Wednesday, January 23, 2013

PAA’s Karran Harper Royal and others to testify in DC on school closings’ discriminatory impact | Parents Across America

PAA’s Karran Harper Royal and others to testify in DC on school closings’ discriminatory impact | Parents Across America:

PAA’s Karran Harper Royal and others to testify in DC on school closings’ discriminatory impact

by pureparents

MEDIA ALERT

18 CITIES CONVERGE IN WASHINGTON D.C ON “JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE,” CALLING ON DEPT. OF EDUCATION TO END DISCRIMINATORY CLOSINGS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

National Movement Forms In Wake Of Mass School Closings & Turnarounds That Violate Civil Rights & Promote Divestment In Low-Income Communities Of Color

WHAT: Students, parents and advocacy representatives from 18 major United States cities will testify at a hearing before the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. on the devastating impact and civil rights violations resulting from the unchecked closing and turnaround of schools serving predominantly low-income, minority students across the country.

More than 10 cities have filed, or are in the process of filing, Title VI Civil Rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, citing the closing of schools and the criteria and methods for administering those actions as discriminatory toward low-income, minority communities. Representatives from 11 cities will testify at the hearing on the impact of school closings including the civil rights violations and the destabilization of their children and communities resulting from the criteria used for school closings and the current accepted movement to privatize schools.

Demands of the Department of Education include a moratorium on school closings until a new process can be implemented nationally, the implementation of a sustainable, community-driven school improvement process as national policy, and a meeting with President Obama so that he may hear directly from his constituents about the devastating impact and civil rights violations.

The hearing will be followed by a procession and candlelight vigil at the Martin Luther King Memorial to continue to raise the voices of those impacted by the destabilization and sabotage of education in working and low-income, communities of color.

In the wake of the hearing, the 18 participating cities, along with additional cities in the process of organizing, are forming a national movement to unite students, parents and advocacy organizations across the country to spread awareness of mass school closings and their impact on targeted communities.

WHO: Approximately 500 students, parents and community leaders, impacted or at risk of impact by school closings, representing 18 cities across the country will attend the hearing including: Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; District of Columbia; Eupora, Miss.; Hartford, Conn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Newark; New Orleans; New York; Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia; Wichita, Kan.; and Wilmington, Del.

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 2:00 p.m.- 3:55 p.m. EST
U.S. Department of Education Auditorium
Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
5:00 p.m. EST
Martin Luther King Memorial
Washington, D.C.

WHY: Cities across the country are experiencing the results of neglectful actions by the closing of schools serving predominantly low-income students of color including displacement and destabilization of children, increased violence and threats of physical harm as a result of re-assignment, and destabilization at schools receiving the displaced students.

Despite current research showing that closing these public schools does not improve test scores or graduation rates, closings have continued primarily because current federal Race To The Top policy has incentivized the closing and turnaround of schools by supporting privatization. However, the privatization of schools has resulted in unchecked actions and processes where the primary fallout is on those in low-income, minority communities. The devastating impact of these actions has only been tolerated because of the race and class of the communities affected.

Department Releases New Publications Highlighting ESEA Flexibility | ED.gov Blog

Department Releases New Publications Highlighting ESEA Flexibility | ED.gov Blog:

Department Releases New Publications Highlighting ESEA Flexibility

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Tiffany Taber

With 34 states and the District of Columbia approved for ESEA flexibility, the U.S. Department of Education released a series of new publications this week, describing the flexibility program and the ways in which some participating states are advancing important education reforms.

ESEA flexibility enables states and districts to maintain a high bar for student achievement while better targeting resources to schools and students most in need of additional support. The publication series includes a brochure and fact sheets on topics that relate to five priority areas under ESEA flexibility (pdf files):

The Department announced voluntary ESEA flexibility in September 2011 in the absence of a reauthorization – or congressional update – to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The most recent update to the federal education law – the No Child Left Behind Act – was due for reauthorization in 2007, but has governed a changing national education landscape for more than a decade. ESEA flexibility allows states and districts to replace the “one-size-fits-all,” prescriptive provisions of NCLB with state-led reforms tailored to address their most pressing education challenges.

For more information about ESEA flexibility and to access the new brochure and fact sheets, please visit this Web site.

