Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council 2010 Campaign Update

Vote for Community, Vote for Sacramento!

Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council 2o10

This past Saturday marked a busy day in District 5.

The day started with an opportunity to spend time with neighbors and friends at the Bret Harte Elementary School pancake breakfast, where I honed my pancake flipping skills. There was also time to drop by the first Oak Park Farmer's Market and the International Fair at John Morse Elementary School. And, of course, I couldn't miss the 70th Anniversary celebration of one of the District's (and City's) icons, Gunther's Ice Cream, where the ice cream is still as good as it was when I was a kid. In between, I managed to knock on doors in Golf Course Terrace and City Farms.

It was even good to see the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, drop by the District for an event in Curtis Park.

I have said it many times. District 5 is an amazing tapestry of neighborhoods with great diversity, culture, and history. I am proud to have served here as a neighborhood leader and school board member. I look forward to taking that experience and working for our neighborhoods at City Hall.

If you have any questions about my candidacy or want to talk about issues facing our city, I welcome you to call me at 446-4434, or visit my website at www.Patrick-Kennedy.com, where I hope you will sign up as a supporter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Patrick Kennedy

Please join me and many leaders from the LGBT community for a fundraiser in support of my campaign for City Council (click here for more details).

Date: June 1, 2010
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Headhunter's Video Lounge & Grill (1930 K Street)

I hope to see you there!

Remainders: New D.C. teachers contract making charters nervous | GothamSchools

Remainders: New D.C. teachers contract making charters nervous

by Maura Walz

All but eight upstate school budget proposals up for voter approval this week passed.
Their approval came despite Gov. Paterson’s predictions of voter anger over state spending.
NYSUT said the pass rate shows New Yorkers support school spending even in the dire economic climate.
Is student feedback a good measure of teacher effectiveness? Teacher Beat wonders.
Richard Kessler memorializes a great arts teacher, the former arts department chair at Beach Channel HS.
The big raises in the new D.C. teachers contract make some charters nervous they can’t afford to compete.
Mulgrew’s retirement incentive plan depends on the city replacing veteran teachers with brand new ones.
Norm reads emergency union meetings as signs the UFT wants to tamp down teacher unrest.
Education technology specialists discussed what they can learn from venture capitalists yesterday.
Ed Reform Now is continuing its steady stream of new pro-charter, anti-union television ads.
The final vote on proposed Texas social studies standards is scheduled for Friday.
And a second-grader took the spotlight in the debate over immigration reform today.

Manhattan charter school accused of abusing unruly students | GothamSchools

Manhattan charter school accused of abusing unruly students

by Maura Walz

City investigators are accusing a Manhattan charter school that focuses on serving special education students of violently disciplining students and covering up the abuses.
Staff at Opportunity Charter School allegedly punched one student, threw another to the ground and pulled a third out of a classroom by her hair during the 2007-08 school year, according to a report released today by the city’s Special Commissioner for Investigation. The report documents a total of six cases of verbal and physical abuse.
According to the report, the school’s staff members who were accused of violently disciplining students were never punished themselves. The accused staff include the school’s administrative director, a dean of students, and specialists trained to work with special needs students. In some cases, the school also failed to document

City planning to help laid-off teachers get special ed jobs

by Anna Phillips

Faced with the possibility of laying off more than 6,000 school teachers, New York City school officials are privately working on a plan to save some of their jobs.
The plan would improve laid off teachers’ chances of staying in the school system by retraining them for a new subject area for which schools are in perpetual demand: special education. The retraining would happen at local education schools, at night or on weekends, so that teachers could remain working in schools without a pause.
The plan would make teachers more marketable at a time when the city is struggling to fill classroom vacancies in special education, said Deputy Chancellor John White at a citywide school board meeting last night.
DOE officials estimate they will need to hire between 600 and 800 special education teachers next year, thoug

Fuzzy Math on Teacher Retirements � The Quick and the Ed

Fuzzy Math on Teacher Retirements

by Chad Aldeman

Michael Mulgrew, head of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, suggests the city can ease its budget crisis by offering early retirement incentives for experienced teachers to retire. Intoday’s New York Post he writes:

Retirement incentives are particularly effective in the Department of Education, since senior teachers make more than twice the salary of entry-level teachers. There are about 25,000 experienced teachers to whom such an incentive could be offered right now. Given current salary levels, the retirement of 1,000 of them would save the city $55 million per year. If 4,000 senior teachers were to retire, the system would save more than $220 million – even if every retiree is replaced by a new teacher.

