UC, CSU tuition skyrocketed since 1970, making debt likely | The Sacramento Bee

UC, CSU tuition skyrocketed since 1970, making debt likely | The Sacramento Bee

It costs 1,360% more to go to a CSU than 40 years ago – and that’s adjusted for inflation

When it comes to preaching financial savvy to college students forking over considerable cash for school, the “back in my day” argument doesn’t apply.

Working hard and living at home can only go so far in staving off debt for today’s students because of steep fee increases that have unfolded over the past 40 years, according to the California Budget and Policy Center determined in a recent data analysis.

The center adjusted 1979 college tuition and fees for inflation and found the cost of attending a University of California school is six times greater than 40 years ago. A year at UC today costs $14,400, up from an inflation-adjusted $2,200 in 1979.

Meanwhile, the cost of attending a California State University campus is 1,360 percent greater than it was in 1979. Back then, students paid an inflation-adjusted $500 for a year at a CSU. Today they pay $7,300.

Living expenses are up, too. Students pay $4,000 more per year in food and housing costs, totaling nearly $14,000 per year.

“The ‘back in my day’ narrative is tempting on the surface,” wrote Amy Rose, policy analyst for the center and author of the study. “Many students in prior generations were able to work moderate hours and attend school full-time, graduating on time and with little to no debt. Today’s students face a much different scenario, with significantly higher total costs of attendance, largely due to rising housing costs.”

California students graduate with more than $20,000 in debt, a number below the national average. The state’s general fund financially supports the public university systems, but budge CONTINUE READING: UC, CSU tuition skyrocketed since 1970, making debt likely | The Sacramento Bee

The Tide Is Turning For Teachers Unions. Randi Weingarten Isn’t Surprised. | HuffPost

The Tide Is Turning For Teachers Unions. Randi Weingarten Isn’t Surprised. | HuffPost

The Tide Is Turning For Teachers Unions. Randi Weingarten Isn’t Surprised.
A “silent majority” is taking back education policy, according to the union chief.

Randi Weingarten, 61, has been an ever-present force in national Democratic politics since taking the helm of the American Federation of Teachers labor union in 2008.

With 1.7 million members at her command, Weingarten stands to play an important role in the fight to unseat President Donald Trump in 2020.

But first she needs to unite her diverse membership behind a Democratic candidate.

The union elicited criticism from some members for endorsing Hillary Clinton in July 2015 ― more than six months before any votes were cast in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Now Weingarten is promising a slower, more transparent endorsement process that gives union members plenty of time to hear from the party’s plethora of White House contenders and give feedback before the AFT’s executive council makes a decision.

HuffPost spoke to Weingarten about the union’s endorsement process; the role of perceived electability in the Democratic presidential primary; her views of longtime school choice proponent Sen. Cory Booker, who is among those seeking the party’s nod; her deleted tweet questioning whether Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign was involved in Lucy Flores’ allegation of unwanted kissing against former Vice President Joe Biden.

In the interview, Weingarten also stressed that she believes the national debate over education policy has shifted decisively in teacher unions’ direction.

“The climate is changing and the narrative is changing and people are more willing to CONTINUE READING: The Tide Is Turning For Teachers Unions. Randi Weingarten Isn’t Surprised. | HuffPost

Betsy DeVos accuses media of using her as ‘clickbait’ - POLITICO

Betsy DeVos accuses media of using her as ‘clickbait’ - POLITICO

Betsy DeVos accuses media of using her as ‘clickbait’

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday accused many in the media of using her name as "clickbait,” telling an audience of journalists that “education is not about Betsy DeVos nor any other individual."

DeVos, speaking at the National Education Writers Association conference in Baltimore, acknowledged she’s not comfortable in the spotlight and never imagined she’d be the focus of media coverage.

“I don’t enjoy the publicity that comes with my position. I don’t love being up on stage or on any kind of platform. I’m an introvert,” DeVos said.

She added: "As much as many in the media use my name as clickbait or try to make it all about me, it’s not."

DeVos has often had a contentious relationship with the press and has provided less access to reporters than her predecessors.

