Students urge Sodexo to go “cage-free” : The Temple News

Students urge Sodexo to go “cage-free” : The Temple News:

"The University of Pennsylvania and the State of California are cage-free. Organizations gathered 4,000 signatures for Temple to follow suit.

CORY POPP TTN The Sexy Green Truck outside the Student Center touts its use of cage-free eggs. Temple Dining Services plans to add cage-free to next year’s budget.

Three Temple student organizations are campaigning against university dining services’ use of battery-caged eggs in the cafeteria.

The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Environmental Law Society and the Promoters of Animal Welfare issued a policy paper imploring the university to go cage-free, according to a new Web site, cagefreetemple.com ."

Removal of educational "firewall" praised | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

Removal of educational "firewall" praised L.A. NOW Los Angeles Times:

"The nation’s top education official praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today for signing a bill that will make California eligible for competitive federal education funding.

Schwarzenegger signed the bill, SB 19 by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), on Sunday, striking a clause in a 2006 law Simitian wrote that bars state use of testing data to determine educator pay or promotion.

Obama administration officials have said that states applying for $4.35 billion in education funding cannot have any 'firewalls' between student achievement data and teachers.
“This is a victory for children,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a telephone interview this afternoon."

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Virginia Group Challenges School Labor Pact

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Virginia Group Challenges School Labor Pact:

"A Virginia-based organization filed federal charges of unfair labor practices against San Diego Unified last week, arguing that a labor agreement on its $2.1 billion school construction bond 'enriches union officials (and) punishes nonunion workers and employers.' The agreement requires employers to provide healthcare largely through union plans, sets steep goals for local hiring, and gives apprentices from union programs the first shot at jobs to build their skills.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation sent out a press release stating that it had filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board on the behalf of a nonunion employee:"

Foundation attorneys are providing free legal aid to and filing the federal charges for Wesley Fuller, a Brady Company employee who hangs drywall and has completed all state apprenticeship requirements, and all similarly situated employees. But, because Fuller’s particular apprenticeship program was not established through union monopoly bargaining, he is being illegally denied access to employment.

Reliable Source - Top News Item

Reliable Source - Top News Item:

"There's much more important Michelle Rhee news these days, like, say, her controversial firing of nearly 400 school employees. You can read about that in other sections. We just want to point out that she has a sharp new haircut -- seen here, at a conference hosted Friday by Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education. That's all."

Closing the Achievement Gap: Partnerships Resource Kit

Closing the Achievement Gap: Partnerships Resource Kit

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Offers Education Agencies a New Toolto Combat the Achievement Gap


SACRAMENTO - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell today announced that a key recommendation by his CaliforniaP-16 Council is being implemented with the release of a new online tool called the Resource Kit for Developing Partnerships to Close the Achievement Gap (Resource Kit).

"Family and community partners are powerful and critical allies for schools working to improve student success and close the achievement gap," said O'Connell. "The success of our students is directly connected to the success of our state and national economy. That’s why I urge businesses, faith-based organizations, parents, community groups, and others to get involved in their local schools. We all have a stake in preparing all students to compete in the hypercompetitive global economy, and schools need our support and assistance to reach that goal."

The Resource Kit may be used by families, communities, and organizations to develop partnerships with schools that can help narrow the academic achievement gap that exists between higher-performing and lower-performing students. This online tool can help anyone understand the importance of partnerships, how to create them, and help existing partnerships improve. Users may access links to information on different types of partnerships with families, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, business, government agencies, institutions of higher learning, and youth service organizations. The Resource Kit also offers examples of real-life successful partnerships.

The Resource Kit is a result of one of the recommendations made in January by O'Connell's California P-16 Council. The P-16 Council was formed in 2004 to examine ways to improve student achievement and create a comprehensive, integrated system of student learning from preschool through higher education. The Council researched factors that inhibit successful student learning and grouped them into four themes called ACES:

1. Access: Do students have equal access to good teachers and rigorous curriculum?

2. Culture and Climate: Are students' learning environment safe and promote a sense of belonging?

3. Expectations: Does a culture of excellence exist for students and adults alike, so that a common, high standard is the norm for all students?

