Union head to propose tying test scores, teacher evaluations - washingtonpost.com

Union head to propose tying test scores, teacher evaluations - washingtonpost.com:

"The president of the nation's second-largest teachers union is proposing a new way to incorporate student test scores into teacher evaluations and has asked a well-known mediator to develop methods of expediting disciplinary cases against teachers, according to the text of a speech made public Monday night.

Randi Weingarten of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers plans to deliver the speech Tuesday. Union officials describe it as a major effort to address flash points in labor-management relations."

Inaction could put state out of 'race' -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Inaction could put state out of 'race' -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:

"ALBANY -- The Race to the Top has become a race against the clock in the state Legislature.
�
In classic Albany style, lawmakers are waiting until the last possible moment to act on legislation that proponents say would greatly enhance the state's chances to secure up to $700 million in federal education reform grants.
The deadline to apply for the federal Race to the Top program is Jan. 19.

But with only today and the date of the deadline currently scheduled as legislative session days (Jan. 18 is Martin Luther King Day), lawmakers are cutting it extraordinarily close -- especially in light of a consensus from lawmakers that the issue is unlikely to come up today.

Indeed, some have suggested Gov. David Paterson might keep legislators later this week in order to pass laws he says are needed to compete for the money."

Hold firm on education reform - The Boston Globe

Hold firm on education reform - The Boston Globe:

"AS HOUSE and Senate conferees hammer out final details of an education reform bill this week, no issue is more contentious than how much power local and state administrators should have to override union contracts in underperforming schools. At such schools, there’s a tension between the formal process for resolving disputes over work rules and the need to make changes swiftly so that children don’t fall further behind."

Both the House and Senate versions of the bill recognize that efforts to improve failing schools must address hair-trigger labor grievances that usually lead to long arbitration processes. The teachers unions are naturally protective of their rights.

And yet the well-being of students has to come above all else. What’s needed is a final bill that gives the state the ability to make major changes in the lowest-performing schools, to adjust compensation to reflect teacher merit when appropriate, and to extend the school day or year for either more instruction time or better faculty training. Providing the state with these powers doesn’t mean that all teachers at troubled schools will be broomed out - practical barriers alone make that exceedingly unlikely - but it would provide greater flexibility at schools where the status quo clearly is not working.

California State General Obligation Bonds -- Seeking Alpha

California State General Obligation Bonds -- Seeking Alpha:

"The offering statements for the State of California’s most recent bond issues remind me of New York City’s for the sale of general obligation bonds and notes in 1974.

Then, the City's short-term debt had no source of funding other than issuing new notes to retire the old. A few months later, the market refused to accept additional paper. That resulted in monetary default on $1.6 billion principal amount of NYC general obligation tax and revenue anticipation notes.

The City’s bonds did not default because bond principal and interest is funded one year in advance and held separate and apart from all other governmental funds. Those requirements and others like them are spelled out in the State’s Constitution, as it is in most of the other states."

UTSA is one of the country’s top producers of Hispanic math, science grads - San Antonio Business Journal:

UTSA is one of the country’s top producers of Hispanic math, science grads - San Antonio Business Journal:

The University of Texas at San Antonio ranked third in the nation among Hispanic Serving Institutions in the number of math and science degrees awarded to Hispanic students.

The rankings are based on a National Science Foundation-funded study conducted by the University of Southern California Center for Urban Education. The center examined academic data from the 2005-2006 school year for the Top 25 predominately Hispanic colleges and universities — which are concentrated in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona and New Mexico.

UTSA earned the No. 3 ranking for awarding 357 degrees to Hispanic students in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. Forty-four of all of UTSA STEM degrees went to Hispanic students in the academic year included in the survey.

Students Win Settlement in California Free Speech Case | California Progress Report

Students Win Settlement in California Free Speech Case | California Progress Report

As a result of a legal settlement at a California high school, school administrators are on notice to stop censoring student speech.

After settling an 18-month legal battle, Fallbrook Union High School District must pay nearly $28,000 as a result of a principal violating the speech rights of student journalists and unfairly retaliating against the high school’s newspaper advisor.  In addition, the Fallbrook administration is obligated to issue letters praising the student journalists as part of the lawsuit settlement.

In 2008, Fallbrook high school teacher Dave Evans was removed by the principal as the newspaper advisor a day after Evans warned the school board that parents and students were preparing to sue the district for the principal's censorship of a news article about the dismissal of the superintendent and an editorial critical of the federal government’s abstinence-only sex education program. The principal, Rod King, also cancelled the journalism program, which had just captured second place in the American Scholastic Press Association national competition.