DeVos encouraged the reporters in attendance to rethink the definition of public education and encouraged them to “get the terminology right about schools and school choice.” She said a phrase like “vouchers for charter schools” is nonsensical. CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos accuses media of using her as ‘clickbait’ - POLITICO

The "X"odus Files: Richard. | BustED Pencils

The "X"odus Files: Richard. | BustED Pencils

The “X”odus Files: Richard.

Frustration. Irritation. Anger. Despondency. This is the range of emotions I go through every time I read about some new “study” or “task force” purporting to take on the “teacher shortage.”

Study: Study what? Isn’t the data conclusive? New teachers are leaving classrooms within the first 3 years. More veteran teachers are leaving pre-retirement. And enrollment in teacher education programs is down 30%. Study done!

Task Force: Who makes up the “Task force?” Teachers? No. Parents? No. Then who? Academics, administrators, business people and politicians? Bingo! Why this composition? So the “panel” can travel around and “listen.” I’m sure we have all been “invited” to give testimony at some listening session or even better—asked to submit our thoughts. Do the organizers and people sitting on these panels know the disdain that teachers feel when a “task force” excludes the experts—teachers?

Or maybe the reality of the “study” and “task force” approach is just another slap in the face to the teachers leaving our classrooms. Think about it. Neither one of these approaches will actually do anything to dismantle the structure of imposed accountability. The real purpose of the “study” and task force” approach is a simple public relations gimmick that is directed at the general public to give the appearance that something is being done. That’s it. They make headlines as press release journalism. And these simple headlines lull the public back into a state of satisfactory disinterestedness.

Why not include teachers like Richard who went into teaching because…

After talking to an education professor about my desire to do more than write lesson plans, CONTINUE READING: The "X"odus Files: Richard. | BustED Pencils

Evidence Keeps On Growing: Charter Schools Cannot Be Successfully Regulated | janresseger

Evidence Keeps On Growing: Charter Schools Cannot Be Successfully Regulated | janresseger

Evidence Keeps On Growing: Charter Schools Cannot Be Successfully Regulated

Can charter schools be regulated to protect the public interest, or is it time for a moratorium on new charter schools and ultimately the phase out of the ones we have?  Here are two articles—one digging deeper into abuses in the federal Charter Schools Program and the other about the failure of one state government to oversee charter schools.  Both were published over the weekend by the Washington Post‘s Valerie Strauss.  Together they will convince you it is time to terminate an unregulated education sector gone mad.

In the first piece, Strauss publishes Carol Burris’s new analysis: Florida’s Charter-School Sector is a Real Mess. Burris is the executive director of the Network for Public Education (NPE). Her new exploration of scandalous misuse of Charter Schools Program money in Florida is an extension of the Network for Public Education’s new report, Asleep at the Wheel, which examines federal dollars wasted between 2006 and 2014 on charter schools that never opened or eventually shut down. Since NPE released the nationwide report, Burris has been drilling down into wasted CSP dollars in specific states.

Between 2006 and 2014, the Charter Schools Program awarded $92 million to to Florida’s education department to start up or expand 502 charter schools. Burris reports that $34,781,736 of that total was spent on 184 charter schools which have closed or were never opened at all.

Nearly half of Florida’s charter schools, explains Burris, are operated by huge for-profit Charter Management Organizations (CMOs): “The nonprofit charter school becomes a ‘pass thru’ for the for-profit corporation to staff the school, provide fiscal, procurement and legal operations, and even be the landlord… According to the U.S. Department of Education, Charter Schools Program guidance document, for-profit CMOs… may not directly receive a CSP grant. However, the charter schools that are governed by a for-profit CMO may, as long as CONTINUE READING: Evidence Keeps On Growing: Charter Schools Cannot Be Successfully Regulated | janresseger

Betsy DeVos: ‘There is no such thing as public money’ and 5 other revealing things she just said -- or wouldn’t say - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos: ‘There is no such thing as public money’ and 5 other revealing things she just said -- or wouldn’t say - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos: ‘There is no such thing as public money’ and 5 other revealing things she just said -- or wouldn’t say

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos schooled education reporters Monday during a rare appearance at their convention in Baltimore, telling them that too many articles do not accurately portray her newest school choice program proposal. She also said that “public education” needs to be redefined and that “there is no such thing as public money.”

