Tuesday, March 25, 2014

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, March 25, 2014

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Fensterwald: Mixed results for charter schools statewide in new study

 
UPDATE: New Issue of Cream and Cherries: Los Angeles charter schools outperform traditional district schools | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC
Study: Los Angeles charter schools outperform traditional district schools | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: Study: Los Angeles charter schools outperform traditional district schoolsKristen Muller | March 15th, 2014, 4:04pmPhoto by Don Harder via Flickr Creative CommonsStanford University's Center for Research on Economic Outcomes (CREDO) issued a report Saturday that found charter school students in Lo
by mike simpson / 1d  

Education Headlines

Tuesday, March 25, 2014
FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Fresno Unified talks plans to overhaul alternative programs

Education for the most at-risk students in Fresno Unified School District is set to change next year, as the district's community day school moves across town to southeast Fresno and DeWolf Continuation High switches to serve older students.

Report: School safety doesn't have to cost a lot

Tackling the issue of school security, the San Diego County Grand Jury issued a report Monday that recommended local school districts focus less on high-cost security barriers and give greater emphasis to training parents and students to recognize and report suspicious behavior and identify potentially violent individuals.

Poway superintendent up for $63K raise

Poway school board members are working to finalize a contract renewal for the superintendent that would increase his base pay by $62,735, while taking away a perk that helped place him at the top of a 2012 Watchdog survey of superintendent pay in the region.

Chico High's Lincoln Center opens

The center is part of a project that includes the cafeteria, an attached "field house" that will give the physical education department a large location for indoor P.E. classes, and a free standing "fitness lab" that provides wrestling facilities and other P.E. space.

Struggling charter school wins renewal, against recommendation of San Jose Unified

Against the recommendation of its staff and of the San Jose Unified School District, the Santa Clara County Board of Education has renewed the charter of a struggling charter school, Sunrise Middle.

Cell phones proving their usefulness in some Bay Area classrooms

Teens + cellphones = Instagram and Twitter. Or at least that's been the reason schools have banned the use of these mobile devices during class. But the ubiquitousness and power of these links to the Internet is turning them into more than a means for social networking as teachers harness the power of students' smart phones for their own purposes.

Teachers renewing California credential must sign abuse reporting form, bill proposes

Every five years when renewing their credentials, California school employees will be required to read and sign a document that lays out the requirements for them to report suspicions of child abuse, if newly crafted state legislation is approved.

Fensterwald: Mixed results for charter schools statewide in new study

Earlier this month, a research institute at Stanford University affiliated with the Hoover Institution that students at independent charter schools in Los Angeles performed a lot better than their peers in traditional Los Angeles Unified District schools. The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) has now released a report for California as a whole, and the results are mixed.

California schools are rolling out new standardized tests

The exams are designed to demand more of students and give a clearer indication of how much they're learning. They'll be the first to be administered entirely on computers.
Monday, March 24, 2014

Lucia Mar works on plan for improvements at aging schools

District administrators are working to address the problems, though the process will take years. But they’re nearing the conclusion of the first step: Creating a master plan that will identify all of the needs at each school, prioritize projects and identify funding sources.

State, feds investigate Central Unified for discrimination allegations

A Central High School East Campus senior who says she has been relentlessly bullied by students and a teacher for two years — so severely that she developed an eating disorder and tried to commit suicide — is pushing for change at the school.

Alpine superintendent stepping down

Alpine Union School District Superintendent Tom Pellegrino, who just saw the five-school district through the first teachers’ strike in San Diego County in nearly 20 years, announced he will step down from his post in June.

Encinitas to buy Pacific View property

The Encinitas school district has accepted an offer from the city to buy the closed Pacific View School site for at least $9.5 million.

SD Unified takes on diversity gap

As the San Diego Unified School District strives to diversify its workforce to better reflect its student body, a new report emphasizes the striking absence of Latino educators in the classroom.

Teacher layoffs down around Marin, state

Most Marin County school districts reported they wouldn't be laying off teachers. San Rafael City Schools, which governs the elementary and high school districts, was an exception, issuing slips for 13.5 "full-time equivalent" positions at the elementary school level and four positions at the high school level.

Sweetwater district on edge

The Sweetwater Union High School District begins a two-week spring break Monday with a great deal of uncertainty about what happens when it ends.

Six-figure teachers, school officials show dramatic rise in Modesto area

While the Great Recession has yet to recede Valleywide, the number of top-earning educators roared back in 2013, buoyed by the higher taxes of Proposition 30, passed in 2012.

Hayward Unified teachers get 5.5 percent raise

Teachers this week overwhelmingly approved a contract that gives them a 5.5 percent raise, retroactive to July 2013. The Hayward Unified contract, which runs through the 2015-16 school year, passed by 99.4 percent, according to a Hayward Education Association spokeswoman.

S.F. schools give students second chance at breakfast

Too many of the students at San Francisco's Charles R. Drew Elementary were skipping the before-school breakfast, arriving too late to eat or not feeling hungry first thing in the morning. They ended up cranky in class, distracted by their growling tummies and less able to learn. Two weeks ago, the school started offering them a second chance to eat - at recess. It's a pilot for the Second Chance Breakfast program for the school district.

Fensterwald: Legislators tell state board to consider changes to school funding rules

Non-profits and community groups that want to tighten the Local Control Funding Formula regulations to ensure more money will go to minority students have enlisted an influential ally: legislators.

Fensterwald: One superintendent’s spending priority under local control - social workers

One of the first school districts to finish a draft of the spending and accountability plan required by the state’s new school funding law is proposing to hire social workers to deal with the effects of troubled home lives, cyberbullying and other social and emotional issues hobbling students’ ability to concentrate and learn.
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