Thursday, January 14, 2010

Educators respond to Governor and Launch “Fight for California’s Future” | California Progress Report

Educators respond to Governor and Launch “Fight for California’s Future”

By Marty Hittelman California Federation of Teachers

Governor Schwarzenegger is leaving a clear legacy – a legacy of saying one thing and doing the opposite. On Wednesday, he claims he is not going to cut education; but on Friday he proposes to reduce the Proposition 98 guarantee by $892 million in 2009-10 and $1.5 billion in 2010-11. The governor proposes to eliminate the sales tax on gasoline (which helps fund Proposition 98) and increase the fuel excise tax (which does not help fund Proposition 98). How does that protect education?

The $892 million reduction in 2009-10 is more than the maximum that California could receive over four years in the Race to the Top funding, which the governor claims is so important to California. Of course, the more than $17 billion in cuts to education over the last two years dwarfs both of these amounts. Schwarzenegger is using the budget crisis to promote some of his favorite issues, none of which would benefit the majority of people in California.

The money is clearly not the issue for the governor in the “Race to the Top” legislation.

First, he cuts $17 billion over the past two years from education, and suggests another $1.5 billion in state reductions in this budget proposal. Then he turns around and says we need the $700 million in federal money. Clearly, the money isn’t the priority. He supports Race to the Top as a way to force his value

CPR: Feature News Story | Cuts Ahead For Sac City School District

CUTS AHEAD FOR SAC CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

School districts throughout the state are crunching the numbers now that they have Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget plan to work from.

By: Steve Milne Thu Jan 14, 2010

Listen

Aired 1/14/2010 on All Things Considered -Aired 1/14/2010 on Morning Edition

(Sacramento, CA)

Although the governor has committed $50 billion in funding to education, his budget plan also calls for school districts statewide to cut administrative costs by $1.5 billion.

And it doesn’t look good for the Sacramento City Unified School District. Jonathan Raymond is the district’s superintendent.

“It was a tough day. We learned, after studying the governor’s budget that our budget target went from $18.5 million to now it looks like $28-$30 million.”

Raymond says they’ll be looking at making cuts…including staff reductions.

“Between 80% and 90% of a school district’s budget is staff and it’s personnel. But we’re not just simply talking about massive layoffs. We’re talking about looking across our budget for savings in every we can.”

District officials have to come up with a balanced budget plan by mid-March.

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Hindus want European Union intervention to end segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic

Hindus want European Union intervention to end segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic

Hindus have expressed shock at the reported continual and systematic segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic schools, resulting in their receiving inferior quality education.

According to a recently published Amnesty International report titled “Discrimination in education of Roma persists in the Czech Republic”, “Romani children are regularly segregated in schools and classes for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’, where they receive an inferior education based on a limited curriculum”.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was unbelievable that in Europe in 2010 segregation was still continuing. It was simply immoral and unacceptable and European Union should immediately act to end this discriminatory practice and ensure equality in education.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that Czech Republic should “wholeheartedly” back inclusion of Roma children and work on improving their educational attainments. At least, Roma children should be accorded equal opportunities and avenues of full participation in Czech life.

Talking about Roma children, the Amnesty report also points about “teachers’ prejudice” and “limited expectations”. In some places, Romani children make up more than 80 percent of the classes intended for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’. There are also Roma-only schools which often offer a lower quality education.

Rajan Zed argued that Roma people in Czech Republic reportedly faced violent attacks, stereotyping, racism, prejudice, growing gap between Roma and other Czechs, fear, beatings, poor quality housing, systemic employment and overall discrimination, persecution, throwing of Molotov cocktails, social exclusion, marginalization; refused service at restaurants, stores, discos, etc.; municipalities/towns failing to support them; and the state being unwilling or unable to offer protection.

Zed stressed that the country of Franz Kafka, Antonin Dvorak, Jaroslav Hasek, Karlovy Vary, and rich cultural heritage should not continue staying apathetic and silent spectator ignoring Roma apartheid.

