California School for the Deaf celebrates 150 years - Inside Bay Area

California School for the Deaf celebrates 150 years - Inside Bay Area:

"MORE THAN 4,000 PEOPLE are expected to descend upon California School for the Deaf this homecoming weekend to celebrate the institution's 150th anniversary.

Scheduled activities today include a school pep rally with former 49er star Ronnie Lott and an athletic hall of fame ceremony and dinner.

On Saturday, the public is invited to watch a 150th anniversary parade at noon, plus the cross-country, volleyball and football homecoming games. There also will be a banquet and dance that evening for those with tickets.

On Sunday, alumni will gather for class reunions.

What started as a three-pupil school in San Francisco in May 1860 has grown into an institution annually serving about 480 students from preschool through grade 12 on its Fremont campus. It also offers early intervention through its infant program."

Obama and Education Reform | The Wide Angle | Jewish Journal

Obama and Education Reform The Wide Angle Jewish Journal:

"The first nine months of the Obama administration have been intriguing; a model of what happens when a politician tries to hew to a fairly moderate line in his policies. He gets battered from the right for his “socialism” and he gets battered from the left for his “failure to do what has to be done and damn the compromises.”

Whether the issue is healthcare reform or Wall Street bailouts, he just can seem to quiet the critics. He is neither moderate enough for the right nor radical enough for the left. I can’t tell you many dinners I have had with friends (mainly on the left of the political spectrum) who express exasperation that Obama hasn’t yet transformed the world to their liking. The dialogue usually ends with our guests uttering an exasperated “he’s really no different than Bush.”

I understand the Republicans’ antipathy, that’s politics. With regard to the liberal critics, I am reminded of Lyndon Johnson’s witty quip regarding the difference between liberals and cannibals, “cannibals don’t eat their friends.”"

Report: Cuts to youth sports contribute to obesity, violence - washingtonpost.com

Report: Cuts to youth sports contribute to obesity, violence - washingtonpost.com:

"A new report says that $2 billion in cuts to school-based sports and physical education programs are contributing to a range of problems afflicting the nation's youth, including obesity, violence and academic failure.

The report by Up2Us, a New York City-based coalition of groups that are lobbying to save such programs, was released this week as more than 150 researchers, coaches and leaders of non-profit groups gathered in Washington for a conference on the fate of youth sports in an age of budget cutbacks.

'Youth sports is in serious decline in this country,' said Brian Greenwood, an assistant professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, who helped author the study. 'We can't afford that potential negative impact. If a kid doesn't have somewhere to go, something to do to occupy their time, unfortunately what they do more often than not is they end up in trouble.'"

CALPERS (California Pension Plan) - Too Big to Fail, and Acting Like It | Benzinga.com

CALPERS (California Pension Plan) - Too Big to Fail, and Acting Like It Benzinga.com:

"A great read on Reuters about America's largest pension fund, CALPERS. Talk about 'too big to fail' - the Californian taxpayer is on the hook if CALPERS cannot pay out the avalanche of promises to California's state workers... and we know what that means. We're all on the hook for it... see 'stimulus' plans passed as de facto 'state budget gap fillers'... shhhhhh, it's a secret (wink wink).
There are so many long term issues in America I sometimes get lost in the morass. We don't even have time to really focus on the pension issues but we've mentioned it a few times. [Apr 5, 2009: AP: $1 Trillion Hit to Pension Funds Could cost Taxpayers, Workers] [Oct 24, 2009: WSJ - Pensions Funds Taking Serious Hits]"

California specialty crop grants – $16.3 million

California specialty crop grants – $16.3 million:

"California leads the nation with $16.3 million in specialty crop grants awarded recently by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As established by the 2008 farm bill, Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) grant projects were funded in seven categories -- Agriculture Education and Outreach; International Trade; Market Enhancement and Promotions; Nutrition; Plant Health and Pest Challenges; Food Safety; Environmental Concerns and Conservation; and Food Security. Projects were selected through a competitive review process.

“California grows, exports and consumes more specialty crops than any other state in the nation,” said A.G. Kawamura. “Farmers are the original innovators, and these grant projects represent the kind of creativity and advancement that will help California agriculture remain the nation’s primary source of specialty crops.”"