In 2006, I authored a law that prohibits censorship of student press by

Need to Trim Corrections Spending, Governor? Stop Wasting Money on the Death Penalty! | California Progress Report

Need to Trim Corrections Spending, Governor? Stop Wasting Money on the Death Penalty! | California Progress Report

If Gov. Schwarzenegger thinks he can cut $3.5 billion from state spending on corrections, he is being unrealistic and impractical.

In his state of the state address Wednesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger promised to restore the California dream by increasing funds for education and cutting funds for prisons in the budget proposal he releases today. That’s a great theory. But his only real proposal is to outsource prison administration to private companies. The state’s powerful prison guards’ union will ensure that plan fails. Meanwhile, the governor continues to slash education, health care, and other vital services.

So let’s consider something the governor can actually do right now to make a serious dent in the corrections budget: convert all 700 death sentences in California to permanent imprisonment saving the state $1 billion over the next five years.

A slew of articles have recently documented the decline of the death penalty nationally. Death sentencing hit an all time low in 2009.  As reported this week on National Public 

Kiplinger Rates Poly a ‘Best Value in Public Colleges’ | Mustang Daily - News for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Kiplinger Rates Poly a ‘Best Value in Public Colleges’ | Mustang Daily - News for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo:

"Cal Poly ranked number 50 on a list of “100 Best Values in Public Colleges 2009-10.” Cal Poly was the only California State University to make the list and climbed from a number 58 ranking in the study last year.

The list, released by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, a Washington DC-based publication, gave Cal Poly the dead-center position in the yearly review based on factors including tuition, student-to-teacher ratios, graduation rates, retention rates and admissions rates.

Despite budget cuts that resulted in furloughs, department cuts and larger class sizes, Cal Poly is staying true to its core values, according to�Provost Robert Koob.

“The ranking reaffirms that Cal Poly still offers a good, affordable education,” Koob said. “It’s a question of preserving options in the deficit.”"

California Flailin' - Forbes.com

California Flailin' - Forbes.com:

"America's largest state is broken and looking for fixes in the wrong places."

In my last column I tackled the not-so-secret implosion of state governments across the land. A question, however, still lingers: What ought to be done? On this score there are two, and only two, general approaches. The first is structural and concerns the division of political authority within the states. The second deals with the conception of individual rights and duties of state citizens. As Americans, we should stress the second and ditch the first. But true to form, California seems to be moving in theopposite direction.

Right now many groups are getting ready to put new measures in November's referendum process, which lets voters have the word on reform. These exercises in direct democracy consciously bypass the state legislature, in which public confidence has fallen to 14%--which is quite generous in light of its dismal performance.

Local programs may feel California's budget pain - Local - SanLuisObispo.com

Local programs may feel California's budget pain - Local - SanLuisObispo.com:

"The governor’s proposed budget would cut school funding by $270 for every elementary and high school student in San Luis Obispo County and would be devastating for the elderly and poor, local social services and education officials said Monday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal is an attempt to close what is expected to be a $20 billion difference between costs and revenues in the next 18 months.

But what the governor proposes in January and what is finally adopted are often far different.

“Even in good years, the governor’s January budget proposal is like the first hand in a poker game,” county schools Superintendent Julian Crocker said. “Then, we have two or three, sometimes four months of committee hearings in the Legislature.”"

States Lower Test Standards for a High School Diploma - NYTimes.com

States Lower Test Standards for a High School Diploma - NYTimes.com:

"A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact."

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma.

People who have studied the exams, which affect two-thirds of the nation’s public school students, say they often fall short of officials’ ambitious goals.

Campus takeover applications begin flowing in to L.A. Unified - latimes.com

Campus takeover applications begin flowing in to L.A. Unified - latimes.com:

"Charter organizations, nonprofits and teachers groups have until midnight to submit applications to take over 30 new or struggling campuses. The superintendent will make recommendations next month."

The Los Angeles city school district on Monday began receiving applications from inside and outside groups seeking to take over 30 new or struggling campuses.

Groups that filed letters of intent to apply for the schools in the fall had to file their requests electronically before midnight tonight. The district is scheduled to announce how many applications they received today.

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education voted in August to allow outside operators, including charter schools, to apply for control of 18 new and 12 low-performing campuses. Groups of teachers have prepared applications for some schools, and United Teachers Los Angeles has filed a from taking over the new campuses.

Several outside groups, including some charter organizations and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, had said they would submit applications. Supt. Ramon C. Cortines will review the applications before making recommendations to the school board in February.

Experts Debate California's Parental Trigger - GOOD Blog - GOOD

Experts Debate California's Parental Trigger - GOOD Blog - GOOD:

"We've mentioned California's idea to empower parents to take over schools if they feel as though their kids are getting a subpar education. We've also noted that charter school maven Steve Barr has spoken out about outlawing private schools, in part because he believes that parents will hold public schools accountable the same way that private school-parents currently keep an eye on their educational investment.

