Friday, June 18, 2010

Parents Debate the Budget! Education News & Comment

Parents Debate the Budget!

Hi all,

It is my understanding that the district has submitted interim reports indicating a qualified status (which means it will not have the required reserves projected two years out). A negative status means the reserves are not available in the current or next year.

The current adopted budget for 2010-11 has a positive certification. I would not be surprised if the county changes this to qualified due to the various unspecified cuts assumed in the last two years of the projections.

In my opinion much of this is a game played by administration and the county to keep the pressure on the bargaining units. Otherwise they would take the changes from adopted to actual budgets much more seriously. A lot of the pain is caused by manipulation by some staff and a lack of sophisticated fiscal management by other staff. Though I can't figure out who is who :(

Attached are the reserve projections from last year's and this year's budget. As I hope you can see, the amounts vary and are always above the standard. Though

SCUSD STRATEGIC PLAN

Community Forums

Strategic Plan 2010-14

DATE	TIME	LOCATION
Tuesday, June 22	6:00 p.m.	Hiram Johnson High School
Thursday, June 24	6:00 p.m.	Rosemont High School
Monday, June 28	6:00 p.m.	Sam Brannan Middle School
Tuesday, July 6	6:00 p.m.	Leonardo da Vinci K-8 School
Wednesday, July 7	6:00 p.m.	John F. Kennedy High School
Thursday, July 8	6:00 p.m.	Luther Burbank High School
Tuesday, July 13	6:00 p.m.	Serna Center

Go to SCUSD Web Site

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Death on Twitter: How Do We Discuss with Students?

Death on Twitter: How Do We Discuss with Students?

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)

Just read this on Mashable where the Attorney General who gave the go-ahead for a firing squad execution Tweeted out the announcement. Mashable asked if it was too far?

Remainders: Pro-charter group tried to buy support, Behar says | GothamSchools

Remainders: Pro-charter group tried to buy support, Behar says

by Anna Phillips

Steve Behar, a candidate for office in Queens, said pro-charter groups tried to buy his support. (City Hall)
The deadline for the city to release its school turnaround plans has been delayed again. (no link)
Teaching English learners to pass the English Regents doesn’t teach them English. (GothamSchools)
After all the hype about a student Metrocard deal, there isn’t really a deal yet. (Streetsblog)
It’s easy to remove bad principals, but hard for the city to fire them. (Ken Hirsh)
Shelly Silver and John Sampson were negotiating education cuts today. (State of Politics)
Bloomberg said that teachers should defend bankers, since taxes pay their salaries. (Daily Politics)
At one school, it’s the secretary, not the teachers, who are finally able to reach a student. (Deven Black)
The education jobs bill is still up in the air despite Obama’s support. (Politics K-12)
Randi Weingarten should be taking credit for the D.C. contract, not diminishing it says Eduwonk.
The city’s “chief mom” is leaving for a job in the mayor’s office. (Insideschools)
A new teacher pulls two fighting students apart and is told not to next time. (NYCEducator)

Letter from Cartagena. #2. Chasing Gabriel Garcia Marquez. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Letter from Cartagena. #2. Chasing Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

by preaprez

Dear friends,
In 1982 when the great Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for literature, he said,

On a day like today, my master William Faulkner said, “I decline to accept the end of man”. I would fall unworthy of standing in this place that was his, if I were not fully aware that the colossal tragedy he refused to recognize thirty-two years ago is now, for the first time since the beginning of humanity, nothing more than a simple scientific possibility. Faced with this awesome reality that must have seemed a mere utopia through all of human time, we, the inventors of tales, who will believe anything, feel entitled to believe that it is not yet too late to engage

QUICK Hits � The Quick and the Ed

QUICK Hits

by Forrest Hinton

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading and viewing each day.

California Chronicle | Steinberg Unveils Legislation to Prevent Disproportionate Teacher Layoffs, Protect Students' Rights

Steinberg Unveils Legislation to Prevent Disproportionate Teacher Layoffs, Protect Students' Rights

California Political Desk

June 15, 2010

(SACRAMENTO) – Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) unveiled legislation to protect students´ right to a quality education by preventing wildly disproportionate teacher layoffs and also improve the balance of teacher experience at California schools.

"Providing a quality education to our children is not only essential to California´s economic future, it is also our constitutional duty," Steinberg said. "Our kids need a consistent and quality teacher in the classroom in order to have the opportunity to learn and achieve their educational dreams. My measure will ensure that even in tough budget times, our children are guaranteed the stable educational environment they need to succeed."

Steinberg´s legislation follows a recent court decision blocking the Los Angeles Unified School District from laying-off wildly disproportionate numbers of teachers at three middle schools. Because state law requires districts to lay off their least senior teachers first, these three schools with mostly junior teachers faced losses of as much as 60 percent of their faculty, compared to 15 percent or less at many district middle schools in the area.

This same scenario occurs throughout California, especially in high poverty areas, every year. In the Sacramento City Unified School District, for example, 28 schools had no teachers laid off this spring. Nine schools, by contrast, sent final layoff notices to more than 15 percent of their teachers, and three schools lost more than 30 percent.

