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New York group joins teacher tenure battle
Chalkboard
Brown and her allies "argue that the current tenure, seniority and dismissal protections make it almost impossible to fire bad teachers in New York State." - photo by istockphoto.com/izusek
Eric Schulzke
Deseret News National
Updated: Aug 8, 2014, 5:00 PM
Published: Aug 4, 2014, 4:08 PM

Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown was on hand with the group she organized in New York Monday as they filed suit to invalidate the state's teacher tenure laws. Following on the California case that is still on appeal, the suit makes clear the national implications of this new front of the education wars.

The New York Daily News announced the new lawsuits Sunday, noting Brown and her allies "argue that the current tenure, seniority and dismissal protections make it almost impossible to fire bad teachers in New York State. They also say that the layoffs policy in which most recently hired teachers are the first to be fired deters the best new educators."

Brown's Partnership for Educational Justice may file similar lawsuits in other states, Capital New York reported.

"We're under no illusions that this is going to be incredibly challenging," Brown said, according to CNY. "When you're trying to change a system like this, when you're trying to fight powers that have been fighting to maintain the status quo for as long as they have. Do you think it's going to be easy? Of course it's not."

Predictably, not everyone is happy with the suit.

“Campbell Brown does not speak for me,” Elzora Cleveland, a parent and de Blasio appointee to the Panel for Education Policy, told Chalkbeat New York, asserting that Brown was “attacking the rights of our skilled and experienced teachers."

In preparing the ground for the suit, Brown laid out her arguments at the Daily News, outlining three focal points for the challenge: seniority, tenure and dismissals.

Much of this is a direct and conscious echo of Vegara v. California, where a state judge found the Golden State's teacher tenure laws in violation of the state's constitution.

Email: eschulzke@desnews.com
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
Herb Scribner
Deseret News
Published: Aug 13, 2018, 1:39 PM
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.