4. Strategies: Are proven teaching practices being used?

One of the ACES recommendations is to develop partnerships to close the achievement gap. The P-16 Council found that connecting schools with educational organizations, city and county agencies, faith-based organizations, parent groups, and businesses is necessary to foster partnerships that will support a well-defined student support system. Such partnerships recognize that students have needs outside the classroom that, if unmet, can significantly and adversely affect their ability to learn. Breaking down barriers and creating partnerships throughout California is an important step toward implementing a consistent approach to a high-quality and inclusive educational program.

"Too often in government, when recommendations are made by task forces or blue ribbon commissions on complex issues, they are forgotten as soon as the group disbands," added O'Connell. "The Resource Kit is one of 14 recommendations by the P-16 Council to narrow the achievement gap that we are engaged in implementing. I fully intend to implement all 14 recommendations before my term in office expires so that we can improve conditions at the state level that help close the gap. We must ensure that every child has a chance to succeed academically and in life."

The Coordinated School Health Work Group Steering Committee worked with the statewide P-16 Council to create the Resource Kit. The Committee represents education and community health partners, and other state-level stakeholders. The Resource Kit is available online through the California Department of Education's Closing the Achievement Gap Web site at www.closingtheachievementgap.org/partnerships. For more information on the P-16 Council, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/pc/. The California Department of Education is a state agency led by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. The core purpose of CDE is to lead and support the continuous improvement of student achievement, with a specific focus on closing achievement gaps. For more information, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/ or by mobile device at http://m.cde.ca.gov/. You may also follow Superintendent O'Connell (@SSPIJack) on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/sspijack.

Gavin Newsom: Shake the System

Gavin Newsom: Shake the System:

"This is a tremendous opportunity to create real, long-term reform.

Let's repeal the two-thirds vote requirement to pass a budget so a few members of the minority party can't hold up the budget process and California won't have to issue IOUs. Let's consider instituting a more robust rainy day fund, so we save when times are good for those times when things aren't so good. We need to think about a multi-year budget cycle, something that will force the legislature to take a longer view when considering priorities. And it's time to give more local control to counties and municipalities - after all, they know what is best for their communities, and they should have more discretion on how to spend funds.

There is nothing that is stopping us from building a new foundation."

Sacramento State president nominated to Student Aid Commission - Sacramento Business Journal:

Sacramento State president nominated to Student Aid Commission - Sacramento Business Journal::


"The president of California State University Sacramento has been tagged to serve on the California Student Aid Commission.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointment of Alexander Gonzalez needs state Senate confirmation. Gonzalez would serve through next October.

The commission’s mission is to make education beyond high school financially accessible to all Californians. The commission, which consists of 15 appointed members, manages financial aid initiatives such as the Cal Grant program.

“I have seen thousands of students achieve their dreams through higher education, and I look forward to working with the commission so future generations can go to college and make positive contributions to California’s culture and economy,” Gonzalez said in a news release."

Saving California - California Progress Report

Saving California - California Progress Report:

"Even the state’s leading historian, Dr. Kevin Starr, has his doubts about California’s ability to recover from its current downward spiral. Quoted in a recent article in Great Britain’s Sunday Guardian, Starr warned that California may become “America’s first failed state.”

Foreclosures have leveled suburbs from Riverside to Merced. California is home to one of every four mortgages in the country where the loan is worth more than the property.

Employment numbers have plunged even more dramatically. At 12.2 percent, the state’s unemployment rate is the highest it has been since the 1940s. In many areas of the state, the job picture is almost surreal. The central valley town of Mendota, for example, is grappling with 38 percent unemployment. Nearly 5,000 East Bay jobs will disappear in one broad stroke when Fremont’s NUMMI auto plant closes early next year.

