Chicago News Cooperative - In Race for U.S. School Grants Is a Fear of Winning - NYTimes.com

Chicago News Cooperative - In Race for U.S. School Grants Is a Fear of Winning - NYTimes.com:

"As Illinois jockeys for position as a leader in education reform with a $500 million application for Race to the Top money, the state’s inability to pay current bills makes educators skeptical of Illinois’s capacity to take on such new initiatives."



One major concern is that should Illinois succeed in the national competition for Race to the Top money, it might not have the ability to finance the long-term costs of any new programs once the federal money has been spent.
A $4.35 billion federal grant competition, Race to the Top, intends to reward states that promote innovations in education. While new money would seem to be a boon for Illinois schools, educators who have seen other programs ramp up only to be shut down are concerned about it happening again.
State Representative. Suzanne Bassi, a Republican from suburban Chicago who sits on the House appropriations committee for education, said she feared what would happen to any new Race to the Top programs in a few years.

U.S. Colleges, Universities offer Rapid Relief Responses to Haiti

U.S. Colleges, Universities offer Rapid Relief Responses to Haiti:

"At the University of Virginia, news of the earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday struck home.

Stephanie Jean-Charles, a 22-year-old Haitian graduate student at UVa.'s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy who worked in Haiti, died Tuesday of head injuries at her family’s home in Port-au-Prince.

'This is a real tragedy for us,' says university spokesman Dan Heuchert, adding that the school plans a memorial service Thursday and is coordinating its own relief project.

Similar relief responses are being replicated at schools throughout the country, notably at historically Black colleges and universities. Faculty and students are raising money for CARE and other relief groups, gathering nonperishable food and clothing, planning their own medical care trips to Haiti and holding teach-ins."

Daley school plan fails to make grade - chicagotribune.com

Daley school plan fails to make grade - chicagotribune.com:

"Renaissance 2010 officials defend efforts to upgrade education for Chicago students over last 6 years"

Six years after Mayor Richard Daley launched a bold initiative to close down and remake failing schools, Renaissance 2010 has done little to improve the educational performance of the city's school system, according to a Tribune analysis of 2009 state test data.

Scores from the elementary schools created under Renaissance 2010 are nearly identical to the city average, and scores at the remade high schools are below the already abysmal city average, the analysis found.

The moribund test scores follow other less than enthusiastic findings about Renaissance 2010 -- that displaced students ended up mostly in other low-performing schools and that mass closings led to youth violence as rival gang members ended up in the same classrooms. Together, they suggest the initiative hasn't lived up to its promise by this, its target year.

"There has been some good and some bad in Renaissance 2010, but overall it wasn't the game changer that people thought it would be," said Barbara Radner, who heads the Center for Urban Education atDePaul University. "In some ways it has been more harmful than good because all the attention, all the funding, all the hope was directed at Ren10 to the detriment of other effective strategies CPS was developing."

Julia Steiny: R.I. accountability system can bury excellent work in schools | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Julia Steiny: R.I. accountability system can bury excellent work in schools | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal:

"Paul Silvia, executive director (principal) of the New England Laborers Construction Career Academy in Cranston, is actually a psychologist. Yes, the school is for kids interested in working in construction and other occupations the International Laborers Union represents, like nursing assistants and building inspectors. But many students come to this high school because they’ve been unsuccessful or miserable in traditional schools. So Silvia’s first huge hurdle with each kid is helping him or her get with the basics of success — showing up and on time, behaving civilly, managing impulses."

EducationNews.org - As for-profit colleges flourish, students question prospects

EducationNews.org - As for-profit colleges flourish, students question prospects:

"1.17.10 - The television ads promise a glittering future: Give us three years and we will get you your dream job. No high school diploma or GED certificate? No problem. Single mother trying to give your kids a better life? Sign up for classes today.

As for-profit colleges flourish, students question prospects

The television ads promise a glittering future: Give us three years and we will get you your dream job. No high school diploma or GED certificate? No problem. Single mother trying to give your kids a better life? Sign up for classes today.

The television ads promise a glittering future: Give us three years and we will get you your dream job. No high school diploma or GED certificate? No problem. Single mother trying to give your kids a better life? Sign up for classes today."

Sacramento Press / Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Celebration

Sacramento Press / Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Celebration

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed to the world, "I have a dream...”

His speech was given at the Lincoln Memorial after a quarter million people concluded the March on Washington, which became the largest demonstration for human rights of its time.

Martin Luther King, a reverend, scholar and civil rights activist, practiced non-violence and civil disobedience to help change the existence of racial inequalities.

