Community college juggles reduced state budget and student demands | TahoeDailyTribune.com

Community college juggles reduced state budget and student demands | TahoeDailyTribune.com:

"Enrollment is increasing at Lake Tahoe Community College but the schedule is shrinking, presenting a challenge to school officials who are juggling the demands of a dwindling state budget and students vying for classes they need.

In the fall, enrollment was up for full-time students by almost 20 percent compared to 2008, with those students competing for fewer classes after 410 sections were eliminated to accommodate state budget cuts.

California's community colleges sustained $840 million in state funding cuts for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years combined, while the state legislature raised tuition $13 to $17 per unit."

Santa Rosa teen earns spot in elite U.S. Senate program | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA

Santa Rosa teen earns spot in elite U.S. Senate program | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA:

"When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked Montgomery High School student Rena Wang to whistle during an official function, she didn’t wonder why, she wondered, “How loud?”

Wang was at a constituent breakfast with Reid and John Ensign, the two U.S. senators from Nevada, when they told her they needed to get the attention of the crowd and wondered if she could whistle.

Wang, at 17, just might have more political connections, and savvy, than weathered old pros who have spent years wandering Capitol corridors.

So she stepped up and let fly, sharing a good laugh with some of the most powerful politicians in the country."

Congressperson Tom McClintock (CA-04) Called Out For The Tendency To Be Untruthful - Roseville Press-Tribune

Congressperson Tom McClintock (CA-04) Called Out For The Tendency To Be Untruthful - Roseville Press-Tribune:

"Mendacity: The tendency to be untruthful (WordReference.com English Dictionary)

Congressman Tom McClintock’s recent constituent newsletter praises the “conservative” philosophy. But what is it conserving, really? Certainly not historical accuracy.

In it, McClintock (R-Granite Bay) complains the current administration is taxing and regulating us too much. In contrast, he says, “Ronald Reagan responded [to high unemployment] by cutting taxes and reducing regulatory burdens…producing the biggest peacetime economic expansion in the nation’s history.”

Virtually none of that is accurate.

Reagan’s “regulatory burden” reduction led to the Savings & Loan bailout–until recently, the most expensive financial scandal in U.S. history, far more expensive than Teapot"

News: 'The Cultural Capital of Asian American Studies' - Inside Higher Ed

News: 'The Cultural Capital of Asian American Studies' - Inside Higher Ed:

"The Cultural Capital of Asian American Studies (New York University Press) explores the state of the discipline more than 40 years after its founding amid the student protests of the 60s. Mark Chiang, associate professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, writes about how the field has grown and also changed since its early days. In an e-mail interview, he discussed the themes of the book.

Q: What are the key ways Asian American studies as a field is different today from the era when it was created?"

A: The first Asian American studies program at San Francisco State University was distinguished by its community orientation and founded on two main slogans regarding the relation of the university to the community: community autonomy and relevant education. The institutional structure of Asian American studies marked a radical break from the typical model of the American university in that it gave community members who were not academics a voice in program governance over such matters as hiring and curriculum. In this regard, the program threatened the principle of faculty autonomy and self-governance that were essential to the modern research university. The necessity of institutional survival, however, meant that the program soon was forced to conform more or less to the rest of the university and thus to exclude non-faculty members from any participation in program operations.

Christie Channels Schwarzenegger as New Jersey Braces for Cuts - BusinessWeek

Christie Channels Schwarzenegger as New Jersey Braces for Cuts - BusinessWeek:

"Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Montclair, New Jersey, where the median family income is almost twice the U.S. average, may have to shut one of its two libraries. The Newark suburb of Irvington is considering firing police officers.

The towns are bracing for the impact of state aid cuts, after Governor-elect Christopher Christie said he may slash spending by as much as 25 percent next year amid declining tax revenue that the Washington-based Pew Center for the States said rivals California. If the proposal for New Jersey pushes costs down to local governments and schools, mayors and educators may have to choose between raising taxes and eliminating park maintenance and trash collection."

20 O.C. school districts get behind Obama education reforms | school, districts, california - News - The Orange County Register

20 O.C. school districts get behind Obama education reforms | school, districts, california - News - The Orange County Register:

"At least 20 of Orange County's 28 school districts have tentatively committed to implementing a series of controversial education reforms outlined under President Obama's competitive Race to the Top grant program for schools.

The reforms, which include evaluating teachers based on their students' academic performance, are necessary for school districts to apply for a slice of a $4.35 billion federal stimulus pie. At least 663 school districts and other educational institutions across California have already signed letters of intent to apply for the Race to the Top funds, according to state education officials. The deadline is Thursday."

