Modern School: Stealing Candy From Babies in California Schools

Modern School: Stealing Candy From Babies in California Schools:

Stealing Candy From Babies in California Schools

by Michael Dunn

"They are literally taking food out of the mouths of kids," Richard Zeiger, chief deputy superintendent of public instruction. (From the Los Angeles Times)

Image from Flickr, by wenews

 Eight or more California school districts have misused millions of dollars in federal funding earmarked for schools’ free and reduced lunch programs, including Los Angeles Unified School District, according to a state Senate watchdog group. State officials believe the fraudulent use of the funds may be far more widespread, according to the Los Angeles Times. Other implicated school districts include Oxnard, San Diego, Santa Ana, San Francisco and Compton.

The districts have been ordered to repay more than $170 million by the California Department of Education. LAUSD 

Graphic comparison of what #teachers are paid relative to hours work, via @timsmith32 – @ the chalk face

Graphic comparison of what #teachers are paid relative to hours work, via @timsmith32 – @ the chalk face:

Graphic comparison of what #teachers are paid relative to hours work, via @timsmith32

by Chalk Face, PhD

From multiple countries. We’re #1… in hours worked. You’ll have to scan down on the right to see the relative salary. Yeah, about that.

@dfernews @charlesbarone, so I get it, as an educator, I’m the cheeky one.

by Chalk Face, PhD

Something happened on Twitter last night that reminded me of a great post from October by Jersey Jazzman on the “wonk.” Young, upstart crows they are, no?
I was doing my part engaging in a public “dialogue” on the #SOTU. When I heard mention of Race to the Top, I commented that life really isn’t a race. So, let’s bag that metaphor, can we? Then, I get a snarky reply from chief DFER wonk, Charles Barone:

Yeah, I get it. I put the initials PhD in my Twitter handle. Why did I do that? I don’t really know. If I were to hazard a guess, maybe it was to confer some kind of legitimacy or credibility to my understanding of, you know, education and junk. But Barone is correct, I *totally* put PhD on there because I like to feel important. Absolutely, because I sacrificed that big-time fifth grade teacher’s salary to become officially stamped as a

District 2 Candidates to Appear at Forum Tonight - LA School Report

District 2 Candidates to Appear at Forum Tonight - LA School Report:

District 2 Candidates to Appear at Forum Tonight

by Samantha Oltman

LAUSD Board candidates running for a District 2 seat representing East LA will participate tonight in the final candidate forum hosted by United Way of Greater LA.

Most of the candidates — Annamarie Montanez, Maria Cano, Isabel Vazquez, and incumbent LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia — are expected to appear at the forum. Robert Skeels has not confirmed, having told United Way he has a conflicting event. Many of the same candidates appeared at another event on Monday.  See our post, D2 Challengers Pile On LAUSD, for a sense of where the candidates stand.
If the last two United Way forums for East Valley and Hollywood/Westside candidates were any indication, tonight’s forum will press the candidates to share their views on heated topics including what they think about Superintendent John Deasy’s performance, the role test scores should play in teacher evaluations, and charter schools’ place in the district.
For full event details and R.S.V.P. information, click here.

Three Reasons You Should Care Who Wins the School Board Races

by LA School Report

This is a guest post from Jason Mandell, Director of Public Affairs at United Way of Greater Los Angeles:
Recently I was talking with someone about the city’s March 5^th election, which includes three hotly contested school board races, and this was her response: “I don’t have children in public schools, so I don’t really care about the school board.”
This kind of worried me. Not just because I think it matters who sits on the school board, but because I like to think people care about issues beyond those that directly affect them – or at least, they should be embarrassed 

Tell ASCD's Educational Leadership Your Story — Whole Child Education

Tell ASCD's Educational Leadership Your Story — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Tell ASCD’s Educational Leadership Your Story

February 13, 2013 by Klea Scharberg

The May 2013 issue of the Educational Leadership magazine focuses on "The Faces of Poverty" and will explore how schools must challenge traditional ideas of poverty and formulate new responses. You are invited to share your experiences with this topic by sharing a story about a time when you saw the benefits of socioeconomic diversity in action in your classroom or school.

The deadline for responses is March 1, 2013, and we ask that your contribution be 200 words or less.Selected responses will appear in the May 2013 issue, either in print or online.