During his life he was recognized by being the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, at age 35, but is predominantly known for his leadership in demonstrations and non-violent protests that challenge racial segregation and racial discrimination, as well as helping many communities.

The controversy surrounding King's actions led to his early death when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. on April 4, 1968.

EVENT SCHEDULE

The 29th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration Begins at 8:00 am @ Oak Park Community Center. The celebration begins at 10:00 am @ The Sacramento Convention Center.

View full schedule

A new federalism -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

A new federalism -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:

"Across New York, too many families are dealing with a harsh reality: they're broke. So is the state. And we're not alone.

With less income tax revenue from widespread job loss, less sales tax revenue from decreased consumer spending and less property tax revenue from falling real estate values, states have seen record-level budget deficits open up in short order. New York's projected $8 billion budget gap for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, scheduled to balloon to $14 billion-$15 billion when the federal stimulus money disappears -- is second only to California's, but is symptomatic of the large majority of states.
In fact, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that by the end of fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the 50 states will have faced a combined budget shortfall of at least $350 billion. Since virtually every state must balance its budget, deficits mean that states are forced to cut spending on important services or raise taxes."

FRSO Students: Study and Struggle | Fight Back! – News and Views from the People's Struggle

FRSO Students: Study and Struggle | Fight Back! – News and Views from the People's Struggle:

"The Student Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) met over the 2009 winter break to discuss education rights, building a movement against war and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting racism on campus and supporting immigrant rights. FRSO students came from as far as California and Florida, with large delegations from the South and Midwest. With a burning desire for social justice, the national cold wave could not stop them"

Cost of college textbooks might fall with new legislation - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Cost of college textbooks might fall with new legislation - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"Matt Palm, 21, spends between $300 and $400 on textbooks per quarter as a history major at UC Santa Cruz. Caitlin Grams, 19, has spent up to $500 in a quarter at UCSC for politics and philosophy texts.

Relief may be in sight for higher education students like Palm and Grams who routinely spend thousands on textbooks in a year.

A bill working its way through the state Assembly would couple a reduction in sales tax for textbooks and school supplies sold at college bookstores with the closing of a tax loophole for companies with offshore addresses that do business in California. If passed, said bill author Assemblyman Marty Block, D-San Diego, the law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, saving students $120 million each year in sales taxes."

Space, the Southwestern frontier - The Boston Globe

Space, the Southwestern frontier - The Boston Globe:

"For several years, the French photographer Vincent Fournier has been capturing images from earthly sites that play crucial roles in the exploration of space: Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the French-European space center in French Guiana, Chinese space bases, various observatories. Some of the photos are gritty and quotidian: an industrial-looking mock Russian space station sitting in a tank of water (so cosmonauts can train in simulated zero-g). Others, notably those from Guiana, exude such sleekness and spotlessness that they could be stills from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”"

Get gardens out of schools

Who could possibly oppose the efforts by Alice Waters, founder of the legendary restaurant Chez Panisse and living saint to devotees of local foods, to promote the creation and tending of gardens in public schools so that children can not only eat fresh vegetables but also learn something about the natural world?

Sen Richard Tisei: Politics taints school process - Reading, MA - The Reading Advocate

Sen Richard Tisei: Politics taints school process - Reading, MA - The Reading Advocate

READING - 

From its inception in 1837, the Massachusetts Board of Education established a reputation for independence which, for more than 170 years, allowed its members to conduct their business free of outside political influence.

All of that changed in Feb. 2008, when the Legislature approved Governor Patrick’s sweeping education reorganization plan. The creation of a new Executive Office of Education – overseen by a Cabinet-level secretary appointed by the governor – marked the end of the board’s proud history of independence begun under Horace Mann, the man often referred to as “the father of American public education.”

As the reorganization plan was making its way through the legislative process nearly two years ago, I warned that we were heading down a slippery slope and taking a major step backwards on education reform. My main concern was that the loss of an independent board would result in a more politicized process that would inevitably lead to any number of questionable education decisions being made.

Although I wish I had been wrong, recent events have unfortunately proven my concerns to be well-founded.

On Jan. 2, Inspector General Gregory Sullivan released a report detailing his investigation into the process used to award a school charter to the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School in February of 2009. The school is scheduled to open next fall with an initial enrollment of approximately 120 students in grades 4-7.

The Inspector General’s report is an eye-opener, filled with details that show the decision to grant the charter was far from impartial. One of the most shocking revelations is that certain documents pertaining to the application process may have been shredded, which does not reflect well on an administration that claims to embrace openness and transparency in state government.