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - Hebrew charter school proposed

The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley News - Hebrew charter school proposed

Hebrew charter school proposed

Albert Einstein Academy would be first of its kind in SCV and California

A local rabbi hopes to establish California’s first Hebrew language charter school in the Santa Clarita Valley.

If approved by the Hart district during the Jan. 20 board meeting, the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences would be a college preparatory school planned for a fall 2010 opening, Rabbi Mark Blazer of Temple Beth Ami in Newhall said.

The public charter school would be open to everyone and students would not have to be Jewish to enroll, he said. The school would not have a religious base, he said.

In its first year, Blazer estimates the school would have 75 students in each seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade class. Each year, the school would add a grade until it becomes a 7-12 school, he said.

Academy leaders are still looking for a place to house the academy for the upcoming year.

At full capacity, the school would hold 450 students, he said.

“We have not had a problem getting interest from parents,” Blazer said.

Meeting a need
Local children are able to learn Hebrew at Jewish congregations, but, for Blazer, meeting two or three times a week is not enough.

Sacramento mayor resolves to make peace with City Council - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com

Sacramento mayor resolves to make peace with City Council - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com:

"Like many people hoping to shed a few pounds after the holidays or promising to finally learn a foreign language, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has made a list of resolutions for the new year.

His top one should make at least eight people happy: improving relations with the City Council.

'When I ran, there were a lot of people thinking that City Hall and City Council was a dysfunctional environment. I've been in office for a year and we have not yet improved upon that,' Johnson said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. 'So I want to make sure we do a much better job.'

The mayor announced his goal in a list of 10 'resolutions.'"

Sacramento Press / The Broad Road Show finally comes to Sacramento

Kevin Johnson's Photos - Broad check presentation for Stand Up

Sacramento Press / The Broad Road Show finally comes to Sacramento

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced STAND UP; a new initiative launched on Monday. A $500,000 grant will kick-start the first phase of the new nonprofit's development. It will focus on raising academic achievement and college completion rates by advocating, supporting, and developing excellent public schools. The seed money comes from a national philanthropy group,the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

Mayor Johnson said he's looking for a new education liaison; someone who will work with STAND UP. Rumors and speculation has Michelle Rhee, lightening rod Chancellor of Washington DC Public Schools as a leading candidate. Rhee a nimble leader, has played a major role in the Education Reform movement which is currently being promoted by the Obama administration, Governor Schwarzenegger and the Mayor.


 This reform movement promotes privately operated public Charter schools which are opposed by teachers unions and some parent and community groups. Ms Rhee and the Mayor announced their engagement last month.


 Really, what could be better than some rich guy (billionaire) coming to town dropping a cool half million on our public schools in these times of shocking budget cuts. In Sacramento I think there are three schools of thought on that subject:


1) Stand Up
2) Sit Down
3) Shut Up

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.:

"What's Next: Education in 2010

Here's my breakdown of the top four issues in local education to watch in 2010. These are the things I'll be focusing on and the unanswered questions worth paying attention to:
Budgets, Budgets, Budgets

How big will deficits actually be? And how will San Diego Unified balance its books if the shortfall really is that bad?

And there's a third, crucial question: Can schools actually fend off the cuts by protesting to Sacramento? The school board is sounding the alarm and asking parents to fight back. But with little support for tax increases in the state Legislature, it's unclear whether they can turn the tide.

The Next Superintendent"

Census Bureau to hire hundreds in Rancho Cordova - Sacramento Business Journal:

Census Bureau to hire hundreds in Rancho Cordova - Sacramento Business Journal::

"Census Bureau to hire hundreds in Rancho Cordova"

The U.S. Census Bureau needs several hundred qualified applicants to work in the Rancho Cordova area in the spring.

The Census Bureau is now accepting sign ups from prospective workers who would like to test for those jobs, beginning in January.

The part-time temporary jobs will be for Census takers and staff for Census offices and questionnaire assistance centers. Field pay starts at $15 per hour.

Most of the jobs require a valid driver’s license and use of a vehicle. The Census Bureau also wants to find some candidates who can speak Spanish, Russian or another language in addition to English.

Prospective employees must take and pass a 30 minute Census test.

Testing will be conducted at several locations in Rancho Cordova, including at City Hall on Prospect Park Drive, the Folsom Cordova Unified School District’s Adult Education Center on Gadsten Way and the Sacramento Works One Stop on Old Placerville Road.

Candidates can sign up for a test by calling the Elk Grove Census office at 1-800-866-2010 and entering their ZIP code. More information, including a practice test, is available online at 2010censusjobs.gov.

