Tuesday, October 18, 2011

What Happens if City Schools Go Insolvent - voiceofsandiego.org: Data-drive

What Happens if City Schools Go Insolvent - voiceofsandiego.org: Data-drive:

What Happens if City Schools Go Insolvent

Photo by Sam Hodgson
The San Diego Unified School Board

Posted: Sunday, October 16, 2011 11:30 am |Updated: 6:44 pm, Mon Oct 17, 2011.

By Keegan Kyle

Last week, top officials said the San Diego Unified School District is on the brink of financial collapse and may require a state takeover to remain afloat.

So what does that mean?

A takeover would push the state to loan the district millions of dollars to pay for its bills. Declaring insolvency would spur radical changes in the district's operations.

In exchange for the loan, the law requires local officials to hand over control of the district to the state. Ironically, it would either fire or relegate the top two officials that are sounding the district alarm, Superintendent

"Weingarten: Yonkers schools demonstrate urgent need for Jobs Bill." October 17, 2011. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

"Weingarten: Yonkers schools demonstrate urgent need for Jobs Bill." October 17, 2011. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org:

Weingarten: Yonkers schools demonstrate urgent need for Jobs Bill

AFT - October 17, 2011

Via AFT.org:

"At a time when we need to do everything possible to prepare students for the 21st-century knowledge economy, it is unacceptable to lay teachers off and cram students in buildings that are too small and antiquated."
AFT President Weingarten Visits Yonkers and North Bergen Schools That Could Benefit from American Jobs Act
WASHINGTON - Visits today to Yonkers, N.Y., and North Bergen, N.J., schools demonstrate the urgent need to pass President Obama's American Jobs Act, said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. Weingarten said that no one should have to learn or teach in such aging, seriously overcrowded and massively underfunded schools.
Weingarten toured Gorton High School and Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Yonkers, N.Y., and North Bergen High School in North Bergen, N.J., saying all three schools would benefit from the jobs bill, which could save more than 280,000 educator jobs, and repair and

Schools Matter: AYP is to "Continuous Improvement" As Fiat Is to Yugo

Schools Matter: AYP is to "Continuous Improvement" As Fiat Is to Yugo:

AYP is to "Continuous Improvement" As Fiat Is to Yugo

by Jim Horn

The ed industry, the Oligarchs' lawyers, and the purchased politicians of DC are at it again, staying up late at night to sew together another Frankenstein monster to unleash on America's schoolchildren, parents, and teachers. One thing all self-serving parties seem to agree on is that increasing test scores should be the central component, thus giving new life to the antiquarian idiocy that makes American schools so bad, so irrelevant, so controlled by stupidity, hubris, and arrogance.

Continuous improvement (CI) is the "new" buzz word (see TQM from 40 years ago), or buzz saw, as it

Parent feedback desired? - Reedsburg Speak Out

Parents should speak up more says this teacher in Reedsburg. She wants to hear what parents want for their children. Would that help? Share your idea and speak out!

Jon Stewart is an Occupy Wall Street Concern Troll « Student Activism #OWS

Jon Stewart is an Occupy Wall Street Concern Troll « Student Activism:

Jon Stewart is an Occupy Wall Street Concern Troll

by Angus Johnston

The Daily Show has been on vacation since Occupy Wall Street broke big in the media, so last night’s show was their chance to play catch-up. And they made some … well … odd choices.

Stewart led off the four-minute segment by calling OWS “the Hard Rock Cafe of leftist movements” before doing a gag about OWS’s fundraising prowess and another snarking on Mitt Romney’s opportunism. But the segment’s last — and longest — bit was this one:

“Of course it hasn’t been all good news for the movement. For all their popularity, for all the participants with thoughtful critiques of our power structure, there’s also this: A guy taking a shit [bleeped] on a police car.

“You know what? Guy shitting [bleeped] on a police car? Meet me at camera three.

“NO! NO! BAD! [mimes spraying with water bottle, whacking with rolled up newspaper] NO! NAUGHTY!