The federal block grant program was designed to provide grants to states to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as “fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).”

Abstracts of California’s 55 grant projects are available online at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Specialty_Crop_Competitiveness_Grants/docs/SCBGP_Project.pdf.

In the area of nutrition, projects included linking ethnic specialty crop producers and low income consumers through marketing and nutrition education as well as a cooperative effort with the California Department of Education to increase preschoolers’ acceptance of fresh fruits and vegetables. In the area of international trade, a project was funded to conduct market research to determine India’s potential as a new market for California canned peaches. In the area of agriculture education and outreach, funding will support training to assist beekeepers in adopting best management practices for honey bee pollination of California’s specialty crops.

UC launches $1B fundraising drive for students - San Jose Mercury News

UC launches $1B fundraising drive for students - San Jose Mercury News:

"FRESNO — Chong Xiong was on the edge of her seat when University of California President Mark Yudof announced an ambitious plan today that would guarantee students who are accepted into the system would have the money to pay for their education.

'Now my parents won't have to worry,' said the junior who wants to study science at the Irvine campus.

Yudof chose an assembly at Sunnyside High School in the heart of the rural San Joaquin Valley to unveil the $1 billion fundraising effort that would ensure students with annual family incomes of $70,000 or less would pay no fees.

At the school on Fresno's impoverished east side, the families of all but 30 of the 3,000 students would meet that income threshold. The region has been hard hit by unemployment and foreclosures."

California's adult education system in jeopardy - ContraCostaTimes.com

California's adult education system in jeopardy - ContraCostaTimes.com:

"RICHMOND — Miguel Agil dropped out of Kennedy High School at 18, but he found his second chance in a welding class at Serra Adult School.
Maria Cabrera, an Oakland resident and mother of two, saw her job prospects rise from dishwasher to server after her English improved, thanks to literacy classes in Oakland's adult-education program.

'Now I have a big goal: to have a career,' Cabrera said. 'I want to be a nurse.'

In their brief remarks at a Friday-morning legislative forum, Agil and Cabrera put human faces on adult education in California, a 150-year-old system that helps immigrants, refugees, school dropouts, parents, disabled and older adults, ex-convicts and struggling high school students find their way — in many cases, by helping them build literacy and other critical job skills."

CTA History 3DTimeline

CaliforniaTeachers
October 21, 2009http://www.youtube.com/user/CaliforniaTeachers

Majority Rules - Public Option Please!

Public Option Please!

How to become an “Askable Parent”

How to become an “Askable Parent”:

"When Planned Parenthood offers workshops on talking to teens about sexuality, parents tell us that broaching this sensitive topic is one of the toughest parts of raising children. Let’s face it, it can be a little uncomfortable talking to your kids about sex.

Parents ask us about the best time to have “the talk.” They wonder what to do if their child asks a question they can’t (or don’t want to) answer. And parents worry that having an open dialogue might send the message that they’re okay with teens having sex."

Planned Parenthood has the answers to these questions. First, talking to your children does not green light sexual activity. In fact, the opposite is true. In a recent poll, 88% of youth said it would be easier to postpone sexual activity and pregnancy if they were more able to have open, honest conversations about these topics with their parents.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-10-23/lifestyle/how-to-become-an-%E2%80%9Caskable-parent#ixzz0Uo48gPUp

DFER

Earlier this week, we celebrated New York Assemblyman Sam Hoyt's groundbreaking "Race To The Top" legislation, designed to give New York a shot at even competing for boatloads of federal education cash. Then, we celebrated Michigan Senator Buzz Thomas' "smart cap" legislation, which would unleash the power of successful public charter schools in the Wolverine State (and help them get their hands on boatloads of federal education cash.)

But today, our edu-political crush is fixated on Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, who rocked the Ocean State by declaring an end to all seniority-based teacher assignments.
Yes, you read that correctly. (And yes, we're thinking the same thing as you right now, namely, "Holy crap!" And "It's about time sanity is prevailing.")

Stunning. Or at least stunningly commonsensical.

Still wondering whether the "Race To The Top" is on or not? (Even the great state of Colorado should be worried about the competition this one, ladies and gentleman...)

