Expanded Learning Grants Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Expanded Learning Grants Awarded - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Millions in Grants for Expanded Learning Programs in California

SACRAMENTO—Hundreds of California public schools will be awarded funds to bolster student learning outside of the regular school hours, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said today as he announced 333 programs will receive $51 million in state and federal grants to provide expanded learning opportunities for students.

"Children are always learning, and their families should have access to high-quality programs that support that learning," Torlakson said. "These grants will help schools operate before- and after-school programs, which play an important role in keeping kids safe, while also helping them build their skills for the world that awaits them."

Expanded learning refers to summer, intersession, vacation, and before- and after-school programs. Research on expanded learning programs indicates that they can help to increase student attendance in the regular school day, improve academic success, reduce high school dropout rates, and reduce juvenile crime.

In the latest round of funding, $51 million was distributed through three grants: the After School Education and Safety program, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers—Elementary & Middle Schools program, and the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens program.

The After School Education and Safety grant is funded through the 2002 voter-approved initiative Proposition 49. This program helps schools collaborate with community partners to provide literacy, academic enrichment, and safe and constructive alternatives for students in kindergarten through grade nine. One hundred and eighteen schools sites received a total of $7 million to create or expand existing after-school programs. The list of grantees is on the California Department of Education's (CDE) Funding Results - After School Education and Safety Web page.

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is a federally funded grant. This program encourages schools to collaborate with the community to provide academic and enrichment support, and safe and constructive alternatives for students in kindergarten through middle/junior high school. This year, 106 school sites are receiving more than $19 million to establish programs that operate during before- and after-school, summer, vacation, and intersession. The list of grantees is also on the CDE's Funding Results - 21st Century Community Learning Centers - Elementary & Middle Schools Web page.

The 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) grant is a federally funded program. This program helps schools collaborate with communities to provide academic, career exploration, and enrichment in the hours after the regular school day in a safe and constructive environment for high school students. More than $25 million is going to 109 school sites to operate programs during before- and after-school, weekends, summer, intersession, and vacation periods. The list of grantees is also on the CDE's Funding Results - 21st Century High School ASSETs Web page.

"As is often the case with these valuable programs, the demand for funding outstrips the resources available," Torlakson said. "But after-school programs have been a priority of mine since my legislative days, and I'll continue my push to get them the support they need."

Torlakson authorized legislation while in the California State Assembly and Senate that led to the creation and expansion of these programs. Shortly after taking office in 2011, State Superintendent Torlakson created an After School Division at the CDE to improve and expand these learning opportunities for students.

California's expanded learning programs today reach about 4,500 schools around the state. They are, in large part, funded through voter-approved Proposition 49, which guarantees $550 million annually for the state's After School Education and Safety Program. California administers another $120 million in federal after-school program funds.

For more information about expanded learning, visit the CDE's Before & After School Web page.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Charter Renewal Determination

May 13, 2014 letter on API suspension and the impact on charter renewal determinations of academic performance.

1 28min 

6-26-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Education Items of Note

Stories on Common Core polling, charter schools, all-day schools, spending on high poverty schools and and an ACLU lawsuit over uneven school experiences for low-income students. Different day, different polling results on Common Core.  Rasmussen Reports is saying that a new national telephone poll says that just 34% of American parents (with elementary/secondary students) favor Common Core.  That

by Melissa Westbrook / 11min 

UpdatesMarch and Rally to Gates Foundation To note: there is the march and rally to protest the ed reform work of the Gates Foundation today, starting at 5 pm at Westlake Park.  The march will then go to the Gates Foundation on Mercer at 5th.  There will be speeches and some kind of flash mob dance. The police are warning of possible traffic issues.   From Diane Ravitch: Speakers: Anthony Cody (prolific

by Melissa Westbrook / 27min 

6-25-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Supreme Court Upholds Cell Phone PrivacyThis ruling may be a subject you might want to talk to your kids - especially teens - about at some point.In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court today ruled that police must have a warrant to search the cellphones of people they arrest.  From the NY Times:The old rules, Chief Justice Roberts said, cannot be applied to “modern cel

by mike simpson / 22h

Everyone’s a Winner! The Kids vs. Bad Teachers Lawsuit Hits the Road | EduShyster