Joe Williams: Democrats should back charter school ... - Op-Ed Commentaries - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports

Joe Williams: Democrats should back charter school ... - Op-Ed Commentaries - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports:

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia stands to lose $75 million in federal stimulus money due to the state's bad charter school law. Now, in the eleventh hour, lawmakers are scrambling to update the law in an effort to increase access to better educational options and thereby improve public education considerably."



It's time for Democrats in the state Legislature to realize that with or without the carrot of federal dollars, updating this law is the right thing to do.
The Democratic Party has touted our support of public education for decades, but our support has sometimes gone too far when we've defended schools and policies that aren't working for the children we ultimately want to improve the lives of. When we are the ones standing between the families we claim to represent and the public school options for which they clamor, we have to re-examine our priorities when it comes to schools.
Democrats, in particular, owe it to their constituents to support the kinds of exciting public school options offered by public charter schools. Recent data shows that West Virginia parents are eager to learn about the opportunities at charter schools -and the opportunities are clear.
Around the country from California to Boston, and elsewhere, public charter schools are proving their mettle. Some of the brightest stars in the modern-day education reform constellation are public charter schools - now leading the charge to save public education.
Popular school models like KIPP, Achievement First, Green Dot, Aspire and others are serving as proof points nationwide for what is possible in our schools.

Opinion: Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Schwarzenegger changes his tune, puts blame on illegal immigrants - San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Schwarzenegger changes his tune, puts blame on illegal immigrants - San Jose Mercury News:

"Et tu, Arnold?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is usually a kinder, gentler Republican when it comes to immigrants. So what a shame that Schwarzenegger would, in his recent State of the State address, spread a familiar half-truth about the economics of illegal immigration by stressing the costs while ignoring the benefits.

This isn't the Arnold we knew.

In 2006, during a meeting with the editorial board of a Spanish-language newspaper, La Opinion, Schwarzenegger said it was a mistake for him to have supported Proposition 187, a mean-spirited ballot initiative in 1994 that denied education, social services and nonemergency health care to illegal immigrants."

Opinion: California redistricting commission may have no people of color - San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: California redistricting commission may have no people of color - San Jose Mercury News:

"In 2008, California reform-minded voters gave themselves the power to redraw legislative lines in California when they passed Proposition 11, the Voters First Act. This will be done through a soon-to-be appointed statewide Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Not surprisingly, so far an alarmingly low percentage of people of color is included in the pool of applicants from whom the 14 commissioners ultimately will be chosen. Less than 20 percent of that pool now is people of color, even though they make up 60 percent of California's population.

This imbalance must change. Far more people of color must volunteer, and be accepted, for the selection pool by the Feb. 12 deadline."

Even if you have never been involved in state politics beyond voting, please take five minutes and visitwww.wedrawthelines.ca.gov to see how you can play a role in making sure that your community is at the table, helping to shape our state's political future.


Incluso si usted nunca ha estado involucrado en la política de estado más allá del voto, por favor, tómese cinco minutos y la visita www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov para ver cómo pueden desempeñar un papel en asegurar que su comunidad está en la mesa, ayudando a dar forma a nuestro estado futuro político.


即使你从来没有在国家政治参与投票之后，请花5分钟，并参观www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov看看你可以在确保你的社区是在表，帮助塑造一个角色，我们国家的政治前途。


Даже если вы никогда не принимали участие в государственной политике после голосования, пожалуйста, пять минут и посетите www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov, чтобы увидеть, как вы можете играть определенную роль в том, чтобы ваше сообщество находится в таблице, помогая формировать наше государство политическое будущее.

An art history major can’t fix your plumbing- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

An art history major can’t fix your plumbing- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut:

"ONE repeated theme in President Obama’s education agenda is that he wants the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. As he put it in an address to a joint session of Congress, “We expect all our children not only to graduate from high school but to graduate from college and get a good-paying job.”

Although I applaud the president’s strong commitment to higher education, he is seriously neglecting the importance of vocational training in school. Not every student needs to go to college. There are plenty of high school kids who find college-prep classes boring and irrelevant. Many drop out because they feel school is not preparing them for anything practical. Most of these kids are not lazy or defiant; they just want to work with their hands, learn a skill and pursue a solid, honorable, blue-collar trade after high school."

Time for parents to have power in the classroom

Time for parents to have power in the classroom:

"California leads the nation in public school dropouts, and everyone pays for the persistent failure of the lowest-performing schools. And it's not just the billions of dollars spent in failed restructuring efforts; it's the cost in welfare payments, jail cells, prison beds and our state's and nation's competitiveness in a global economy."



