SCUSD Observer: Has anybody seen the facilities use agreement?

SCUSD Observer: Has anybody seen the facilities use agreement?

coopmike48 said...
...one of the worst things about civilization is, that anybody that gits a letter with trouble in it comes and tells you all about it and makes you feel bad, and the newspapers fetches you the troubles of everybody all over the world, and keeps you downhearted and dismal most all the time, and it's such a heavy load for a person.- Tom Sawyer Abroad

Learning to Roar

Learning to Roar Teaching Tolerance

In Puerto Rico, there is a saying: Somos cuatro gatos…miaou. In other words, how can we do anything? We are just four cats. Miaou.

In K-12 education, there is also a saying. How can we close the “achievement gap”? In other words, if our students’ parents speak little or no English, often lack formal education, and are strained by poor health, violence, inadequate housing and transportation and the related stresses of living in poverty, how can teachers be expected to bring those students up to speed with their peers? Miaou.

In my school district, we — teachers and parents — found a way to change the question. How can our community support the grassroots leadership development and organizing efforts of low-income parents and guardians to close the “opportunity gap”? Together we learned to roar.

NYC trying to work out a "formula" to fire teachers

This Week In Education: Thompson: Cross Examination

Much of Steven Brill’s New Yorker article on the "Rubber Room," has a ring of truth, but I do not know enough about those disputes to comment. Had Brill adequately cross examined other charges, however, the last third of his article would have been edited out.

Brill uses the stupid and inflammatory words of teachers against them, which is fair, as he also cross examines their factual assertions. But Brill seemed deaf to the false and inflammatory nature of his sources’ words.

And before considering other versions of the TNTP ideals, we should muse about this:

"Consider a framework that automatically fires the bottom x percent of teachers in terms of value added in a single year or average value added over a number of years. Unobserved differences among schools and classrooms almost certainly influence the estimates, and test error certainly introduces a degree of randomness. Consequently, mistakes will be made; however, outcomes could still improve compared with the system without such decision rules. Nonetheless, the implications of adding such risk and uncertainty may necessitate a substantial salary increase, and these monetary costs as well as costs associated with increased turnover would have to be weighed against any improvements in the composition of teachers."

And even if the bottom x perecent are not automatically fired, they are still indicted as suspect teachers placing them at the mercy of y percent of administrators caught up with the blame game and guilt by association. - John Thompson

California’s Race to the Top: Senator Romero’s Opening Remarks

Senator Gloria Romero -- California’s Race to the Top: Senator Romero’s Opening Remarks

“Today, decades after the Brown decision, we still have a form of segregation in our public school system. Nearly 80 percent of students in our lowest-performing schools are African American or Latino. Poor students and students of color are four times more likely to have under-prepared teachers. We have an achievement gap for African Americans, Latinos, and English learners that has been both persistent and pernicious – confirmed again with new test scores released just last week.

“Over the years, many of us in this Senate and in this room have advanced innovative legislation to find new ways to reform and transform public education. Impressive efforts have happened at the local level—oftentimes in spite of Sacramento or Washington. That includes: the use of student data to improve instruction and reward teachers in Long Beach and Fresno; an alternative compensation program in San Francisco that resulted from collaboration with the teachers union; a focus on better, not just more, high-quality charter schools throughout the state; a parents’ revolution that is captivating Los Angeles.

Education News & Comment

Education News & Comment:

"U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
to Visit Sacramento

SCUSD will be hosting a First Day of School press event on September 3rd, at 10:30 a.m. at David Lubin Elementary.

Invited guests include the New Superintendent, Mayor Kevin Johnson, the SCUSD School Board, and SSPI Jack O'Connell. Parents and members of the community are welcome to attend.

THIS THURSDAY, September 3rd at 10:30, join us at David Lubin Elementary for the
'Sacramento Goes Back to School' celebration, featuring the new SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond, Mayor Kevin Johnson and other guests - including the River Cats mascot (for the kids)"

Obama speech divides parents - The Denver Post

Obama speech divides parents - The Denver Post:

"President Barack Obama's plan to address the nation's students during the school day Tuesday has polarized parents over whether it's OK for their kids to listen to the speech.
On one side are parents who say the webcast speech to K-12 students is 'political recruiting' and 'spreading the liberal agenda.'

On the other are those who say listening to presidential speeches is an important part of American culture and the education process.

The White House officially announced the speech Wednesday morning, and the U.S. Department of Education followed up with a letter to school principals and a lesson plan for discussing the talk. The White House said the speech will address the importance of studying and staying in school."

Mayor Turns Political Loan Into Gift - Most Popular News Story - KCRA Sacramento

Mayor Turns Political Loan Into Gift - Most Popular News Story - KCRA Sacramento:

"Fending off allegations from the Sacramento City Attorney's office that he has a 'conflict of interest,' Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has decided to write off a $25,000 political contribution.

City Attorney Eileen Teichert raised the question during a City Council meeting last month when she requested that Johnson recuse himself from a discussion about whether his strong-mayor initiative is flawed.

