4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LAO Report: The 2013-14 Budget - CALIFORNIA’S FISCAL OUTLOOK

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LAO Report: The 2013-14 Budget - CALIFORNIA’S FISCAL OUTLOOK:

LAO Report: The 2013-14 Budget - CALIFORNIA’S FISCAL OUTLOOK

…your rose-colored-glasses are located in a compartment under the center armrest.

FROM THE 11/20 CCSA EMAIL TO THEIR MEMBERS:

 The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released its annual Fiscal Outlook last week, updating its projections on the state’s fiscal situation.  With the passage of Propositions 30 and 39, the LAO reports that “the budget situation has improved sharply” and that we can expect increases to Proposition 98 education funding in both the current year and in 2013-14, with steady increases of about $3 billion per year thereafter. 

The LAO suggests that this new funding could be used to begin paying off maintenance factor obligations and deferrals, provide Cost of Living Adjustments and equalize funding.    As a reminder, the Governor will issue his budget plan for 2013-14 in mid-January 2013.

The LAO Report: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

COMPLETE REPORT FOLLOWS

Budget Situation Has Improved Sharply.
The state’s economic recovery, prior budget cuts, and the additional, temporary taxes provided by Proposition 30 have combined to bring California to a promising moment: the possible end of a decade of acute state budget challenges.
Our economic and budgetary forecast indicates that California’s leaders face a dramaticallysmaller budget problem in 2013-14 compared to recent years. Furthermore, assuming steadyeconomic growth and restraint in augmenting current program funding 

ALEC Votes Down Anti-Common-Core Resolution - State EdWatch - Education Week

ALEC Votes Down Anti-Common-Core Resolution - State EdWatch - Education Week:

ALEC Votes Down Anti-Common-Core Resolution

by Andrew Ujifusa

The way the American Legislative Exchange Council, the controversial conservative think tank in Washington, has handled the Common Core State Standards has generated an interesting conflict in the education community. Some who have dealings with ALEC believe the common standards could mean progress for K-12 schools, but others involved in the group believe the standards represent the camel's nose in the tent and a prelude to greater federal intrusion in state and local education policy.
The latest news is that on Nov. 19, after several discussions over the past year and at least one postponed vote, ALEC's legislative board of directors has voted not to adopt the resolution opposing the common core, the group announced in an email. ALEC stated that it will remain "neutral" on the common core, "but will continue to 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gov. "Squeezy" and autocrat Rahm

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gov. "Squeezy" and autocrat Rahm:

Gov. "Squeezy" and autocrat Rahm

by Mike Klonsky

It would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. It's not only the low point of this once-progressive governor's career, it is characteristic of the buffoonery that marks state Democrats' attack on public employees' pensions and on their own political base. Of course I'm referring to Gov. "Squeezy's" pet python and his "grass-roots" campaign to "reform" the pension fund.

It all makes me wonder, first why are we taxpayers footing the bill for this crap? And second, what idiot on the gov's staff ingested enough drugs to come up with Squeezy? As I said the day Quinn was chased out of the state fair by thousands of pissed-off union members down in Springfield -- he's toast.

******

The school board appointment means that two former CPS principals — Azcoitia and Mahalia 

UPDATE: Students Clash at UC Davis Gaza Protest « Student Activism

Students Clash at UC Davis Gaza Protest « Student Activism:

Gaza Demonstrations at More Than a Dozen US Campuses

by Angus Johnston

Students have held demonstrations in connection with the Israeli assault on Gaza at more than a dozen campuses — some in support of the Palestinians, some in support of Israel. What follows is a list of the demonstrations I’ve been able to learn of through the media. Presumably many more have occurred that haven’t received press coverage.
Monday

• Cornell
• Florida State
• Purdue
• University of California Davis
• University of Massachusetts
• University of North Carolina
• University of South Florida

Friday

• University of Miami
• University of Minnesota
• University of Southern California
• University of Wisconsin Madison

Thursday

• University of Florida
• University of Michigan

Students Clash at UC Davis Gaza Protest

by Angus Johnston

Several dozen students briefly occupied Dutton Hall, an administration building on the University of California Davis campus, yesterday afternoon in protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza. The protest came one day after the first anniversary of last year’s notorious pepper-spraying of UC Davis activists by campus police.
According to the California Aggie, the UC Davis student newspaper, tempers flared between protesters and pro-Israel students at the occupation in two separate incidents.
The paper says that when demonstrators saw one student recording the action on her camera phone they 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: The privatization of the University of California: THE FIGHT TO SAVE EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: The privatization of the University of California: THE FIGHT TO SAVE EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE:

The privatization of the University of California: THE FIGHT TO SAVE EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE

