Friday, February 19, 2010

Sacramento Press / Students help harvest fruit from neighbors to supply area food banks

Students help harvest fruit from neighbors to supply area food banks

Gleaning effort facing possible shut down
By Maria L. Lopez & Randy Stannard

Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

More than 50 students from Theodore Judah Elementary School and community volunteers will walk from their McKinley Park area campus to harvest fruit from their neighbors’ yards for local food banks on Saturday, Feb.20. Volunteers will receive an orientation at 9 a.m. and expect to begin walking to residences by 9:30. Judah is located at 3919 McKinley Blvd.

Last weekend, volunteers walked to neighbors’ homes to ask for permission to gather the fruit. Randy Stannard of Harvest Sacramento, and a coordinator for the project, said the young harvesters will gather the fresh fruit, mostly citrus, from 70 homes. Stannard said the effort will slow down in March as the citrus season ends, but future efforts could be jeopardy due to funding.

Stannard said the project has been a victim of its own success in that the overwhelming response from volunteers and residents with fruit has diverted time from other responsibilities. “We are trying to raise money so we can hire a staff person to help continue this effort,” Stannard said. “We want to keep this going, but we need some help.”

Harvest Sacramento is a collaborative effort of Soil Born Farms, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, area residents, community groups and businesses. It organizes volunteers to harvest fruits and vegetables from backyards and small orchards that might go unused. The harvests are then donated to local food agencies.

Weather permitting, the students and adults will work until 1 p.m.
Reporters may call Randy Stannard at (530) 204-8082

Visit the Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site.

Visit the Theodore Judah Elementary School Web Site.

Bucking the trend, some charter schools sat out Race to the Top | GothamSchools

Charter school advocates were some of the loudest supporters of New York State’s Race to the Top application, but a handful of charter schools mysteriously chose to sit out the competition.

Though the vast majority of New York charter schools have signed onto the state’s bid for a $700 million grant, more than a dozen opted out, making them ineligible for a share of the funds. As of last month when the state was shopping its application around, there were 164 charter schools across the state. Of those, 146 signed the state’s bid.

Unlike charter schools, district schools couldn’t individually sign onto the state’s plan. Instead, school district officials made the call, 656 of the total 700 choosing to participate. New York City was among them.

I tried asking charter school leaders who didn’t sign onto the state’s bid why they made that call, but they are likely some place tropical (it’s winter break.)

James Merriman, head of the NYC Charter School Center, said charter school leaders, unable to read the state’s full application, were wary of agreeing to more state regulation without all the details.

“My guess is that some charter schools were leery of finding themselves inadvertently brought back into the kind of regulatory structures and oversight and enmeshment with the State Education

New York State releases details of its Race to the Top bid | GothamSchools

A New School Hopes to Learn From the Charters - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

One of the main arguments for charter schools is that they will improve the school system as a whole by introducing innovations that traditional schools then adopt. But charter school critics charge that this is not happening — and they say that charters on the whole are weakening the schools around them by siphoning off their resources.

A new primary school proposed by Teachers College at Columbia Universityaims to address this issue head-on. The school’s goal, its founders say, is to transfer some of the best charter school features to a school run by the Department of Education, while showing how a primary school can benefit from a close affiliation with a college.

Called the Teachers College Community School, it is likely to open in September 2011 in northern Manhattan, and while there is no site yet, Teachers College hopes for a place somewhere between West 110th and West

GVSU president says Lansing has moral, constitutional requirements to fund higher education, lawmakers disagree | - MLive.com

GVSU president says Lansing has moral, constitutional requirements to fund higher education, lawmakers disagree

By Dave Murray | The Grand Rapids Press

February 19, 2010, 5:30PM

Grand Rapids Press File PhotoGrand Valley State University President Thomas J. Haas testified Friday before a state Senate committee.Lawmakers have a "moral obligation" to fund higher education, even if they don't think it's a priority, Grand Valley State University President Thomas J. Haas told a state Senate committee.

But two committee members say Haas has to understand that money is tight, and universities are one of many areas of public concern that lawmakers have to budget for.

"We don't have much money," state Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, said after the session. "It's like a family. Sometimes you can take everyone out to eat steak. And when things get tight, you have to stay home and eat hamburger. They're not quite at the hamburger level yet, but they have to understand we have other obligations."

Haas was among several university leaders testifying Friday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Higher Education. The hearing, at Saginaw Valley State University, was first in a series of sessions as lawmakers work on the 2011 state budget.