Pass / Fail : L.A. school board races receive unusual donation: $1m from NY mayor | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : L.A. school board races receive unusual donation: $1m from NY mayor | 89.3 KPCC:

L.A. school board races receive unusual donation: $1m from NY mayor

by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $1 million to committees supporting school board candidates -- in Los Angeles. Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
A $1 million donation from across the country has upped the ante big time in the three Los Angeles Unified school board races.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a policy ally of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, donated the seven figure sum to the Coalition For School Reform, an independent expenditure committee Villaraigosa started years ago to make his mark on the school board.  The committee is supporting the campaigns of incumbent board president Monica Garcia and newcomers Antonio Sanchez and Kate Anderson — candidates opposed by the city's teachers union.
The donation brings the coalition’s war chest to $2.5 million. The group has already spent hundreds of thousands 

Sacramento Council of PTAs Speaks Out Against SCUSD School Closures | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

Sacramento Council of PTAs Speaks Out Against SCUSD School Closures | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education:

Sacramento Council of PTAs Speaks Out Against SCUSD School Closures

by Kate_Lenox

February 12, 2013
As we perform our work on behalf of families and communities across the Sacramento City Unified School District boundaries our processes are guided in matters of policy such as school closures by California State PTA's position statements.
The California State PTA School Closure Position Statement reads:  The California State PTA believes that while school closure... 'can be an opportunity to improve the quality of education... The.... success of school closure depends upon....total involvement of the community.
In considering school closure, PTA supports:

• Early and ongoing involvement of all those affected - parents, students, teachers, administrators, staff, board of education, and community; [The proposal before the board is the result of only one group of stakeholder involvement - administrators. All other stakeholders have been engaged post-proposal]
• Appointment of a broadly representative committee that is charged with making a study that includes alternatives and making recommendations within a specific time period; [The superintendent's proposal has been presented with no alternatives being sought - only feedback and support being solicited 

Stop the $7.6 Million in Cuts to Oakland Schools! Here are 2 ways to act now! « Classroom Struggle

Stop the $7.6 Million in Cuts to Oakland Schools! Here are 2 ways to act now! « Classroom Struggle:

Stop the $7.6 Million in Cuts to Oakland Schools! Here are 2 ways to act now!

by ClassroomStruggle

We are currently distributing this email blast and flyer around Oakland schools.  You can help stop these cuts too!  There are 2 ways to tap in:

1. Please fill in the cuts your school is facing at the bottom in the comments section.  The more we are sharing this info, the more we can organize across different schools.  Unity is power.

2. Copy a version of this flyer.  Fill in your school’s specific cuts where we left space.  Then pass it around to teachers, staff, parents, and students at your schools.  When people see the concrete effects of the cuts, they’re more likely to act.  Click here to download an editable version of the flyer.

Stop the $7.6 Million in Cuts!

OUSD’s Priorities Are Upside-Down!

The numbers don’t add up!

We know that the district has gotten infusions of money, some of which we’ve fought for like Prop 30 and Measure J. We know there is money in the reserve budget. We know consultants get paid out millions every year. But yet, the district is still claiming empty pockets. They’re trying to hide political moves – to close schools, eliminate adult education, shift funding to charters and private contractors, de-prioritize Special Ed students – through moving numbers around.

In just two years, the administration has mismanaged millions of our dollars. First, they lost $7 million of QEIA grants because they failed to keep class sizes low enough. Then, they said an accounting error in Special Ed forced them to make cuts of $8 million. Now, they have a new accounting error of $7.6 million. This is unacceptable! Whatever their excuse, the effects are the same: cuts to our kids.

For years they have continued to cut from classrooms, students, parents and community but at no point have cut their own salaries. We say enough is enough. Our kids deserve better. We demand better!

Chop From the Top!

More Money for Classrooms!

Maintain and Rebuild Adult Ed!

Refuse to Pay the State Debt!

Not One Cut!

What can you do?

1) Educate your school. We made a template of a flyer you can pass out. We even left a part for you to fill in with your school’s specific cuts to make it concrete for people.  Find the template onclassroomstruggle.org.

2) Share awareness. List all cuts on classroomstruggle.org.

3) Demand: Not One Cut!

UPDATE: Schools Matter: Stop Corporate Takeover of Local School Decision Making in TN

Schools Matter: Stop Corporate Takeover of Local School Decision Making in TN:

Stop Corporate Takeover of Local School Decision Making in TN

by Jim Horn

From a new grassroots groups in Nashville focused to stop corporate power grab in Nashville and Memphis schools:

Power grab on the Hill! CALL TO ACTION!!

