Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, January 8, 2012

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

PLAN B FROM D.C.

cartoon by Matt Davies/Tribune Media Services | Dec 28, 2011 | http://bit.ly/yjFxR2

LAUSD TEACHERS SPEAK OUT AFAINST CUTS: One of LAUSD's cost saving measures includes hiring back laid off teachers in temporary positions

…with little or no benefits By Ted Chen | KNBC Los Angeles | http://bit.ly/y3upRE Getty Images - Teachers and supporters demonstrate outside a Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education meeting on April 14. Saturday, Jan 7, 2012 | Updated 5:59 PM PST - Teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District fear that 2012 will be far worse than the past several years combined with

TopEd/EdGuess:DISTRICTS GET POWER, IF NOT CASH, IN GOV’S BUDGET+SWITCH TO WEIGHTED FUNDING, LOCAL CONTROL+DARLING-HAMMOND DISCUSSES HER IDEAS+NEXT STEP FOR ONLINE INITIATIVE

thoughts on Public Education/Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/v5tKAK Districts get power, if not cash, in Gov’s budget: School fortunes would rely on the ballot box Kathryn Baron January 6, 2012 :: California schools could gain billions or once again face the threat of a midyear budget cut under the 2012-13 budget proposal released in Sacramento yesterday by Gov. Jerry Brown. At a

VIRTUAL CHARTERS LAG BEHIND OTHER SCHOOLS' PERFORMANCE, REPORT SAYS + Report

Only 27% of for-profits operating virtual schools meet NCLB AYP By Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press (MCT) from EdWeek | http://bit.ly/xZVciq January 6, 2012 :: Virtual charter schools are one of the fastest-growing segments of the charter school industry, but a report released today raises questions about how well they educate students. The report by the National Education Policy Center

STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF TOM TORLAKSON COMMENTS ON GOVERNOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012-13

http://1.usa.gov/yXHUmC Release: #12-3 | January 5, 2012 Contact: Paul Hefner E-mail: communications@cde.ca.gov Phone: 916-319-0818 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued the following statement today on Governor Brown's proposed budget [http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/] (Outside Source) for the 2012-13 fiscal year: "The Governor has offered

Save the Date: ON JAN. 17, JOIN UTLA FOR A SPECIAL EVENT WITH EDUCATION EXPERT DIANE RAVITCH

Renowned author Diane Ravitch is taking part in a three-city speaking tour in California. Dr. Ravitch will speak to UTLA and community members on January 17 at 5:00 pm. Don't miss out! from utla website | http://bit.ly/zQ0cGc On Tuesday, January 17, join UTLA at 5 pm for an event with renowned author and education expert Diane Ravitch. Dr. Ravitch’s expertise on testing, value added

PENNSYLVANIA TEACHERS WORK FOR FREE AFTER BUDGET CUTS: “We are currently unable to fund the district’s payroll expenses after January 4, 2012” + addl. coverage

Teachers Decide To Work For Free After Budget Cuts Leave Pennsylvania School District Without Funds For Salaries By Tanya Somanader/ ThinkProgress.org from L.A. Progressive | http://bit.ly/yml2l8 Chester Upland High School classroom January 6, 2012 :: The Chester Upland School District in Delaware County, Pennsylvania suffered a serious setback when Gov. Tom Corbett (R) slashed $900

FORMER BEVERLY HILLS USD FACILITIES DIRECTOR SENTENCED TO 4 YEARS IN PRISON

Karen Christiansen may have to repay the district more than $2 million. The Notebook By Laurie Lande/Beverly Hills Patch | January 5, 2012 :: Former Beverly Hills Unified School District facilities director Karen Christiansen was sentenced to four years and four months in prison Thursday morning after a jury found her guilty of four felony conflict of interest charges. The maximum

Save the date: LACOE 3rd ANNUAL STREET GANG/SCHOOL SAFETY SYMPOSIUM :: Friday Feb. 24th

email from Los Angeles County Office of Education We are having our 3rd Annual Symposium on Street Gangs and School Safety on Friday, February 24, 2012, at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey, CA. This year we will have a presentation detailing how to have a successful collaboration among schools, law enforcement and civic offices by G.O.O.D. (Gangs Out of

1st Look: BROWN’S NEW BUDGET PROPOSAL:

from newsreaders Education officials scramble to assess Gov. Brown's budget proposal School officials and educators across the state were scrambling Thursday to decipher what Gov. Jerry Brown's 167-page budget... Read article from source As of 11:22PM Thurs 5 Jan: Funding for K-12 schools will be cut $4.8 billi... [ Published 46 mins ago by Contra Costa Times ] Brown unveils

(Not really a) LETTER TO EMPLOYEES

from not yet lausd | http://bit.ly/AuJxuk part of the ®eform inc. group of companies - “Corporations are People too!” not yet, 20-- Dear employees of LAUSD, As an ongoing effort to improve student outcomes we are coming up with a new evaluation approach that helps to clearly identify teacher strengths and areas for improvement. There are multiple components to this evaluation system,

ONLINE PRESENCE A MUST IN TOP EDUCATION SCHOLARS LIST: The 2012 RHSU/AEI Edu-Scholar Public Presence rankings

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC | http://bit.ly/wy2c3U Download/MP3 Jan. 4, 2012 | A Washington D.C.-based think tank Wednesday released its list of the nation’s most influential education scholars. The rankings consider a blogosphere presence a must. In baseball a player who can run, field, throw, hit and hit with power is valuable indeed. The American Enterprise Institute’s rankings of

NO, THE SCHOOL NURSE IS NOT IN: The National Association of School Nurses reports that a quarter of schools don't have a nurse at all.

By Michael Tomsic | WFAE-FM (Fayetteville, NC – Rebroadcast by KPCC /Pasadena) | http://bit.ly/whU8NQ Download/MP3 Jan. 3, 2012 :: More than half of American public schools don't have a full-time nurse, and the situation is getting worse as school systems further cut budgets. BES Photos/Flickr (cc by-nc-nd)> This year, 51 were laid off in Philadelphia's public schools, 20 in a Houston suburb

Poem: SHOULDERS

by Naomi Shihab Nye/Heard on The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor Thursday Jan. 5, 2012 | http://bit.ly/z9nXYf Listen/MP3 Shoulders A man crosses the street in rain, stepping gently, looking two times north and south, because his son is asleep on his shoulder. No car must splash him. No car drive too near to his shadow. This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo