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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, October 24, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

CA Public Education Death by 1065 Cuts
California Charter Schools
 unprecedented 109 charter schools opened throughout the state for the 2012-13 academic year, 

bringing the total number of charter schools to 1,065.



Education Headlines

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Indio High work bids $8M overbudget

Plans for the rebuild of Indio High School will need to be scaled back slightly after bids for the first phase came in $8 million over budget. The district identified about $2 million to $3 million in changes to the first phase — which includes the performing arts center, administration building, gymnasium and some classrooms — and plans to cut the number of classrooms in future phases to the same level as Palm Desert and Shadow Hills high schools.

Irvine Unified superintendent, president solicit cash

Irvine Unified School District's superintendent and education board president made a joint plea to parents and others in the district community for a $365 donation to Irvine Public Schools Foundation by Dec. 31. The city will match donations dollar for dollar up to $1 million because of a ballot measure passed a few years ago.

California sees record number of new charter schools

California's charter schools continue to grow at a rapid clip with more new schools opening than ever before, an industry association said Wednesday. The California Charter Schools Association said an unprecedented 109 charter schools opened throughout the state for the 2012-13 academic year, bringing the total number of charter schools to 1,065.

In search of quality teachers, charter network trains its own

Danny Shapiro is one of 34 new teachers in Aspire’s 3-year-old intensive residency program, aimed at training incoming teachers like him for positions in one of the network’s nearly three dozen schools. Founded in California in 1998, Aspire currently serves 12,000 mostly low-income students in grades K-12 and will expand out of state for the first time next year with two new schools in Memphis, Tenn.

Kids support, but don't always eat, new school lunches

A new statewide survey shows that while students overwhelmingly support the new nutrition standards, most are tossing the foods they don't like. About 40 percent of students say they eat school lunches in their entirety, according to the survey commissioned by The California Endowment, which provides funding to a number of media organizations, including California Watch.

AP Interview: Brown says schools' future at stake

As he makes a last-minute push for his November tax initiative, Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he wants to make sure voters "know the stakes" for California's K-12 schools and colleges before they cast their ballots.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hanson asks community to help Fresno Unified

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson gave a personal and sometimes emotional state-of-the district address Monday, calling on education, community and business leaders to stay connected for the future of the city's children.

Measure E tax plan figures into Davis school board race

The candidates voters choose for the two open seats this November will have a daunting task ahead of them: how to preserve programs, maintain class sizes and keep the school day intact under a cloud of budgetary uncertainty.

Davis school board accused of illegally pushing Measure E

In a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission, a Davis political action committee contends that the city's school board and its president are illegally using taxpayer dollars to stump for a school funding measure on the November ballot.