Everyone’s a Winner! The Kids vs. Bad Teachers Lawsuit Hits the Road | EduShyster:

Everyone’s a Winner! The Kids vs. Bad Teachers Lawsuit Hits the Road

 Well that certainly didn’t take long. Just two weeks after California’s kids celebrated their victory vs. bad teachers, the kids vs. tenure lawsuits are hitting the road. And that’s great news, reader. Because just as the California case produced lots ofwinners that weren’t exactly, ahem, pint-sized, round two of the civil rights cause of our time seems certain to be a win/win/win for everyone involved. From Campbell Brown who’ll be enjoying more screen time since, well any time in recent memory, to the Obama administration alums who won’t have to lobby for for-profit colleges after all, everyone’s a winner! Well, make that almost everyone…

Campbell Brown
The fresh face of kids vs. lemons is none other thanCampbell Brown, who is, well, who exactly? Whoever Campbell Brown, her new, expanded screen time is great news, for Campbell at least, because wherever it was you can’t quite remember seeing her before (MTV VJ? that 90′s sitcom about Alaska?), you’ll be seeing a lot of her again now.

Dirty Dancing Lemons
No doubt you’re familiar with the Dance of the Lemons, in which bad teachers, who can never be fired thanks to their union protections, are passed around from school to school, blighting the prospects of poor minority students. Well get ready for Dirty Dancing Lemons, because the fresh face of kids v. lemons, Campbell Brown (see entry above, Campbell Brown), wants you to know that our schools aren’t just filled with bad teachers, Everyone’s a Winner! The Kids vs. Bad Teachers Lawsuit Hits the Road | EduShyster:

Poll finds Common Core opposition rising | EdSource

Poll finds Common Core opposition rising | EdSource:

Poll finds Common Core opposition rising

June 26, 2014 | By John Fensterwald | No Comments



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Here are some key results of the poll of Californians’ views on education conducted by the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and Policy Analysis for California Education. For more details of the survey, see below.

An annual poll of Californians’ views on education contains bad news for teachers unions and advocates of the Common Core standards, good news for backers of charter schools, mixed news for preschool supporters and a warning for State Superintendent Tom Torlakson in his re-election campaign against Marshall Tuck.

The joint survey by the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and the independent research organization Policy Analysis for California Education, or PACE, questioned 1,005 registered voters earlier this month about a range of education topics.

The poll indicated that some of the doubts and skepticism about the Common Core State Standards that have gained sway in other states are taking hold in California, too. As opposed to many states, in California the new standards in English language arts and math have the full support of the majority of the Legislature, the governor, the State Board of Education and organizations representing teachers unions, school boards and the state PTA.

But of the voters surveyed, the more they hear about Common Core, apparently the less they like it. Of the roughly three-quarters of voters who said they knew something about the standards, more had a “negative impression” (44 percent) than a “positive impression” (38 percent). Parents with kids in schools, who made up about 30 percent of those surveyed, had identical views.

“Republican opposition solidified, and Common Core has become a political litmus test for the national Republican Party, therefore, with some active politicking in California,” said David Plank, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education.

When read two statements, one presenting the case for Common Core and one against (see below), 32 percent of parents and of all voters surveyed said they favored the standards, while 41 percent of all voters and 45 percent of parents said they opposed them. Last year, when that question was asked, 36 percent of respondents, including parents, said they supported the Common Core and only 25 percent were opposed.

At the same time, the percentage who said they knew at least a little about Common Core increased from 29 percent of respondents last year to 47 percent of all respondents and 58 percent of parents this year.

“The response is striking,” said Julie Marsh, an associate professor at USC’s School of Education, who attributed the rise in negativity toward Common Core to an increase in national media stories about states pulling out of the two consortia that are creating the standardized tests for the new standards. She also said there is opposition to immediately holding teachers and schools accountable for test results.

At the same time, Marsh said, there has not been a lot of media attention in California on Common Core. “That creates a messaging problem potentially for Common Core advocates and the state,” she said.

David Plank, executive director of PACE, sees politics at work.

