Monday, April 12, 2010

Well, that’s one way to take care of staffing at the Priority Schools… � SCUSD Observer

SCUSD Observer

Sacramento, California

Well, that’s one way to take care of staffing at the Priority Schools…

Data Surfer: Report estimates impact of state cuts to local schools, social services

Report estimates impact of state cuts to local schools, social services

Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed 2010-11 budget contains a number of cuts in state spending on education and social services. The non-partisan California Budget Project recently issued a series of fact sheets that estimate the impact of these reductions on local schools and welfare programs (including Healthy Families, CalWORKS, In-Home Supportive Services and senior disability assistance).

Three new CPB fact sheets calcuate the impact of the proposed $2.7 billion cut in K-12 education spending on counties, county offices of education and individual school districts. Each document estimates the total reduction in funding, as well as the estimated reduction per student. Sacramento County, for example, would lose $67.6 million or $322 per student. Sacramento City Unified School District would lose $12.8 million or $304 per student.

It's all about information -- statistics, documents and data of all types that help us understand the world, make informed decisions and monitor government. It's about empowering citizens with tools and sources so they can conduct their own investigative research. This blog is a place to discuss information that's available on the Internet. What's relevant, useful, valid and accurate -- and what's not.

We know the Sacramento region is home to knowledgeable people who use online information in their respective fields. We want to hear from you. Please tell us what you think of the data we use in stories and post on The Bee's website. And share tips about online resources you think are valuable to this blog's readers. Post comments on this blog or contact Pete Basofin directly at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

Stringer calls on city to overhaul “chaotic” space planning | GothamSchools

Stringer calls on city to overhaul “chaotic” space planning

by Maura Walz

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presents a report on overcrowding in Manhattan schools.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presents his report on overcrowding in Manhattan schools.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called today for an overhaul of the city’s process for matching student demand to building space, charging that the city’s current process is causing “chaos and uncertainty” for parents and students.

Standing outside of the Upper West Side’s P.S. 334, Stringer reported that more than four out of 10 Manhattan schools are either overcrowded or are losing classroom space as the city tries to cram more students into a finite number of school buildings.

The report details what are by now familiar complaints about overcrowding in Manhattan schools, which have seen their population of young students boom in recent years without a corresponding addition of seats.

Remainders: NY Mag names Greenpoint #1 for public schools

by Anna Phillips

New York Magazine ranks the city’s neighborhoods, naming Greenpoint #1 for its public schools.
Michele McNeil reports that most i3 applicants are focusing on standards and turnarounds.
One of Miss Eyre’s middle school students reminds her what it’s like to be an adolescent.
A teacher says the city’s failed plan to pay students for performance puts teacher merit pay in doubt.
Chaz: principals’ power to change grades is partially to blame for the high numbers in remedial classes.
The budget crisis is an opportunity for the city and union to give on some issues, writes a UFT member.
Parents who helped create “meatless Mondays” at their children’s school suggest others do the same.
LGBTQ students in Chicago are asking for the ability to formally report school staff who harass them.
Teachers respond to the question: should HS students read aloud in class?
Chester Finn says he’s “outraged” that China is paying for U.S. public schools to teach Mandarin.
Thinking of parents as consumers actually gives them less power, writes Kenneth Libby.
And FL Governor Christ says he’s going to spend the week listening, then decide on tenure bill.

New law could give schools a bigger cut of lottery money | California Watch

New law could give schools a bigger cut of lottery money

by Corey G. Johnson

Corey G. Johnson

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that may provide cash-starved schools a larger share of state's lottery proceeds.
The new law, written by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, shrinks by 3 percent the fees paid to the California State Lottery for administration purposes. At the same time, the amounts paid out in cash prizes and school funding were raised by 3 percent.
This equates to the Lottery receiving 13 percent of the annual revenues; approximately 87 percent would be

Oregon chosen to help lead the nation in raising standards for day care | OregonLive.com

Oregon chosen to help lead the nation in raising standards for day care

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian

April 12, 2010, 4:20PM

Andrea J. Wright/Special to The OregonianOregon is one of six states chosen by the National Governors Associationto help pioneer higher day care standards that could serve as a model for the rest of the country, the association announced today.

The idea is that daycare licensing standards focus mainly on health and safety and on staffing ratios and say little about the quality of the curriculum or the measurement of developmental milestones for kids.