Finger-pointing abounds, but today's third-graders will be tomorrow's dropouts by the time we ever agree.
Yet there have been signs of recent progress. California's Race to the Top reforms, approved this month and submitted to the Obama administration in time for Tuesday's deadline, make adults accountable, make moms and dads responsible, and offer hope for real change at our public schools by empowering parents.

I was an author of the two bills embodying these education reforms, which give power and responsibility to parents, because I believe that President Obama was right in his call to "take drastic steps when schools are failing." But I don't believe the political will for education reform came from the president. I believe parents' appetite for drastic change helped elect Obama.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/16/INAJ1BH69U.DTL#ixzz0cseBGXJW

Employment data lesson: Get a good education - SignOnSanDiego.com

Employment data lesson: Get a good education - SignOnSanDiego.com

If there was ever any doubt about the importance of a good education, a glance at the latest employment data should be enough to dispel it.

As the national jobless rate hovered at 10 percent last month, it was 15.3 percent for workers who never graduated high school; 10.5 percent for high school graduates; 9 percent for workers who attended some college; and 5 percent for those with a four-year degree or better, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And workers who lack an education are fated to earn less money than their better-schooled peers. Nationwide, high school dropouts in 2008 made median earnings of $426 per week, compared with $757 for high school grads and $1,072 for college grads.

Wonderland math tallies school funds - Capitol and California - Fresnobee.com

Wonderland math tallies school funds- Capitol and California- Fresnobee.com:

"When Lewis Carroll's Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, she was ensconced in a bizarre world where nothing was what it seemed.

Anyone who ventures into California school finance enters a similarly confusing parallel universe, where day is night, black is white, up is down, and square is round, to pen a bit of doggerel.
It centers on Proposition 98, a 1988 ballot measure purported to give schools a 'fair share' of revenue. It's so complicated that its principal drafter, education consultant John Mockler, often joked – perhaps truthfully – that he deliberately made it obtuse so that stakeholders would hire him to interpret it, thereby allowing his children to attend expensive universities."

Schwarzenegger's deficient thinking | Sasha Abramsky | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Schwarzenegger's deficient thinking | Sasha Abramsky |Comment is free |guardian.co.uk:

"A couple of months ago I interviewed an economist in Sacramento who has long studied California state finances. I asked him what the lowest general fund budget was that he could envision in California as state revenues shrivelled. He answered: $85bn a year. The state simply couldn't function with a smaller budget than that.


Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger declared another fiscal emergency, and proposed an $82 billion budget – three billion dollars below the barebones survival estimate of my economist friend."

Amidst all of the doom-and-gloom cuts, and the accompanying rage as the state that until recently epitomised possibility in America continues to implode, one policy change stood out, offering a glimmer of better priorities in the years ahead. Schwarzenegger called for a state constitutional amendment to ensure that the state never spent less than 10% of its general fund on higher education and never spent more than seven percent on prisons.

For years, criminal justice reformers and an increasing number of journalists have argued that California's reflexive tough-on-crime policies were bankrupting the state. California has gone from having a prison population of fewer than 30,000 in the late 1970s to a prison population of about 170,000 today. It has passed laws such as "three strikes and you're out" that have resulted in tens of thousands of men and women serving decades behind bars for relatively low-level third offenses. It has the country's most dysfunctional parole system. It has a medical and mental health system for its prisons that is so awful the federal courts have declared them to be unconstitutional. It has a trade union for guards that, until a new leadership revamped it a couple years back, bludgeoned much of the political establishment to support prison-boom policies that served mainly to provide jobs and overtime pay to the guards rather than to promote public safety. And, despite a $10bn annual budget, the department of corrections and rehabilitation is so strapped for resources that it frequently has to triple bunk prisoners and, over the past year, has dismantled many of its drug rehab and vocational training programs.

Paradox in Race to the Top / Half of local school districts just say no - SignOnSanDiego.com

Paradox in Race to the Top / Half of local school districts just say no - SignOnSanDiego.com:

"Who’s afraid of improving student performance by increasing accountability? Apparently, more than half of the public school districts in San Diego County. That’s who. Why else would those districts drop out of the competition for what could be as much as $700 million headed to California as part of the Obama administration’s innovative education reform initiative, “Race to the Top?”

This is quite a paradox. School districts in San Diego County, like those around the country, are always complaining that they don’t have enough money. There is never enough money, they say. It’s always the same verse.

Now the Obama administration is giving districts what they say they want – money. More than $4 billion nationwide, in fact. You would think that every district in San Diego County would jump at the chance to claim some of it. Yet, only 20 of the county’s 42 public school districts notified the state by Dec. 31 that they intend to apply."