced her to their coach, American Bob Hill, who has previously coached four NBA teams.
Nakase served as an assistant coach under Hill for one season before the Apache folded. She joined the Broncos for the current season.
�I think it�s all about being able to connect with players and learning about how to manage different personalities - more than men versus women,� she said, comparing her experiences with women�s and men�s teams.
�Men are just more competitive and outspoken, which is a good thing.�
Her former coach at UCLA, Kathy Olivier, has told the Los Angeles Times that Nakase has the persistence to survive in the men�s game.
�Only Natalie can do that,� said Olivier, who now coaches at Nevada Las Vegas. �She�s tiny but her heart�s as big as a six-(foot) eight (inch) (203 cm) kid.�
Nakase said she remained in close contact with Hill, who now works in China, through emails �once or twice a week.�
�I wouldn�t bet against her,� Hill told the daily about Nakase�s NBA dreams. �She�s beaten the odds her entire life.� � AFP
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