Well, California's parental trigger is the topic of the week over at the National Journal Online's 'Education Experts' blog. The view from the outside is that education wonks would be really excited by parental involvement in their children's schooling. But, the opinions on this trigger idea run the gambit from 'fabulous idea' to 'superficial solution.'"

Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse – Crist and the Terminator no longer seeing eye-to-eye

Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse – Crist and the Terminator no longer seeing eye-to-eye:

"TALLAHASSEE — Once Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were political look-alikes.

But Crist and some fellow Republicans in the Legislature are distancing themselves from the latest proposal emerging from California’s chief executive.

In his final State of the State speech last week, Schwarzenegger proposed a constitutional amendment that would reduce state funding for prisons – while boosting the portion of the state budget going to higher education.

Schwarzenegger said financially-strapped California’s priorities have gone “out of whack” in recent years."

Most O.C. districts say no to Obama ed reforms | school, districts, top - News - The Orange County Register

Most O.C. districts say no to Obama ed reforms | school, districts, top - News - The Orange County Register:

"As few as nine Orange County school districts have committed to implement sweeping reforms championed under President Obama's federal Race to the Top grant program for schools, leaving up to 19 ineligible to receive the potentially millions of federal stimulus dollars that California is seeking.

School districts across the state were required to commit to the president's education reform agenda by Friday, ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline for California to apply for a federal Race to the Top grant. Twenty-one of O.C.'s 28 school districts initially committed to the plan, but many have since pulled out."

L.A. school board will weigh new policy to both help and rein in charters | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

L.A. school board will weigh new policy to both help and rein in charters | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times:

"The Los Angeles Board of Education Tuesday will consider new policies aimed at both assisting charters and holding them more accountable for their performance. The regulations, about a year in the making, include key provisions on conflicts of interest and services for disabled students that are opposed by the association that represents charter schools.

There are now more charter schools — enrolling more students — in Los Angeles than in any other city in the country. Their effect and performance were the subject of a Los Angeles Times special report on Sunday."

Sacramento Press / Higher Education Bill Suspended

Sacramento Press / Higher Education Bill Suspended

Assembly Bill 656, authored by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, was suspended after a second hearing at the Assembly Committee of Revenue and Taxation on Monday.

 AB 656, proposing an oil and gas severance tax with revenue going to California's higher education system, was introduced last February and went through the first hearing in May, but the hearing was canceled by Torrico.

 During the second hearing, Chairman Charles Calderon and the Revenue and Taxation Committee said they believed the bill needed further discussion and a possible decrease of the 12.5 percent tax rate originally proposed to a more reasonable 6 to 7 percent. 

"The real truth here is the bill is going nowhere--it's not getting off the floor," Calderon said during the hearing.  "Until we can function properly at the proper as constitutional form of government without these initiatives tying our hands in terms of what we can do and what we can't do, we are not going to solve that here today." 

Vote may shake up 90210 school attendance - 1/11/10 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com

Vote may shake up 90210 school attendance - 1/11/10 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- The Beverly Hills school board will vote on whether to end the program allowing out-of-district students to enroll there.

The name and the zip code of Beverly Hills 90210 conjure up images of the rich and famous. Students from outside the city were attracted to the quality schools in this city. It's part of a permit program that allowed them to do that, but maybe not for much longer.
"This is an issue that's dividing our community and we need to get beyond it. Our goal is to try to be as fair as we can with our parents, both the permit parents and the regular parents," said Jerry Gross, superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.
This school district, like others, gets money from the state per student based on enrollment, but with big cuts from Sacramento, that will change. The district is now expected to get most of its money from property taxes. Some say resources need to be focused on resident students.

Top 5 Ways to Get Smart without Reading � The Class Struggle

Top 5 Ways to Get Smart without Reading � The Class Struggle:

"The Oxford Dictionary says that if you are illiterate you are two things:

1 unable to read or write

2 ignorant in a particular subject or activity

It is no accident that the English language uses the same word to describe these two things. The inability to read or write automatically ensures one’s ignorance of information. Traditionally, anyone without access to books or school had little hope of thriving in our world. That is what we have always been told, because until now that has always been true."

The Education Report: Tony Smith on federal school reform

The Education Report:

Tony Smith on federal school reform

"“In a lot of ways, we are leading the race.” — Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith to Phil Matier in reference to the competitive Race to the Top grants.

Yes, OUSD applied for the federal funds (which it only stands to receive if California gets any money in the first place), though teachers union President Betty Olson-Jones says"