According to her office's press release, Gist notified superintendents last night that seniority-based teacher assignments are totally out of line with the state's new "Basic Education Program."
"The new BEP requires that the system of management, professional training, evaluation, and assignment of instructional staff ensures that highly effective educators work with classrooms of students who have significant achievement gaps," Gist wrote. "In my view, no system that bases teacher assignments solely on seniority can comply with this regulation."

This is obviously good news for Rhode Island students (and even better news for the the law firms that will be paid handsomely to fight this out to protect existing seniority-based teacher assignments?)

Congrats to Commissioner Gist and her team for jumping so strongly into the race!
Have a great weekend. This train is moving fast...

Joe

Read Press release: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13625681/Commissioner-Gist-Ends-Seniority-Based-Teacher-Assignments-N-E-W-S-R-E-L-E-A-S-E

The CEO educator - Oct. 1, 2009

The CEO educator - Oct. 1, 2009:

"(Fortune Magazine) -- Joel Klein's title is New York City school chancellor, but he's really a CEO. He oversees America's largest public school system -- 1.1 million students -- with more authority than his counterparts in most other major cities, thanks to a landmark 2002 law that was just renewed for another five years.

With power comes accountability, and Klein has delivered impressively: Test scores have improved, graduation rates have risen, and the racial and ethnic achievement gap has narrowed.
Klein's progress in a chronically poor system has been so remarkable that two years ago his department won the Broad Prize for Urban Education, America's top education award. When Arne Duncan was confirmed as the new U.S. education secretary earlier this year, his first visit was to Klein."

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Blogger for a Day: 'Our Plates Are Already Full'

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Blogger for a Day: 'Our Plates Are Already Full':

"Among the rumors that seem to persistently surround contract negotiations between the San Diego Education Association and the San Diego Unified School District, there is one allegation that is as troubling as it is untrue. This is the notion that SDEA is attempting to sneak some sort of Machiavellian 'veto power' language into the contract under the guise of a 'maintenance of standards' clause.

Critics have alleged that maintenance of standards would produce catastrophic effects ranging from the somewhat mundane (slower textbook adoptions) to the truly obscene (all education reforms would have to be blessed by the union)."

The extent to which the maintenance of standards hysteria has gained traction indicates that those who propagate these rumors are at best intentionally ill-informed and at worse maliciously anti-educator. The facts about SDEA's maintenance of standards proposal are readily accessible, and in no way resemble what we have just described. When we bargain for the working conditions of educators, we are bargaining for an improved learning environment for San Diego's children. We take this dual role very seriously.

Guest blogger Camille Zombro, president of the San Diego Education Association, is arguing today about why she believes the school district needs to add a "maintenance of standards" clause to teachers' contract. Confused? Read the background on this debate here.

These are her opinions, not mine, so if you have questions, comments or counterarguments, feel free to post them here in the blog or e-mail Camille directly at zombro_c@sdea.net. Don't forget to tell her if she can use your name to respond to your points in a blog post! We've also got a counterblogger lined up for tomorrow.
-- EMILY ALPERT

Op-Ed Columnist - The New Untouchables - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - The New Untouchables - NYTimes.com:

"Last summer I attended a talk by Michelle Rhee, the dynamic chancellor of public schools in Washington. Just before the session began, a man came up, introduced himself as Todd Martin and whispered to me that what Rhee was about to speak about — our struggling public schools — was actually a critical, but unspoken, reason for the Great Recession."

There’s something to that. While the subprime mortgage mess involved a huge ethical breakdown on Wall Street, it coincided with an education breakdown on Main Street — precisely when technology and open borders were enabling so many more people to compete with Americans for middle-class jobs.

In our subprime era, we thought we could have the American dream — a house and yard — with nothing down. This version of the American dream was delivered not by improving education, productivity and savings, but by Wall Street alchemy and borrowed money from Asia.

A year ago, it all exploded. Now that we are picking up the pieces, we need to understand that it is not only our financial system that needs a reboot and an upgrade, but also our public school system. Otherwise, the jobless recovery won’t be just a passing phase, but our future.