Johnson refused, and the Council voted 9-0 to seek a non-binding opinion from the California Fair Political Practices Commission."

Poll disagrees with report | www.theacorn.com | The Acorn

Poll disagrees with report www.theacorn.com The Acorn:

"In its May report “School District Administration: Is the Cost Too High?” the grand jury recommended the 20 public school districts in the county be reduced to just six, which would save millions of dollars in administrative costs.

The school boards had until July 17 to respond.

School superintendents in the Simi, Moorpark, Oak Park and Conejo Valley districts disagreed with the grand jury’s report and said their schools operate efficiently as they are. Officials said the education community prefers smaller, local school districts over larger, consolidated ones.

In answer to the question “Should Conejo Valley and Oak Park unified school districts merge?” 56 percent of respondents said no and 44 percent said yes.
“Become another Los Angeles Unified School District? No thanks,” one blogger wrote."

A-mazing Progress Report for NYC Schools | NBC New York

A-mazing Progress Report for NYC Schools NBC New York:

"'Once again today's schools success story is based on the world according to Bloomberg, not the reality that our students are graduating unprepared,' said Thompson. 'Bloomberg would rather inflate these numbers and falsely claim success at the expense of kids being educated.'

Bloomberg's school's czar Joel Klein wisely attempted to put the numbers in their proper context.

'We want to make clear that that reflects that [schools] met their progress targets,' he said. 'It doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that those are schools that don't have a lot of improvement ahead of them.'"

West Contra Costa school workers reject tentative pact - ContraCostaTimes.com

West Contra Costa school workers reject tentative pact - ContraCostaTimes.com:

"Workers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District turned down a tentative labor pact Wednesday, a union leader said.

'We stand ready to resume negotiations,' said Richard Leung, supervising business agent of Public Employees Union Local 1, which represents about 1,500 maintenance and clerical workers, paraprofessionals and teachers' assistants in the school district.

The tentative, three-year pact had called for a wage freeze and for members to pay between $133 and $373 a month toward their and their families' medical benefits. The district currently absorbs the entire cost of the benefits, which the union said will be $533 to $1,323 a month in 2010."

Sound Politics: Strike by Kent teachers

Sound Politics: Strike by Kent teachers:
"Strike by Kent teachers

It is illegal for teachers to strike. The teachers of the Kent School District are on strike. Why are they willingly violating the law?

Every time a school district has taken the local teacher's union to court over a strike the district has won. But the Washington Education Association (WEA) retorts 'An appeals court has never upheld a school district to end a strike.' Technicality! Trick! No WEA local has every appealed. So the WEA's record in appeals court is 0 for 0; never lost.

What are they striking over in Kent? Meetings? Sure. Disrupt thousands of families over how many meetings you have to attend.

For a 10% pay raise? Ask you neighbors, teachers. They might find the district's offer of 4.5% too high.

For smaller class size? The system is providing funding for enough adults to lower the class size IF they would put more adults in their Kent classrooms.

The education system has found more and more things for people to do outside the classroom - counselors, planners, coordinators, etc. But they still work for the district and are being paid by the district. THE STATE PROVIDES ENOUGH MONEY. Get them back in the classroom.

The teachers and their well funded union are part of the establishment that maintains this situation. They have immense pull with the legislature, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, etc., if they want more people in the classroom.

THE STATE PROVIDES ENOUGH MONEY. Funding has grown far faster than the student population when adjusted for inflation. As I recall the numbers are over 70% funding increase during 25% student growth."

A School for the Fentys - washingtonpost.com

A School for the Fentys - washingtonpost.com:

"FOR YEARS, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has been criticized for sending his sons to private school. Now, with the boys in a public school, Mr. Fenty is being chastised for not disclosing the circumstances of their enrollment in a choice elementary school.

We are sympathetic to Mr. Fenty's desire that his children's privacy be respected. Still, we understand the public's interest in whether rules were broken to allow the boys to enroll this year in a school outside their neighborhood. It would be a pity if suspicion about the mayor getting special treatment undermined support for the critical work Mr. Fenty is doing to reform education.

Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee told WTOP radio last week that no rules or policies were violated in assigning the boys to the highly regarded Lafayette Elementary School. How could this be? Ms. Rhee didn't explain, but there is an explanation. Mr. Fenty's neighborhood school, West Elementary, has only one fourth-grade class. Most studies show that twins, particularly if they are of the same gender, should be in separate classes for both learning and social development. That's apparently why Ms. Rhee -- using a process employed for other families in similar circumstances -- assigned the boys to Lafayette, where the existence of four fourth-grade classes made it easy to accommodate them. The school is also in Ward 4, where the Fentys live."

Homework for parents as kids go back to school – OregonLive.com

Homework for parents as kids go back to school – OregonLive.com:


"First up, in honor of educators everywhere, is a humorous audio clip making its way into people's e-mail boxes, as it has for several years. (Snopes.com, a Web site dedicated to urban legends, says the e-mail has been around since at least 2002). The clip is a fake answering machine message for a high school, that includes the following options for callers:

To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1
To make excuses for why your child did not do his work - Press 2
To complain about what we do - Press 3
To swear at staff members - Press 4


(And please ignore the answering machine message's last line, which takes a jab at people who don't speak English. Why someone felt the need to cheapen this valuable bit of satire is beyond me. Still, the sardonic clip is worth hearing.)"