Today we are seeing an outrageous power grab play out in the Tennessee legislature.  Legislation creating a process to circumvent the local school boards of Davidson and Shelby counties that allows charter school applicants to go directly to the state for charter approval was filed yesterday (Feb. 11) and is on the agenda for the House education subcommittee today.  This last minute addition of language creating a direct state level path to charter authorization is an obvious attempt to rush this legislation through the committee before the public has any 

Allergy to reading among reading experts

by skrashen

A blog in Ed Week has the headline “Students Must Learn More Words, Say Studies.” Based on a yet to be published article in the Reading Research Quarterly, it asserts that research shows that teachers are not teaching enough vocabulary.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/02/06/20vocabulary_ep.h32.html?tkn=TZMFgk7NAkmjOoC5gr4c2bOzxwjAgLv%2BoQnD&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

Only two of those who posted comments and none of the experts cited in the article (except for Hirsch) appear to be even aware of the hypothesis (not to mention the massive research showing) that vocabulary is gradually 

Thirteen Ohio School Districts "Scrubbing" Low Scoring Students

by Jim Horn

From CantonRep.com:

Four more Ohio districts, including Canton City Schools, removed poor-performing students from their rolls, state Auditor David Yost said Monday in the final step of his investigation into a practice whereby schools attempted to improve performance ratings. 

More than 70 schools or districts also had attendance reporting errors, though these didn’t appear to be purposeful, Yost said. 

The four districts bring to nine the number that Yost has identified in his investigation of the data 

Today's Charter School Crime Blotter

by Jim Horn

Troubled charter school board president resigns; principal ordered to repay ...
Las Vegas Review - Journal
Allegations of mismanagement at Quest Academy have led to the resignation of charter school President Christina Fuentes and prompted other board members to order Principal Connie Jordan to repay $15,000 in unmerited bonuses awarded to her by ...

Grant stripped from Brighton charter school, criminal investigation on
Denver Post
A Brighton charter school has been stripped of a startup grant after a state investigation into the misuse of federal funds and a criminal investigation has been handed over to the Adams County district attorney. Eagle Ridge Academy, formerly Brighton ...

Diane in the Evening 2-13-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

What’s Happening in Hawaii

by dianerav

A reader just informed me about her blog, which describes the changes in Hawaii.
Justice Louis Brandeis long ago referred to states as “laboratories of democracy,” where new ideas could be tried out, to succeed or fail. Each state could try out social or economic experiments without peril to other states.
Now, a stifling blanket of standardization and conformity is covering the land. Read about Hawaii and you will be shocked and saddened to see the same tired ideas that are in your own state.

Big Business and the Common Core: What They Forgot to Mention

by dianerav

A reader points out that few if any children of the business leaders who signed the ad for the Common Core will be affected by what they support.
He suspects that most are sending their children to tony private schools, which do not give standardized tests and will likely ignore the Common Core, even though it is important for our survival as a nation (according to the Council on Foreign Relations).

NYC DOE Co-Locates Charter in Deborah Meier’s School

by dianerav

Deborah Meier founded the very popular Central Park East schools in East Harlem.
Deborah, with whom I used to blog weekly, is a pioneer of the small schools movement, a strong believer in public school choice, and an eloquent advocate of democratic education.
The CPE schools (I and II) have repeatedly asked the NYC Department of Education for space to expand.
But instead of allowing them to grow, Chancellor Dennis Walcott is placing a new and untried charter school in 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-13-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Michael Johnston, Colorado Boy Wonder of Corporate Reform by dianerav Who is the miracle reformer of Colorado? Who wrote its law to evaluate teachers by their test scores? Who claimed that his high school graduated 100% of its seniors and sent them to college? Who so lauded by President Obama and DFER? Whose legislation became a model for ALEC? Why, Michael Johnston, of course. More on Charter Legislation in Tennessee by dianerav The Tennessee Legislature is rushing to pass legislation that would allow... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Parcing SOTU

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Parcing SOTU:

Parcing SOTU

by Mike Klonsky

	"Now, even with better high schools, most young people will need some higher education".

Obama refers to the MIDDLE CLASS, 8 times in his SOTU address. WORKING CLASS, zero times. His only other mentions of CLASS are in WORLD-CLASS and CLASSMATES, one each.

He actually does use the word POVERTY 4 times and even calls for a raising of the MINIMUM WAGE to $9/hr. Good, but that still leaves millions of full-time workers living far below the poverty line and without benefits.


He never mentions the words DRONES, KILL LIST, TORTURE, or GUANTANAMO for obvious reasons. Viewers 

Joy Resmovits: UTLA Can't Count On Money From NEA, Nation's Largest Teachers Union

Joy Resmovits: UTLA Can't Count On Money From NEA, Nation's Largest Teachers Union:

UTLA Can't Count On Money From NEA, Nation's Largest Teachers Union

by Joy Resmovits

School board races in Los Angeles are heating up -- and they're getting expensive.