“Republican opposition solidified, and Common Core has become a political litmus test for the national Republican Party, therefore, with Poll finds Common Core opposition rising | EdSource:

Support for Common Core Plummets with Parents of School-Aged Kids | Truth in American Education

Support for Common Core Plummets with Parents of School-Aged Kids | Truth in American Education:

Support for Common Core Plummets with Parents of School-Aged Kids

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on June 26, 2014 • 0 Comments

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Rasmussen just released a poll taken June 21-22 of 1000 Americans that shows support for Common Core is plummeting among parents with school-aged children.

They found that just 34% of adults with children in elementary or secondary school favor all schools nationwide to meet the Common Core State Standards.  That is a drop of 18% since early November 2013.  47% opposed the Common Core, and 19% are undecided.

54% believe the Common Core is unlikely to improve student performance, only 37% believe they will do what advocates promise.

Among all Americans Rasmussen notes 41% favor the the Common Core with 36% of Americans being opposed.  23% are undecided.  44% of all Americans believe Common Core will not improveSupport for Common Core Plummets with Parents of School-Aged Kids | Truth in American Education: 

6-26-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Poll: CA voters oppose teacher tenure and layoff laws

Press conference after Vergara decision A new poll shows that two-thirds of California voters agree that the state should get rid of “Last in, First Out,” a teacher tenure policy that requires the newest K-12 teachers be laid off first, regardless of merit. Just 17 percent said layoffs by reverse seniority should continue. The poll was conducted by the USC Rossier School of Education and Stanford-

by Vanessa Romo / 1min 

LA Unified creating online tool for parents to track student progress

In the coming school year, LA Unified plans to launch the Parent Access Support System Portal (PASSport), an interactive online tool to make it easier for parents to get more involved in their children’s education. As a one-stop portal, it’s designed to give parents access to real time student information and district resources as well as services that are specific to their children to help them b

6 by Yana Gracile / 28min hide  //  save

Morning Read: Federal intervention coming for CA special ed

California special ed to get federal intervention The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that California special education programs need federal intervention, citing the lack of significant academic progress for students with special needs. California is one of three states, along with Texas and Delaware, designated for a one-year program of intervention. EdSource Lawmakers: Students need

28min 

6-25-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): California’s services for disabled students ranks lowVia LA Times | Howard Blume California ranks in the bottom rung of states in the academic achievement of disabled students, according to new federal rankings released Tuesday. The new system rates only 18 states and U.S. territories as meeting federal s

by mike simpson / 21h 

Gates Funded Pro Common Core Group Changes Name in Rebranding Effort - Politichicks.tv

Gates Funded Pro Common Core Group Changes Name in Rebranding Effort - Politichicks.tv:

Gates Funded Pro Common Core Group Changes Name in Rebranding Effort

June 25, 2014 at 5:00 am / by Kathryn Porter

About Kathryn Porter

Colorado PolitiChick Kathryn Porter is the Colorado state director for Parent Led Reform. She has a master’s degree in special education and is a former charter school teacher. Kathryn is currently a h… More

Mike Huckabee was right. The term “common core” has become toxic and rebranding is needed. This time, instead of states calling the Common Core State Standards by a more a palatable name, a pro-Common Core organization that received millions from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has created an entirely new name for itself.

The Colorado Legacy Foundation is rebranding. It is now called the Colorado Education Initiative. Their goal of implementing Common Core related education reforms in partnership with the Colorado Department of Education has not changed. It’s just the name that’s different. Colorado’s Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond still sits on the organization’s board as does Colorado State Board of Education member Elaine Gantz Berman.

Anything Gates related these days has become almost synonymous with Common Core. That’s because of the money they put behind funding the development and implementation of Common Core. This poses an image problem for organizations like the Colorado Legacy Foundation that Gates Funded Pro Common Core Group Changes Name in Rebranding Effort - Politichicks.tv:

Common Core National Canine Standards - to funny not to re-post :)

Common Core National Canine Standards - to funny not to re-post :):

Attention dog owners: Common Core National Canine Standards

Acknowledging that recent implementation of the Common Core State Standards is reshaping the landscape of public education in the United States, I, along with a secret group of politicians and “philanthropists,” a panel of experts, have designed and not tested The Common Core National (just being real) Canine Standards, using the CCSS as a model.