This is a common argument you hear during budget crises, but the math does not add up. Given New York City’s hiring spree over the last decade, not to mention local pressure to keep class sizes low, it’s safe to assume the retiring teacher would indeed be replaced. To get to Mulgrew’s $55,000 savings per teacher, we have to assume the district will replace a teacher that’s maxed out on the salary schedule ($100,000 in NYC) with one without a Master’s degree or any years of experience ($45,000). Mulgrew’s figure is the maximum amount and any variation (say, if the new hire had a few years of experience or additional credits beyond a bachelor’s degree) would reduce the savings. More importantly, this calculation does not include the minimum $44,000 annual

Teaching Candidates Aplenty, but the Jobs Are Few - NYTimes.com

Teaching Candidates Aplenty, but the Jobs Are Few

By WINNIE HU

Published: May 19, 2010

PELHAM, N.Y. — In the month since Pelham Memorial High School in Westchester County advertised seven teaching jobs, it has been flooded with 3,010 applications from candidates as far away as Colorado and California. The Port Washington district on Long Island is sorting through 3,620 applications for eight positions — the largest pool the superintendent has seen in his 41-year career.

Even hard-to-fill specialties are no longer so hard to fill. Jericho, N.Y., has 963 people to choose from for five spots in special education, more than twice as many as in past years. In Connecticut, chemistry and physics jobs in Hartford that normally attract no more than five candidates have 110 and 51, respectively.

The recession seems to have penetra

UCD students protest sports cuts today - Sacramento Sports - Kings, 49ers, Raiders, High School Sports | Sacramento Bee

UCD students protest sports cuts today

by lrosenthall@sacbee.com (Laurel Rosenhall)

UC Davis swim team member Pierce Hunter, 19, marches with other athletes on April 2 to protest proposed University of California budget cuts for athletics.

UC Davis students and parents upset by the university's decision to eliminate four sports teams are gathering this afternoon to protest with a march, a meeting and a speech by Olympic wrestler Dan Gable.
The meeting is aimed at allowing students and parents to discuss their concerns about the process the UC Davis administration used to decide how to cut the athletics budget. Many feel the process was flawed and hasty, resulting in unfair cuts. At the meeting, they will present alternative budget cuts that would allow UC Davi

NC Senate begins $19 billion budget debate Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Massachusetts leads, California lags

Posted in Common Core standards

California likes to be linked with Massachusetts as states with the nation’s most rigorous academic standards. Call it bragging by association.
A big difference, though, is that the Bay State is also high-achieving – near the top of the National Assessment of Educational Progress state rankings, among other measures – while California bumps along year after year near the bottom.
The two states’ approaches to evaluating common-core standards, being developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, are revealing as well – and tell a lot about how seriously the two states go about deciding education policy.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on May 19th, 2010

Now or never to sign Race to the Top MOU

Posted in Race to the Top

A 19-page memorandum of understanding for signing up for Round 2 of Race to the Top went out Monday. District, county offices of education and charter schools will have only until Wednesday to indicate whether they’re in or out.
This time, there will be no coaxing or convincing, with a wink or a nod, that districts can always back out later if they don’t like the terms. This time, the state’s not going all out to build a big tent of participants at the sacrifice of strong commitments. This time, superintendents, local union presidents and presidents of the boards of trustees should sign the dotted line only if they’re prepared to agree to a specific and lengthy set of reforms.
(Read more and comment on this post)

Calling the Teachers' Union's Bluff in Rhode Island :: Frederick M. Hess

Calling the Teachers' Union's Bluff in Rhode Island

by Frederick M. Hess
National Review Online
May 18, 2010

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There was big news yesterday out of Rhode Island's Central Falls. In February, Superintendent Fran Gallo fired every teacher at Central Falls High School after they refused to get on board with her efforts to transform the poorly performing school — the teachers had previously embraced the transformation model, because it would protect their jobs, but then decided they didn't want any measures that would, you know, actually transform the school. But yesterday, the teachers' union acceded to Gallo's demands, and, in return, Gallo backed off on the mass firing (or, as she had called it, "turnaround").

Some observers might regard Gallo's move as a disappointing reversion to powder-puff school management, especially given her weak-kneed press release stuffed with assurances that all the union ever wanted was "what is best for our students." But such concerns are misplaced. Gallo's play shows how s

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Dolores Huerta Preparatory High

Dolores Huerta Preparatory High

by The Perimeter Primate

Chavez schools ordered to fire finance officer (The Pueblo Chieftan, May 19, 2010)

The Pueblo City Schools Board of Education fired its toughest salvo yet against two charter schools Tuesday night, giving them 48 hours to fire their chief financial officer or possibly have their charters revoked.
The board approved a letter by a 4-0 vote — board member Dan Comden had left the meeting early — putting Cesar Chavez Academy and Dolores Huerta Preparatory High on probation for violating numerous parts of their charter contracts as spelled out in two state-ordered audits.

Opportunity Charter School

by The Perimeter Primate

Manhattan's Opportunity Charter School accused of using disciplinary goon squad to beat problem kids (NY Daily News, May 19, 2010)

A Manhattan charter school stands accused of letting its disciplinary team turn into a virtual goon squad that cracked down on troublemakers with violent beatdowns.
Students at Opportunity Charter School were punched, thrown to the floor and even dragged around by their hair, according to the city's Special Commissioner of Investigation.