The nation's second-largest school district is at the center of a broader battle over the future over education reform. Since 2010, Superintendent John Deasy has run the district, implementing policies consistent with the national "education reform" movement, which pushes things such as test-based teacher evaluations and charter schools. But if the composition of the school board changes significantly, Deasy could be fired.

That's why outside interests are pumping money into the race. Earlier this week, LA School Report reported that a super PAC associated with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent $1 million on a group known as the Coalition for School Reform. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has supported Deasy's efforts, released a statement calling Bloomberg "the most important voice in education reform today," LA School Report wrote.

Steven Speilberg’s ‘Lincoln’: coming soon to a school near you | Movie Talk - Yahoo! Movies

Steven Speilberg’s ‘Lincoln’: coming soon to a school near you | Movie Talk - Yahoo! Movies:

Steven Speilberg’s ‘Lincoln’: coming soon to a school near you

By Mark Deming | Movie Talk – Mon, Feb 11, 2013 8:37 PM EST

Photo: DreamworksFew recent movies have examined the minutia of a key moment in American history as closely as Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” and the filmmaker and his producers are eager to let educators take advantage of their efforts.

Participant Media, the production company who helped bring “Lincoln” to theaters, has announced a “social action campaign” they call “Stand Tall: Live Like Lincoln.” The campaign will use Spielberg’s film as part of an educational outreach program that will focus on history and encourage youngsters to learn from the sixteenth president’s example.

With this in mind, Participant Media will be hosting screenings for schools and will be giving a free 

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, February 13, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

N.Y. mayor gives $1 million to back L.A. school board slate

Education Headlines

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Newspaper controversy puts Bear Creek High School in international spotlight

The story in question is that of the high school's principal temporarily confiscating a stack of student newspapers the day before they were meant to go out to students.

Bullard group to voice concerns at school board meeting

Bullard High-area parents who say they are tired of Fresno Unified School District's failure to deliver on promises plan to address trustees at Wednesday night's school board meeting.

Top-heavy Twin Rivers struggles with communication, report finds

Too many administrators and too little communication among departments were central themes in a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team report commissioned by the Twin Rivers Unified School District.

Armed teacher arrested at SD school

A San Diego teacher was arrested Monday at Farb Middle School after he was found carrying a gun and a switchblade knife at the Tierrasanta campus, authorities said.

Denair must trim schools budget more

Denair Unified School District board members will be asked Thursday to further cut teachers' hours, lay off more support staff for next year and hear an update on the district's financial recovery plan.

L.A. school board approves parent trigger at 24th St. Elementary

The Los Angeles Board of Education approved the first use of the controversial parent trigger law in the city Tuesday, clearing the way for sweeping changes at 24th Street Elementary School in the West Adams neighborhood.

Berkeley looking for new school superintendent

A headhunting firm is looking for a new superintendent for the 9,000-student Berkeley Unified School District following a previous search last year that ended with the final candidate withdrawing because a memo surfaced showing his dislike for gay marriage.

LAUSD approves $50M for computer tablets

Los Angeles Unified took the first step Tuesday in closing the digital divide with the school board's approval to spend $50 million to provide computer devices to students at nearly four dozen campuses this fall.

N.Y. mayor gives $1 million to back L.A. school board slate

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has donated $1 million to help preserve a Los Angeles Board of Education majority that has pushed for several controversial efforts dealing with teachers — including remaking evaluations and speeding the dismissal process — that are supported by the L.A. mayor and the superintendent.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Lodi Unified split over proposal to eliminate program for at-risk freshmen

Ninth grade will no longer be offered at Lodi's Henderson Community Day School, a move that has some parents worried their teens will slip through the cracks during their freshman year of high school.

Classroom of Brentwood teacher in kicking scandal had been spiraling out of control

Dina Holder's special-education class at Loma Vista Elementary School had been spiraling out of control for months before she kicked a 5-year-old autistic boy for refusing to go to circle time.

Blattner: Brown’s school finance reform has the right intent but major flaws

Fresh on the heels of having saved – at least for now – California’s public education system through passage of his Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown is rededicating himself to the task of tearing down and redesigning the twisted maze that currently serves as the K-12 funding system. This is a wonderful goal, but enthusiasm for the general concept may unfortunately be blinding proponents to the specific, significant flaws in the administration’s proposal.