Saturday, January 16, 2010

Charter Laws � The Quick and the Ed

"Charter school laws have been all over the news lately, with a second national organization releasing their rankings of state charter laws at the same time states are revising their laws in order to be eligible for the Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund’s $4.35 billion. Charter laws vary tremendously state-by-state, but the federal Department of Education has been pushing hard on the charter quantity issue, urging states to give up arbitrary caps in order to apply for the RTTT money.

A lesson from my home state, Iowa, shows this effort is not as meaningful as it might appear.

Iowa has long had one of the weakest charter laws in the country. It technically has one, which is more than can be said for 11 remaining states, but it’s law limits charter authorizers to school districts themselves (often the last place to look for someone interested in starting a charter school) and set an artificial cap on the number of charters that could operate in the state. Perhaps worst of all, the law was scheduled to sunset in 2011."

The Potemkin Village Cap Lift: What Would the Reviewers Say?

It’s interesting to me that you have folks out there that don’t quite believe that we’re going to keep a high bar…. It’s going to be a very, very high bar. People won’t believe it until we do it.
--Secretary Arne Duncan discussing the Race to the Top

“Don’t quite believe” is right. Albany still seems to think there is a way to hurt the state’s charter schools and get rewarded for it in the Race to the Top (RTTT). The latest destructive idea is to lift the state’s nominal cap on charter schools, then choke charter school growth by turning new school creation into a centralized RFP process.

As the Post and Daily News point out in must-read editorials this morning, that kind of fakery won’t fool anyone.

Both papers are exactly right about the raw politics: at the end of the day, there’s just no way the feds will reward a state that eliminates SUNY CSI, one of their favorite authorizers—let alone a state that starts doling out charters through politicized central planning. As Duncansaid last month, “In the end, I want state lawmakers to lead reform, not lag it.”

Legislators And Booksellers Aim To Cut Textbook Costs

Legislators And Booksellers Aim To Cut Textbook Costs
Legislators and Booksellers Aim to Cut Textbook Costs

Compiled By CityTownInfo.com Staff
January 15, 2010

Legislators and booksellers are moving forward with electronic textbooks and textbook rental programs in an effort to reduce expenses for college students.

In California, a new law was passed this week which will require companies that sell textbooks to California colleges and universities to offer electronic versions by 2020. The law, Senate Bill 48, was authored by state Sen. Elaine Alquist, with the goal of significantly reducing textbook costs for students, which can often be as high as $1,000 per year.

James Schwab, a legislative aide to Alquist, told The Chronicle of Higher Education that the new law would also encourage the use of technology in the classroom, thereby giving students better marketable skills. He added that it would help generate more student interest in science, engineering and math.

"Students these days, and kids growing up, will be used to--and even prefer--reading stuff in an electronic format," said Schwab in the Chronicle.

Bruce Hildebrand, executive director of the Association of American Publishers, noted in the Ventura County Star that publishers should have no trouble complying with the law's deadline.

Schwarzenegger's chief aide wields power with gusto - latimes.com

Schwarzenegger's chief aide wields power with gusto - latimes.com:

"Schwarzenegger's chief aide wields power with gusto
Susan Kennedy, who also worked for the governor's predecessor, loves to win on big issues and lets little get in her way. Critics wonder if shortcomings in the two men's records reflect on her."

Reporting from Sacramento - She arrives unseen at the Capitol each morning, entering through an underground garage and riding an internal elevator to the governor's office to take command.

Rarely venturing out into public, she instills fear in legions of state workers, lobbyists and lawmakers even though many would not recognize the 5-foot-2, wiry woman with close-cropped blond hair who is likely to be remembered as the most enduring force in state government of the last decade.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, upended the political establishment late in 2005 when he hired Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff: She is a gay Democrat who began her career as an activist for liberal causes 30 years ago and served as a high-ranking aide to the governor's recalled predecessor, Gray Davis. Democrats called her a traitor. Republicans called for her head.

But Schwarzenegger stuck with her, trusting Kennedy, 49, to wield his authority so completely that they came to be described as "governor and governess," or "the big governor and the little governor." As his administration draws to a close, Kennedy has attained near-mythic status as a partisan only to winning.

AllGov - News - Student Financial Aid Sending More Money to Wealthy Families

AllGov - News - Student Financial Aid Sending More Money to Wealthy Families

Student Financial Aid Sending More Money to Wealthy Families
Saturday, January 16, 2010

Public universities are increasingly giving more financial aid to students from relatively wealthy families instead of lower income homes in order to recruit academic achievers and boost the school’s reputation. The Education Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group, concluded in its latestreport that public research universities increased aid to students whose parents made at least $115,000 a year by 28%, to $361.4 million, from 2003 to 2007.