DeVos answered questions — or attempted to dodge them — from members of the Education Writers Association about a range of topics, including immigration, school choice, civil rights for LGBTQ students, school discipline policies and more.

What she said, and what she wouldn’t directly address when asked, revealed her broad agenda to turn America’s traditional public education system into a free market and allow parents to use taxpayer money to do whatever they want to educate their children. She has made it no secret that her top goal is to expand alternatives to the traditional public school system, which she has called “a dead end.” She doubled down on her views Monday.

Referring to the Trump administration’s proposed $5 billion education tax credit program called Education Freedom Scholarships, she said reporters incorrectly use the term “public money.” That phrase has long been used to refer to taxpayer money that the government collects to provide goods and services to the people of the United States.

In fact, she denied the existence of public money by invoking the words of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s late prime minister and a former education minister. DeVos said:

In too many stories about our proposal, I see the term “public money.” And I’m reminded of something another education secretary often said.

Margaret Thatcher said that government “has no source of money other than the money people earn themselves.” There is no such thing as “public money.” The Iron Lady was right!

Our proposal allows people to direct money they themselves have earned. They will voluntarily contribute to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships directly to students. It’s a much more effective and efficient way of getting resources to students who need them the most.

The proposed program would provide tax credits to individuals and groups that donate to help children attend CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos: ‘There is no such thing as public money’ and 5 other revealing things she just said -- or wouldn’t say - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos Frees Alexander Hamilton from Himself | deutsch29

Betsy DeVos Frees Alexander Hamilton from Himself | deutsch29

Betsy DeVos Frees Alexander Hamilton from Himself

On May 02, 2019, the Manhattan Institute (MI) honored two individuals at its 2019 Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner. One of those individuals was US Department of Education (USDOE) secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Betsy DeVos

According to MI, its Alexander Hamilton Award is named such “because, like the Manhattan Institute, he was a fervent proponent of commerce and civic life. ” However, Hamilton was clearly pro-centralized government, which makes the award an MI misnomer since MI uses it to honor the likes of DeVos, whose ideology is much more in line with the Antifederalists of Hamilton’s day.

The contradiction did not go unnoticed; on May 03, 2019, Think Progress published an article entitled, “Betsy DeVos Appears to Have No Idea Who Alexander Hamilton Was” From the article:

…The entire purpose of the agency Education Secretary DeVos leads is to use the resources of the federal government to foster better public education. Let’s also set aside the fact that the overwhelming majority of American primary and secondary school students — 90 percent — are educated by government-run schools. If DeVos plans to fight for “freedom from government,” she is in the worst possible job.

Yet DeVos doesn’t just appear to be rejecting the core mission of her agency and the foundational premise of the American education system. She also seems to have no idea who Alexander Hamilton is or what he sought to accomplish as the architect of much of America’s economic system. The early history of the United States was, to a large extent, a battle between a Jeffersonian model built on agriculture, small government, and slavery; and a Hamiltonian model built on capitalism, economic expansion, and a robust centralized government.

Hamilton’s core insight was that healthy markets and a robust manufacturing sector do not emerge from the ether so long as centralized authorities do not interfere. Rather, the vibrant economy that Hamilton helped build depends on a strong central government authority.

Below are excerpts from DeVos’ speech for the MI event, which she CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos Frees Alexander Hamilton from Himself | deutsch29

Say Thanks on Teacher Appreciation Day - NEA Today

Say Thanks on Teacher Appreciation Day - NEA Today

Say ‘Thank You’ on National Teacher Day

It’s that time of year again: Teacher Appreciation Week, and National Teacher Day is May 7!

Over the past year, more than ever before, teacher voices have been heard  – and not just in classrooms. These educators are making a difference across the country and in their own communities.

The #RedForEd camapign  has united educators, parents and students in a powerful movement to advocate for and protect the nation’s public schools. After years in which funding for public schools has stagnated or even fallen, teachers are demanding the support and learning environments that students in every neighborhood deserve. The campaign has been waged on the streets, on social media, in the legislatures, and at the voting booth.