OP-ED BY ELANA EDEN AND MARGARET HARDY IN THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN  - THE STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF U.C. BERKELEY |HTTP://BIT.LY/S8BYEM

Tuesday, November 20, 2012  ::  Lately, my friends have been asking me: “Proposition 30 just passed… so why mobilize?” In the relief following a narrow escape from a 20.3 percent fee hike, it seems like a reasonable question. As the pre-election panic subsides and we return to our schoolwork exhausted but reassured that we’re safe from a fee hike — at least for now — it’s difficult to acknowledge that the fight for public education is far from over.
But the privatization of the university doesn’t stop for elections. We may have averted a fee hike this year, but the UC Board of Regents is already discussing one for next year. At its meeting last week, the Board of Regents passed its new budget proposal, which could lead to an estimated 6 percent increase in 2013-14 undergraduate tuition if the state is unable to provide equivalent funding, as well as fee 

Teacher evaluation architect warns of lawsuits against Louisiana’s new system | Hechinger Report

Teacher evaluation architect warns of lawsuits against Louisiana’s new system | Hechinger Report:

Teacher evaluation architect warns of lawsuits against Louisiana’s new system

by Sarah Garland

The new teacher evaluation system Louisiana launched this fall may be too simplistic, according to the architect of one of the most widely used evaluation systems in the country – and the one on which Louisiana’s new system is based.

4th grader Noah Nafziger finds a quiet place to read during breakout groups in Lora Johnson’s class at George Cox Elementary School in Gretna, La. Thursday, October 18, 2012. In 2010 the Louisiana Legislature passed Teacher Evaluation Reform. Now it’s rolling out across Louisiana with local schools grappling with how to carry out the intense new requirements. The program, called Compass, consists of a two part annual evaluation, 50% based on observation by the principal and 50% on student performance. A designation of ineffective 

President Obama, Congress face ticking education time bombs: Fiscal cliff, college costs and student loan deadline | Get Schooled

President Obama, Congress face ticking education time bombs: Fiscal cliff, college costs and student loan deadline | Get Schooled:

President Obama, Congress face ticking education time bombs: Fiscal cliff, college costs and student loan deadline

by Maureen Downey

John Konop steered me to this article from MSN.com on the compelling education policy challenges facing President Obama and Congress.
Seems like a lot to get done, some of which has to be done in a matter of weeks.
Here is an excerpt but try to read the full piece before commenting:

…First up is sequestration, the automatic, government-wide spending cuts set to knock out 8.2 percent of the funding to almost all of the Education Department’s programs — unless Congress acts before the end of the year to avert the cuts.

Programs intended to reduce educational inequities will take a hit of $1.3 billion, according to the 

Racing, Striving, Accelerating, Winning, Yada, Yada. And Reading. - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Racing, Striving, Accelerating, Winning, Yada, Yada. And Reading. - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Racing, Striving, Accelerating, Winning, Yada, Yada. And Reading.

by Nancy Flanagan

When my kids--now young adults--were in elementary grades, their school participated in Pizza Hut's Book Itprogram. The idea was to promote reading by giving kids coupons for free individual pizzas if they read a specific number of books, or were the "top" readers in their classes. Whole classes got pizza parties for reading the greatest number of books. Teachers and principal were solidly behind the program, promising public recognition for kids who read the most, silly adult stunts and assemblies if all classes achieved certain goals.
My daughter was immediately down with the Book It concept, strategically selecting and plowing through books to stay a volume or two ahead her classroom competitors. Soon, I was signing off on a dozen or more books per day--easy, short books--to keep her in the running for "best" reader. The free pizza coupons were piling up on the counter. It never was about the pizza, however. It was about the chart on the wall, where students tallied up their 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Now Common Core is not only "State Led" it's Also "Teacher Designed"

Missouri Education Watchdog: Now Common Core is not only "State Led" it's Also "Teacher Designed":

Now Common Core is not only "State Led" it's Also "Teacher Designed"

by stlgretchen

Common Core explained:  Common Sense not allowed.

Comments today are reprinted with permission from Barry Garelick.  

Garelick has written extensively about math education in various publications including Education Next, Educational Leadership, and Education News. He is currently doing student teaching at a junior high school in the central coast area of California, and plans to teach math as his second career. He recently retired from the federal government.

He writes:

Stockton CA school district talks about Common Core. 

Here are some gems:

"Most significantly, Stockton Unified Assistant Superintendent Kirk Nicholas said, under the new approach student success will be measured less by their ability to recite facts than by 

Schools Matter: The Cucumber Austerity of Teaching: Merit Pay and Grapes

Schools Matter: The Cucumber Austerity of Teaching: Merit Pay and Grapes:

The Cucumber Austerity of Teaching: Merit Pay and Grapes

by P. L. Thomas

This isn't dystopian fiction, but it certainly could be.