He told senators that it is "apparent that higher education is no longer the funding priority it once was."

Education | Obama concedes he didn't always do math homework | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Obama concedes he didn't always do math homework| Seattle Times Newspaper:

"HENDERSON, Nev. — Go figure. President Barack Obama didn't always do his math homework.

A math teacher at Friday's town hall asked whether Obama, as a high school freshman, got math homework every night and if so, did he complete it.

The president's answer: 'Yes, and sometimes.'

Obama attended the private Punahou School in Honolulu from fifth grade until he graduated from high school. He later went on to Ivy League academics, graduating from Columbia and Harvard Law School.

Obama used the question to urge students to shut off video games and work harder, and to appeal to parents to be diligent in overseeing their children's school work."

Racism in the classroom: A WAFF 48 News special report - WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-

Racism in the classroom: A WAFF 48 News special report - WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-:

"HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A recent report indicated 80% of childhood racial abuse occurred at school.

That same study examined over 5,000 5th graders in Birmingham, Los Angeles , and Houston and found that a high percentage of students who experience this abuse were more likely to suffer from depression even as adults.

'Charles', whose identity we agreed to conceal, grew up in Athens and attended school there in the 1980's.

He said his problems began at eight years old on the school bus.

He lived in the mostly white school district but other black students were being bused in.

'Why are you not on the nigger bus? This is our bus,' Charles said students would taunt him.

He said the harassment, which included unrelenting verbal assaults and name calling eventually escalated to violence."

Sacramento Press / New SCUSD surveys yield advice from parents, teachers, students as more budget cuts loom

New SCUSD surveys yield advice from parents, teachers, students as more budget cuts loom

Superintendent wants more engagement with community

By Maria L. Lopez
Feb. 18, 2010 – New surveys of Sacramento teachers, parents and students have generated valuable advice for school district officials as they work to cut up to $30 million more from the budget and prepare a strategic plan, but Superintendent Jonathan Raymond said Thursday more community engagement is needed.
School teachers, administrators and parents surveyed agreed that keeping class sizes small is a top priority. But the Sacramento City Unified School District superintendent said at a news conference Thursday that raising class sizes must remain an option of last resort if employee unions do not agree to cuts elsewhere to make up the budget deficit.
“The survey clearly shows that parents and teachers don’t want larger class sizes, and neither do I,” Raymond said. “But increasing the number of students in class will remain an option if the employee organizations do not work with us to find other areas to reduce the budget.”
Parents and teachers surveyed also agreed that having good, up-to-date textbooks is a top budget priority.
“We received very valuable advice from the public and our employees with these surveys, but much more work needs to be done to engage the community,” said Raymond, who has made more community involvement in schools a top priority. “With these surveys, we heard most often from community members who attend school board meetings or are involved in schools in some other way. We need to do much more to reach out to and involve the thousands of parents and community members who are not normally engaged in what happens in our city’s schools. We will not reach our very high academic goals for our children unless we get broad involvement in public education by the entire community.”
The historic, first-of-its-kind effort to involve Sacramento residents in the improvement of their public schools began Jan.19 when the public and district employees were invited to respond to the online surveys regarding the school district budget and development of a strategic plan. The surveys closed on February 9. Complete results from the surveys are expected soon.
An initial report reveals that 12,855 responses were made to the surveys, including 4,609 students who responded to the survey regarding the strategic plan, and 2,087 teachers and other staff and 2,336 community members who responded to the budget and strategic plan surveys.
Among community members who responded to the survey regarding

Reiss on tap for ed secretary The Educated Guess

The Educated Guess

Reiss on tap for ed secretary

Posted in Uncategorized

The word from Sacramento is that Gov. Schwarzenegger will soon name Bonnie Reiss, long-time friend and adviser, as his sixth — and, I hope, last — secretary of state.
Reiss served as a senior adviser for the governor from 2003-07. He nominated her to the UC Board of Regents two years ago. In 1992, Reiss established Schwarzenegger’s non-profit After School All Stars, and ran it for six years. Reiss is currently a partner in the Pegasus Sustainable Century Merchant Bank.
There had been speculation that the governor might leave the job vacant or appoint Undersecretary of Education Kathy Gaither-Radtkey, who was his point person for the Race to the Top application. Or he could have abolished the office altogether, as a gesture to budget cutter and let the next governor fight to reestablish it, since the office, with little statutory power, has

Schools Matter: "Houston Oil Executives Up the Ante at YES Prep Poker Tournament

"Houston Oil Executives Up the Ante at YES Prep Poker Tournament

Hedge fund managers and banksters fund NYC charters; the Daley political machine and his cronies run Chicago charters; and one of the biggest charter chains in Houston is funded by oil and energy execs looking for tax breaks.

