Four Republican State Senators – Tom Berryhill of Modesto, Anthony Cannella of Ceres, Bill Emmerson of Hemet and Tom Harman of Huntington Beach — have released details of the items they say are “must haves” if they are to agree to a budget deal.
The items — tabbed “necessary reforms” — include a cap on state spending, “reform” to public pensions, alternatives to state regulations, and relaxation of California environmental regulations.
California Teachers Association and supporters of schools and other vital services have been seeking four Republican votes — two in the Senate and two in the Assembly – to gain the two-thirds majority needed to extend the state’s temporary taxes and stave of another $5 billion hit to schools that would be part of a $10 billion additional cut in state public services.
The full text of the GOP Senator’s list can be found at http://cssrc.us/pubs/110613_ReformProposalSpecifics.pdf
Imagine that becoming a teacher was a lot like becoming a doctor or a lawyer. Only the top students at the best universities could get a spot in competitive teaching programs. And they would spend five to six years becoming a highly trained, highly skilled educator.
If you were lucky enough to make it into one of the highly selective teaching programs you would become a well paid and respected professional. Upon entering the teaching field, you would have the support of veteran teachers in the classroom, but also creative autonomy and the trust of your principal and colleagues. Not only that, but you would be working in a field where you could actually make a difference.
Sounds pretty good, right?
That’s the thrust of the The National Center on Education and the Economy’s new report (pdf) which argues that America needs to emulate other nations like Finland and Singapore by making the teaching profession more prestigious and desirable. This in turn would attract a higher quality labor pool and lead to major improvements
blog originally posted at The Brock Report
by Zakiyah Ansari
In New York City, the last 10 years of educational reform has consisted of stripping parent and community voice from the system and the belief by Mayor Bloomberg that closing schools is a school reform strategy (more than 100 schools closed under Mayor Bloomberg). This strategy has resulted in the creation of more than 400 new small schools, but they have largely left behind the lowest-performing schools serving the highest-needs communities, predominantly in Black and Latino neighborhoods.
As a mother, advocate and an organizer with Alliance for Quality Education I signed my name to the lawsuit along with AQE, NAACP, UFT, other parents and elected officials because the politics DOE is playing with our children must stop. They claim that they have raised the graduation rates, closed the achievement gap and tout that their policies over the last 9 years have been successful. Yet as a result of Bloomberg’s school reforms the racial achievement gap has widened since 2003 and now white students are twice as likely to read on grade level
I turn 63 today.
Someone Facebooked a birthday greeting to me this morning warning me to watch out. The earth seems to spin faster each year we grow older, he said.
This does not worry me.
When I was twenty, I had no thoughts of being sixty. By twenty-five, I was convinced that neither Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Abbie Hoffman or I would be around this long. Of the four of us, only Abbie didn’t make it.
Neither did some others I loved or admired. It’s a list too long to include here.
I was born on Flag Day, on the same day as the guy who discovered Alzheimer’s and on my Grandma Esther’s birthday.
Esther Wainer lived until she was 92.
I should only do as well.
And by that I don’t just mean old age.
Esther was smart, independent thinking and whatever the Yiddish word for bad ass is.
She left her home in Russia because her father did
Dear Deborah,
Sometimes critics complain that I write too much about what doesn't work and should focus instead on what does work. Since I am a historian, I don't think I am the right person to tell teachers how to teach or tell principals how to run their schools. I leave that to you, since you spent so many years as both teacher and principal.
I would argue, however, that there is value in warning policymakers when they are imposing harmful ideas on children, schools, and educators. I liken it to standing on the train tracks and yelling "Stop!" when you see that the train is heading right for the precipice at full speed, with every compartment packed with children, teachers, and principals. I freely admit that I was wrong about test-based accountability and choice. I take lots of knocks because I had the audacity to change my mind, that apparently being a rare thing to do in our hyper-polarized political environment. I'd like to believe that everyone has the capacity to re-examine what they think and determine whether the facts support their ideas. If evidence accumulates saying that those ideas don't work or have unintended negative consequences, why in the world would one proceed? Why not stop and listen and
by Maitri Pamo
Gracias a la Vida, que me ha dado tanto. My parents made their own Dream Act when they emigrated here from Guatemala. Through their determination and hard work, they ensured fulfilling lives for their children. Different lives from what my ancestors had. My paternal grandparents were farmers. I know nothing about their lives. But on boiling days like today, I think of them.
I also think of all those who work on the land and how difficult their toil must be with the sun as their constant, abusive partner. In the US, farm workers have a life that typifies the agrarian experience, especially when one does not cultivate one’s own land. A bill affecting American farm workers may soon be law in California.
A long list of problems exists for farmers. From my own experience as a veterinary medical student, having been on both large industrial farms as well as small family farms, I know that accidents are a constant threat. Working with machines and sharp edges can produce acute, traumatic injuries, as well as chronic problems
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 8:20 pm |Updated: 8:23 pm, Mon Jun 13, 2011.
The School of Communications was in trouble almost from the start.
It was supposed to be a place for English learners, a haven for the students whose communication barriers present schools with some of their most bedeviling struggles. Its former principal, Cesar Alcantar, says the San Diego Unified School District told him the school could be exempt from the weighty labels and restrictions of No Child Left Behind,
