Thursday, March 31, 2011

Community colleges could turn away 400,000

Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

03/31/11

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Community college classes tougher to get into 03.28.11
Cal State East Bay's Qayoumi to lead San Jose St. 03.24.11
CSU faces worst fiscal situation in its history 03.23.11

An unprecedented 400,000 students could be turned away from California's community college campuses next fall because state lawmakers are letting billions of dollars in taxes expire in June that would otherwise protect courses, Community College Chancellor Jack Scott said Wednesday.

Pointing to budget talks that stalled this week in Sacramento - and the resulting failure of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to let voters decide whether to extend and increase taxes - Scott said he expects the state to reduce its allocation to the college system by $800 million,

Contract killing - News - Local Stories - March 31, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review

Contract killing

Is it time for Sac City schools to give pink slips to education consultants?

By Cosmo Garvin
cosmog@newsreview.com
More stories by this author...

This article was published on 03.31.11.

About 400 teachers in the Sacramento City Unified School District just received pink slips; other brutal cuts lie ahead. Should the district really be spending millions on contracts for education consultants?

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES O’BRIEN

Another year, another round of pink slips at Sacramento City Unified schools. About 400 teachers have been told they may not return to their jobs next year—pending the outcome of the budget wrangling at both the state and the local level.

Other brutal cuts lie ahead. Under the worst-case scenario, class sizes might be increased, sports programs would be eliminated, adult education would be zeroed out and school-bus transportation for those few students who get it now would be lost, too. Some school officials are even quietly talking about the possibility of a shortened school year.

But there may be some fat yet to trim in the form tens of millions of dollars the district spends on contracts for education consultants and other professional services.

It’s a part of the budget that gets little public scrutiny and that even elected school board members have trouble navigating. And some argue that it’s these consultants, not

Learning After You Know It All « InterACT

Learning After You Know It All

by Kelly A. Kovacic

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

– UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden

First day of the International Summit.

The recent tone of the conversation about public education in the United States has been contentious. Everyone seems to be an expert with answers to all the questions about how we adequately prepare our students for an increasingly complex world. Taking time to listen to others from different backgrounds with different perspectives seems to be an after-thought for many. So, it was quite remarkable to attend the recent International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York City where a global collection of ministers of education, labor organization

The nonsense behind the ‘X consecutive teachers’ argument - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

The nonsense behind the ‘X consecutive teachers’ argument The “X consecutive teachers” argument only carries concrete policy implications if ‘top’ teachers can be accurately identified, writes Matthew Di Carlo, but the ability to do that remains very limited.

Restocking teachers: The math doesn’t add up Let’s do the math: Layoffs caused by budget cuts are about money, and experienced teachers cost more — until you take an honest look at the high costs associated with turnover from a passing parade of inexperienced teachers, writes the NEA president. ...

Subpoena Rhee and others in D.C. cheating scandal probe The only way to know for certain whether a D.C. public school cheated on tests is to subpoena everybody with potential involvement, including Michelle Rhee.

Subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal -- including Rhee The only way to know for certain whether a D.C. public school that made big gains when Michelle Rhee was chancellor actually cheated is to subpoena everybody with potential involvement and force them to testify under oath. That includes Rhee.

Madison Troublemakers School - April 1 & 2, 2011 | Labor Notes

Madison Troublemakers School - April 1 & 2, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011, 5 p.m., free
Reception. Cartoon and photo exhibit.
Guest speakers on “The State of the Unions”

Saturday, April 2, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Workshops
$25 includes Saturday lunch, Register Now

Labor Temple, 1602 South Park St., Madison

Union busting, the governor's attack on public employees, concession demands, layoffs, threats to Social Security and pensions, increased health insurance costs, contracting out, furloughs, wage freezes, free trade deals, tax giveaways to the rich, tuition increases, wars, charter schools, sustained high unemployment, runaway shops, Right to Work...did we leave anything out?