Beverly Hills schools move to cut outside pupils - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Beverly Hills schools move to cut outside pupils - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Beverly Hills schools move to cut outside pupils

Associated Press Writer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Threats on Facebook, name-calling, security guard escorts - tempers are running high around schools these days in this normally sedate enclave of ostentatious wealth.

The reason: The Beverly Hills school board is preparing to boot out 10 percent of its students as it ends a decades-old practice of allowing out-of-district pupils to attend city schools on "opportunity permits."

The move has upset many so-called permit parents - mostly middle-class families living in the tonier areas of Los Angeles who are loath to send their children to the beleaguered Los Angeles Unified School District, where more than a quarter of high-schoolers drop out.

"Every family on permit is outraged," said Simy Levy, a Los Angeles resident whose two daughters attend school in Beverly Hills. "It's incredibly unfair.

CPR: Feature News Story | Schools Ask For Help In Catching Vandals

CPR: Feature News Story | Schools Ask For Help In Catching Vandals:

"(Sacramento, CA) They say vandalism usually goes up when school’s out-of-session. Vince Matranga heads security for the Sacramento City Unified School District.

“During the two-week winter break we probably average around $5,000 in damages to our school buildings. And that’s primarily graffiti. And at this time with the budgets the way they are for public schools we just cannot afford to be spending our money repairing our buildings because of vandalism.”

Matranga says the district is installing video surveillance cameras at school sites as funding becomes available.

Meanwhile, he’s urging neighbors to be the eyes and ears of the district…and call the police or Sheriff’s Department if they see any suspicious activity."

Troubles persist at several charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/28/2009

Troubles persist at several charters | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/28/2009

Troubles persist at several charters

By Martha Woodall

Inquirer Staff Writer

Rosemary DiLacqua's husband was in trouble.


Joseph J. DiLacqua, a captain in the Philadelphia Police Department, had been charged in early 2002 with covering up the drunken-driving accident of a fellow officer, and the family needed $15,000 to pay for a lawyer.


Brien N. Gardiner, founder of the charter school where Rosemary DiLacqua was board president, provided the solution. He secretly lent her the money.

But the money had strings attached, prosecutors said, and accepting it exposed DiLacqua, who was also a police detective, to federal charges.


It was just one part of a web of criminal intrigue that pervaded Philadelphia Academy Charter School. Details came to light earlier this month when Rosemary DiLacqua was sentenced in federal court for taking a total of $34,000 in secret payments from Gardiner and a former chief executive and then giving them raises and lucrative contracts.


A lot happened between spring 2008, when The Inquirer first reported allegations of fiscal mismanagement at the Northeast charter, and Rosemary DiLacqua's sentencing on Dec. 15. 
And the school was not the only one shaken by the revelations of suspected corruption. Reverberations are still felt across Pennsylvania's charter-school landscape.


Federal investigators who began their probe of Philadelphia Academy in May 2008 concluded that Gardiner and Kevin M. O'Shea, the former CEO, had looted the school. Gardiner committed suicide in May when indictments seemed imminent. O'Shea, who pleaded guilty to stealing as much as $1 million, is serving a 37-month sentence in federal prison.


Although the federal probe has spread to at least five other charters in the area, the Philadelphia School District has made only modest changes to increase oversight of the city's 67 charter schools.

In search of the Reflective Practitioner | Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

In search of the Reflective Practitioner | Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech:

"I began teaching in 1988. It was a tough job and thinking about getting better was superseded by survival instincts. Early on in my career, there were several documents that the province produced in support of improved professional development. I didn't pay much attention to these but one phrase I saw in those documents some 20 years ago stuck with me. Reflective Practitioner. I sort of understood the concept but other than simply thinking about what you did in the classroom, I wasn't at all sure what to do with this term.

When I discovered blogs almost 5 years ago, I soon figured out what that term meant. Since that occasion I have sat down to write close to 1,000 pieces of reflection. While not all would be considered deep, most take me anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to craft. While it may not"

Hmong Community Becomes an Economic Force - 12/28/09 - Fresno News - abc30.com

Hmong Community Becomes an Economic Force - 12/28/09 - Fresno News - abc30.com:

"Fresno, California -- Thousands of people are in Fresno for the Hmong New Year celebration. And they're bringing plenty of buying power with them. In the thirty years since they arrived in the Valley the Hmong population has grown into a strong economic and social force.

Driving south on Highway 99 through Fresno you'll roll by dozens of billboards, but there is one that will catch your eye like no other. An attractive young woman in traditional Hmong dress is advertising a store ... 'T.C. Fresh Meat Supermarket.'

