Thursday, January 21, 2010

Local News | Bill promotes green school makeovers | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Bill promotes green school makeovers | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"OLYMPIA — Voters would decide whether to launch a statewide package of energy-efficient school makeovers under a bill approved Wednesday by the state House.

The plan, organized by Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is aimed at spurring specialized construction jobs and capturing electricity savings at public buildings.

If approved by the Legislature and endorsed by voters in November, the projects could feed about 38,000 jobs and save taxpayers about $190 million per year in energy costs, Dunshee estimates.

The state would sell about $860 million in bonds to finance the projects with grants. K-12 public schools and public colleges or universities would get the lion's share, although some local governments and other entities could compete.

State taxpayers would be on the hook for about $1.5 billion over 20 years to pay off the bonds, including interest."

‘Race to the Top’ would force out weak teachers, replace ISTEP | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

‘Race to the Top’ would force out weak teachers, replace ISTEP | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal:

"INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana education officials have charted a bold and controversial path for the state's schools with a series of reforms that include forcing out weak teachers, shutting down teacher colleges whose graduates don't get results, and converting troubled schools to charters."

Under the plan, Indiana also would jettison its curriculum standards in favor of a new, national initiative and a nationwide test would replace ISTEP. The state also would open pathways to enter teaching for more people who don't go through traditional four-year education degree programs.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett laid out the plan in their application this week for a piece of the $4.4 billion federal stimulus money earmarked for "Race to the Top" education reform.

The proposal envisions a drastically changed educational system where all teachers are evaluated each year. More than half their review would be based on how their students performed on state standardized tests compared with the students' previous scores, and low performers would face consequences.

The plan drew mixed reactions.

Carol Mooney, director of the New Albany Floyd County Education

Education officials: Cuts are hitting bone - Salt Lake Tribune

Education officials: Cuts are hitting bone - Salt Lake Tribune:

"Looming education cuts will shrink public access to community colleges, trigger more layoffs and could deprive Utah classrooms of crucial resources, officials told legislative appropriations subcommittees Wednesday.

Driving the point home, Salt Lake Community College announced it is pulling out of its leased Sandy location, which serves 3,500 students a semester. And officials warned that Utah's two rural community colleges face potential closure if lawmakers exact a 5 percent cut next fiscal year.

'It is very likely that the Board of Regents will have to declare a financial emergency for one or more institutions, damaging our state's reputation for its commitment to education which has its own set of long-term consequences,' Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg wrote in letter to appropriations subcommittee members."

Phila. teacher raises put in 3 pct. range | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/21/2010

Philadelphia public school teachers would receive raises in the 3 percent range under a three-year contract settlement they will vote on tonight, according to sources close to the negotiations.

But it wasn't clear how many raises there would be or when the first raise would kick in, although it would not be immediately.

Teachers in the 167,000-student district received a 4 percent raise in March under a contract extension.

Union and district officials declined to release details until union leadership could brief teachers today.

A beginning teacher in the district receives $42,755, the median salary is $66,986, and the high is $84,882.

Two sources familiar with the negotiations but who did not disclose details said the financial terms were "not outrageous."

They also said the contract was not expected to depend on any extra city or state help to pay for it. The second source called the package "fiscally responsible."

The percentage increase for teachers is the latest detail to emerge on the pact, which was reached over the long Martin Luther King's Birthday weekend and announced Tuesday morning.

The 17,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers will meet at 7 tonight to vote on the pact, which runs through August 2012.

Charter School Association continues fight to raise cap in hopes of collecting federal cash

ALBANY - Unbowed advocates are continuing to fight to raise the cap on charter schools in hopes of collecting federal cash when a second round of funding is offered in June.

"We just have to keep making our case," said Peter Murphy, policy director of the state's Charter School Association.

Squabbling lawmakers couldn't reach agreement Tuesday on raising the current cap beyond 200 charter schools, missing the deadline to apply for up to $700 million in federal education money.

Murphy and other advocates say that by missing the first round of Race to the Top funds, lawmakers will face increasing pressure to change rules before June's second-round application deadline.

"We will then know what we have to do to get to the second round and will work on lifting the cap," said Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (D-Bronx).

Gov. Paterson wants lawmakers to increase the cap to 460, arguing it's needed to score maximum points with Uncle Sam.