That's a mistake, given that a child's experiences from birth to age five shape the developing brain’s architecture and directly influence later life outcomes including economic stability, work productivity and mental health, according to John Thomasian, director of the NGA's Center for Best Practices.

Oregon already is a leader in requiring its state-funded pre-kindergarten programs to match the high standards of the federal Head Start program, says Dell Ford, Head Start specialist at the Oregon Department of Education.

And Oregon already has a public-private initiative, known as Equip, underway to help upgrade the skills and training of daycare workers and to raise standards for daycare centers and home-based day cares.

The expertise provided by the governors' group and experts it hires for the project will help Oregon move further and faster, Ford said. The standards for daycare providers are designed to be voluntary, but some incentives may be built in to encourage centers and family providers to come aboard.

As an example, she said, day care programs should measure whether each

Hillsboro School District nurse receives Public Health Award for organizing H1N1 clinics

by Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

Michelle Brady pulled from her training with Medical Teams International and the Girl Scouts to organize hundreds of vaccinations.

Schools Matter: School to Prison

School to Prison

by Kenneth Libby

From Physorg.com (h/t to Mike Klonsky on Twitter):

It's projected that by 2029, prisons will house almost 30,000 of the 600,000 four-year olds now living in America. The solution to this problem lies within families, schools and communities. Study author Oscar A. Barbarin, III, Ph.D. identifies specific practices needed in order to turn this situation around. Parents, as a child's first teacher, can do a lot by engaging with them through talking, listening, and offering challenging new experiences.
Schools can begin by acknowledging the unique challenges facing African-American males, developing strong relationships with their families, and by using teaching practices that

The California Majority Report // Will Newspapers Be Exposing "Anonymous" Sock Puppet Commenters on Blog Sites?

STEVEN MAVIGLIO

Will Newspapers Be Exposing "Anonymous" Sock Puppet Commenters on Blog Sites?

April 12, 2010 @ 4:33 PM

Great article in the New York Times today noting that some of the nation's major newspapers are revising their policies about anonymous comments to articles -- something the editors at the Sacramento Bee, LA Times, and the state's other major newspapers should read.

As the article notes, online comments haven't been held to the same standard as letters to the editors. Particularly in politics, they are often vile -- and the newspapers and online outlets have shirked their responsibility to require comment posters to own up to how they are.

Here's the article citing how some newspapers are "growing up".

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12comments.html?ref=technology

Schools Matter: Vander Ark and Shelton; Parents; Checker Joins EEP

Vander Ark and Shelton; Parents; Checker Joins EEP

from Schools Matter by Kenneth Libby

Recently, leading corporate school reformer guru and former Gates Foundation ed head, Tom Vander Ark, posted a draft of a report, "Good Urban Schools: A Portfolio Approach," on his blog. The final edition of this white paper, published in 2005 by the Gates Foundation, had the title, "High-Performing School Districts: Challenge, Support, Alignment, and Choice," but did not name Vander Ark as an author.

But what really struck me about Vander Ark's draft was that he co-wrote it with Jim Shelton, the former Gates/NSVF official now in charge of Duncan's i3 fund. Take some time to read the report: it helps explain the advocacy positions and programs of the Gates Foundation (and, by extension, many of their followers in the philanthropic sector), not to mention the current DOE.

Before I point out a few things about the white paper and draft, let me say that Twitter can be a beautiful tool for understand the point of view of of those you disagree with. Although the 140 character limit can

Radio Show to Spotlight Local Happenings — The Rancho Cordova Post

Radio Show to Spotlight Local Happenings

by HELEN BREWER on APRIL 12, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in VIEWPOINTS

City of Rancho Cordova projects and events are featured the second Monday each month on the Justin Anderson Radio Program on “The Voice” of ACCESS Sacramento. Airing live from 6 to 9 p.m., the program is heard on-line at AccessSacramento.org, click “The Voice”.

On Monday, April 12th at 6:15 p.m., Steve Harriman, Rancho Cordova’s Integrated Waste Manager, will talk the free e-waste recycling event that will take place in the City Hall parking lot on Saturday, April 17th.

