Education Week: GAO Report Sounds Stimulus Warning on Four States

Education Week: GAO Report Sounds Stimulus Warning on Four States:

"California, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas have been singled out for intensive technical assistance by the Education Department to help them implement good practices in using the federal money. The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico also made the department’s list."

Read full report here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12188302/RECOVERY-ACT-Accountability-and-Reporting-Challenges-GAO-Report-to-the-Congress

Testimony - Commission on the 21st Century Economy

Testimony - Commission on the 21st Century Economy


Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-15-09 mandated the bipartisan Commission on the 21st Century Economy to re-examine and modernize California's out-of-date revenue laws that contribute to feast-or-famine state budget cycles.

The Commission is comprised of 14 members; seven appointed by the Governor, and seven appointed by the legislature.

Applying the principles outlined in Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-15-09, the Commission will suggest changes to state and local revenues that will result in a revenue stream that is more stable and reflective of the California economy. The Commission will report its findings to the Governor and legislature on or before September 20, 2009.

Principles

Establish a 21st century tax structure that fits with the state's 21st century economy;

Stabilize state revenues and reduce volatility;

Promote the long-term economic prosperity of the state and its citizens;

Improve California's ability to successfully compete with other states and nations for jobs and investments;

Reflect principles of sound tax policy including simplicity, competitiveness, efficiency, predictability, stability, and ease of compliance and administration;
Ensure that tax structure is fair and equitable.

Almanac : Glimmers of change in stress-filled high schools?

Almanac : Glimmers of change in stress-filled high schools?:

"In private sessions Saturday, 22 school teams from around the country will toss around ideas on how schools can help to broaden the rigid notion of 'success' that has taken hold on so many hyper-competitive campuses -- high grades, top test scores and acceptance into prestigious colleges."

Why are so many people in Georgia mad about math? | Get Schooled

Why are so many people in Georgia mad about math? Get Schooled:

"Of all the curriculum debates, the ongoing sparring over Georgia’s new math standards is the most vigorous. A while back, I ran two related articles on Monday AJC education pages. I am rerunning them here in response to the comments Wednesday about the math standards. Warning, these are long essays so they may only interest those concerned about math."

Schwarzenegger: Overlook glitch, let paralyzed grad take bar exam - CNN.com

Schwarzenegger: Overlook glitch, let paralyzed grad take bar exam - CNN.com:

"California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Saturday called on the state bar to overlook a technical error and allow a paralyzed law school graduate to take the bar exam next week."

"It is outrageous that someone who has overcome so much in life is penalized by a bureaucratic error that prevents her from taking the bar exam next week," the governor said in a statement.

"Government should work for the people, not against them, and I'm calling on the state bar to allow Sara Granda to take next week's test. Sara is a fighter, and I am with her all the way."
The state bar's Web site never processed Granda's application for Tuesday's test because California's Department of Rehabilitation paid her $600 fee with a check, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Web site requires a credit card number, but Granda said she was assured by a state bar representative that she was properly registered with the check, the newspaper reported.

U.S. 'Soviet-style' education system not cutting it - CNN.com

U.S. 'Soviet-style' education system not cutting it - CNN.com:

"Finnish students ranked No. 1 in science scores, and No. 2 in both math and reading. And the United States? We come in at No. 29 in science, No. 35 in math, and a recent U.S. reading score which wouldn't even track in the top 10 countries in the world.

In Finland, children begin studying algebra, geometry and statistics in the first grade. By 15, they speak three languages, which, of course, is not uncommon throughout Europe."

According to The Dallas Morning News, a team of Texas educators recently traveled to Helsinki to learn from the Finns. What they found was that teachers had 100 percent freedom to educate as they saw fit. They treated their classroom like an entrepreneur would treat his or her business.

Contrast that to how we do things in America with our five-year plans and giant bureaucracies determining what gets taught. Our brand of institutionalized "education lite" -- with far too few hours spent in the classroom and an antiquated summer vacation schedule from America's agrarian days -- just isn't cutting it.

Commentary: Obama on risky ground on schools - CNN.com

Commentary: Obama on risky ground on schools - CNN.com:

"However, as the administration navigates its way into the policy debates that are swirling over the future of education, it would be wise for it to proceed with caution.
The administration has already staked out positions on a number of issues -- charter schools and merit pay for teachers being two of the big ones -- which run the risk of generating additional controversy in the polarized debates over how to reform education.