Supported by the National Education Association’s 3 million members, National Teacher Day 2019 has two main goals: thanking teachers for their commitment to students, and encouraging talented and committed individuals to consider becoming teachers.

On Wednesday, May 8, NEA is encouraging the public to support #RedForEd and show appreciation for the educators who are advocating for better learning conditions for their students and pay and benefits commensurate with the demands and responsibilities of teaching.

The campaign is asking people to show solidarity and wear red, and to share their reasons for supporting the campaign on social media.

·       #ThankATeacher with NEA’s help using our Thank a Teacher Toolkit.

·       You can show your appreciation for the teachers in your life and teachers across the country by sending a card through social media or download the cards for print here.

·       You can print a Certificate of Appreciation for your favorite teacher here.

So thank you to all educators. Whether it’s your first year or fourth decade in a classroom, we know the job is enormously challenging. Still, you connect with students, inspire them, unlock their potential. Thank you for your dedication, creativity and passion! 

Say Thanks on Teacher Appreciation Day - NEA Today

Navigating Writing-Intensive Courses as a Student | radical eyes for equity

Navigating Writing-Intensive Courses as a Student | radical eyes for equity

Navigating Writing-Intensive Courses as a Student

Teaching writing as part of a course, or the primary focus of a course, is especially challenging for teachers. Managing a workshop approach and surviving the paper load are demanding elements when teaching writing and not simply assigning writing as part of the course assessment.

However, we less often acknowledge that writing-intensive courses that require students to participate in workshop environments, submit multiple drafts of major writing assignments, and navigate different expectations for student behavior and assessment are also challenging and even paralyzing for students.

Both assessment elements grounded in process and product as well as the structures of the workshop approach present students with expectations unlike traditional courses driven by tests and transmissional classroom structures (lecture, discussion).

Writing-intensive courses tend to approach assessment differently than traditional class-based one-session testing. Writing assessment includes, then, feedback on products (essays), meaning that the assessment is integral during the learning not simply something that occurs after the learning.

In writing-intensive courses, instruction and assessment are integrated, but students may also experience multiple rounds of assessment (feedback) and even multiple grades on the same product since several drafts are being submitted for teacher response and/or grades.

Along with the holistic nature of instruction and assessment, writing-intensive courses tend to require that students meet deadlines, submit CONTINUE READING: Navigating Writing-Intensive Courses as a Student | radical eyes for equity

CURMUDGUCATION: Jeanne Allen's Charter Murder Mystery

CURMUDGUCATION: Jeanne Allen's Charter Murder Mystery

Jeanne Allen's Charter Murder Mystery

Nobody represents the angry anti-public school side of reform better than Jeanne Allen. She's the founder, president, and chief spokesperson for the Center for Education reform. She graduated from Dickerson with a degree in political science, then moved on to study political philosophy at the Catholic University of America. She was the "youngest political appointee to serve at the pleasure of the president, Ronald Reagan, at the US Department of Education, then became the ed policy chief at the Heritage Foundation." She earned an Educational Entrepreneurship masters at University of Pennsylvania in a program that offers what I once called "a degree in soulless profiteering." She announced her intention to step out of the president role in 2013, but no successor was named and apparently, she stayed right in place.

CER is packed with charter groups, charter operators, and investor groups from their board to theadvisors to their contributors. Oddly enough, the smallest group is The Team. 

Allen is an expert lobbyist and advocate. She knows politics and business. She bills herself as "one of the nation’s most accomplished and relentless advocates for education reform, and a recognized expert, speaker and author in the field." She has no background or experience in actual educating. But she does know how to brand herself. If you want to see her in action,you can watch this 2012 clip, but chances are that by the time she says, "You can't have parent power and have teacher union power" and says "teacher union" with the same tone of voice one would use for "rotting cockroach carcasses," you will want to say unkind things to her. 