The young woman works as a cashier ... her boss ... Thong Xiong ... is a young Hmong entrepreneur. 'I love to do something different,' said Xiong.

Xiong bought billboard space around Fresno last month to advertise his three year old business. The businessman knew many eyes would be on his signs this week as thousands of Hmong descend on Fresno for the Hmong New Year celebration."

Community Colleges Consider Offering Bachelor'S Degrees

Community Colleges Consider Offering Bachelor'S Degrees:

"Legislators in California and Michigan are thinking of granting community colleges the authority to offer four-year degrees.

In California, the initiative is largely being considered as a result of massive budget cuts to state universities which have forced institutions to turn away thousands of applicants. The Contra Costa Times reports that the idea was introduced by Assemblyman Marty Block at a December 7 hearing about the future of California's Master Plan for Higher Education.

'We have a lot of well-respected community colleges down in San Diego,' Block was quoted as saying in the Contra Costa Times, 'and they think they could do a fine job offering those next two years to students, at least in certain disciplines.' Block is considering introducing a related bill next year."

UC Hastings Names Frank H. Wu New Chancellor and Dean : AsianWeek

UC Hastings Names Frank H. Wu New Chancellor and Dean : AsianWeek:

"San Francisco — The Board of Directors of UC Hastings College of the Law announced today its new Chancellor and Dean, Frank H. Wu, Professor of Law at Howard University and the former dean at Wayne State University Law School, where he was the nation’s youngest law school Dean. The selection of Wu, who is closely connected to high-level legal, business and political leadership in the Asian and Asian-American world, is viewed as a dramatic and bold step to bring an entirely new level of leadership to Hastings.

“Frank Wu is a brilliant, world-class scholar and national leader in higher education. He was selected because of his powerful strategic vision for raising our 131-year-old law school to a new level. He has the experience and commitment to develop unprecedented private support for the College,” said Bruce Simon, Chair of the Board of Directors of Hastings and co-chair of the Dean Selection Committee, along with Professor Richard Boswell. ”With today’s significant fiscal challenges, UC Hastings needs dynamic, top-flight leadership fully engaged in the legal and greater community at large.”"

College Econ 101: Higher Tuition, Dried-Up Lending | The Lipman Times

College Econ 101: Higher Tuition, Dried-Up Lending | The Lipman Times:

"The Washington Post reports that during the economic crisis, college costs have continued to soar, while options for financing a higher-education have been severely diminished. Many poor and middle-class households are finding it more and more difficult to pay for a college education, and some are finding the new reality quite prohibitive. Even for those who can afford college have to rely on high-interest student loans to get into the most-competitive programs, and some qualified students are having to choose lesser programs to ensure they can pay.

Public universities are suffering greatly from the financial crisis; state funding has nearly vanished, taking the key component in their financing model out of the equation and requiring tuition hikes. The University of California has announced that is will be introducing a 32 percent tuition hike in the next academic year, which prompted student riots and required riot police to protect public school officials."

Bookstore Closings in 2010 and the Fallout on the Economy and California's Literacy - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Bookstore Closings in 2010 and the Fallout on the Economy and California's Literacy - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com:

"Bookstore Closings Offer a Mixed Bag of Emptier Strip Mall Spaces, Unemployment and Creeping Illiteracy

The booklover's calendar in 2010 will hold a number of farewells. B. Dalton, Lighthouse Christian Stores and Waldenbooks are closing their doors in alarming numbers. At the same time, California leads the nation in low prose literacy skills. Coincidence?"

Gone in 2010: All B. Dalton Bookseller Locations, Lighthouse Christian Stores and 200 Waldenbooks Stores (Borders Express)

Dating back to 1966, B. Dalton was a powerhouse of booksellers. When Barnes & Noble bought the chain, its once proud number of 798 stores had dwindled. In October of 2009, CBS 2 out of Chicago confirmed that Barnes & Noble plans on closing all B. Dalton stores by January 31, 2010.

This is bad news for smaller communities that are underserved when it comes to book stores. This is especially true for those with Waldenbooks stores in their areas. Among the other fiscally (and intellectually) impactful events in 2010 is the closure of 200 Waldenbooks stores - as reported by News Record, quoting the AP - which results in about 1,500 job losses.

Another 2010 calendar item to commemorate is the closure of the Lighthouse Christian Bookstores. The Long Beach, CA institution is currently holding its "everything must go" sale, but the Daily Breeze reveals that the gradual closure of this 64 year old business has been in the making for the last four years. While the LB store is still hanging on, it will likely close early in 2010.

What Will 2010 Bookstore Closings Do for California's (Il)Literacy?