At 7 p.m., the City’s Economic Development Director, Curt Haven, will be interviewed about the Farmer’s Market that relocated to Rancho Cordova from Sunrise Mall in March. The popular Market sets up each Saturday morning in the Sunrise Light Rail Station parking lot at the corner of Sunrise and Folsom Boulevards.

At 8 p.m., Todd Humphrey, Facilities Manager for the City of Rancho Cordova, will be tell about the new Wellness Walkway that encircles City Hall. The new pathway includes several

Examining the “Race to the Test” Guidelines (part I) � The Quick and the Ed

Examining the “Race to the Test” Guidelines (part I)

What’s to like and what’s to fear in the administration’s guidelines for the $350 million “Race to the Test” competition?

The Big Picture

There are really two competitions here: the $320 million fund for comprehensive assessment systems (current NCLB tests) and a $30 million fund for high school end-of-course tests. The administration projects two $160 million comprehensive assessment winners and one end-of-course testing winner–a total of three winners. State consortia are the only eligible applicants for these funds and consortia applying for comprehensive assessment system grants must have at least 15 states represented.

However, this “Race” may be more akin to your elementary school field day–

Credits as Currency
by Kevin Carey

One of the most interesting things going on in higher education is the Bologna Process, which is (to oversimplify a lot) an attempt to create a European common market for higher education. In the past, European countries have had very different ways of signifying post-secondary learning, both at the course level (credits) and credential level (degrees). This created a lot of friction and uncertainty in the labor market, making it harder for students to bring credits across national borders and for academics and employers to fairly judge the value of foreign degrees. Now Europe is moving to a standard 3+2 degrees cycle (3 years for a bachelors and 2 years for a Master’s, in American terms) and creating a great deal more transparency with respect to what, exactly, students who have earned credits from a given program or university have actually learned. That transparency, in turn, is the foundation for assuring that credits have value and mean what they say.
In part, the Bologna Process is a move to catch up with the United States. Just as there are no tariffs on inter-

Bingo! Playing a Game With The Times to Improve English Language Skills - The Learning Network Blog - NYTimes.com

April 12, 2010, 12:18 PM

Bingo! Playing a Game With The Times to Improve English Language Skills

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN AND DINAH MACK

The New York TimesGo to the Times Topics page on Grammar »Go to a related article »

LANGUAGE ARTS

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | How can students improve English language skills by reading The New York Times? In this lesson, students first compile lists of their own personal “grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage demons,” then play a bingo game to find examples of correct usage in The New York Times; finally, they track particular words, marks of punctuation or elements of grammar or usage through a week’s worth of The Times to view examples.

Materials | Computers with Internet access and/or several print copies of any day’s New York Times (enough so that each student, or pair of students, has access to a section.)

Warm-up | Put the two sentences “Let’s eat, Grandma” and “Let’s eat Grandma” on the board and ask students what each sentence means. Then ask why a Facebook group that uses these two sentences in its title is subtitled “Punctuation Saves Lives.” (If time permits, you might even take a moment to challenge students to write their own pairs of nearly identical sentences in which one punctuation mark completely changes the meaning.)

Next, ask students to work with a partner to think of three grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, style or usage errors they tend to make regularly. You might have them first scan some of their own work to identify errors;

University of Nevada-Reno holds unique one-of-a-kind-in-the-world Baccalaureate Service

University of Nevada-Reno holds unique one-of-a-kind-in-the-world Baccalaureate Service

Unique, one of a kind baccalaureate service in the world, was held at University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) on April 11 evening.

“Third Annual Hindu Baccalaureate Service of UNR (Dikshant Utsav)” blessed the graduating class in the traditional Hindu style according to ancient scriptures, complete with applying tilak (religious mark) on the foreheads of graduates, participatory reading of Gayatri Mantra in Sanskrit, and kirtan (sacred chant). In addition, it also included blessings by Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’i, and Confucian representatives who read prayers in Arabic, Pali, Hebrew, Persian, besides English.

Organized by Indo-American leader Rajan Zed in collaboration with Indian Student Organization and South Asian Association of UNR, it started with lighting traditional lamp before the statue of goddess Saraswati, patron of learning and the arts, and included blessing of the upcoming graduates with wisdom from Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita—all ancient Hindu scriptures, by well-known Hindu monk Swami Vedananda from California. Prominent musician Jim Eaglesmith chanted kirtan number “Sita-Ram” and the audience followed him on the chant.