Steinberg´s legislation fixes this recurring problem of inequity in the current system of determining teacher lay-offs and in doing so would make struggling schools a more appealing assignment for teachers. The measure ensures that schools throughout California have an equal balance of teacher experience, prevents disproportionate layoffs at the lowest performing schools, and codifies the state´s commitment to provide financial and professional support that teachers need to do their job. Specifically,

Settlement talks in Ohio school religion case - Boston.com

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Pembroke students get their science lessons in the wild

The spider was small and yellow and suspended in the middle of an elegantly formed web that caught the light as it hung between saplings. (By Robert Knox, Globe Correspondent)

Young Framingham actor aims toward Hollywood — after college

With one film appearance already under her belt, it’s safe to say that Framingham teen Emily Grove has been bitten by the acting bug — badly. In last year’s “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,’’ Grove rubbed elbows with stars Matthew McConaughey and Emma Stone as an extra in a scene filmed at Brophy Elementary School in her hometown. The scene is ... (Boston Globe)

Westwood parents fight effort to drop strings program

Despite a May Town Meeting vote to increase class sizes, cut teachers, and even raise the fee for all-day kindergarten to balance Westwood’s 2011 school budget, a relatively small cost-cutting decision — to eliminate the middle-school strings program — continues to roil parents. (By Michele Morgan Bolton, Globe Correspondent)

Marblehead rejects Proposition 2 1/2 tax override for new school

In a sweeping rejection of higher taxes, Marblehead voters defeated 10 ballot measures Tuesday to exceed the town’s property tax limits for various capital projects. (By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent)

After voters reject tax increase, Belmont schools prepare to make cuts

The Belmont school district is preparing to cut freshmen sports at the high school and eliminate the library program at its four elementary schools after residents voted against raising taxes to provide additional funds next fiscal year. (By Jennifer Fenn Lefferts, Globe Correspondent)

Presidential Proclamation--Father's Day | The White House

Presidential Proclamation--Father's Day

by The White House

FATHER'S DAY, 2010

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

From the first moments of life, the bond forged between a father and a child is sacred. Whether patching scraped knees or helping with homework, dads bring joy, instill values, and introduce wonders into the lives of their children. Father's Day is a special time to honor the men who raised us, and to thank them for their selfless dedication and love.

Fathers are our first teachers and coaches, mentors and role models. They push us to succeed, encourage us when we are struggling, and offer unconditional care and support. Children and adults alike look up to them and learn from their example and perspective. The journey of fatherhood is both exhilarating and humbling it is an opportunity to model who we want our sons and daughters to become, and to build the foundation upon which they can achieve their dreams.

Fatherhood also carries enormous responsibilities. An active, committed father makes a lasting difference in the life of a child. When fathers are not present, their children and families cope with an absence government cannot fill. Across America, foster and adoptive fathers respond to this need, providing safe and loving homes for children facing hardships. Men are also making compassionate commitments outside the home by serving as mentors, tutors, or big brothers to young people in their community. Together, we can support the guiding presence of male role models in the lives of countless young people who stand to gain from it.
Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step father, a grandfather, or caring guardian. We owe a special debt of gratitude for those parents serving in the United States Armed Forces and their families, whose sacrifices protect the lives and liberties of all American children. For the character they build, the doors they open, and the love they provide over our lifetimes, all our fathers deserve our unending appreciation and admiration.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in accordance with a joint resolution of the Congress approved April 24, 1972, as amended (36 U.S.C. 109), do hereby proclaim June 20, 2010, as Father's Day. I direct the appropriate officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on this day, and I call upon all citizens to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. Let us honor our fathers, living and deceased, with all the love and gratitude they deserve.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
BARACK OBAMA

City axes program to move students from detention to school | GothamSchools

City axes program to move students from detention to school

by Maura Walz

The city is closing Community Prep High School, the only program here designed to transition students from juvenile prisons and jails to mainstream high schools.
Launched in 2002, Community Prep works with the most struggling young people in the city, offering support and coursework for a few semesters before routing students into high schools and GED programs. On average, Community Prep students have attended seven different high schools when they enter, a former director said.
The program has successfully steered many students back into high school, but it has struggled to reach all its charges. The school’s average monthly attendance this year was less than 50 percent. In the first semester of this school year, students earned only 40 percent of the course credits they attempted.
The disappointing showing is the reason that Department of Education officials have concluded the program doesn’t work, despite praise from juvenile justice advocates.
“We know better options already exist,” said spokeswoman Ann Forte.

Edujobs Bill Still Up in the Air - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Edujobs Bill Still Up in the Air

by Alyson Klein

Despite support from big-name congressional Democrats, the administration, and the very energetic lobbying efforts of a number of education groups, the edujobs bill still has not made it to legislative prime-time.
Conservative and moderate Democrats, as well as Republicans, are questioning the impact of the legislation's $23 billion price tag on the federal deficit. And the measure may, for now, be in (indirect) competition with another bill also aimed at steadying faltering state finances, a $24 billion measure offering Medicaid aid to states.
That money is nearly as important to education as the edujobs bill, some advocates tell me, because some 30 states have included it in their budgets for fiscal year 2011. If it doesn't get approved, they'll have to go back and make cuts...quite possibly to education. The Senate failed to approve a $120 billion measure that included the Medicaid aid last week.
Much of the opposition to the edujobs measure comes from the lack of an "offset." There have been concerns that Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, may cut the cost of the bill to as little as $10 billion. And he may be looking to offset at least part of the cost by shifting unspent money

Schools Matter: Why Were Goldman Sachs and Tony Hayward Dumping BP Stock Before Explosion?

Why Were Goldman Sachs and Tony Hayward Dumping BP Stock Before Explosion?

by Jim Horn

If the dots are connected on this one, it could signal the end to two of the largest corporate cesspools in the world. From Alex Jones' InfoWars.com:

BP was aware of cracks appearing in the Macondo well as far back as February, right around the time Goldman Sachs and BP Chairman Tony Hayward were busy dumping their stocks in the company on the eve of the explosion that led to the oil spill, according to information uncovered by congressional investigators.

The Mining and Mineral Services agency released documents to Bloomberg indicating that BP “was trying to seal cracks in the well about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast,”according to the report.

The fissures, which BP began to attempt to fix on February 13, could have played a role in the disaster, though this is a question still being explored by investigators. Improperly sealed, the

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