Mission Statement/Rationale: Given than many canines in the United States are lagging behind their global counterparts (i.e. the Finnish Spitz), The CCNCS provide a consistent, clear understanding of what all American canines, despite predetermined “breed” and “category” classifications are expected to learn–with the goal of ensuring said canines are college (i.e. service dog school) and career (i.e. herding, hunting, retrieving, sled-pulling, home-guarding,) ready.  Even canines in the visually-appealing but otherwise useless “Toy” group will benefit from learning the same skill sets that canines all over the country will be learning under the CCNCS.

The Standards:

The following standards dictate what canines must learn in the various stages of their lives.  Many standards are accompanied by negative behaviors that will result in “Disqualification”—a label which simply indicates a canine is not yet proficient in the attached standard. We expect that up to 70% of canines will be “Disqualified” until handlers themselves become proficient in teaching the standards listed below.

General Behavior: With the ultimate goal of college and career readiness, all canines must have a firm foundation in standard general behavior from the time they are born to the time they reach an age of five (5) months. It is the expectation that all canines will display proficiency in the below areas by then. After the age of five months, canines will be considered adults.

CCNCS-GB.Puppy.1: Sit still for increasing amounts of time without wildly flinging self at humans’ legs, faces, etc.

CCNCS-GB.Puppy.2: Chew only items designated as canine toys; neglect all other items. (Disqualifications too numerous to list here.)

CCNCS-GB.Puppy.3: Eliminate only outside dwellings or on designated areas within dwellings (i.e. on “pee-pee pads,” on patches of false grass, in litter boxes—although the last option is insulting to canines and not generally recommended). (Disqualifications include, but are not limited to, eliminating on hardwood, tiled, or carpeted surfaces; in shoes; under furniture; in locations that might not otherwise be suspected, etc.)

CCNCS-GB.Puppy.4: Retreat to crate with prompting; remain in crate without making noise (i.e. whining, muttering, barking) until retrieved by handler.

CCNCS-GB.Puppy.5: Nap in appropriate locations (i.e. not in the middle of the floor, on furniture) and at appropriate times (i.e. not during the day if such Common Core National Canine Standards - to funny not to re-post :):

The Forgotten Story of the Freedom Schools - John N. Hale - The Atlantic

The Forgotten Story of the Freedom Schools - John N. Hale - The Atlantic:

The Forgotten Story of the Freedom Schools

Fifty years ago, students in the American South boycotted their classrooms and demanded higher educational standards. Whatever happened to those ideals?

Bruce Solomon—a schoolteacher from Brooklyn, New York—teaches at a Freedom School in Jackson, Mississippi, in August 1964. (AP)

Young people named it the Freedom Summer Project. It was the largest campaign to register voters—in 1964, an election year—and it was the most significant demonstration of African Americans’ political strength in the Civil Rights Movement. Congressman John Lewis, then president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), wrote that the objective of Freedom Summer was to “force a showdown between the local and federal government.” One significant yet overlooked part of this history is the way activists moved beyond the ballot box to politicize the right to an education.

A segment of the Freedom Riders, activists who painstakingly sat in at segregated bus terminals in 1961, organized the project. When they moved to Mississippi to register voters, young people called them “Freedom Fighters.” Their presence inspired a level of terrorism that had not been seen in the South since Reconstruction. From June to August 1964 alone, police arrested more than 1,000 protesters and local segregationists murdered three freedom workers, assaulted over 80 activists, opened fire on demonstrators over 35 times, and set fire to 35 churches. Activists remained undeterred. During the course of the summer they successfully pressured Congress to end a seven-week filibuster and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Fifty years later, many of the Freedom Schools’ goals still elude African American students.

Freedom Fighters also forced Southern states to admit a handful of black students to all-white schools. Mississippi reluctantly desegregated its schools in 1964, becoming the last state in the country to do so. Yet activists were critical of the assumption that integration guaranteed quality. Activist, and later Algebra Project founder, Bob Moses asked in the fall of 1964, “Why can’t we set up our own schools? What students really need to learn is how to be organized to work on the society to change it.” To civil rights leaders like Moses and Dave Dennis, an instrumental organizer from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), quality education did not necessarily mean seating a black student next to a white student. It meant making sure every school adopted a rigorous curriculum, hired excellent teachers, and provided an opportunity for economic mobility.