If these issues and the stimulus money being made available under the Race to the Top (RTT) program are not handled carefully, conflict and even paralysis are likely to ensue. The president may even inadvertently alienate an important core constituency that he will surely need in the years ahead -- public school teachers."

Garfield High is eligible for takeover -- latimes.com

Garfield High is eligible for takeover -- latimes.com:

"Garfield High, which became nationally known as the real-life setting for the film 'Stand and Deliver,' will be among the initial 12 local campuses, including six high schools, eligible for takeover because of persistent academic failure, officials announced Friday.

The nation's second-largest school system will invite bidders from inside and outside the district to run these schools next year through a proposal process that is still being developed."

Texas Board of Education's choice of investment consultant takes heat | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Politics | The Dallas Morning News

Texas Board of Education's choice of investment consultant takes heat News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Texas Politics The Dallas Morning News:

"The Texas State Board of Education has courted controversy in recent years by promoting intelligent design, debating whether minorities like César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall are overrepresented in social studies lessons, and balking at approving a high school health textbook that mentioned the word 'condom.'

But its financial management of the Texas Permanent School Fund's investments has largely gone unnoticed.

Over the past year, board members have twice spurned the investment advice of the school fund's professional staff by hiring consultants that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than their competitors."

Sacramento railyard 'shining light' for struggling developer Thomas - The Times-Herald

Sacramento railyard 'shining light' for struggling developer Thomas - The Times-Herald:

"Sacramento officials remain believers in Thomas and the project.

'A number of other projects in our city have been suspended, but this one keeps moving forward,' said Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Yet the partnership between Thomas and the city has been strained by a disagreement over a 2006 land transaction.

To help him buy the land from Union Pacific, the city agreed to pay Thomas a 'placeholder' sum of $55 million for a 33-acre chunk of the site, with the understanding the two sides would negotiate a final price later."

More School - Obama Would Curtail Summer Vacation - NYTimes.com

More School - Obama Would Curtail Summer Vacation - NYTimes.com:

"''Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today,'' Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll."

OpEdNews - Article: IF MICHAEL MOORE WAS GERMAN, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ELECTED CHANCELLOR this SEPTEMBER 2009

OpEdNews - Article: IF MICHAEL MOORE WAS GERMAN, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ELECTED CHANCELLOR this SEPTEMBER 2009:

"As the title of this article suggests, Michael Moore of the USA is also a strategic thinker and critique of capitalism of 2009 and is seriously calling for change—not just in his homeland: the USA . For this reason, Germans who are tired of capitalism as usual, might invite Michael Moore to lead a coalition of the major three left parties in Germany . For an example of Moors rhetoric, the day his new film on Capitalism opened in New York , Moore stated unequivocally that CAPITALISM of 2009 (as it is now) needs to be suspect and forced to reform. Moore say it is simply a big Pansy or pyramid scheme for the elite (and the very lucky) or well-connected. Speaking on inequality and lack of access to good loan conditions and livelihood for the vast majority, Moore stated “There's the larger crime, though, of course, of how the pie is divided in this country. And the fact that one guy can come to the table and take nine slices of that pie and leave one slice for everyone else at the table to fight over, that is criminal."

More parents signing kids up for free tutoring - The Item - South Carolina

More parents signing kids up for free tutoring - The Item - South Carolina:

"As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, free private tutoring has been offered as a supplemental educational service since the 2002-03 school year for students living in poverty who attend schools that don't make the grade.

Sumter School District 17 Title 1 Coordinator Suzanne Wates said the number of parents opting for academic tutoring has increased in the district, with 240 students receiving tutoring in last school year.

Not all students are eligible.

They must receive free or reduced-price lunch and be enrolled in a Title 1 school that has failed to make 'adequate yearly progress' for three consecutive years and has been identified as being 'in need of improvement' under the federal education law.

Parents are the decision makers. They decide if they want the tutoring for the children, and they determine who provides it. School districts are required to provide a list of the state-approved service providers to qualifying children and their families."

SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (SES) FREE TUTORING PARENT FAIRS
For more information please contact (916) 643-9051 or visit:www.scusd.edu/federal_state_prgms

Federal K-12 Law Should Drive School Reforms That Prepare Students for Success

Federal K-12 Law Should Drive School Reforms That Prepare Students for Success:

"In his speech, Duncan said that the NCLB law has significant flaws and that he looks forward to working with Congress to address the law's problems. He said the law puts too much emphasis on standardized tests, unfairly labels many schools as failures, and doesn't account for students' academic growth in its accountability system.