California Community Wants To Ban Maya Angelou Book | HipHopWired.com

California Community Wants To Ban Maya Angelou Book HipHopWired.com:

"Huntington Beach is know for its lush scenery as well as the laid back demeanor of its residents, but in one fell swoop, that entire image has been ruined. At least for fans of one of America's most celebrated public figures.

Several members of a Huntington Beach activist group is lobbying to remove one of Maya Angelou's most famous literary works, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” after having deemed it as being inappropriate for elementary and middle school aged children.

In an effort to convey the method behind their madness, several members of the group descended upon a city council meeting for the city, choosing to read some of the title's more grizzly portions to all in attendance.

“I'm not happy to read this, I'm mot proud to read this,” said Judy Ahren, a resident of Huntington Beach, to local media. “It's very uncomfortable to read it, but for the sake of our kids we have to do things that aren't comfortable for the sake of our kids.”"

Teacher salaries | Napa Valley Register

Teacher salaries Napa Valley Register:

"No one ever gets rich teaching. I doesn’t matter how good you are or where you work, the rewards of teaching are not financial. That said, I can’t complain that much about my salary. The party line is that teachers are poorly paid, but the truth is more nuanced. It all depends on your perspective.

First of all, teachers are seasonal employees. We work the school year, not the business year. The average American works 50 weeks with around 10 days paid holidays, around 240 days annually. The average teacher works 180 days. So I work about 75 percent of the time the average person does. We are effectively laid off every summer. Having summers off is a perk to some, but to others the loss of income needs to be made up with summer jobs."

NAACP huddles in South Bay for confab | Los Angeles Wave - Community News, Sports & Entertainment | News

NAACP huddles in South Bay for confab Los Angeles Wave - Community News, Sports & Entertainment News:

"Energizing the political, educational and social aspirations of today’s youth will be a key focus for the 22nd annual California State Conference of the NAACP which takes place in the South Bay this weekend.

That’s the view of two local chapter leaders who are preparing to join delegates across the state to review the past year’s activities and chart a progressive agenda for the coming year."

Flu season could hurt N. California school budgets | KDRV

Flu season could hurt N. California school budgets KDRV:

"YREKA, Ore. - The hundreds of students in Southern Oregon and Northern California that are missing school days is creating problems for many school districts.

In Oregon, students can miss 10 consecutive days of school before being dropped from enrollment, which discontinues funding from the state. However, in California, state funding stops any day a student is not in school. Siskiyou County School District officials say the district loses $30 for every day a student is absent.

'They have to be there or the school doesn't get any funding for that student,' Siskiyou Co. Superintendent Kermith Walters said.

Walters says the law can hurt smaller districts the most.

'It can impact a district quite severely to have a lot of kids out, especially our little districts. It doesn't take very many kids to get to 10 percent. If you only have 50 kids, and five kids are out in one day, it could be one family, and you're out your 10 percent,' Walters said."

Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper, News, Celebrity, 90211, 90210: Report And Analysis: Challenges, Concealment, Consequences —The BHUSD

Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper, News, Celebrity, 90211, 90210: Report And Analysis: Challenges, Concealment, Consequences —The BHUSD:

"The single most pressing issue confronting the Beverly Hills Unified School District is management. That is the major issue confronting voters in selecting two members of our board of education. Like every issue, there is more than one side to the story.

A contrite Myra Lurie told us, “Are we supposed to treat our staff like the enemy?” when discussing the Strategic Concepts/Karen Christiansen fiasco and related issues of school district management. In a reasonable world, the answer would be “no.” Unfortunately, in the Beverly Hills Unified School District, the answer today is “yes.” That answer must determine the future of our school district, now flush with hundreds of millions of unspent dollars and a budget replenished by City money.

What is going on here?"

UCSB the First Stop as UC Commission Looks to Future - Noozhawk.com

UCSB the First Stop as UC Commission Looks to Future - Noozhawk.com:

"California’s public universities are taking a budgetary beating, but the people of UCSB aren’t taking it lying down.

The first month of classes has seen protests and Days of Action throughout the state, with all 10 University of California campuses facing increased student fees and cuts to salaries and staffs.

In July, UC President Mark Yudof’s office and the Board of Regents created a UC Commission for the Future, which will carry out work groups and a listening tour of the campuses to get input from stakeholders."