Fifty years later, it is clear that this struggle for a quality education was just as important as the right to vote. In the midst of the violence that summer, young people still in middle and high school joined the frontlines of the Civil Rights The Forgotten Story of the Freedom Schools - John N. Hale - The Atlantic:

99Rise - Demand Democracy

99Rise - Demand Democracy:

About 99Rise

America is in crisis, and our democracy on the auction block. We’re here to do something about it.

99Rise is a network of activists and organizers dedicated to building a mass movement to reclaim our democracy from the domination of big money.

We believe that only by getting big money out of politics – by winning a democracy that responds to the real needs of "the 99%" – will we open the door to finally realizing the progressive promise of the American Dream.

We thus seek a Constitutional Amendment and supplemental federal legislation that would guarantee the principle of political equality, as well as ensure that neither private wealth nor corporate privilege could be used to exercise undue influence over elections and policymaking. To this end, we are committed to deploying the most powerful tool of social and political change: strategic nonviolent resistance.

Why we need a movement ...

Politicians should work for us, not their corporate sponsors.

Four years since Wall Street crashed our economy, the worst of the 1% have grown more powerful than ever while the rest of us - working families, students, people of color, the unemployed, immigrants, veterans - have slid ever further behind.

Super-wealthy donors spend billions buying results in Congress, and average citizens just can’t keep up. To solve any of the grave challenges facing our country, we must first free our democracy from the domination of Big Money. Each and every American has a stake in this fight, and the 99% must unite to win it.

How we will win ...

The fight to reclaim democracy for the 99% cannot be won without mass nonviolent action.

When Big Money rules elections, we can’t count on the political victors to deliver change. We have no choice but to turn to the tradition of strategic nonviolent action used so successfully by generations of Americans before us who didn’t even have the right to vote in elections period.

With your help, we will make this critical issue impossible to ignore and create a clear public mandate for all elected officials: GET MONEY OUT! ... and that's just the beginning.

Who we are ...

We are a decentralized movement of deep patriots standing up to government of, by, and for the 1%.

United by a common story, a shared strategy, and a set of simple, clear guidelines, we work together in a decentralized movement where every community is empowered to take independent creative action and every member can develop as a leader. In our “starfish” model of organization, you - and anyone who shares our vision - can attend a DNA Training and gain all the tools you need to form a team and become a leader in the open network of 99Rise organizers expanding across the country.

Join the movement now! 

There's no time to waste. Sign up below to get plugged in right away (you'll receive periodic action alerts), and then check out the pages above to learn more about how you can help build the movement fighting to win a democracy that finally responds to the needs of the 99%.

 Dylan Donnelly with David Andre and 2 others at California State Capitol

After marching for 37 days from LA to Sacramento 99rise and the supporters they gained along the way arrive at the California State Capitol to demand acknowledgment of the corrupting influence of big money in politics.

‪#‎M4D‬ ‪#‎99rise‬ ‪#‎SacSitIn‬
http://www.99rise.org/

Full album here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dylan-Donnelly-Photography/209179282550233?sk=photos_albums

Dylan Donnelly Photography
Fresno People's Media

6-26-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Classroom Video Capture Project Proceeds With No Protocols for Security or Informed Consent

With Bill Gates's yesman, Dorsey Hopson, renewed for another term as non-educator-in-charge of Shelby County Schools, the pressure is on to expand the use of Microsoft's cloud-based technology to every aspect of schooling, from administering high stakes tests to video capture of children and teachers for teacher evaluation. Hopson is urging mandatory use of cameras in the classroom, even though th

by Jim Horn / 11min 

Corporate Education Reform: the "civil rights issue" up until it actually addresses civil rights issues like segregation

"Children have a right and a need to have quality schools in their neighborhood." — Francis Howell School District White school district sends black kids back to failed schools The one upside to the article is that it clearly puts to lie the corporate reformers' assertion that equitable funding isn't the issue. The resegregation—and in many cases, the continuation of segregation—of sch

2 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 17min 

6-25-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Houston KIPPsters Blow Off Steam by Hanging ClassmateFrom Fox affiliate in Houston:By Alexander Supgul, Digital Content Manager - bioOn May 20 during recess at KIPP Academy, David Rodriguez says he quite nearly strangled to death."I thought I was going to die and I was not going to see my Mom, my Dad and my sister," said Rodriguez.David's mother, Zulma Rodriguez, insists

by mike simpson / 18min