She's pretty intensely committed. It took her about fifteen minutes to get over her initial antipathy toward the Trump administration, and her analysis of the GOP's 2018 losses was that they weren't reform enough. She went to bat for cyber charters when even folks in the charter sector were CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Jeanne Allen's Charter Murder Mystery

Hidden camera in school: Union may sue for report CVUSD won't release

Hidden camera in school: Union may sue for report CVUSD won't release

Hidden camera in classroom: Teachers union may sue for investigative report CVUSD won't release

The Coachella Valley Teachers Association may sue to force school district leaders to release the report from its investigation into a hidden camera found in a classroom at a Mecca elementary school, Carissa Carrera, the union's president, said on Friday.

Carrera said the union's lawyer has requested the investigative report through California Public Records Act and written a letter to the district asking Coachella Valley Unified School District administrators to refrain from destroying any records related to the investigation.

"We’re always working towards transparency," Carrera said. "The more information that’s shared with people, the less we have to rely on speculation and rumors."

Since the camera was discovered at Saul Martinez Elementary School in March, the district has revealed few details as to why surveillance equipment was placed in a classroom. 

In a statement earlier this week, Superintendent Edwin Gomez said the district had intended to place the camera in a different school in an effort to "capture footage of suspects who previously broke into the classroom." He provided no other details about the error.

During the month between this statement and the discovery of the camera, Carrera said "People thought someone was trying to spy on the teacher." She said more transparency would have "eliminated fears."

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Coachella Valley Unified School District offices in Thermal. (Photo: Kristen Hwang/The Desert Sun)

More: CVUSD: Camera was hidden in wrong elementary school in Mecca

More: Coachella Valley Unified investigates secret camera found in an elementary 

CONTINUE READING: Hidden camera in school: Union may sue for report CVUSD won't release

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools

One of the abiding mysteries of charter world is the Gulen charter chain. The schools use different names, like Harmony or Magnolia or Sonoran, but they have certain characteristics in common. The board is dominated by Turkish me. Many of the teachers are Turkish, in the US on visas. The schools teach the Turkish language. But when asked if they are Gulen schools, the head of the school (usually Turkish) insists they are not.

Recently the state of Alabama approved a Gulen charter to open in a rural county, despite intense local opposition. The new principal was identified only as “Amy O.” The CEO, Soner Tarim,  is Turkish. He previously was CEO of a Gulen charter in Texas. But he insists that the new charter, Woodland Prep, is not a Gulen School. Neither was the previous one. Imam Fethullah Gulen lives in seclusion in the Poconos.

Our blog poet wrote:

“The Shadow Knows”

The Shadow knows ’bout Amy O’s
Turkish cults in Turkish clothes
The Shadow knows ’bout Gulen schools
Gulen books and Gulen rules
The Shadow knows ’bout Gulen money
Gulen milk and Gulen honey
We don’t know, but The Shadow knows
‘Bout exiled Turks in the Poconos

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Many Oregon School Districts To Close May 8 For Teacher Walkout . News | OPB

Many Oregon School Districts To Close May 8 For Teacher Walkout . News | OPB

Many Oregon School Districts To Close May 8 For Teacher Walkout

Schools in 24 districts across Oregon will close for at least part of the day on Wednesday in response to a planned walk out by teachers to advocate for more school funding.

It’s part of the teacher “Day of Action” led by the Oregon Education Association, the state’s largest public education employee union.

RELATED COVERAGE

Oregon Schools To Close May 8 For Teacher Walkouts

Teachers and community members will attend rallies and marches all over the state while advocating for smaller class sizes, full funding for electives and more school counselors.

School districts and state lawmakers are both in the midst of setting budgets. Some districts project dozens of teacher layoffs and larger class sizes.

Several school districts made the decision to cancel classes for the day out of concern for staffing and supervision of students because teachers had expressed plans to walk out of class.

To make up the missed day, some districts have extended the school year. Others have swapped out a teacher development day for May 8.

And even with most of Oregon’s school districts having class, a few schools plan to host events related to the “Day of Action.” 

Umatilla Schools will host an event called “Walk In Their Shoes,” inviting CONTINUE READING: Many Oregon School Districts To Close May 8 For Teacher Walkout . News | OPB