There are other alarming crisis indicators as well. The poverty rate in Los Angeles has climbed to 20 percent. Our schools, once the backbone of California’s ingenuity and progress, are now ranked 47th out of 50 states. This, coupled with spiraling higher education costs, has resulted in a 13-percent reduction over eight years in the number of 19-year-old Californians enrolled in college."

CSU Enrollment Cuts Leave Prospective Transfer Students Uncertain - The Daily Californian

CSU Enrollment Cuts Leave Prospective Transfer Students Uncertain - The Daily Californian:

"Students looking to transfer from Berkeley City College to a CSU next school year are going to be facing an uphill battle.

All CSUs are cutting their enrollment by approximately 10 percent and campuses on the semester system have stopped offering spring admission and moved up fall application deadlines in an effort to close budget gaps and counteract overcrowding. The cuts have left many prospective transfer students worried for their futures.

Amela Alijagic, a Berkeley City College freshman who hopes to transfer to San Francisco State University and study medicine, initially attended Cal State Sacramento but was unhappy there, so she came to Berkeley to 'start over.' Now she is not sure she will get that chance."

College professor, a breast cancer survivor, will replace Moran on debate panel | Politicker NJ

College professor, a breast cancer survivor, will replace Moran on debate panel Politicker NJ:

"The addition of Lee to the debate panel potentially offers an interesting dynamic to a campaign that has seen coverage of the cost of mammograms emerge as a major issue: in 2003, Lee resigned as the journalism dean at the University of Nevada, Reno after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Her cancer was discovered early during a routine mammography. She had a partial mastectomy a month after taking her new job, and returned to the New York area to be closer to her family during her radiation treatments. She joined William Paterson in 2007.

Prior to her career in education, Lee was CNN's first New York correspondent. She also worked as a reporter for ABC and CBS local affiliates in Sacramento, Chicago and Philadelphia. She chairs the William Paterson University Communications Department."

CSUB faculty question administrator numbers - Bakersfield.com

CSUB faculty question administrator numbers - Bakersfield.com:

"This year CSUB employs 71 administrators, compared to 57 in 2002, according to the university. That's a 25 percent jump.

Faculty numbers have decreased from 550 to 465, or 15 percent, in that time.

Over seven years, full-time student enrollment has grown slowly, by about 400 students, to 6,948 in 2008."

Governor Schwarzenegger takes on tax reform in California for the 21st Century Economy | The Gov Monitor

Governor Schwarzenegger takes on tax reform in California for the 21st Century Economy The Gov Monitor:

"The people elected me to fix what was broken in Sacramento. Together, we have tackled the big issues, whether it is workers’ compensation, infrastructure, redistricting or the budget.

Now, we have a historic opportunity to reform another broken system and help unleash a new wave of prosperity across our state.
California’s tax system was created nearly 100 years ago, before the Great Depression. It is outdated and antiquated, and no longer works in our technology and information-based economy.
That’s why last October, I joined Democrat and Republican leaders to form a bipartisan Commission on the 21st Century Economy."

Education Week: States Stung by Criticism on Use of Stimulus Aid

Education Week: States Stung by Criticism on Use of Stimulus Aid:

"Several states are defending their use of federal stimulus money after receiving an official scolding from the U.S. Department of Education’s internal watchdog.

The memorandum issued by the department’s inspector general pointed to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania as examples of how states are undermining the school improvement aims of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in their use of fiscal-stabilization funds to avert or minimize cuts to their education budgets."

Education Week: Education Secretary Leads Chorus Calling for Big City-Hall Role

Education Week: Education Secretary Leads Chorus Calling for Big City-Hall Role:

"The troubles that plague many local school boards prompt some observers to throw up their hands. But when it comes to big-city districts, there’s a popular remedy that continues to gain momentum: mayoral control.

This governance arrangement sidelines school boards, for the most part, in favor of a strong chief executive handpicked by the mayor."