Tiffany Taber is senior communications and events manager at the U.S. Department of Education

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12 Days of Dreaming Event: Student Edition - Student Voice

Student Voice:

12 Days of Dreaming Event: Student Edition-

by admin

Originally Posted: http://www.educationdreamer.com/2013/01/12DODSE.html
This past December I ran a series on Education Dreamer called The 12 Days of Dreaming. Over a course of three weeks I posted twelve different blogs by fourteen guest bloggers. Each blogger was an educator and he or she wrote about her dreams for education. Some covered broad topics such as assessment and the physical structure of the school. While others focused on their personal classroom or subject area. It was a great experience with great results.
Now it’s time to take the project to the next level. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Education Dreamer is teaming up with the people at Student Voice and Choose 2 Matter to bring to you The 12 Days of Dreaming: Student Edition! This will be a collaborative effort to highlight the dreams of the students who enter our schools.
We are looking for a minimum of 12 guest student bloggers. The series will run in February. At the end of the

Update: Seattle Schools Community Forum: What About BEX?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What About BEX?:

What About BEX?

by Melissa Westbrook

What are you hearing at your school about the levies? Is there a big push on? I know that at least 20+ schools have endorsed it.

Yesterday, the Times had an op-ed from the head of School First, Greg Wong, in support of the levies but it had one day on their webpage and is now gone to their file area. Kind of odd.

The election is less than a month away and ballots are coming your way next week. And, yet this seems to be a decidedly low-key election. Does the district NOT want to call attention to it?

I go on record as saying I support both levies.

(FYI, I find it unlikely that either levy will fail but if one or both did, the district can come back again in a couple of months. It would cost a lot of money. If that didn't pass, at least for Operations, I'm sure the State would step in

Board Meeting Likely to be Lively

by Melissa Westbrook

I suspect that given the district has a media event to explain the interim plan for next year AND the SEA is having a "boycott the MAP" rally at 4 p.m. outside of JSCEE AND the large number of concerns over the interim plan, the Board meeting is probably going to be lively (to say the least).

What questions do you think I should ask at the media event?

The speaker list reflects that most of the speakers are going to talk about the interim plan. The speakers start at 5 p.m with the vote on the interim plan occurring roughly at 6:30 p.m. Sadly, I think that the directors will all choose to give lengthy explanations of their votes. I say sadly because sometimes I find it even harder to take a vote based on reasoning I hear given.

Charters in Chicago

by Melissa Westbrook

A lengthy and devastating account of public schools in the Chicago school system, created by the Chicago teachers union. While I'm sure some of the viewpoint is somewhat skewed, they have hard data.

Thanks to my friend, Carolyn, for this info.

High School Graduation Rate at Highest Level in Three Decades | ED.gov Blog

High School Graduation Rate at Highest Level in Three Decades | ED.gov Blog:

High School Graduation Rate at Highest Level in Three Decades

by Cameron Brenchley

A new report from the Department of Education shows that high school graduation rates are at their highest level since 1974. According to the report, during the 2009-10 school year, 78.2 percent of high school students nationwide graduated on time, which is a substantial increase from the 73.4 percent recorded in 2005-6. The report shows that graduation rates were up for all ethnic groups in 2010, and that the rate for Hispanic students has jumped almost 10 points since 2006.

The report, from ED’s National Center for Education Statistics, also provides state-by-state data on high school dropouts. While the nation’s overall dropout rate is declining, Secretary Arne Duncan noted yesterday that the dropout rate is still “unsustainably high for a knowledge-based economy and still unacceptably high in our African-American, Latino, and Native-American communities.”

Graph of dropout rates by race/ethnicity

Click here to read the entire report, including data per state, race/ethnicity and gender.
Cameron Brenchley is director of digital strategy at the U.S. Department of Education

School Tech Connect: It's More Than He Said-She Said

School Tech Connect: It's More Than He Said-She Said:

It's More Than He Said-She Said

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

Ok, this is an important matter here--- and to be dramatic, it goes right to the heart of journalism. In this excellent piece by Bryan Lowry, CPS Communications person Becky Carrol distributes a considerable spray of flak in response to the premise of the utilization criticism. Read it carefully.

I asked Wendy Katten about this, and

4LAKids - NOT DEAD YET: Libraries still vital, Pew report finds + a elementary school librarian’s 2¢

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: NOT DEAD YET: Libraries still vital, Pew report finds + a elementary school librarian’s 2¢:

NOT DEAD YET: Libraries still vital, Pew report finds + a elementary school librarian’s 2¢

by smf

BY DAVID L. ULIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK CRITIC | HTTP://LAT.MS/SBP0AQ

Organizing the bookshelves at the Los Angeles Public Library. (Arkasha Stevenson/Los Angeles Times / January 21, 2013)

January 22, 2013, 4:00 a.m. :: Perhaps the most groundbreaking aspect of “Library Services in the Digital Age,” the report released today by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is how non-groundbreaking its findings are.

Based on “a survey of 2,252 Americans ages 16 and above” conducted between October 15 and November 10 of last year, the Pew reportassures us that, even in the digital age, libraries continue to serve a variety of functions, with nearly 60% of respondents having had some kind of interaction with a library in the last 12 months, and 91% saying that “public libraries are important to their communities.”