City Day Community School

by The Perimeter Primate

With proctors in class, City Day's test scores fall: The charter school is under state investigation for possibly cheating on the achievement tests in 2006. (Dayton Daily News, August 16, 2007)

DAYTON — City Day Community School, under state investigation for possibly cheating on Ohio achievement tests in 2006, saw its scores plummet in 2007 when testing there was monitored.
Last year, City Day jumped two steps from the bottom rating of academic emergency to continuous improvement on Ohio's five-step scale after huge test score gains.

Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy

by The Perimeter Primate

Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy to close immediately (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 20, 2010)

Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy’s two city school campuses will close as soon as tomorrow, according to an attorney for Missouri Baptist University, the charter school’s sponsor.
Chris Nicastro, state commissioner of education, sent an e-mail this morning to state legislators, saying that the charter school “is unable to meet financial obligations and unable to continue operations for the remainder of the school year.”

This Week In Education Media: CT EdCoverage Gets Veteran Voice

This Week In Education

Media: CT EdCoverage Gets Veteran Voice

by Alexander Russo

Bob Frahm and other Hartford Courant refugees are doing a great job covering education and other issues at a new site called the CT Mirror, I'm told by reformy types who hail from that part of the world. I haven't checked it out in any detail and have my nagging doubts about nonprofit media lasting long without readers or revenue, but I'm glad to see Frahm back on the beat, and glad to know that there's some

Charters and transparency: Comparing Hardy Williams School to Morton | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Charters and transparency: Comparing Hardy Williams School to Morton

by f

In light of the disturbing findings of Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz’s recent investigation of 13 charter schools and the revelation that an ongoing federal investigation of several other charter schools in the city is under way, isn’t it time that we take a more careful look at the District’s Renaissance Schools plan?
Judging from the provider matches for half of the first 14 Renaissance Eligible schools, it is clear that this plan is going to rely heavily on turning District-managed schools into charter schools.

Remarks by Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Zavala at "Let's Move" event | The White House

Remarks by Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Zavala at "Let's Move" event

by The White House

11:31 A.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you all for sharing. I mean, one of the reasons we came to this school is because of what you all are doing here. I don't know if you know, but --
STUDENT: Can you come to Field Day?
MRS. OBAMA: You know, I'll see. I'll see what day it is and see what else is going on, but it sounds like a lot of fun, and maybe I could wear jeans and sneakers and really get under the house.
But one of the things that I’m doing as First Lady is making sure that kids are healthy and eating right and getting the right kind of exercise, which is why what you’re doing here at your school -- the fact that you’ve got such wonderful teachers who are focused on your health and how you eat. We’re going to go into the lunch room, and I don't know if we’re going to meet with you guys, but some of your classmates. And we’re going to see how you eat family-style and how you’re learning about how your bodies work, and how exercise is so important for your heart and the system all works together, and how food blends into that, because all of that is going to help you all develop really good habits so that when you’re adults you’re eating healthy. And if you decide to have kids of your own, you can teach them these habits.
But it’s so -- you are so blessed to be in a school like this that’s focusing and giving you this kind of information, and making it fun, right, because what you see is that exercise and play -- that's all exercise is, it’s a bunch of play. It’s just games. But you get your heart moving, and you’ve got to do that.
What they say is that kids should get 60 minutes of exercise every day. And you just got how many minutes were we --
MR. RYAN: About 25.

A tea bagger Senator. Who is Rand Paul? � Fred Klonsky's blog

A tea bagger Senator. Who is Rand Paul?

by preaprez

Rand Paul won the GOP nomination for senator from Kentucky. If elected, he would replace the loony Republican and former baseball player, Jiim Bunning.
Bunning is mainly remembered for being a loose canon, even by GOP wing-nut standards, and for holding up unemployment compensation during a period of the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.
Kentucky can pick ‘em, and I’m not talking about the Kentucky Derby.
Rand is the son of uber-libertarian, Ron Paul, who ran on a no-government platform for president in 2008.
But what about Rand?
Valerie Strauss, who writes The Answer Sheet for the Washington Post, gives a run-down of Rand’s views on education based on an NEA questionnaire.

A national voucher program.

Grand Jury slams Sacramento City Teachers Association - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Grand Jury slams Sacramento City Teachers Association

By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published: Wednesday, May. 19, 2010 - 12:03 pm

Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 19, 2010 - 12:10 pm

The Sacramento City Unified School District faces bankruptcy if its teachers union does not agree to contract concessions, according to a Sacramento County grand jury report released today.

The report painted Superintendent Jonathan Raymond as a man on a mission to get district finances in order while improving programs for students.

The Sacramento City Teachers Association received a critical review.

"It is time for unions to become more of an advocate for children," the report states.

The grand jury report comes as Sacramento City Unified attempts to negotiate with its teachers union to close a $30.6 million budget deficit.

Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Teaching Candidates Aplenty, but the Jobs Are Few

By WINNIE HU

Published: May 19, 2010

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Calling the Teachers' Union's Bluff in Rhode Island

Grand Jury slams Sacramento City Teachers Association