Jews, Hindus: Treat religions equally in schoolbooks

Jews, Hindus: Treat religions equally in schoolbooks:

"JEWS AND Hindus have urged the Texas State Board of Education to treat all the major religions and denominations evenly in its Social Studies curriculum, which is currently under revision.

Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, a Jewish leader in Nevada and California and Rajan Zed, a Hindu statesman, in a joint statement in Nevada on Thursday (September 3), said that pening up the Texas schoolchildren to major world religions, native american spirituality and non-believers’ viewpoint would make them well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow."

Letter: California once a model on education - Oroville Mercury Register

Letter: California once a model on education - Oroville Mercury Register: "Letter: California once a model on education
Chico Enterprise-Record
Posted: 09/03/2009 01:03:28 AM PDT


Your paper recently reported upon a visit to our city of a Republican candidate for governor. Your story related that she said California ranked 48th among the states in education. I was not in attendance at the meeting but I am aware that funding for education in California ranks 48th. I think that achievement levels are much higher.
In the mid-1960s, funding for California education ranked fifth in the United States. California's education system was recoginized as one of the best. Responsibility for the decline in funding is to be shared by politicians of both parties.

— Charles Hodel, Chico"

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER ANNOUNCES NATION'S LARGEST STATE-SPONSORED GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAM - September 1, 2009 Tuesday 4:31 PM EST - Building Design & Construction

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER ANNOUNCES NATION'S LARGEST STATE-SPONSORED GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAM - September 1, 2009 Tuesday 4:31 PM EST - Building Design & Construction:

"On behalf of the Los Angeles Trade Technical College I am very pleased to welcome all of you, obviously, to our college today as I said, this is the first day of the fall semester and to see firsthand why Trade-Tech is recognized as the community colleges' leader in clean and green workforce development. The tour today, in particular, was directed by our Dean of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development Leticia Barajas. Raise your hand there so we can you behind us. OK, and our Vice President for Workforce Development Marcy Drummond. So we want to thank them for that.

The tour was taken in one of our laboratories for the Alternative Fuels, Hybrid Technology and Low Emission Vehicle Technology Programs. In these programs students learn how to troubleshoot and repair new and emerging green or clean fuels technologies such as CNG, compressed gas, bio-diesel, LNG, ethanol and hybrids, where they learn the latest clean air technologies such as diesel, opacity testing and emission control devices."

California Chronicle | Budget Causes Unintended Losses for California's Lowest-Performing Schools

California Chronicle Budget Causes Unintended Losses for California's Lowest-Performing Schools:

"SACRAMENTO, CA — Senator Gloria Romero, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, announced she is prepared to introduce urgency legislation in order to correct a budget funding loss to the state´s lowest-performing schools. The funding loss, caused by a complicated funding swap in the recently enacted education budget, affects 139 school districts in California that receive Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) state funding.

'The budget has resulted in negative unintended financial consequences for our lowest-performing schools,' said Romero (D-East Los Angeles). 'We must work as expeditiously as possible to rectify the problem.'"

David B. Cohen and Alex Kajitani: Test scores poor tool for teacher evaluation - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

David B. Cohen and Alex Kajitani: Test scores poor tool for teacher evaluation - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan is in Sacramento today to promote the new Race to the Top grant program, which offers a chunk of $4.5 billion in federal funds to states that meet federal guidelines, including a requirement to allow standardized test results to be used in individual teacher evaluations.

The link between test scores and teacher performance may seem obvious to the casual observer, but this is a case where appearances and intuition are misleading. As two of California's teachers – the 2009 California Teacher of the Year and a National Board-certified teacher – we urge Duncan and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to go back to school regarding the use of test scores for teacher evaluations."

Kevin Johnson: For $5 billion in federal money, put children first - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Kevin Johnson: For $5 billion in federal money, put children first - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:

"It's easy to look at the current state of affairs and feel disheartened. However, at this time, I feel hope. The words that Rahm Emanuel delivered to the U.S. Conference of Mayors ring in my head, 'Never let a serious crisis go to waste.' In the midst of this crisis in our state, we also have a huge opportunity. Race to the Top is that opportunity. It's the chance to address the severe funding shortage and, more importantly, to use the leverage of unprecedented federal dollars to enact important reforms. These reforms are ones that challenge the status quo, but ones that are desperately needed to improve the learning outcomes for kids."

Area schools score big on exam - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Area schools score big on exam - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"The achievement gap doesn't seem to be much of a problem at the El Dorado Hills school. All racial subgroups passed the test at a rate of 92 percent and above. African American and Latino students passage rates were within five percentage points of white students on both tests. But not many are students of color. Of the 528 10th-graders who took the math test, for instance, only nine were African American and 31 were Latino."