Legislative leaders back a rival measure that would raise the cap to only 400 schools and, among other things, strip the city schools chancellor of the power to issue new charters.

Kids' dreams fade - NYPOST.com

Kids' dreams fade - NYPOST.com:

"They're some of the best schools the city will never see.

Dozens of charter schools backed by New York's most respected community groups are now unlikely to open their doors to the kids who desperately need them -- thanks to this week's schoolyard brawl in the state Legislature.

The law now limits the number of charter schools statewide to 200. There are only 24 slots left.

The failure by the lawmakers to raise the cap has put applicants at risk of being turned down based on the issue of quantity, not quality.

'It is so much work putting together a charter proposal . . . We're doing it because we want to help kids,' said Ruth Meyler, who wants to open the Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem for kids with autism."

Arne Duncan's Leverage - WSJ.com

The big education story these days is the state competition for some $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants to be passed out by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. President Obama said this week he'll seek an additional $1.35 billion for the program for next year, but more important than the amount is whether Mr. Duncan really wants to race to the top, or just the mediocre middle.

Forty states met the application deadline on Tuesday, and the grants will be awarded in two rounds, in April and June. To qualify, Mr. Duncan said states had to, among other things, lift caps on charter schools and remove barriers to using student records to identify good teachers and reward them. He's also said that "there will be a lot more losers than winners."

That's a good sign, but Mr. Duncan will be tempted to give more states less money in order to minimize political blow back and in the name of getting all states to make at least some, minimal progress. This is the Lake Wobegon school of education reform, where every state is above average. There will also be pressure to make sure that the winners include states with a mix of GOP and Democratic governors.

It's been reported that Mr. Duncan may reward as many as a dozen states in the first round. A state like California in that scenario could receive between $350 million and $700 million. That may seem like a lot of money, until you consider that California's K-12 education budget shortfall next year is expected to be between $5 billion and $10 billion

Education officials rethinking how schools get support, again | GothamSchools

Call it early spring cleaning: the city’s Department of Education is planning its third official reorganization of how schools receive support services in eight years.

Support organization leaders say the new plan involves decentralizing the city’s large service centers, which offer schools assistance with writing their budgets and handling the mountains of paperwork that pile up. Since 2007, a Brooklyn principal would call the Brooklyn Integrated Service Center for help with these tasks; now, she’ll turn to a small group that’s assigned to work with her school through her support organization.

The groups, called Children First Networks, are part of a model that has been quietly piloted for several years by Eric Nadelstern, the DOE’s chief schools officer. About 300 schools are already part of the CFNs, an expansion that took place last year and is now being extended to all of the city’s public schools. The networks are small — each has a staff of 13 staff members — and are meant to personalize the way schools receive non-academic, logistical support.

Under the new plan, all schools will bypass the ISCs and go straight to the smaller networks, putting the ISCs out of business. The CFNs will be aligned with existing support organizations so that, for example, a school in the New Visions for Public Schools support organization will be paired with one of the organization’s several CFNs, each of which will focus on only about 25 schools.

NYCLU lawsuit challenges city’s school discipline policies | GothamSchools

Stepping up its campaign against excessive policing in city schools, the New York Civil Liberties Union today sued the city on behalf of students who say they’ve been victims of overaggressive school safety officers.

The abuses alleged in the 56-page complaint filed in federal court today “shock the conscience,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman at a press conference this morning. The NYCLU charges that school safety officers threatened, intimidated, handcuffed, and assaulted students whose only offenses included writing on a desk or being late for class.

The NYCLU has sued the city before about single cases of abuse by school safety agents, who are overseen by the police department rather than the Department of Education. In November, the city agreed to pay$55,000 to a student who said he was assaulted by a safety agent at Robert F. Kennedy High School in Queens. Today’s suit is different because it seeks to represent all city students and because it aims to establish that the city’s official school discipline policies violate students’ civil rights.

New York Merges Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Agencies - NYTimes.com

New York Merges Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Agencies - NYTimes.com:

"The Bloomberg administration plans to merge the city’s Department of Juvenile Justice into its child welfare agency, signaling a more therapeutic approach toward delinquency that will send fewer of the city’s troubled teenagers to jail."