The result of this shift in financial assistance has been shrinking diversity at some campuses. “It’s almost as if some of America’s best public colleges have forgotten that they are, in fact, public,” said Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust.

In 1980, the maximum Pell Grant, the primary federal grant program for low-income students, covered 77% of total costs at a four-year public university. Today a Pell Grant only covers 36% of the same costs, forcing low-income students and their families to come up with almost two-thirds of their college expenses.

In 15 of the 22 states The Education Trust examined, the top-ranked private institution had a higher proportion of minority students than the public university. For example, Stanford University was more diverse than the University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University topped the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Columbia University bested the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Ra Ra Riot: “The State is Broke, and Berkeley is in Revolt” | F i a t Lux

Ra Ra Riot: “The State is Broke, and Berkeley is in Revolt”

2010 JANUARY 15

by Sylvie Greenberg

To jump on coattails of Paul Craft’s post and to further discuss the crisis in California, here is an article about by Tad Friend on the recent protests surrounding the fate of public education in California. The tagline of his January 4th article, in the New Yorker, “Protest Studies,” is “the state is broke, and Berkeley is in revolt.” (Here is the article in another form for New Yorkersubscribers)

According to Friend (and who wouldn’t trust someone named Friend!), here are the basics of the issue.

What is the root of the unrest?

Friend would agree with the points raised in Paul’s article about, well, a huge fiscal crisis and severely diminished funding for higher education.

Who do protesters believe to be the villains?

UC president Mark Yudof, for one, though Robert Birgeneau, Berkeley’s “gangly, staunchly liberal chancellor,” says that,

West Virginia Expands STEM Education with ESRI Software

Press Releases - Directions Magazine

West Virginia Expands STEM Education with ESRI Software

Redlands, California—The adoption of ESRI's geographic information system (GIS) software statewide marks the next step for West Virginia in doing its part in the national effort to expand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
Many policy makers, researchers, and educators are concerned about the lack of STEM-oriented subjects taken by today's high school students as they prepare to enter college or the workforce. State and district education agencies, as well as private educational organizations, are boosting their effort to address STEM content and skills.

According to Charlie Fitzpatrick, K–12 education manager at ESRI, "More and more states see value in GIS for all students, in all grades and subject areas, because it fosters integrative thinking, analysis, problem solving, and communication. These are critical skills students must master not only to make the most of social studies and STEM education but also to become effective workers and informed citizens."

Rage Against the Vegetable Garden Analysis | BuzzFlash.org

Analysis | BuzzFlash.org

Rage Against the Vegetable Garden: Factory Farming Manifesto Sets Sights on the Edible Schoolyard Program

Submitted by meg on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 2:18pm.

Analysis

BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

My father often tells a story of a chicken dinner he once prepared that involved a "whole fryer." I toddled into the kitchen, perhaps curious as to what Da-da was doing in there. He held the bird that would become our dinner up for to his little daughter to see: pimply skin, strange flipper-looking things and all.

"It looks like a little person!" I cried.

My father was taken aback. Looking down at this shocked little person standing in his kitchen, he wondered how it could be that for every time he had served his little girl fowl, she never realized that it came from the same type of entity depicted as Chicken Little and Foghorn Leghorn.

The thing was, we lived in the city. And though my father's parents had experience farming, my own knowledge of such a place was limited to books and the occasional public school field trip. Sure, trips to historic Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life in St. Paul, MN were cool, but the experience gave us kids the impression that a "farm" was a relic of the past, an inefficient, hardscrabble life we were all happy to abandon.

That was true, for the most part. Farms in the traditional sense, the ones I saw depicted on the fronts of margarine packages growing up, didn't exist anymore outside of museums. The factory farm that took over was certainly no place for children. Of course, we got the offal from such places. I still remember the taste of the greasy rectangles of pizza and tater tots from the "hot lunch" line. And in recent years, school lunchrooms have been a place to dump contaminated meat from abused and sickly cows.

Daily 49er - Our View-Education repairs need to make sense

Our View-Education repairs need to make sense

By Our View

Print this article

Published: Friday, January 15, 2010

Robbie Eich

We’ve mentioned this countless times, the state’s higher education system should receive more money than the state’s prison system.
We’re not revolutionaries, albeit some of us would like to think so. We just strive to make sense. You know, do what’s right, that kind of thing.
Apparently, our governor is trying the whole ‘making sense thing’ out as well. In his most recent State of the State speech Schwarzenegger announced a plan that would amend our state constitution to mandate that spending on higher education be prioritized over state prisons.
Right now state prisons receive nearly 11 percent of the state budget while higher education receives about 7.5 percent. The governor essentially wants to flip these numbers around.
He seems to be trying, but in the words of our preadolescent friends: FAIL, EPIC FAIL. Confused? We’ll explain.
Sure universities should receive more funding than prisons, but you can’t just mandate it. Things don’t work that way. Government is a delicate machine; you can’t pick at its parts without preparation.