References to Roma people in Europe, who are believed to have their roots in the Indian subcontinent, reportedly went as far back as ninth century AD. Amnesty International, headquartered in London and launched in 1961, is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Claudio Cordone is interim Secretary General.

UC Davis student found safe in Haiti - Latest News - sacbee.com

UC Davis student found safe in Haiti - Latest News - sacbee.com:

"Starry Dawn Sprenkle, the missing doctoral student from UC Davis, has survived the earthquake in Haiti, along with her young daughter and husband.

Sprenkle called her mother in the Salinas area to say that she was in Port-au-Prince and was with her husband, Erlantz Hyppolie, and their daughter, Jasime."

Until today she had not been heard from since 1:53 a.m. Tuesday when her father, Stephen Sprenkle, received a text from her saying that she was heading to Port-au-Prince, presumably with her 20-month-old daughter.

Sprenkle, 28, was going there to be with her husband after the death of his mother. That raised concerns that she had been hurt or killed in the huge quake that shook Haiti.

The text came at the exact minute the earthquake struck. This morning, the university received a call from Sprenkle's father saying that she was fine.

Eduflack: Putting the R&D Back in Education

Eduflack: Putting the R&D Back in Education:

"Without question, educators and policymakers alike are using the term 'innovation' more today than they ever have. If we look at the dictionary definition of the word, we are asking for 'something new or different introduced.' If we look at programs such as the Investing in Innovation, or i3, program, we are expecting 'something new or different' that is proven effective, offering some sort of research base behind it, some sort of data to support it.

Throughout such discussions, conversations on education innovation are likely to focus on the use of education technology in the classroom. It is an obvious avenue to pursue. Most of us equate technology with innovation. From flat-screen TVs to iPhones to interactive whiteboards to search engines like Google, we see technology as innovation. And for educators, moving that technology into the classroom is a likely extension of the innovation debate."

Elk Grove Citizen : Feature Story

Elk Grove Citizen : Feature Story:

"For nearly a decade, Franklin High School neighbored a 46-acre, vacant lot full of nothing but grass, dirt, and jackrabbits. Artificial turf will cover much of that land when the long-awaited Hal Bartholomew Sports Park opens by this summer after nearly two years of construction.�

The Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD) also plans to open two other parks in Elk Grove this year, expanding their numbers of parks in the city to nearly 85.

Bartholomew Sports Park

Former CSD director and park namesake Hal Bartholomew joked during the park’s Sept. 17, 2008 groundbreaking ceremony that he worried the project would be a “memorial park” for him. He referred to the many years the $18.6 million park remained in the works."

Upcoming Auditions for Falcon’s Eye Theatre Spring Musical Comedy — The Rancho Cordova Post

The Falcon’s Eye Theatre at Folsom Lake College calls for actors from the community to audition for its spring production of William Finn and Rebecca Sheinkin’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by David Harris with dance choreography by Debi Davis-Worth and musical direction by Philip Angove.

This hilarious hit musical tale of overachievers’ angst chronicles the experiences of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show’s creative team has created a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

Auditions will be held Monday, February 8 at 7pm on a first-come, first-served basis. Callbacks will be held February 9 and 10 and possibly other dates, at 7pm by invitation only following the February 8 general auditions.

Auditions will take place on the campus of Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway in Folsom. A daily parking pass can be purchased for

The Educated Reporter: Holdouts.

Holdouts.As a policy lever, I am very interested in Race to the Top; as a horse race, less so. Still, I am finding it intriguing to watch how many districts are not signing on to state attempts for the funds. I understand their apprehension but don’t get it on a practical level; state education policies and laws are going to change whether or not they formally buy in.

This week, my colleagues on the EWA K-12 listserve have provided each other invaluable information about where their states’s districts stand, context, questions (a great reason tojoin). I would like to get a better sense of why. Is it simply lack of teacher union support (some districts are going ahead without that anyway), the hurried timeframe for such major reforms, wounds still open from NCLB or something else—a certain sense of Texasness, perhaps?