'But the biggest problem with NCLB is that it doesn't encourage high learning standards,' Duncan said. 'In fact, it inadvertently encourages states to lower them. The net effect is that we are lying to children and parents by telling kids they are succeeding when they are not.'"

La Opinión - noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales desde Los Ángeles - impre.com - Education saves money

La Opinión - noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales desde Los Ángeles - impre.com - Education saves money:

"Dropping out of school does not automatically lead to a life of crime but data indicates that a large percent of violent crimes are committed by individuals who never finished high school.
The school dropout rate —estimated at 20% and even worse for Latinos— is a serious problem for the education system. The numbers aren’t precise because there isn't an accurate measure of the magnitude of the problem. Given this, we support State Senator Gloria Romero’s SB651, which requires pulling together the fragmented and inconsistent methods for measuring dropout rates into an annual report highlighting early warning indicators of students at high risk of dropping out of school. The bill isn’t a solution but at least it is a start."

Wallace Baine, Baine Street: Do we really value higher education? - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Wallace Baine, Baine Street: Do we really value higher education? - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"The really painful part of the current crisis is that a UC education used to be free, or at least nominally so. Fees weren't imposed on students until the mid-1950s and then the system was careful not to call such fees 'tuition.' In 1956, those fees were about $42 a semester. And this was for a world-class education, the envy of the world, a beacon to bright young people from all over the planet to come to California to study and eventually to work and live.

That sounds like some silly Disneyland fantasy now. Today, a college education has become a commodity like everything else. What's worse, it's become another wedge in the culture wars, a target for self-defeating class resentments and bogus beefs about elitism. The far right will argue campuses are cesspools of Marxist indoctrination. The far left says that colleges are only interested in producing armies of tame little consumers. And meanwhile, students are exploited for their revenue potential, saddled with crippling loans and pushed into high-paying fields like finance to pay off those loans. Our culture becomes the loser in that deal."

People's Weekly World - Univ. of California community protests cutbacks

People's Weekly World - Univ. of California community protests cutbacks:

"“The UC system is a public resource built over far more than a century with taxpayers’ money, private generosity and shrewdness, and the intellectual energy of generations of students, teachers and staff,” opening rally speaker and art history professor T.J. Clark told the crowd. “A state in its right mind does not destroy that resource when times get tough. But this is what is happening.”"

New Tax Structure? Worth considering since the present one isn't working - The Reporter

New Tax Structure? Worth considering since the present one isn't working - The Reporter:

"Government is a victim of the same economic woes that have felled the business world.

* The state revenue stream relies too heavily on capital gains taxes and, in turn, the fortunes of the stock market, leaving it vulnerable to unpredictably wild swings in revenue.

A year ago, the governor appointed a 14-member panel to study the state's tax structure and make recommendations on how to stabilize it. The Commission on the 21st Century Economy was supposed to make its report a week ago. As of Friday morning, it was still working on the final document. But draft reports had already drawn plenty of naysayers, including one commission member who was reported to have said that he would not sign off on the document."

Oakland campus caters to refugees, immigrants -- latimes.com

Oakland campus caters to refugees, immigrants -- latimes.com:

"Everyone was speaking English and it confused me,' said Kanwea, a lanky student with a wide smile. 'And I felt scared because I think that I was the only one who didn't know how to read.'

New immigrants and refugees have long posed challenges for educators in the United States, but Kanwea and others like him present unique problems because they are often strangers to traditional schools. Academic issues are only one facet of their adjustment. Not only must educators teach them English and move them toward graduation, but they also must counsel many students grappling with the trauma of wars, persecution or poverty."

Anti-bullying effort in Alameda under fire - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Anti-bullying effort in Alameda under fire - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Jensen, one of the targets of the recall, has subsequently appeared on the Fox News Channel to speak on the controversy. She says she has no misgivings about her vote supporting the lesson, adding that while no student with an LGBT background has yet to formally complain of being bullied, research indicates it's just a matter of time.

The curriculum was created to assist teachers in reacting to incidents of bullying of all students from all classes, protected or not, she said."

For More Information on Bullying : http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11567105/2007-National-School-Climate-Survey-GLSEN-the-Gay-Lesbian-and-Straight-Education-Network