UCSC humanities conference to address critical issues in public education on Jan. 23

UCSC humanities conference to address critical issues in public education on Jan. 23UCSC humanities conference to address critical issues in public education on Jan. 23

1977 UCSC graduate Josh Pechthalt--Vice-President of United Teachers of Los Angeles--is one of three notable alums who will speak at the 4 p.m. "UCSC Alumni Movers and Shakers" panel of the conference.

Teachers' Unions, Education, and Social Justice: From the Local to the Global--a one-day conference presented by the UCSC Center for Labor Studies--will address critical issues in public education on Saturday, January 23, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Oakes College, Room 105.

Admission is free and open to the public.

The conference includes a panel featuring three generations of UCSC alumni: George Martinez, former president of the Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers; Josh Pechthalt, vice president of United Teachers of Los Angeles; and Seth Bramble, executive director of the Sacramento City Teachers’ Association.

Keynote speaker Lois Weiner, author of The Global Assault on Teaching, Teachers, and Their Unions, will kick off the event at 9 a.m., following introductory remarks by humanities dean Georges Van Den Abbeele and history professor Dana Frank, director of UCSC’s Center for Labor Studies.

Frank noted that as massive cuts in government spending on education ripple through the country’s schools and universities—particularly devastating the poor and communities of color—teachers are increasingly being scapegoated for the decline in public education.

“While the media with increasing frequency casts teachers and their unions as selfish and narrow, teachers’ unions are in fact at the forefront of the fight to defend public education for all,” said Frank.

Napa New Tech High School Hosts California Assemblymember’s Hearing on Education Technology

Napa New Tech High School Hosts California Assemblymember’s Hearing on Education Technology:

"Napa New Tech High School Hosts California Assemblymember’s Hearing on Education Technology

Napa New Tech High School played host to more than 50 education stakeholders -- including teachers, parents, business leaders and superintendents -- during a more than three-hour public hearing on education and technology. Attendees were eager to learn more about the success of New Tech approach."

Napa, CA (Vocus/PRWEB ) January 16, 2010 -- Napa New Technology High School played host to more than 40 education stakeholders -- including teachers, parents, business leaders and superintendents -- during a more than three-hour public hearing on education and technology. Attendees were eager to learn more about the success of the New Tech approach.

The hearing was chaired by California Assemblymember Tom Torlakson, who has sponsored and authored legislation to provide students with the digital technology skills needed to succeed in the global economy.

“We must continue to capture the imagination of our students and cultivate their scientific and technical talents by embracing technology and bringing the development of these skills into our classroom,” said Torlakson, a long-time science and math teacher. “Napa New Technology High School serves as a model for teaching critical- thinking and digital-literacy skills necessary for students to be competitive in college and in the job market.”

Napa New Tech High School is one of 40 schools that are part of the New Tech Network, which supports the start-up and implementation of innovative high schools marked by project-based learning in a technology-rich environment. http//:www.kwfdn.org

[KnowledgeWorks, which develops and implements effective approaches to high school education in the United States, integrated New Tech into its organization in 2009.

California's Democratic Lawmakers Tone Down Plea for Federal Funds - California Healthline

California's Democratic Lawmakers Tone Down Plea for Federal Funds - California Healthline:

"While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) continued his vociferous appeals for increased federal funds this week, Democratic legislators took a more subdued approach to the cause, Capitol Weekly reports.

Earlier this week, Schwarzenegger sent a letter urging California's congressional delegation to help the state secure $6.9 billion in new federal funding.

The request is part of the governor's budget proposal for the next fiscal year. If the state does not secure the increased federal funds, Schwarzenegger's budget plan would eliminate programs such as In-Home Supportive Services and Healthy Families, California's Children's Health Insurance Program."

Financial crisis hits the states hard

Financial crisis hits the states hard:

"Winter came early this year to the U.S. Many states and cities have run out of money to keep the roads plowed the way they should be to keep goods and people moving and to provide ambulance and other emergency services. In some hard-hit areas, all that the road crews can do is plow hills and curves.

If the financial crisis hadn’t squeezed the state budgets past the breaking point, money would just be reallocated, and plowing to bare asphalt with salt or sand on the roads would be the norm. But the states had a collective budget deficit of nearly $146 billion heading into fiscal 2010, which for most began on July 1. (www.ncsl.org)

Many states are attempting to cure these budget deficits with cuts in services like health care, education, mass transit, welfare and snowplowing, along with mass layoffs and furloughs of tens of thousands of state workers, tax hikes and additional fees."