Nancy Flanagan led (by way of Twitter) me and Jersey Jazzman to this wonderful and chilling video of monkeys confronting the concept of fairness:

2 Monkeys Were Paid Unequally; See What Happens Next

I agree with Jersey Jazzman that this video makes me think of how teachers are being treated under the Arne Duncan era of austerity in education, how Duncan/Obama have been pulled into the Gates cult of cannibalistic capitalism.

Now, back to the potential dytopian-fiction-as-reality:

The current "No Excuses" Reform exists within a worldview in which teachers are caged monkeys. Most teachers are the monkey on the viewer's left in the video, destined to hand back the stone we are issued, always 

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-20-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Credit-Rating Agency: Charter Schools Are Risky Investment

by dianerav

Well, we are into big-time business talk about education.
For-profit colleges are losing market share.
K12 Inc.’s stock price drops after Wells Fargo downgraded its rating in response to the poor performance of K12′s Colorado Virtual Academy, where the graduation rate is 22 percent.
Now a rating agency finds that despite the passage of an ALEC-style amendment in Georgia, allowing a 

Democracy for Sale?

by dianerav

Somebody is dumping a lot of campaign cash into state and local races.
Michael Petrilli of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute is convinced that the teachers’ unions are the Evil Empire. He says that the unions play Goliath to the poor reformers’ puny David. He says the unions were responsible for the defeat of right-wing Education Idol Tony Bennett in Indiana and the decisive repeal of the Luna Laws in deep-red Idaho.
Wow, who knew the teachers’ unions were so strong in those two red states?
I will wait to hear from readers in those two states about whether their unions are so

Students Who Disgrace Themselves in Public

by dianerav

Students for Education Reform at New York University and Columbia University plan a march to demand that the New York City United Federation of Teachers and the Bloomberg administration reach an agreement on test-based teacher evaluation. These groups are off-shoots of Democrats for Education Reform, the group founded by Wall Street hedge fund managers, the guys with annual incomes in the multiple millions, most of whom went to elite private schools.
The members of SFER pay more in tuition each year than a typical teacher’s annual income. They are students at elite universities. They obviously do not know that testing experts have found the evaluation system called “value-added assessment” to be inaccurate and unstable.
Why are they pushing teachers to accept an invalid measure? Why are these students, many of whom went to 

Why Cheat When You Are Winning?

by dianerav

Newark’s Robert Treat Academy is under investigation for possible cheating on state tests.
This charter school has been highly praised by the media and politicians as “proof” that “poverty is not destiny.”
As Jersey Jazzman points out, and asBruce Baker has documented, the school stacks the deck by taking very small numbers of students with special needs, small proportions of English language learners, and smaller

EduShyster on the Michigan Plan to End Public Education As We Know It

by dianerav

Just to show that great minds think alike, here is EduShyster’s description of the Michigan plan to end public education as we know it.
The plan was designed by the deep thinkers at the free-market think tank called the Mackinac Center.
She calls it a reform “turducken,” which is one reform wrapped inside another, all of them together accomplishing 

For-Profit Colleges in Trouble

by dianerav

No tears from this corner for the for-profit sector in higher education.
It is losing market share and closing campuses as students figure out that the degree from a for-profit college is not entirely respectable.
John Hechinger again proves he is at the top of his game as an education writer.
He knows how to follow the money.
Remember the old days when

Michigan Plan to Dissolve School Districts

by dianerav

As readers of this blog know, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan is determined to break up public education and encourage privatization as rapidly as possible.
He has been relying on a group called the “Oxford Foundation” to devise his plans. As we now know is customary among corporate reformers, the group is named deceptively. it has nothing to do with Oxford and it is not a foundation. while the website has a section about “transparency,” the website contains no names.
Transparency is for the little people.
This article in the Detroit Free Press identifies the leader of the “Oxford Foundation.” He is Richard McLellan, a 

The Real Story Behind the Bridgeport Election

by dianerav

The recent election in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was a major setback for corporate-style “reform” in that city.
The mayor launched a well-funded campaign to persuade voters to give up their democratic right to elect their school board and to give him control of the public schools.
Miraculously, despite his huge advantage in money and power, the mayor lost. The voters said no. Democracy 