Working people are under assault and the assault will continue until we put an end to it. The protests at the Capitol have shown what working people are made of.

That’s the idea behind the Madison Labor Notes Troublemakers School. How do we build on the protests, protect

When is comfort uncomfortable? « My Island View

When is comfort uncomfortable?

by tomwhitby

Comfort is the main obstacle to Education Reform. Upon first stating this, it seems to be a ridiculous statement, so I guess I need to elaborate. This is a subject I discuss with my pre-service teachers at almost every seminar class and teaching observation. Of course it doesn’t have a great effect on my students, because of the arrogance of youth. They all know better than I.

If we ask,” Why aren’t educators engaging more forcefully in reform?” the answer is always the same. Educators are not comfortable with change. When we ask about educators using Tech as a tool for learning, the answer is that educators are not yet comfortable with technology (even though it has been around since the 80’s). I guess time does not create comfort. When we ask why haven’t more educators adopted a teaching method for project-

Refugee Resources | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Refugee Resources Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day (it’s not until June 20th but, obviously, the resources can be used at any time): Faces of the displaced is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture. ...

March’s “The Best…” Lists Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted in March (there were quite a few): The Best Sites For Seeing “Pictures Of The Year International” Winners — March, 2011 The Best Resources Documenting The Effectiveness of Free Voluntary ...

“Idioms 4 You” Idioms 4 You provides explanations of numerous English idioms. It provides them in various scenarios — all with audio support. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide any visual clues, but I’m still adding it to The Best Sites To Help ELL’s Learn Idioms & ...

Not Everything Will “show up in each semester’s test scores and statistics” — A Must-Read NY Times Column What I Learned at School is an op-ed in today’s New York Times. It’s written by novelist Marie Myung-Ok Lee. Here’s an excerpt: *I can now appreciate how much courage it must have taken for those teachers to let me deviate so broadly from the lesson ...

Take Virtual Field Trips With Google Street View Google has just created a gallery where you can visit historic areas around the world using its Street View feature. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Finding And Creating Virtual Field Trips.

New Marzano Study On “Effort & Recognition” The Marzano Research Laboratory has just published a “meta-analysis” of twelve studies on the impact of “effort & recognition” on student achievement. It says it results in a very substantial gain. This is their definition of “effort and ...

The Best Posts & Articles About “Erase To The Top” The Washington, D.C. testing scandal, and Michelle Rhee’s clumsy (she eventually called it “stupid”) attack on U.S.A. Today’s discovery of it, has been in the news the past few days. Robert Pondiscio has come-up with a catchy phrase to describe it — ...

Jersey Jazzman: More Like This - Go Leonie!

More Like This - Go Leonie!

by Duke

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Mayor Bloomberg is a busy man. When he leaves City Hall, he’s often in a rush and rarely stops to chat to the ever-present protesters on the City Hall steps.
But Bloomberg broke with his usual practice today when education activist Leonie Haimson – the director of Class Size Matters and a frequent flyer on the City Hall steps – hurled a protest slogan at Hizzoner as he headed out for a press conference in the Bronx.
“Don’t balance the budget on the backs of our children!” Haimson shouted.
Instead of continuing toward his waiting car, the mayor stopped, turned and went over to talk to Haimson,
Self-Dealing NJ Dems?
by Duke
Oh, man, I hope not. Via Blue Jersey:
When the day's work is done at the Heldrich Hotel, Blue Jersey hopes Democratic Chair Asm John Wisniewski reads this post. It concerns a rumor, hot all day, we hope was never true. If it was, we hope progressive and grassroots outrage has shifted some members of the redistricting commission off a certain highly questionable plan.
As Jay Lassiter wrote earlier today, the hottest rumor coming out the redistricting meetings in New Brunswick is that of Senators Barbara Buono and Joe Vitale being lumped together into one legislative district while Assemblyman and Democratic State

Teachers and innovators can make STEM leap off page into the imagination | Thoughts on Public Education

Teachers and innovators can make STEM leap off page into the imagination - by Jennifer Anastasoff

by Jennifer Anastasoff

In the past year it has been difficult to attend any education event – or even listen to Obama’s State of the Union address – without hearing about America’s need to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. From A Nation at Risk in the early 1980s, to Rising Above the Gathering Storm in 2007, to the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s report in September 2010, a myriad of reports have been warning that something must be done to address America’s math [...]

