Making the Case: Member Lobbyists Urge Legislators to Protect CalSTRS « State of Emergency

Making the Case: Member Lobbyists Urge Legislators to Protect CalSTRS « State of Emergency

Making the Case: Member Lobbyists Urge Legislators to Protect CalSTRS

by Leonard Feldman

A team of Association and ACSA active and retired members provides information to a Pamela Schneider, staff for the Senate’s Public Employment and Retirement Committee, during the June 1 lobbying day at the state Capitol.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) 1 June 2011 — During a pension lobby day Wednesday at the state Capitol, CTA members belonging to the State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and administrators and superintendents from the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) met with lawmakers and legislative staff to press legislators to protect the pension system.

Among the points they made, CTA and CTA-Retired (CTA-R) members and ACSA representatives emphasized that public employees contribute to their pensions and that retirement funds are not a “taxpayer giveaway,” as critics have charged. The average CalSTRS member retires at age 62 after 27 years of service. Fully 70% of

Modern School: Oaxacan Teachers Resist Tests, Merit Pay—Strikes to Spread Throughout Mexico?

Modern School: Oaxacan Teachers Resist Tests, Merit Pay—Strikes to Spread Throughout Mexico?

Oaxacan Teachers Resist Tests, Merit Pay—Strikes to Spread Throughout Mexico?

by Michael Dunn

On May 23, 70,000 teachers struck in Oaxaca, Mexico. They were not asking for raises or better benefits, though they certainly need them. They were demanding better funding for their students and expressing their opposition to the government’s merit pay plan that ties teacher pay to their students’ score on the new national test. Many teachers oppose the test entirely and have refused to administer it, despite the fact that their union president signed a pact with the government accepting the merit pay scheme. The new national education law, Alliance for the Quality of Education (ACE), also replaces tenure with yearly contracts. According to Labor Notes, the teachers also want the Oaxacan government to pay for the schools’ utility bills, rather than charging parents, most of whom are struggling to pay their own bills and feed their children. They also want computers installed in the schools.

Popout

Oaxacan Teachers Strike (from the South Notes website)

Preliminary Review of Governor's May Revision - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

June 2011 Information Memoranda - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

June 2011 Information Memoranda

Background information and updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members.

Periodically, the State Board Members may receive information memoranda from State Board staff and the California Department of Education. The information memoranda may include background information, updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members, and reports on a variety of educational topics.

• State Legislative and Budget Update, Including, but not Limited to, Information on the 2011-12 Legislative Session (DOC; 73KB; 10pp.)
  • Preliminary Review of Governor's May Revision (DOC; 56KB; 2pp.)

Teachers Unions Push Cap on Charter Schools in California - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Teachers Unions Push Cap on Charter Schools in California - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Teachers Unions Push Cap on Charter Schools in California

by E.D. Kain

This is what I’m talking about when I say unions use their very own style of top-down politics:

The California Assembly passed a new cap on the number of charter schools – a bill sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers – and the recent United Federation of Teachers lawsuit would prevent the Upper West Success Academy charter school from moving to a public school campus.

The California state Assembly will limit the number of charters to 1,450 by 2017, assuming the Senate goes along for the ride. I don’t understand this. If people want to send their kids to a charter school, what right does the state have to intervene?

This is why data on charter school success is ultimately inconclusive. How can we know whether or not the best

NYC Public School Parents: Diane Ravitch on "Frozen Assets" by Marguerite Roza

NYC Public School Parents: Diane Ravitch on "Frozen Assets" by Marguerite Roza

Diane Ravitch on "Frozen Assets" by Marguerite Roza

by Leonie Haimson

Diane Ravitch has a great oped in today’s Times on the “miracle” schools promoted by corporate reformers, that all too often turn out to be based on PR spin, inflated test score results and/or sky high student attrition rates.

She was also asked to comment by Bill Tucker of Ed Sector on a 2007 report, “Frozen Assets”, written by Marguerite Roza, who is now at the Gates Foundation. The subtitle is “Rethinking Teacher Contracts could Free Billions for School Reform.” In Roza’s view, wasteful spending mandated by teacher contracts includes class size limits, pension and health benefits, sick days, and seniority raises – which instead should be used for other purposes like merit pay. In response, Diane succinctly tweeted one word: “unbelievable”.

VIDEO: San Francisco's Most Controversial Charter School Enters New Era - San Francisco News - The Snitch

VIDEO: San Francisco's Most Controversial Charter School Enters New Era - San Francisco News - The Snitch

Education

VIDEO: San Francisco's Most Controversial Charter School Enters New Era

By Lauren Smiley, Wed., Jun. 1 2011 at 1:50 PM

Categories: Education

Share

0digg

​Edison Charter Academy has a storied history in San Francisco.

It was the woefully under-performing Noe Valley elementary school throughout the '90s. Then-Superintendent Bill Rojas stirred controversy when he handed over the school to Edison Schools, Inc., a for-profit company that pledged to take over failing city schools. Edison claimed to educate kids better than the school district could -- and make a profit from it.

Following schools across the country who have left for-profit management, Edison broke free from the company last year, as we write about in today's cover story, "Schoolhouse Rocked." In large part, the charge to break away was led by Bonnie Senteno, a parent in the school who went on to become the president of the charter academy's board.