Special certificates were given to graduates on the occasion with the parting advice as –satyam vada (speak the truth), dharma chara (practice righteousness), matrudevo bhava (treat your mother with great respect), pitrudevo bhava (treat your father with great respect), etc.

Besides Vedananda, those who blessed the graduating class included Catholic Pastor Charles T. Durante, Presbyterian Pastor Bruce Taylor, Bruce Brinkerhoff of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Muslim Imam Abdulrahim Barghouthi, Buddhist Priest Phil Bryan, Jewish Rabbi Elizabeth Beyer, Baha’i Roya Galata, Confucian Shih Fan Chu, Nevada Clergy Association president Gene Savoy Jr., Nevada Solicitor General Charles Wayne Howle, Sparks Mayor Geno R. Martini, Judge Jim Van Winkle, and Chair UNR Faculty Senate Elliott Parker. Reno Nevada Institute of Religion delivered a Quartet (My Heavenly Father loves me) led by Mark Lorentzen.

United States (US) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, US Congressman Dean Heller, Supreme Court of Nevada Associate Chief Justice James W. Hardesty, and Reno Mayor Robert A. Cashell Sr. sent congratulatory messages on the occasion.

Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, speaking on the occasion, said that the purpose of this baccalaureate service was to root the graduating class in divine spiritual and cultural tradition so that they had a spiritually meaningful life in addition to material success.

Education in Hindu tradition has been deep rooted; Zed says and adds that after many important universities in ancient India, like Taxila, Nalanda, Sarnath, Amaravati, Banaras, Kanchi and Ujjain; great Indian universities also flourished in medieval period, like Odantapura (745 AD), Vikramasila (810 AD), Somapura (480 AD), Jagaddala (1090 AD).

Baccalaureate service basically means service where a sermon is delivered to the graduating class. In use since at least the eighth century, origins of the baccalaureate service point to an Oxford University statute of 1432, which required each bachelor to deliver a sermon in Latin as part of the academic exercise.

The flagship institution of the state established in 1864, UNR is one of the top 120 universities in America for funded research, which spans issues relating to the environment, renewable energy resources, the life sciences and plasma physics. The University competes in 19 men's and women’s sports. Dr. Milton D. Glick is the President.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Details of the picture attached: Religious, political, and educational leaders with some of the graduating students at the “Third Annual Hindu Baccalaureate Service of University of Nevada-Reno”.

Picture by: ML Bates

Sacramento Press / Sacramento Statewide Leader in Green Job Growth

Sacramento Statewide Leader in Green Job Growth

by Laura Good

Sacramento led the state in green job growth in 2008, with an increase in green jobs of 87% between 1995 and 2008, reports Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs. This report was released by nonpartisan Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, and provides the most comprehensive green jobs accounting to date, systematically tracking the most recent available data on green companies, job type, location and growth across every sector and region of California.
There are other positive indicators in the Sacramento region that we are on our way to becoming the clean tech capital of the state. In its annual CleanStart Progress report, SARTA identified over $130 million in clean tech grants that were awarded in 2009 to organizations in the region. In 2010, we’ve already seen $905 thousand awarded to Sacramento State University for the development of a new training and workforce development program to enhance the region’s growing smart grid system.
SARTA’s CleanStart program identified 98 companies in the region engaged in the clean tech sector for 2009; twenty of these companies were new to the list. The clean-tech companies in the region include three publically traded companies: Solar Power Inc. (SOPW.OB), Octus Energy (OCTI.OB) and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX). Solar

Some Hints on Who's Applying for i3 - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Some Hints on Who's Applying for i3

By Michele McNeil on April 12, 2010 5:10 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The list of those who say they intend to apply for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grants isn't online yet, but the U.S. Department of Education has offered a glimpse into the future of i3.
First, every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had at least two school districts or nonprofits tell the department they plan to apply. (The act of notifying the department of an intent to apply is really just a courtesy, and prospective applicants can change their minds and apply—or not apply.) Not surprising, because of their sheer size, California, New York and Texas had the most applicants, at more than 100 each. The deadline to formally apply for these awards is May 11, at 4:30 p.m. (on the dot!)
Second, it appears that prospective applicants want to focus their grant proposals on standards and assessments and turning around low-performing schools. In competing for i3, applicants have to decide which of