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who for seven years ran Chicago’s public schools under Mayor Richard M. Daley, is using his bully pulpit to aggressively promote the approach as a necessity for reversing decades of abysmal academic performance in some cities. In a speech to mayors and school superintendents last spring, in fact, Duncan said he would consider his time as education secretary a “failure” if more mayors didn’t take over city school systems by the end of his tenure.

Education News & Comment

Education News & Comment:

"“Two people working together who have the best interest of the child in mind
lead to better outcomes for students.”

Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Oct 23 – Nov 24, 2009

ELEMENTARY SHORTENED DAYS
Check with your school"

U.S. Standards Initiative Seeks to Equalize Benchmarks - washingtonpost.com

U.S. Standards Initiative Seeks to Equalize Benchmarks - washingtonpost.com:

"The opening of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' Toni Morrison's 1993 Nobel lecture. Walt Whitman's poem 'O Captain! My Captain!' The Declaration of Independence. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail.'

Those were among a handful of texts chosen to illustrate proposed standards for skills and knowledge that every high school graduate should have in English language arts.
And that should be the cue for another 'great works' debate. Every so often, educators, politicians, parents, students and those who care about schools will tussle over lists of works deemed essential (or not) for a culturally literate young adult. It gets especially fierce when the nation's academic reputation is perceived to be at stake."

‘Mama’ Shines Her Light - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

‘Mama’ Shines Her Light - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos:

"In its Editor’s note, NAM wrote: “In early September, on schoolyards and in hallways across the country, the same excited, anxious question rings out: ‘Who’d you get?’

“While parents and politicians worry about crumbling facilities and decimated budgets, students know that the heart of education beats inside the individual teacher. More than spacious playgrounds or sparkling cafeterias; more, even, than top-notch textbooks and state-of-the art computers, it’s the teacher who makes the difference. When NAM asked young people in our youth communications programs to write about the one teacher who’d really made a difference, they barely had to think before the keys were flying. This collection of pieces was underwritten by a project funded through the California Teachers Association.”)"

Sweetwater teachers rally for a contract | SocialistWorker.org

Sweetwater teachers rally for a contract SocialistWorker.org:

"CHULA VISTA, Calif.--One day after an estimated 1,000 members of the Sweetwater Education Association (SEA), the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association, rallied along with students, parents and community members in front of the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) building, a tentative agreement was reached between the district and SEA bargaining teams.

On October 7, protesters marched in South Bay San Diego to confront the SUHSD, which had failed to bargain a union contract in good faith for well over a year. The rally picked up steam when a large group of students, gathered next to the building opposite where SUHSD administrators were holding a 'fact finding' meeting, started chanting on behalf of their teachers: 'What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now.'"

Inland educators not counting on federal stimulus dollars, despite governor's effort | Inland News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

Inland educators not counting on federal stimulus dollars, despite governor's effort Inland News PE.com Southern California News News for Inland Southern California:

"California could get about $500 million out of the $4.3 billion up for grabs in the federal Race to the Top education program, said David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association. The state had cut about $4.5 billion from the education budget for kindergarten through community college because of the fiscal crisis.

'If we were talking about significant money, we would probably be more excited about it,' Sanchez said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday signed into law Senate Bill 19, which allows student performance on standardized tests to be used in evaluating teachers and principals -- previously prohibited in California. States with such bans are prevented by federal rules from applying for the stimulus money."

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a former Cal and NBA star, robbed in San Francisco - San Jose Mercury News

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a former Cal and NBA star, robbed in San Francisco - San Jose Mercury News:

"SAN FRANCISCO — Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, former Cal and NBA star, was reportedly robbed on the streets of San Francisco over the weekend, KCRA-TV in Sacramento is reporting.

In a post on his blog, Johnson said he was near Union Square helping an elderly man get into a cab when someone stole his garment bag.
Johnson, former NBA All Star, said he lost a suit, a pair of shoes and some personal items.

'Not the end of the world, but frustrating,' Johnson wrote. 'The real crime was the vulnerability of it all, the idea that I could leave my bag on a crowded street, turn my back for 30 seconds and have my stuff stolen.'"