Education Week: Calif. Schools Brace for Another Year of Cutbacks

California’s financial crisis will continue to put the squeeze on already strapped public schools this year as state lawmakers work to close a $20 billion deficit and debate Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new budget proposal.

In his State of the State address earlier this month, Gov. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who will leave office at the end of this year due to term limits, vowed to spare K-12 and higher education programs that have been pummeled over the past two years by the state’s fiscal meltdown.

But after he unveiled the $83 billion spending plan for fiscal 2011 two days later on Jan. 8, school officials said the governor’s words didn’t match reality.

Though Mr. Schwarzenegger said his budget proposal meets the state’s Proposition 98 school funding guarantee, education officials said that would be the case only if the governor carries out a proposed change in the state’s revenue structure that would effectively lower the bar for what its obligation to K-12 schools and community colleges would otherwise be. The effect would add up to a roughly $2 billion hit to the K-12 budget in fiscal 2011, said Scott P. Plotkin, the executive director of the California School

Jerry Large | The ills inequality brings | Seattle Times Newspaper

It is possible to improve the lives of the poor, the middle class and the well off, by addressing one big problem.

It turns out that reducing economic inequality can reduce a whole range of social problems, from teenage pregnancy and youth violence, to heart disease and depression.

The authors of a new book say the world's rich countries have benefited about as much as they can from economic growth. Improvement in the quality of life now hinges on increasing economic equality.

We've long known that poor people have worse health problems, and more recent studies have demonstrated that in more unequal societies even wealthier people suffer health consequences, especially stress-related diseases.

Two British researchers, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, go beyond health and demonstrate links between inequality and many social problems that ultimately affect everyone.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs: Curriculum 21 Essential Education for a Changing World � Chalkdust101

On my desk yesterday sat an unwrapped copy from of Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ latest book “Curriculum 21 Essential Education for a Changing World” my monthly gift from ASCD. In all honesty, I immediately balk at most things labeled with the ordinal number “21″ as a result of its saturated use in educational circles these days. Rarely does a memo leave the offices in Trenton without mention of this initiative or that program designed to incorporate the 21st Century in some manner.

I am just a little over the term, that’s all.

Being that today is a day of airports and the requisite time-suck that they, and the airlines, put you through, I knew that I’d have time to get through some of the book on the way down. My intent was to use some of it as a springboard for FETC, as some of the themes presented are concurrent with some of my aims at the conference.

The book is laid out in an interesting format, in that Jacobs is the editor, but the first four chapters are hers. Following her are chapters from: Stephen Wilmarth, Vivien Stewart,Tim Tyson (of Mabry Middle School fame), Frank W. Baker (who is also creating a ton of great content over that the Making Curriculum Pop Ning), Daivd Niguidula, Jaimie Cloud,Alan November, Bill Sheskey, Aurther Costa and Bena Kallick.

Race to the Top: Where the Money Might Go If It Were Purely Political - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Let me say from the outset, that despite my headline, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has made it very clear, repeatedly, that he doesn't think politics are going to play any kind of role in deciding which states snag one of the highly coveted Race to the Top grants. He's lining up "disinterested superstars" and has a very detailed rubric determining how grants will be doled out, probably in part to avoid those sorts of accusations.

However, it's interesting to speculate on who would have an edge if Race to the Top were purely, or even partly, political. And, despite the department's best efforts, if certain states get grants, I'm sure some folks out there will wonder whether politics had any sort of role in that decision.

There's been speculation that purple states, particularly those with endangered Democrat incumbents like Ohio (Gov. Ted Strickland) and Colorado (Sen. Michael Bennet) might have an edge. And that's a great point.

Breakfast Program Grants Available - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

Deadline fast approaching for food program start-up and expansion grants

HAWTHORNE — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today urged local educational agencies to apply for available School Breakfast Program and Summer Food Service Program Start-up or Expansion grants. The deadline to apply for the competitive grants is Friday, January 15, 2010.