From Business Week:

Houston Oil Executives Up the Ante at YES Prep Poker Tournament
February 19, 2010, 11:48 AM EST
By Edward Klump
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Houston, the energy capital of the world, seemed more like the Las Vegas Strip last night.
About 600 employees from oil and natural-gas companies gathered downtown for more than five hours of Texas Hold ‘Em as YES Prep Public Schools held its sold-out fifth annual oil and gas poker fundraiser.
Companies such as Marathon Oil Corp. paid $5,000 to $25,000 per table. Individuals could buy a seat for $600 each.

NEA - Priority Schools

NEA Priority Schools Campaign: Disrupting the Status Quo

Turning around lower-performing schools is a high priority for the 3.2 million members of the National Education Association. By leading permanent changes in these Priority Schools, we will transform the lives of tens of thousands of students by significantly raising academic achievement.

Our commitment includes a vow to work side-by-side with communities and with policymakers in state capitals, in Congress and the Obama administration; to partner in pursuit of innovative programs to measure student success and teacher quality; and to fight to attract and keep the best educators and necessary resources for the schools of greatest need.

Click the video screen below to learn more about why turning around low-performing schools is a high priority.

“Plain and simple, the status quo is not acceptable. We cannot continue to do in America what weve been doing to students for the last 20, 30, 50 years. The world has changed and we need a different system.”
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel

Meet the Flintstones | The Texas Tribune

Meet the Flintstones | The Texas Tribune:

"Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

The differences in beliefs about evolution and the length of time that living things have existed on earth are reflected in the political and religious preference of our respondents, who were asked four questions about biological history and God:

• 38 percent said human beings developed over millions of years with God guiding the process and another 12 percent said that development happened without God having any part of the process. Another 38 percent agreed with the statement 'God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.'"

Beware of Myths About Common Standards, Organizers Say - Curriculum Matters - Education Week

One of the guys leading the common-standards initiative sat down in front of a roomful of state board of education members in Philadelphia yesterday and said, "I'm not from the federal government." A wave of chuckles rippled through the room. But he was getting at something serious.

The quip by Chris Minnich, who is overseeing the common-standards work for the Council of Chief State School Officers, was intended to ease some of the skepticism about the initiative being led by CCSSO and the National Governors Association. He was appearing with the NGA's David Wakelyn at the third in a series of regional meetings the National Association of State Boards of Education has been hosting to inform its members about the Common Core Standards Initiative.

Minnich was responding to grumbles that emerged at an earlier NASBE meeting that the common-standards initiative is an unwelcome federal intrusion into states' education business. (See here for a story I wrote from that meeting, and two blog items, here and here.)

Minnich clarified that the initiative originated with states, not the federal government. And while the feds are certainly ardent supporters of the common-standards work—even offering Race to the Top incentives to states that support it—the initiative is not, not, not a federal initiative, he said.

Keep best parts of No Child law - The Denver Post

After watching health care reform fall apart, it is encouraging to see a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers joining forces to rewrite No Child Left Behind, the 2002 federal education law that jolted states into focusing on student achievement.

The ambitious measure is far from perfect, and there is certainly room for improvement. We have criticized it on several counts, including its harsh punishment of struggling schools that are making progress, yet still not measuring up.

However, we hope that those involved in the NCLB overhaul push back against the powerful interests, such as teachers unions and states, that may try to take advantage of the overhaul to weaken some of the better parts of the law.

Lawmakers must make certain schools remain accountable for student achievement, and ensure that it's a priority to have quality teachers in every classroom. Great teachers are the most important factor in improving student achievement, along with interested parents.

Those parts of NCLB must be retained, strengthened and backstopped with other metrics. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have emphasized the need to tie progress in student achievement to a teacher's evaluation, and we couldn't agree more. The development of these types of measures is part of the administration's Race to the Top grant program, in which states are competing for hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.

A Sequel to the Charter School Research Wars - Inside School Research - Education Week

A Sequel to the Charter School Research Wars

By Debra Viadero on February 18, 2010 3:35 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

There has been no shortage of newsmaking charter school studies over the last year. The biggest of the bunch was a national study of charter schools by Margaret Raymond and her colleagues at the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University. It compared learning gains over the course of a school year for charter school students in 16 states to those of demographically similar students in nearby traditional schools. The bottom line: Although there was huge variation among the charter schools studied, the traditional school students, on the whole, appeared to learn slightly more than their charter school counterparts.