In our video, Senteno explains why the school decided to hoist off the out-of-town for-profit managers, and how the school is attempting to redefine its reputation in San Francisco.

Check out the video http://bit.ly/lK7VQC:

Educators and Innovation - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Educators and Innovation - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Educators and Innovation

by E.D. Kain

I have received some surprising emails recently. Apparently my recent critique of teachers’ unions has led some to believe that I think teachers and education professionals are standing in the way of innovation. I find this a bit puzzling. I have written time and again that my deepest hope for public education in this country is that teaching is transformed into a truly professional career, and that teachers are given autonomy and creative vision in order to experiment and innovate with diverse teaching approaches.

Far from suggesting that teachers and educators are standing in the way of innovation, I believe they need to be on the forefront of innovation. My critique is of the traditional school system itself, and the various institutions that have slowed down the evolution of the school system.

Bob Lenz has more thoughts on the questions surrounding innovation. He writes:

While many of the charter schools and charter organizations are making huge improvements in

Board of Education appoints new Newark public schools superintendent | NJ.com

Board of Education appoints new Newark public schools superintendent | NJ.com

Board of Education appoints new Newark public schools superintendent

Published: Wednesday, June 01, 2011, 2:30 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 01, 2011, 2:30 PM

By Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
Follow

ShareEmailPrint

Alexandra Pais / Special to The Star-LedgerCami Anderson takes questions during a press conference with Governor Chris Christie where she was formally nominated to be Newark's next superintendent at Science Park High School in Newark. Her nomination was approved today.

NEWARK — The state Board of Education today voted unanimously to formally appoint Cami Anderson as superintendent of the state-operated Newark Public Schools.

Gov. Chris Christie first announced Anderson’s selection at a press conference last month held in one of the troubled district’s high-performing magnet high schools. Anderson, 39, will assume her new role in two weeks.

Board President Arcelio Aponte said the final details of Anderson’s salary and benefits are still being ironed out, but said he expected to resolve contract negotiations by next week. Christie previously said Anderson would earn a salary of $240,000, a figure $40,000 less than her predecessor Clifford Janey.

“A number of board members met with Cami and found that she has the types of experiences we

Charter parents get audience, but not agreement, with NAACP | GothamSchools

Charter parents get audience, but not agreement, with NAACP | GothamSchools

Charter parents get audience, but not agreement, with NAACP

by Chris Arp

The president of the NAACP’s New York chapter kept her word to meet with angry charter school parents today — after 20 of them appeared at her Midtown office.

The parents traveled to president Hazel Dukes’ office this morning, four days after a large rally against the civil rights group’s involvement in a lawsuit that could negatively affect several charter schools.

A day before the rally, Dukes told GothamSchools, ”Any parent that wants to meet with me, I will meet with them anywhere they want.” Since then, more than 2,000 parents have signed on to a letter asking for a meeting with Dukes, according to Kerri Lyon, a spokeswoman for the New York City Charter School Center.

But Ny Whitaker, whose child attends Harlem Success Academy, said she tried twice last week to schedule a meeting before telling an assistant that she would bring a group to Dukes’ office today. When the group

The California Majority Report // Pension "Reformers" Confess: It's All About Politics, Attacking Unions

Pension "Reformers" Confess: It's All About Politics, Attacking Unions

June 01, 2011 @ 10:37 AM

If there were an ounce of doubt for the real reason behind the Republican call for "pension reform," you need only look at the comments of two leading GOPers with connections to the California Foundation for Fiscal Reform, the Astroturf group leading the assault on public employee benefits.

In Ed Mendel's CalPensions blog http://http/calpensions.com/, former Schwarzenegger aide Dan Pellissier said his yet-to-be-announced ballot measure was all about labor bashing. Here's an excerpt: "Pellissier said he thinks defeating other initiatives that may be on the ballot next year (a spending limit and 'paycheck protection' making it difficult to use union dues for campaigns) could be a greater priority for unions than hot-polling pension reform. 'The unions may find that they can't wage nuclear war and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on four different initiatives. They may have to pick and choose.'"

(Note to Dan: In 2005, the last time Republicans launched an all-out attack on public employees, all of the GOP's initiatives went down in flames).

Pellessier also told CalPensions that he is "still trying to wrap up fundraising for the first phase" and talking to potential backers with

Three Main Things that Always Fail in Education - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Three Main Things that Always Fail in Education - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Three Main Things that Always Fail in Education

Jun 1st, 2011

by Lily.

I’ve just finished one more article on what essentially becomes “The Three Main Things” that we need to do to improve our schools. They aren’t bad things. Well, sometimes they are. But, basically they sound essentially reasonable.

And I hate, hate, hate to argue with something that sounds reasonable because it puts you in the position of sounding unreasonable when you question what often seems like pure common sense, so I hate, hate, hate to say this, but…

Three Main Things will always fail. Three Main Things are doomed. They are doomed when you are trying to fix a system.

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to fix the toughest problems in our toughest schools or the easiest problems in our easiest schools. They are doomed because a system is not like furnishing my living room.

Stay with me. When I was a young, married kid, we couldn’t afford much in the way of furniture unless it consisted of an overturned milk crate that I could pretend was an end table. We were putting ourselves through college. I wasn’t able to go out and buy a perfect Home Beautiful room. So I picked the Three