New poll ranks California University of Pennsylvania No. 2 for online programs - Pittsburgh Business Times:

New poll ranks California University of Pennsylvania No. 2 for online programs - Pittsburgh Business Times::

"California University of Pennsylvania has been ranked No. 2 on a new survey looking at the quality of online institutions of higher learning.

The Top 25 online colleges study was conducted by Kirkland, Wash.-based SR Education Group, an educational resource provider. The study ranked the schools based on accreditation, tuition cost, number of students and faculty, student-to-faculty ratio, graduation rate and retention rate.

“Online learning resources enable Cal U students to"

Keith Law: The fight for public higher education - Columnists - MercedSun-Star.com

Keith Law: The fight for public higher education - Columnists - MercedSun-Star.com:

"Recent articles in the Sun-Star attest to troubling times for public higher education due to the state's budget problems.

Our troubles were summed up in an alarming commentary, 'Save the community colleges' by Merced College President Benjamin Duran.

Another commentary, 'Provocative ideas for higher education' by California State University, Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani proposes delivering higher education with fewer resources. His article was followed by a vote of no-confidence by a majority of the faculty at that university.

There was a notable contrast in the views of these two administrators, as Duran pointed out that California's system of higher education is second to none, and he appealed for sustained funding. Shirvani, on the other hand, blamed educators for creating inflexible organizations that he equated to troubled automobile manufacturers."

State joins federal Race to the Top

State joins federal Race to the Top:

"When President Obama talks about turning around the lowest performing schools in the country with the Race to the Top education reform effort, he's talking about schools like San Francisco's Malcolm X Academy."

Sitting at the top of a hill in San Francisco's Hunters Point, the elementary school repeatedly has scored among the lowest in the state despite a decade of education reform at the local, state and federal levels. But state and federal education officials say the federal Race to the Top competition is different.
It's a game changer, they say. By offering a potential windfall of cash in exchange for innovative policy changes, the contest is designed to shake the status quo by, among other things, holding teachers accountable and giving parents much more authority over their children's education.
Parents, principals and teachers say they have heard all that before. Reforms

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/15/MNT41BFLLC.DTL#ixzz0cn2E7v29

Friday, January 15, 2010

Local News | Cyberbullying leads to suspension of 28 middle-schoolers at McClure | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Cyberbullying leads to suspension of 28 middle-schoolers at McClure | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"Twenty-eight students at McClure Middle School in Seattle have been suspended for allegedly bullying a classmate on the Internet.

School administrators learned Tuesday evening about a Facebook page targeting the victim and investigated Wednesday, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Patti Spencer.

The students were suspended for two to eight days, depending on their alleged level of involvement, Spencer said.

Spencer said there were no threats involved, but if there had been, the district would have contacted Seattle police. She said she didn't know how much, or what exactly, was written about the targeted student."

Education board makes disappointing ruling

Education board makes disappointing ruling:

"The smoke signals from the state Board of Education were unmistakable: This was going to be war.

One by one, significant Latino figures were unceremoniously dumped from certain areas of the social studies curriculum that public school teachers will use starting in 2013. One of the more egregious of all: booting United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta from the third-grade curriculum as an example of a good citizen.

Wednesday's public hearing was foreboding. A board majority ended the proceeding at 6 p.m. even though several dozen people who'd waited all day to speak about proposed changes to the state's social studies curriculum were still in the audience. Some had traveled hundreds of miles. Their arguments probably would have been repetitive. But the SBOE is an elected body. Its members have an obligation to listen."

The Education Report School gardens: one controversy I never thought would see the light of day By Katy Murphy

The Education Report
School gardens: one controversy I never thought would see the light of day

By Katy Murphy

Some light reading for the rainy weekend:

Writer Caitlin Flanagan thinks school gardens are a rotten idea, especially for children of migrant workers. She blasts the Berkeley schools’ initiative in an essay titled “Cultivating Failure” in the January/February issue of the Atlantic.

Andrew Leonard, a Berkeley parent who helped build the garden at Malcolm X School, responded to Flanagan’s essay in a piece for Salon.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Texas education board changes history — for schools, anyway - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com

Texas education board changes history — for schools, anyway

BY TRACI SHURLEY

FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

AUSTIN — The Texas State Board of Education decided to postpone a tentative vote on proposed social studies curriculum standards until March, after spending 10 hours adding to and changing the text this week without finishing.

By Friday afternoon, when a vote was originally scheduled, they still had the majority of a draft of high school social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills to evaluate.

"It's obviously a very important subject. We've had many amendments and input. The additional time I think may serve us all well as we go through the process," said Bob Craig, who made the motion to stop discussion.

The board's final vote on the standards will now be pushed to May.

The process has included several public flashpoints — including whether figures like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall would stay in, what role the faith of the Founding Fathers would play, and whether

yet

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