No breakdown on teacher layoffs - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Parents in Oakland who want to know how many teachers received layoff warnings this month, by school, can find this information in rich detail. The Oakland Unified district has created an interactive map on the district’s web site, with a pin for every school. Each lists the number of teachers warned and the percentage of [...]

Koch Out AM News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

Politicus USA: Clueless in Wisconsin: Newt Gingrich Praises Gov Walker as Job Creator *March 30, 2011- *In Marquette, Wisconsin for a showing of his film that seemed more like a campaign stop, Newt Gingrich touted Governor Walker as a good county executive and claimed that people would like Walker once his programs were proven ...

Politicus USA: As Gov Kasich’s Approval Tanks, Ohio House Passes Anti-Union Bill *March 30, 2011-* The Republicans are continuing their war on workers, this time it’s the middle class in Ohio they’re killing. The Ohio House Republicans passed Republican Gov. John Kasich’s anti-union bill, also known as Senate Bill 5, late ...

Politcus USA: CREW Wants Wisconsin GOP Senator Punished For Misuse of Troopers *March 30, 2011-* Oh, my. First Fitzy ignores a judge’s order, and while contemplating ignoring the second, we find out that the Washington watchdog group CREW got a hold of his emails and things aren’t looking so good for him on the ethics front ...

Talking Points Memo: GOPers Demand Sean Duffy Salary Tape Be Pulled From The Internet *March 30, 2011-* First the Republican Party in Polk County, Wisconsin, pulled the tape of Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) fretting about making ends meet on his $174,000 a year salary from its own website. Now they want it gone from the whole Internet. For ...

Talking Points Memo: Walker Administration 'Confused' Over Whether Anti-Union Law In Effect *March 30, 2011-* The legal wrangling over Gov. Scott Walker's (R-WI) new law curtailing public employee unions continues, with Secretary of Administration Mike Huebsch now expressing confusion over whether the law is in effect -- a day after a Dane ...

Talking Points Memo: Indiana Dems To Return Home With Big Concessions From GOPers *March 28, 2011-* Just about a month ago, dozens of Indiana state House Democrats fled to Illinois to shut down what they said was a Republican agenda that targeted workers rights and the public schools. Now they're set to return, having won several ...

NPR: Wisconsin Judge Reads Riot Act To State Officials On Union Law *March 30, 2011-* What part of "no" don't you understand? That was essentially what Dane County, Wisconsin Judge Maryann Sumi told Wisconsin officials Tuesday who were hellbent on ignoring her previous restraining order so they could put into effect ...

Market Watch: Tax the Super Rich now or face a revolution Commentary: A ‘Super-Rich Delusion’ is leading us to ruin *March 29, 2011-* *Yes, tax the Super Rich. Tax them now. Before the other 99% rise up, trigger a new American Revolution, a meltdown and the Great Depression 2. * Revolutions build over long ...

Thom Hartmann: Robert Greenwald Discusses "Koch Brothers Exposed" film WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Thom Hartmann: Are the Koch Bros. shutting down the US Government? WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Truthout: The Deficit Hawks Target Nurses and Firefighters *March 28, 2011-* Many people might think that the country's problems stem from the fact that too much money has been going to the very rich. Over the last three decades, the richest 1 percent of the population has increased its share of national ...

One of the men behind the “apology” to Judge Sumi is interviewed by Patrick Waring of WORT FM | blue cheddar.