"We have long known that it is harder for hungry children to learn in school, and that they are more often tardy or absent compared to well-nourished children," said O'Connell. "Thirteen million low-income people in California don't know where their next nutritious meal will come from. This is alarming and underscores the dire need for child nutrition programs to prevent hunger and help students to succeed in school."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released data reporting tragically high levels of food insecurity and hunger across the country. In California, almost three million low-income adults are food insecure and an additional 10 million people, including children, live in these food-insecure households.

Research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2005 found that students who routinely ate a nourishing breakfast performed better in school and have lower rates of absenteeism and less tardiness. Another study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine in 1998 found that students who ate school breakfast at least four days per week had math grades that averaged almost a whole letter grade higher than the grades of students who rarely ate school breakfast.

Because of this research, O'Connell is urging school districts, particularly those with schools in Program Improvement, to participate in the School Breakfast Program. Program Improvement is a federal intervention plan to improve student academic achievement in mathematics and English-language arts.

The School Breakfast Program is underused in California. Even though more than 9,800 public school sites participate in the National School Lunch Program, about 16 percent of them do not participate in the School Breakfast Program. Currently, 3.2 million students – that's more than half of the state's public school student population – are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Yet only about 908,000, or 28 percent of these students, participate in School Breakfast Programs.

Examples of how schools may use grant funding for a School Breakfast Program include:

"Universal Classroom Breakfast:" Students eat breakfast in the classroom.
"Grab-and-Go:" Students receive breakfast from mobile carts as they arrive at school.
"Breakfast to Go:" Students pick up a bagged breakfast from the cafeteria and bring it to the classroom.
"Second Chance Breakfast:" Breakfast is offered some time after first period, most often during recess or a passing period.

"We are strongly encouraging schools to find ways to provide breakfast outside of the cafeteria, such as in the classroom, because the evidence is clear that these innovate approaches dramatically increase the number of students who eat breakfast," added O'Connell.

Schools should note that if students eat breakfast in the classroom while educational activities occur, the time counts toward fulfilling the school's instructional minutes. Also, schools may under certain circumstances use federal Title I funding to expand breakfast programs, and use automated point-of-sale systems to eliminate the stigma children may feel when participating in school meal programs.

The School Breakfast Program and Summer Food Service Program Start-up and Expansion Grants may award up to $15,000 per site for nonrecurring expenses incurred in initiating or expanding such programs. Additional points will be awarded in the competitive grant process to districts with schools in Program Improvement where at least half of students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. For more information please visit Funding Profile (ID 1781): School Breakfast Program and Summer Food Service Program Start-up or Expansion.

Schools Matter: LAUSD Charters Call "Foul" on Regulations: Why?

You can count on someone throwing a hissy-fit any time you mention "regulations." In this case, it's the charter school operators down in SoCal that cannot understand why LAUSD would impose such tyrannical mandates. From the Connie Llanos at the Contra Costa Times:

While charter school operators and advocates applaud LAUSD's recent embrace of their campuses, they criticized some of the new regulations, which they said create more bureaucracy for the alternative schools.

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

In Rare Move, Charter Teachers Unionize

Teachers at a charter school on the eastern edge of San Diego Unified now belong to a union, a rarity among such schools locally.

Board members at Harriet Tubman Village Charter School voted Wednesday to officially recognize the San Diego Education Association, which also represents San Diego Unified teachers, as Tubman teachers' representative. The vote followed more than a year of union organizing at the school.

Tubman teachers said they were concerned about not being able to air concerns without worrying about retribution.

Teachers at most charter schools are not unionized. In fact, proponents often tout their freedoms from usual school district rules, including union contracts.

There are exceptions. Darnall Charter School, for instance, has long been unionized. Critics argue that the lack of union rights has left charter teachers more vulnerable to arbitrary firing and driven higher turnover rates at charters, where teachers tend to be younger.

But the push to bring unions to more charter schools, especially those that have already been operating without unions, has been halting in San Diego. A spate of firings spurred another drive to unionize at the King/Chavez schools in Barrio Logan, which has yet to succeed.

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Thursday, January 14, 2010