Young Participants in Recent London Riots Shunted into Adult Courts

by Angus Johnston

In an op-ed in today’s Guardian, a British advocate for young criminal offenders reports that after August’s UK riots protocols for youth justice were tossed out the window:

“About a quarter of participants in London were under the age of 17, yet all protocol regarding youth justice was ignored. Youth services have worked hard over recent years to establish a rulebook for young offenders, designed to keep them away from the dangerous chasm of the adult justice system. Youth courts, specially trained magistrates, targeted assistance by youth offending teams, triage and assessment, social worker involvement – all have been slanted towards rehabilitation and welfare. This good

Schools Matter: "Click, Clack, Moo": Why the 1% Always Wins

Schools Matter: "Click, Clack, Moo": Why the 1% Always Wins:

"Click, Clack, Moo": Why the 1% Always Wins

by P. L. Thomas

"Click, Clack, Moo": Why the 1% Always Wins

As a high school English teacher for nearly two decades, I came to embrace a need to offer students a wide range of lenses for interacting with and learning from many different texts, but I also learned that coming to read and re-read, to write and re-write the world is both a powerful and disorienting experience for young people. So a strategy I now use and encourage other teachers to implement is reading and discussing children's literature, picture books, while expanding the critical lenses readers have in their toolbox.

My favorite book for this activity is Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. This work by Doreen Cronin and art by Betsy Lewin (view in animated format) presents a clever and humorous narrative about Farmer Brown and his

Harkin-Enzi ESEA Madness :: Frederick M. Hess

Harkin-Enzi ESEA Madness :: Frederick M. Hess:

Harkin-Enzi ESEA Madness

by Frederick M. Hess • Oct 18, 2011 at 9:28 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Substantively, I don't have a ton to add to what I wrote yesterday. But there were a couple of interesting developments, and various declarations have helped clarify where things stand. Here's my take.

The Good: Over the weekend, Harkin and Enzi scrapped the proposal to require states to adopt federally-approved teacher and principal evaluation systems. Instead, they opted to offer federal dollars to support smart state systems as a competitive grant for which states can choose to apply. This happy development marked a big win for Senator Alexander and those concerned about federal overreach. It marked a big setback for the CAP-Ed Trust Democrats, which is why Secretary Duncan lashed out at the announcement. The upshot here is that the pro-NCLB Dems didn't much like the original Harkin-Enzi proposal, and they're going to like any version that emerges from HELP even less.

The Bad: The consequence of killing the teacher and principal evaluation mandate is that Harkin-Enzi now

If You Believe in Miracles, Don't Read This - Bridging Differences - Education Week

If You Believe in Miracles, Don't Read This - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

If You Believe in Miracles, Don't Read This

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

Last June, I wrote an op-ed for The New York Times disputing the idea of "miracle schools." With the assistance of two volunteer researchers, Gary Rubinstein and Noel Hammatt, I learned that several schools touted by various political leaders as miraculous were not. My intention was not to criticize the schools and their staff, but to criticize the politicians who were using the schools to imply that their policies (like firing the staff and closing the school) were working and that it wasn't all that difficult to turn around a school that enrolled large numbers of low-performing students.

The politicians seemed to suggest that their policies (testing and accountability) or mass firings sufficed to produce dramatically higher test scores and graduation rates. The subtext is that poverty and resources are not actually problems for urban schools; if they could just test more often and fire more teachers, the corporate reformers imply, then test scores would soar. This analysis suggests that schools enrolling the neediest

Is the Charter School Boom Really Good for Kids? - Education - GOOD

Is the Charter School Boom Really Good for Kids? - Education - GOOD:

Is the Charter School Boom Really Good for Kids?

by Liz Dwyer

charter.school
The latest report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools shows that the charter school boom is showing no signs of abating. In six cities—New Orleans; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Kansas City, Missouri; Flint, Michigan; and Gary, Indiana—more than 30 percent of students now attend charter schools. In New Orleans, an astounding 70 percent of students are enrolled in charters. But, when it comes down to the sheer number of students attending charters, Los Angeles takes the enrollment crown.

