American Idol announced its Top 10 of Season 12 last night and, to no one’s surprise, Charlie Askew was not among the group of finalists. The contestant suffered through a mini meltdown on Wednesday night, struggling through a rendition of “Mama” and then confiding to Ryan Seacrest on stage that he’s really an unhappy individual. Charlie Askew – “Mama” “I was impressed that he was courageous enough [to] talk about it,” Seacrest told Access Hollywood yesterday. “But I could tell when he was singing and when he was standing there and the judges were talking to him… he was going through a tough time.” Seacrest handled Askew’s admission – that his smile masks his discontent – with aplomb and support on stage, adding at the show’s party in Los Angeles last night: “I think something’s going on and I just wanted him to know that we know him, we’ve gotten to know him well. And if he needs a friend… we’re there as a friend.”
We keep trying to tell you that race matters ! Black and Latino students in NYC who attend poverty stricken schools are more likely to end up with teachers who have received unsatisfactory ratings. Via NYPost reports : Teachers who received bad performance ratings in the past school year were likelier to be teaching in high-poverty schools, or in schools with high percentages of black, Hispanic or low-achieving students, a new analysis found. The StudentsFirstNY report on the 3.2 percent of teachers were rated “unsatisfactory” — known as a “U-rating” — for the 2011-12 school year found large differences in how they were distributed throughout the school system. The analysis found that students in high-poverty schools were at least three times more likely to be taught by a U-rated teacher than were students in low-poverty schools. “An ineffective teacher in any classroom is a failure of the system at the expense of students,” said StudentsFirstNY Executive Director Micah Lasher, a former legislative liaison for Mayor Bloomberg. “A concentration of ineffective teachers serving specific student populations is an injustice.” Among the group’s eight recommendations, including having the city and teachers’ union reach a deal on a new teacher evaluation system by next week’s Jan. 17 deadline, are financial incentives for good teachers who stay in high-needs schools. Failing to reach a deal by the deadline would cost the city at least $250 million in state education aid. StudentsFirstNY also calls for a cap on the number of ineffective teachers who are allowed to remain at one school from year to year. The city currently does have at least two programs that offers incentives for teachers who agree to work in high needs schools – one that offers recruitment and tuition reimbursements, and the other that offers $15,000 in housing support in return for a 3-year commitment. The teachers’ union has also said that high concentrations of U-rated teachers can be caused by other factors — such as antagonism between a principal and his or her teachers. A 2011 investigation by the Department of Education found that the current principal at Fordham HS for the Arts – where 20 percent of teachers received a U-rating in 2011-12 – tried to force out teachers she didn’t like by giving them bad ratings without actually having observed their teaching. So the good news is not all these teachers are really as bad as it looks, but the bad news is enough of them earned their bad ratings for us to be fairly certain that our kids are not receiving the same quality of education that white students in more affluent schools are getting? Yeah… This doesn’t seem like a newsflash, but this needs to be fixed quickly. We wouldn’t be surprised if they discovered the same kind of inequalities in cities like Chicago where youth violence is rampant either. We need to be concerned about who is teaching our kids! Shutterstock
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl will be among the group of first-time filmmakers at this year’s Sundance Film Festival , but he will likely be the only one to also play an anticipated gig at the annually anticipated event which opens January 17th. [ Related: ‘Sound City’ Trailer Offers Glimpse Of Dave Grohl’s Love Letter To Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Pre-Digital Era and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl Gets Personal With ‘Sound City’ ] Grohl’s Sound City Players will play January 18th at the festival, featuring “core musicians and special guests” from the musician’s doc Sound City . The feature, which will screen in Sundance’s Documentary Premieres section, is the brainchild of Grohl who conceived the story after purchasing a custom-built 8028 recording console from Sound City Studios last year. The board was built in 1972 and considered to be a “crown jewel of analog recording equipment,” having recorded such artists as Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Guns and Roses, Fear, Grohl’s former band, Nirvana as well as Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica and others. The film Sound City showcases the most talented group of musicians in the world and we are thrilled they chose to celebrate the documentary at Park City Live,” said Kathryn Burns, CEO of Park City Live where the concert will take place via a statement. “The evening will be spectacular and we look forward to seeing who will join Dave Grohl and the Sound City Players onstage.” The venue is not a regular Sundance space, but will be one of many ancillary events that take place around the festival. The film’s soundtrack, Sound City — Real to Reel , is a collection of original music created specifically for the film and this companion record. Preceded by currently available first single “Cut Me Some Slack”–performed by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear. Grohl’s personal connection to Sound City began with the 1991 recording of Nirvana’s breakthrough album, “Nevermind”. Selling over 30 million copies worldwide.