One of the men behind the “apology” to Judge Sumi is interviewed by Patrick Waring of WORT FM

BY BLUECHEDDAR

Journalist Patrick Waring speaks to Jeff Waksman, one of the authors of an “apology” to Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi. Comments are welcome. This interview was done for WORT FM 89.9.

Sumi apology jeff by Hear_Patrick_RUN

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

“RPDC Apologizes To Judge Sumi

The Republican Party of Dane County sent out a press release on March 29th criticizing Judge Maryann Sumi for holding up the publication of Governor Scott Walker’s collective

This Week In Education: AM News: Rhee Recants Attacks On USA Today Story

AM News: Rhee Recants Attacks On USA Today Story

by Alexander Russo

Rhee says her remarks on test erasures were “stupid” Washington Post: She said that she thinks cheating might have occurred in the District and that she is glad her successor, Acting Chancellor Kaya Henderson, ordered a new investigation... As Sweeping Layoffs Loom, Schools Gird for TurmoilNYT: Minneapolis schools shed 15 percent of their teachers, the report says. But each year half the teachers laid off in the spring were rehired in the fall. Half of those rehired returned to teach in a different school.... House Passes School Voucher Bill NYT: The SOAR Act will provide $20 million annually for five years to provide scholarships for low-income students...Obama woos Hispanic vote on education AP: President Barack Obama, aware of news that the U.S. Hispanic population has hit 50 million, is turning his attention on issues key to Hispanics, including education... First lady Michelle Obama speaks at DC school AP: First lady Michelle Obama urged high school students on Wednesday to think about their career goals and the job market before deciding what type of education to pursue... Detroit Considers 45 Charter Schools DA: The state-appointed manager of Detroit Public Schools identified 45 schools in the struggling district that could be turned over to private charter operators in a bid to improve student performance... Grasmick to step down June 30 BaltSun: Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is stepping down from her post as the nation's longest-serving education chief. Grasmick, 72, announced her retirement to a gathering of workers at the Department of Education office that bears her name, above... MORE NEWS BELOW

Quote: "Reformers" & "True Progressives" Both Wrong

by Alexander Russo

On the one hand we have “reformers” who don’t really care if tests are accurate as long as “reformers” are in charge of school systems. Then on the other hand we have people who’ve decided that the one true progressive pro-teacher position is to insist that schooling doesn’t matter and educational attainment can’t be measured. -- Matthew Yglesias

Rhee Lashes Out After DC Testing Scandal Chips Away at Her Credibility | California Progress Report

Rhee Lashes Out After DC Testing Scandal Chips Away at Her Credibility

by megan

By David Dayen

If the world were as based on merit as Michelle Rhee and her cadres like to say they want to construct schools to operate, she would have no credibility left, and wouldn’t be able to reach by phone any of her rich friends bankrolling her reform agenda. Rhee responded to the serious allegations in USA Today about cheating on standardized tests at DC public schools with the typical approach of a guilty politician: questioning the motives of an opposition uninvolved in the investigation and refusing to engage with the issue.

“It isn’t surprising,” Rhee said in a statement Monday, “that the enemies of school reform once again are trying to argue that the Earth is flat and that there is no way test scores could have improved … unless someone cheated.”

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: PTA Sponsored Q & A

PTA Sponsored Q & A

by Charlie Mas

I went to the Q & A sponsored by the PTA tonight. Boy am I glad I went.

On the panel were five people, all of them taking on new jobs.
Susan Enfield, the new Superintendent; Robert Boeche, the new CFO; Pegi McEvoy, the new COO; and Sherry Carr and Steve Sundquist who are completely new to providing governance and oversight as Board Directors.

I have to say that every time Dr. Enfield spoke I was more and more pleased with her appointment to the job. She spoke about students instead of schools. She spoke about the connections between teachers and students. She spoke about accountability in ways that came closer to being concrete terms. And when she had to deliver bad news, she did it. She was honest about what could or couldn't be done and she was honest about the way things are. It was wonderful.