Over the past decade, charter schools' growth in Los Angeles has been meteoric. In 1993, a year after California passed the nation's second charter school law, only 16 charters operated in the city, a mere blip on the region's

Meet the Teachers' Union Contract of the Future - Dana Goldstein

Meet the Teachers' Union Contract of the Future - Dana Goldstein:

Meet the Teachers' Union Contract of the Future

by Dana Goldstein

On Friday Geoff Decker of GothamSchools reported on the renegotiated contract between New York's United Federation of Teachers and Green Dot, the California-based charter school operator whose schools are all unionized. Two years after the first Green Dot/UFT agreement was drafted, the union agreed once again to a contract that totally lacks both tenure and seniority-based layoffs. The new contract also pays veteran Green Dot teachers a $2,000 bonus as a reward for raising test scores.

Green Dot administrators must prove only "just cause" before firing a teacher--the same standard practiced within many non-unionized companies in order to avoid wrongful termination lawsuits. First-year teachers have no job security protections whatsoever, and all teachers will be evaluated according to the principles enshrined in New York State's Race to the Top application: 20 percent of the evaluation score will be based on student

School Board considers outsourcing some jobs as 'last resort' way to cut costs . - Las Vegas Sun

School Board considers outsourcing some jobs as 'last resort' way to cut costs - Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 | 12:20 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun:

School Board considers outsourcing some jobs as ‘last resort’ way to cut costs

Board taking a look at custodians and bus drivers

PAUL TAKAHASHI

Greg Gibson, president of Austin, Texas-based efficiency company Gibson Consulting Group, listens to questions Clark County School Board members had on the findings of a three-month, privately-funded study into how the Clark County School District can streamline its operations during a meeting on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. Special advisor to the superintendent Ken Turner sits in the back.

By Paul Takahashi (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 | 12:20 a.m.

The Clark County School Board is considering hiring some outside custodians and bus drivers as a way to cut costs — a move that is raising the ire of some of the district's support staff.

School Board members said Monday night they plan to study and develop a policy on how the district might privatize certain operations as a cost-cutting measure of “last resort.”

This decision comes about a month after the School District released an efficiency study that found $162 million in potential cost-savings to the district over five years.

Gibson Consulting Group, which is based out of Austin, Texas,

No “More of the same” with the Seattle School Board | Seattle Education

No “More of the same” with the Seattle School Board | Seattle Education:

No “More of the same” with the Seattle School Board

by seattleducation2011

The four school board candidates that are running against the incumbents are having a much needed fundraiser this Friday.

Just as a reminder, the incumbents that I refer to were also referred to as the Gang of Four in terms of how theyvoted “Yes” on every policy that our Broad-trained superintendent put in front of them whether it made sense for our school district or not.

Also, Stand for Children, an organization that is pushing charter schools in our state every way that they can, is backing financially and with other resources the incumbents Harium-Martin Morris, Sherry Carr and Steve Sundquist. According to Jonah Edelman, CEO of SFC, their organization selects school board candidates that can be used as vehicles to achieve the goals of their organization and I would say that is exactly what the three

FUSD cuts will be focus of Occupy Fresno - Local - fresnobee.com #ows

FUSD cuts will be focus of Occupy Fresno - Local - fresnobee.com:

FUSD cuts will be focus of Occupy Fresno

Protesters pick up cause of supporting teachers.

By Valerie Gibbons / The Fresno Bee

Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 | 08:58 PM

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Occupy Fresno protesters are expected to ask Fresno Unified school's Superintendent Michael Hanson to take a pay cut at the district's board meeting Wednesday.

Members of the group say they're trying to bring attention to problems with the district – particularly with the Fresno Unified board and district leadership.

"We're going to be there to support teachers," said Vanessa Aranda, one of the protesters.

She said the Fresno protests are attempting to spotlight cuts to social programs, like services fo

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011