The integration of the agencies is effective immediately, and was announced by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in his State of the City speech Wednesday afternoon.
City officials said that under the new arrangement, youths who commit crimes but are not considered dangerous will have easier access to an expanding assortment of in-home programs managed by the Administration for Children’s Services, the child welfare agency. This will allow them to stay in their neighborhoods with their families while following a strict set of rules requiring them to stay out of trouble, keep curfews and meet educational goals, officials said.
Seeking to dispel the notion that the city was turning soft on crime, Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor of health and human services, said “the merger will not compromise public safety and will help to keep streets safe.” Youth offenders who are considered a high risk to the public will continue to be sent to detention centers, officials said.

Schools Stop Teaching Foreign Languages — Except Chinese - NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy.

But another contrary trend has educators and policy makers abuzz: a rush by schools in all parts of America to offer instruction in Chinese.
Some schools are paying for Chinese classes on their own, but hundreds are getting some help. The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the world — and paying part of their salaries.
At a time of tight budgets, many American schools are finding that offer too good to refuse.
In Massillon, Ohio, south of Cleveland, Jackson High School started its Chinese program in the fall of 2007 with 20 students and now has 80, said Parthena Draggett, who directs Jackson’s world languages department.
“We were able to get a free Chinese teacher,” she said. “I’d like to start a Spanish program for elementary children, but we can’t get a free Spanish teacher.”

Jewish Farm School Gains Traction Among College Students – Forward.com

Jewish Farm School Gains Traction Among College Students – Forward.com:

"Rather than jet to tropical party capitals for spring break, about 105 Jewish college students are choosing to do something a little different during their time off.

Some will be collecting maple sugar on the East Coast, while others will be working on organic farms in California. At the same time, they will learn about food sustainability, Jewish agricultural laws, medicinal herbs, global food security and the growing food justice movement within the Jewish and secular worlds.

The program, run by Jewish Farm School, with offices in New York and Philadelphia and co-sponsored by Hillel, intends to give students a greater understanding of the complex issues involving sustainable food production. Among the participating schools are New York University, the University of Miami and Arizona State University."

Times Higher Education - China spends as Uncle Sam tightens the purse strings

Times Higher Education - China spends as Uncle Sam tightens the purse strings:

"China and other Asian countries are responding to the global recession with massive public investment in higher education while Western nations cut university budgets, an international conference has heard.

Among the speeches at the World Universities Forum in Davos, Switzerland were two that highlighted contrasting government and public attitudes to higher education in China and the US.

Linda Katehi, chancellor of the University of California, Davis, looked at the future of the state's publicly funded university system in the wake of a 20 per cent budget cut over the past year.

She warned that without increased federal and state investment, America's public research universities faced the 'shrunken, caste-bound future of the privatised university'.

David Strangway, who co-chaired the Task Force on Innovation and Environment for the China Council on International Co-operation on Environment and Development, presented a contrasting vision of higher education investment in China, particularly in the low-carbon economy."

Students reminded to apply for Cal Grants

High school seniors or recent graduates who meet eligibility and financial requirements were reminded Wednesday they have until March 2 to apply for up to $9,700 per year to attend a California public college or university.
Cal Grants also cover tuition and fees at some private and independent colleges or career schools, and can also help students pay for textbooks, living expenses and equipment for community college and career technical education.
Applicants must fill out and submit two forms - a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, and a Cal Grant GPA Verification Form, according to the California Student Aid Commission, which administers the grant program.
Help with the forms is available at more than 500 “Cash for College” workshops, which are conducted throughout the state during the Cal Grant application window from Jan. 1 until March 2.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-20/local-county-news/students-reminded-to-apply-for-cal-grants#ixzz0dFn1GCtq

Rubio speaks at school Crist once investigated

TAMPA - Marco Rubio's campaign appearance in Tampa Wednesday was at a ribbon-cutting for Everest Online University, now finishing a building where it employs some 800 people.

But the career-education facility has a long history here, including an investigation led by Rubio's opponent in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, Charlie Crist, now governor but formerly state attorney general.

Everest is one of a number of private, for-profit, vocational education companies nationwide, which are growing fast and branching out to offer bachelor's and master's degrees.

It teaches classes in 14 locations in Florida, and the online operation claims 15,000 students nationwide.

But starting in 2005, Everest, formerly known as Florida Metropolitan University, was investigated by the Florida state attorney general over allegations that it misled paying students as to whether the credits they earn could transfer to other universities.