Robin Lakoff: The Republican Ignorance Agenda

by Robin Lakoff

Conservative Republicans have been very busy lately making inroads into teaching and learning at all levels -- a curious program, especially at a time when more serious voices have been urging America to strengthen its investment in science and technology in order to remain globally competitive in the twenty-first century. One wonders what their oppositionism is really about.

Let me summarize a bit of this interesting record:

Congressional Republicans have fought to reduce pre-kindergarten (Head Start) funding.

Conservatives in various arenas have been whittling away at the prestige, authority and autonomy of elementary and high school teachers. The denial of the right to collective bargaining, the destruction of security of

Jay Mathews and the temptation to pick cherries… | Reflections on Teaching

Jay Mathews and the temptation to pick cherries…

by alicemercer

IMG_20110328_112446 I have not been very efficient this trip. I feel like I haven’t attend a lot of sessions at ASCD and the few I have attended haven’t offered me a lot of new insights. I think part of the problem is that I have done a lousy job of picking out sessions for the few that I did attend. I need a booker.

What happened on Monday at ASCD? Well, Jay Mathews made an appearance ;-) . For those not aware of the joke, Mr. Mathews missed his session originally scheduled for Saturday. That ended up being my big event for the day, so let’s start with that…

Jay Mathews is a well known education writer with books on Jaime Escalante, Escalante: The Best Teacher in America, and the founders of KIPP schools and TFA alums Feinberg and Levin, Work Hard, Be Nice. The long-running theme of his work is about breaking down barriers of exclusivity in education that track students away

Daily Kos: Education: two important proposals

Education: two important proposals

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Education is not listed among the enumerated powers of Article I Section 8 of the Constitution. Yet the national governments of the United States have maintained an interest in education going back to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, which in the Land Ordinance of 1785 established that the 16th of the 36 square miles of the territory in the Northwest being surveyed under the authority of the Congress was reserved for the maintenance of free public schools.

The major current Federal involvement in K-12 education, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was part of LBJ's great society and was intended to provide "Financial Assistance To Local Educational Agencies For The Education Of Children Of Low-Income Families." This was a recognition that some districts lacked the tax base to provide an equitable education, and in other districts children of poverty were provided with lesser resources than those from more well-off circumstances. This especially affected minorities, especially blacks in inner cities and in some rural parts of the South, thus undercutting the promise made in Brown v Board.

This morning, two pieces of legislation intended to address some of the inequities of current federal educational funding will be introduced by Rep. Chaka Fattah, D- PA02. These are the Fiscal Fairness Act and the Student Bill of Rights Act, tomorrow both of which are designed to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

Destruction of Wealth? Better Google Google! | Lefty Parent

Destruction of Wealth? Better Google Google!

by Cooper Zale

There have been innovative alternatives emerging in cyberspace over the last couple decades to challenge the traditional models of selling people “stuff” (in this case hardware and software) to facilitate their use of electronic media for information gathering, development, storage and distribution. Many of these new models have been challenges to “the Man”, that is the big global businesses (like Microsoft, Apple, AT&T, Verizon, etc) that have been dominate players in an information-industrial complex.

Shareware and freeware models like Linux, and for love-not-profit enterprises like Wikipedia are beginning to

NYC Educator: The Teacher, the Businessman, the Blueberries

The Teacher, the Businessman, the Blueberries

by Miss Eyre

I can't believe I never heard this story before. I also kind of can't believe it's true, but it is. Click over and read it. I'll wait. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, a teacher points out to a soon-to-be-humbled businessman from an ice cream company that while he can send back an "inferior" shipment of blueberries for his top-quality ice cream, teachers can never send back children.

I loved the story, but as I share it with you (many of you who have undoubtedly heard it before), I have to say that I don't view children as raw materials in education, either. I don't see any child as "unteachable," "undesirable," or, heaven forbid, "inferior." Let's not pretend that all children are equally teachable or lovable, mind, but, even given the