That Teeny Tiny Number of Irreplaceables

by dianerav

Bruce Baker is one of my favorite bloggers. He is smart and irreverent. He is not awed by big names. He actually was a teacher before becoming a researcher. He has the technical skill to crack the statistical analyses that others generate to make spurious claims. Unlike many with the same skill set, he is willing to call a phony a phony. You might say he is our Premier C.D. (Since I have taken a personal pledge not to use vulgarisms on this blog, I will give you a clue to help you figure out what a C.D. is; it is a Cr-p Detector).
In this post, Bruce shows what nonsense The New Teacher Project report “The Irreplaceables” is.
TNTP, you may recall, was founded by either TFA or Michelle Rhee, depending on whom you heard from last. Its purpose was to stock urban districts with shiny new teachers (like TFA) to replace those burned-out veterans with low expectations. Although TNTP is an advocacy group that seeks and wins contracts from urban districts, 

Diane in the Evening 11-19-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Help This Small Community By Signing Its Petition by dianerav The town of Scottsburg, Indiana, has fewer than 10,000 residents. There is a proposal before the City Council to open a charter school. This will split the town. Some public school parents have started a petition to ask the City Council and the Mayor not to open a charter Why Local School Boards Are Targeted for Destruction by dianerav A local school board in Florida rejected the application of a for-profit charter operator. The board said they had had a bad experience with the last charter scho... more »

Iowa’s Plan for Education Success–Assess, Assess, Assess | Truth in American Education

Iowa’s Plan for Education Success–Assess, Assess, Assess | Truth in American Education:

Iowa’s Plan for Education Success–Assess, Assess, Assess

by Shane Vander Hart

There is nothing earth shattering in the Iowa Department of Education’s latest report  entitled “Overcoming the Achievement Divide: Key Challenges and Solutions for Iowa Schools.”   It’s main goal is to address the news that Iowa is stagnant in seeing growth in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  They are using the following qualifiers for the selection of programs at the state level: “focused on instruction, proven effective and scalable.”  Based on that they are focusing on three clusters of activities to support improvement.

1. Teacher quality (“the who”): Focuses energy on ensuring that the best and brightest teaching candidates are recruited and supported, and ensuring that those who do enter the profession have the highest-quality learning experiences that result in highly skilled professionals.

Walker Implicated « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Walker Implicated « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Walker Implicated

by millerlf

Prosecutors: Walker county staff, guv campaign met regularly to ensure ‘good coordination’ 11/19/2012 Wispolitics.comMILWAUKEE — Prosecutors today said Scott Walker had regular meetings with his Milwaukee County staffers and his 2010 guv campaign to ensure there was “good coordination” between the two. Milwaukee County prosecutors made the disclosure during the sentencing of Kelly Rindfleisch, a former Walker county aide who reached a plea deal to settle charges against her stemming from the long-running John Doe probe. Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf said the group that met regularly included people from Walker’s

Beyond Bloomberg: On The 2013 Mayoral Candidate Forum on Education | The Jose Vilson

Beyond Bloomberg: On The 2013 Mayoral Candidate Forum on Education | The Jose Vilson:

Beyond Bloomberg: On The 2013 Mayoral Candidate Forum on Education

by Jose

Blackboard Awards on the 2013 Mayoral Candidate Forum on Education

Tonight, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Blackboard Awards’ 2013 Mayoral Candidate Forum on Education at the Fordham Law School, moderated by Philissa Cramer of GothamSchools and Lindsey Christ of NY1, Time Warner Cable’s main New York City news station. Five out of the six main mayoral candidates (City Council Speaker of the House Christine Quinn, former city comptroller Bill Thompson, current city comptroller John C. Liu, media mogul Tom Allon, NYC public advocate Bill DiBlasio) showed up to this event. Even for someone with good knowledge of the candidates’ positions, the candidates had a few surprises up their sleeves, particularly Tom Allon, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
I’ll summarize what I got from each candidates’ positions on Christ’s and Cramer’s questions, and then give my 

Fiscal cliff, with federal cuts, not imminent for school districts | EdSource Today

Fiscal cliff, with federal cuts, not imminent for school districts | EdSource Today:

Fiscal cliff, with federal cuts, not imminent for school districts

November 20th, 2012 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

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For California’s K-12 districts and federally funded preschools, the “fiscal cliff” that is now consuming politics in Washington is more like a distant canyon.

(Photo by Juan Pablo Garnham)

The abyss refers to an across-the-board 8.2 percent cut in federal discretionary spending, including defense, that will go into effect Jan. 3 if President Obama and congressional leaders don’t reach a deal on taxes and spending to reduce the federal debt by $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Federal student loans, most child nutrition programs and the Children’s Health Insurance Program would be exempt from cuts.

The full cuts to most education programs would be painful indeed if they were enacted: $334 million alone in Department of Education funding for California, plus $75 million less for Head Start and $19 million less in