As for the way these numbers break down, the vast majority of patrons (73%) still visit libraries to browse the shelves and borrow print books.

Shanker Blog » Are Charter Schools Better Able To "Fire Bad Teachers"?

Shanker Blog » Are Charter Schools Better Able To "Fire Bad Teachers"?:

Are Charter Schools Better Able To Fire Low-Performing Teachers?

by Matthew Di Carlo

Charter schools, though they comprise a remarkably diverse sector, are quite often subject to broad generalizations. Opponents, for example, promote the characterization of charters as test prep factories, though this is a sweeping claim without empirical support. Another common stereotype is that charter schools exclude students with special needs. It is often (but not always) true that charters serve disproportionately fewer students with disabilities, but the reasons for this are complicated and vary a great deal, and there is certainly no evidence for asserting a widespread campaign of exclusion.
Of course, these types of characterizations, which are also leveled frequently at regular public schools, don’t always take the form of criticism. For instance, it is an article of faith among many charter supporters that these schools, thanks to the fact that relatively few are unionized, are better able to aggressively identify and fire low-performing teachers (and, perhaps, retain high performers). Unlike many of the generalizations from both “sides,” this one is a bit more amenable to empirical testing.
A recent paper by Joshua Cowen and Marcus Winters, published in the journal Education Finance and Policy, is

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, January 23, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

State schools chief calls for moratorium on risky bonds

Education Headlines

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Taft parents vent fury over inaction prior to shooting

Nearly two weeks after a shooting at Taft Union High School that left a 16-year-old student critically injured, community members at an information meeting at the school Tuesday demanded to know why administrators allowed the alleged shooter back on campus after he had allegedly threatened classmates.

Lode arts center killed in emotional vote

The Calaveras High School band will never play the national anthem in a 500-seat performance hall once proposed for the campus in San Andreas. The school's choirs won't raise their voices there. And drama students won't stage "Annie" or "Oklahoma."

S.J. schools prepare for the worst

Twenty-four years later, memories of the 1989 Cleveland School massacre still linger like a bad dream in Stockton, resurfacing with news of every schoolyard shooting.

MPUSD trustees postpone vote on superintendent's leave of absence

Trustees of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District put off until next week approval of the superintendent's request for a leave of absence.

Novato charter school group delays petition a year

The group proposing the North Bay Academy charter school in Novato will halt efforts to open in fall 2013 and submit a new petition to open a year later, organizers announced late Tuesday.

Legal muscle sought for Fresno Unified trustee election

People seeking a special election in the McLane High School trustee area want legal help asking a judge to force the issue. Petitioners learned this month that incorrect information from the Fresno County Office of Education kept them from collecting enough signatures to trigger an election.

State schools chief calls for moratorium on risky bonds

California Schools Chief Tom Torlakson and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer have asked school district officials to stop issuing capital appreciation bonds.

SD schools to balance budget without layoffs

For the first time in years, the San Diego school district will try to balance its budget without issuing a large number of layoff notices under a plan that’s billed as favoring people over property.

Antioch Unified, teachers union reach tentative agreement on contract

The teachers union and school district here have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract that would provide much-sought raises and increase the district's contribution to health insurance premiums.

Despite budget woes, superintendents' pay rises

With California’s public school system facing economic uncertainties – even with the passage of a tax increase under Proposition 30 – some of the most financially troubled districts have been elevating the payroll for top administrators, a review of district data shows.

Years after bond's passage, no start on new Sierra Madre school

The middle school, slated to benefit from a $350-million bond approved in 2008, has been operating out of trailers since the old campus' demolition in 2010.

Teachers financing guns

The state teachers' retirement system is attempting to divest itself from a company that finances the manufacture of assault weapons like the one used at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But even if it does, it still won't be out of the gun business.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Schools watching governor's education funding proposal closely

Local school districts are cautiously optimistic about a new funding formula Gov. Jerry Brown announced last week that will distribute state funds based in part on the degree to which districts serve poor students and English learners.

Transitional kindergarten hailed as success

This is transitional kindergarten in the Lodi Unified School District, and by all accounts, the course that is one-notch-above-preschool-but-not-quite-kindergarten is a booming success after the first half of its inaugural year.

A look at school security in SLO County after Sandy Hook

In the wake of the Connecticut attack, the topic is the subject of much discussion throughout the county as districts evaluate their campuses and consider changes.

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:

EduShyster

January 21, 2013

Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Department Releases New Publications Highlighting ESEA Flexibility

BY DAVID L. ULIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK CRITIC | HTTP://LAT.MS/SBP0AQ

Education Headlines

Best of the Ed Blogs