Cal State Long Beach Closed Due To Storms, Flooding - Los Angeles News - LA Daily

Cal State Long Beach Closed Due To Storms, Flooding - Los Angeles News - LA Daily:

"Campus officials closed Cal State Long Beach at 3 p.m. Wednesday as a result of flooding and hazardous road conditions that would greet many of its students. The closure is in effect through Thursday, officials said.

'The determination was made because of the impact of flooding on campus and surrounding areas in yesterday's storm, very dangerous road conditions, and because more extreme weather is expected later today and tomorrow,'' the university's Toni Beron says."

Apollo Suffers New York Snub as SEC Probes Phoenix (Update2) - BusinessWeek

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Apollo Group Inc., whose for-profit University of Phoenix is among the largest colleges in the U.S. with campuses in 29 of the 30 most populous states, faces one long-standing obstacle to staking its claim as the future of higher education: New York.

During Apollo’s 12-year quest to enter the third-biggest state, founder John Sperling raised money for Eliot Spitzer’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign, and the company hired Mel Miller, former speaker of the New York Assembly, as a lobbyist.

New York has blocked Phoenix’s bid for a Manhattan campus, questioning its academic quality, its dropout rate, how it compensates recruiters, and even its right to call itself a university, according to interviews and documents obtained under a state Freedom of Information Law request. One state review said introductory algebra was less demanding than a high school course. Phoenix has 455,600 undergraduate and graduate students, slightly less than the State University of New York’s 464,981 enrollment.

Viewpoints: To cut costs, send inmates to college - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Viewpoints: To cut costs, send inmates to college - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee:

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan has drawn attention to a shocking reversal in state spending priorities over the last generation. Three decades ago, 10.1 percent of the state's general fund was allocated to higher education, 3.4 percent to prisons.

Today, prisons receive almost 11 percent of the budget, whereas higher education has dropped to 7.5 percent.

This reversal reflects a change in the state's investment strategy, from educating the next generation of workers to locking them up."

News: Freshmen Abandon Business - Inside Higher Ed

Freshmen Abandon Business

January 21, 2010

The percentage of college freshmen planning to major in business is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s, according to a national survey of students who entered baccalaureate institutions in the fall.

Thursday, the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California at Los Angeles released the 2009 version of its “Freshman Survey,” which it has conducted annually since 1966. This latest report is based on the responses of nearly 220,000 first-time, full-time students at 297 four-year institutions. All data have been "statistically adjusted" to reflect the views of nearly 1.4 million freshmen who entered college in the fall.

From 2008 to 2009, the percentage of freshman who plan on majoring in business fell from 16.8 percent to 14.4 percent. The last time interest in the business major was lower was 1974, with 14 percent. Also, in one year, the percentage of freshmen who listed their "probable career" as one in business dropped from 14.1 percent to 12.1 percent. This is an all-time low for the survey; the previous low was in 2003, when 13.8 percent reported that their goal was a career in business.

“I think that a business career doesn’t look as appealing as it once did, nor does it come with a guarantee of being well-off financially as in the past,” said Linda DeAngelo, co-author of the accompanying report and assistant director of research for the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at HERI. “Some of that can definitely be attributed to the general sense that we spent a lot of time over the past year raking business executives and people in high finance over the coals. There’s certainly a trickle down, and I don’t think high school students are immune to that overall feeling about business.”

Regents to back UC students protest at Capitol

Regents to back UC students protest at Capitol:

"After last fall's angry and at times violent campus protests, it seems unlikely that rival students and leaders of the University of California would stand together to speak out on behalf of UC."

But when students hold their big Day of Action in Defense of Public Education on March 4, converging on Sacramento to lobby lawmakers for sufficient funding, several members of UC's governing Board of Regents and UC President Mark Yudof said Wednesday they'll be there with them.
"We need to be up there as regents and as students," Dick Blum told his two dozen or so fellow regents meeting this week in San Francisco. UC chancellors, administrators and students also attended.
Other regents - not all - agreed.
"We all have to join together," said Regent Leslie Tang Schilling.
"I'll be there," said Regent Frederick Ruiz.
"It certainly would be appropriate for us to join the students," said Regent Charlene Zettel.
Even Yudof, the most frequent target of student fury in recent months, said he would join in.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/20/BA4V1BL1K3.DTL#ixzz0dFhysws5

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