The study came in for some heavy criticism, though, in October from Caroline Hoxby, another Stanford researcher, after she conducted her own study of charter schools in New York City and reached the opposite conclusion. She said the CREDO study suffered from "a serious mathematical mistake" that may have biased the results in a downward direction.

Now the federal What Works Clearinghouse has waded into the debate. In itslatest "quick review," the research agency concludes that the CREDO study was "consistent with WWC standards with reservations." It also adds a word of caution, though:

"Although the study matched charter school students to traditional public school students based on demographic characteristics and test scores, it is

Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge | The White House

Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge

February 18, 2010 | 1:24

President Obama announces a new Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and invites public schools across the country to compete to have him speak at their graduation. Visit WhiteHouse.gov/Commencement to apply.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 19

Submitted by Erika Owens on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 09:27 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Fairhill pupils await Michelle Obama The Inquirer
Mrs. Obama is visiting the elementary school Friday to talk about her campaign against childhood obesity.

Ackerman: Youth violence a public health issue The Inquirer
Superintendent Ackerman explained that the 15,000 violent and nonviolent incidents are far too many.

See also: Jackson: prevent flash mobs with better schools Philly.com

Why can't they just teach their kids English? The Notebook blog
Len Rieser wrote in response to a recent Inquirer op-ed that questioned spending District dollars to teach immigrant kids English.

Gubernatorial candidates debate in Center City Philly.com
PSU and YUC students spoke at the forum. The discussion of education referenced the costing-out study and importance of early childhood ed.

Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.

Click here to get Notes from the news in your inbox every day.

Notes from the news

Discussion with Author Dympna Ugwu-Oju at Folsom Lake College on Feb. 24 — The Rancho Cordova Post

he community is invited to a discussion with author Dympna Ugwu-Oju entitled “A Woman in Tribal Africa, a Black in White America” on Wednesday, February 24, at 7pm at Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway in Folsom. The event will take place in the college’s Community Room (Aspen Hall room FL1-20) and is sponsored by Folsom Lake College’s Multicultural Sub-Committee as part of African American History Month.

Dympna Ugwu-Oju was born in Nsukka, Nigeria. She has been published extensively in national newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek and the New York Times. Her first book, What Will My Mother Say (A Tribal African Girl Comes of Age in America), describes her childhood in the traditional Ibo culture of Nigeria where a woman’s value is determined by factors she does not control and chronicles her war-torn childhood.

Her second book, In the Eyes of God (A Biafran story) is awaiting publication. Dympna holds her Bachelor’s Degree (English, minor in Magazine Journalism) from Briarcliff College, a Master’s of Science (Print Journalism) from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and a Doctorate Degree (Educational Leadership) from California State University, Fresno, and University of California, Davis. She is currently an instructor of Journalism at Fresno City College and previously taught at Middlesex County College in New Jersey and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Admission to the event is free (a daily parking pass can be purchased for $1). For a map with

Elk Grove Citizen : 10 percent layoffs loom for school district

Elk Grove Citizen : News

10 percent layoffs loom for school district

By Citizen staff

Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:11 AM PST

Last year, the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) sent out 220 full-time employee (FTE) pink slips on March 3. Many employees, however, kept their positions as funds came from the state and other sources.

This year, with the district’s $42 million budget shortfall, 600 FTE pink slips will be sent out on March 15.

EGUSD Superintendent Dr. Steven Ladd’s staff and cabinet adjourned Friday afternoon after three days of meetings to cope with the ongoing financial crisis of their district.

The EGUSD administration had expected to make more adjustments in expenditures from another shortfall of $13 million from the state for the school year 2010-11. But last week it was announced there may be an additional $5 million funding loss.

How many more FTE pink slips will be issued is unknown.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal includes a negative .38-percent Cost Of Living Adjustment. That equates to another budget cut of about $24 per student for EGUSD for the 2010-2011 school year. The district has 60,000 students.

In addition, the governor’s budget further proposes a $1.5 billion cut to K-12. While his proposal indicates that the $1.5 billion would come out of school district administrative costs, financial experts agree that after years of budget reductions, the target of the cut will likely change.

In addition, the governor also proposed eliminating the sales tax on gasoline, and changing it