Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Remainders: Vallas to help rebuild Haitian school system | GothamSchools

Remainders: Vallas to help rebuild Haitian school system

by Maura Walz

Diane Ravitch writes that the expansion of charter schools will be the origin of future scandals.
Rick Hess has a new blog over where he’ll be delivering some bitter medicine to the education world.
Smart Boards have arrived at Pissed Off Teacher’s school, but there may be no time to learn to use them.
Black students were 23 percent of the applicants to top city high schools, but 7 percent of the accepted.
Mimi wonders why schools put the most difficult students in classes with the least experienced teachers.
Peter Murphy takes issue with the DN’s disapproving tone on city-funded grants for charter school facilities.
A bank has hired New Orleans supe Paul Vallas to build a model for a new school system for Haiti.
The way physics teachers are trained is “largely inefficient [and] mostly incoherent,” a task force said.
InsideSchools has the rundown of the DOE’s options for students at schools slated for closure.
Should we make high school senior year optional? A Utah politician is suggesting it as a way to cut costs.
And Arne Duncan had a cameo on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. (via Alexander Russo)

Sacramento Press / Photos: Tết Festival and Little Saigon celebration

Sacramento Press / Photos: Tết Festival and Little Saigon celebration:

"Sunday was the Lunar New Year for several Asian cultures, including the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese New Year celebration, Tết, began Saturday morning in a parking lot on the corner of Stockton Boulevard and Fowler Avenue. It started with the City of Sacramento's ribbon cutting ceremony for Little Saigon. This was followed by a New Year parade proceeding south down Stockton Boulevard to Florin Road, where participants viewed the County of Sacramento's ribbon cutting ceremony and participated in the Tết Festival. The following is a photo journal of the weekend's events and festivities. For more photographs and information, please read this article on the festival and celebration."

Councilmen Rob Fong and McCarty, State Assemblyman Dave Jones, State Senator Darrell Steinberg and SMUD Board Director Nancy Bui all help cut a ribbon in celebration of a 1.5-mile stretch of Stockton Boulevard being named Little Saigon. White doves (left, bottom) are released into the air simultaneously.

Reading to kids a crucial tool in English language development Education Research Report

Education Research Report

Reading to kids a crucial tool in English language development

Poring over the works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of the Bernstain Bears or exploring the worlds of Hans Christian Andersen with a child has always been a great parent-child bonding exercise.

But, according to George Georgiou, a University of Alberta professor in educational psychology, it is instrumental for English-speaking children if they are to acquire the language skills, particularly comprehension, essential to their future reading ability.

Georgiou and his colleagues recently published a study in Learning and Instruction examining the cognitive and non-cognitive factors that may predict future reading ability in English and Greek. Since the study was published, Georgiou has expanded his research to Finland and China, with the same outcomes.

He says the home literacy environment-what parents do at home in terms of literacy-and motivation predict children's various initial literacy skills, such as letter knowledge and vocabulary, differently across languages. These skills, in turn, ultimately predict future reading ability.

Studying language for success

Orthography is the part of the study of language dealing with letters and spelling. Georgiou points out that English is an orthographically inconsistent language; in other words, letters can have more than one sound each. Because of this, he says, children learning English "need someone to show them the letters, teach them the letter sounds, play with letter magnets on the fridge.

Lost in the school closing debate: what happens to the teachers | GothamSchools

Lost in the school closing debate: what happens to the teachers

by Anna Phillips

In the debate over whether to close 19 schools this year, the city and its opponents have mulled possible effects on student achievement, attendance, and the drop-out rate. But one thing that remains unclear is what will happen to the approximately 1,000 teachers working in these schools.

Teachers who work at shuttered schools lose their positions, but — because of a deliberate line in the labor contract — they do not fall off the city payroll, even if they don’t find a new position at another city school. In the past few years, the contract line has meant a ballooning set of teachers receiving regular paychecks even though they don’t hold regular jobs. In 2008, these members of the Absent Teacher Reserve cost the city $81 million.

In 2008, a report by The New Teacher Project, a New York-based research group, said the hiring process was “hard-wired for failure.” The report also found that 70 percent of excessed teachers from closing schools in 2007 were

The Court’s role in re-segregated schools SCOTUSblog

SCOTUSblog

Podcast: The Court’s role in re-segregated schoolsErwin Chemerinsky on the figures and the critical rulings

Erin Miller | Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 1:12 pm

In the podcast below, Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, discusses segregation in American public schools today for our Race and the Supreme Court program, focusing on recent Court rulings he believes have contributed to re-segregation since the 1970s. Dean Chemerinsky is a constitutional law expert and has argued multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

Here is the link to the podcast and a road map of highlights:

0:00—Statistics on the current segregation of Latino and black students in public schools
2:51—Disparities in spending among majority-white vs. majority-black or -Latino public schools
4:50—The Supreme Court’s “large role” in these statistics: three sets of cases
5:20—Case set I, the 1970s:
- 5:24—San Antonio Board of Education v. Rodriguez: Disparities in school funding do not violate equal protection
- 6:57—Milliken v. Bradley: Inter-district remedies struck down unless all districts intentionally violated the Constitution
9:45—Case set II, the 1990s: Effective desegregation remedies could be ended even if the result is re-segregation
14:15—Case set III: Parents Involved in Community Schools ends voluntary racial integration in Seattle and Louisville school districts
15:46—Conclusion: “The results of all of this are tragic…American public schools are separate and unequal”

Subscribe to the SCOTUSblog feed on iTunes to receive our latest podcasts automatically. Dean Chemerinsky’s should be available by this evening.

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Sacramento Press / Johnson aims to put strong mayor plan on November ballot

Mayor Kevin Johnson has abandoned his effort to put his latest “strong mayor” proposal on the June ballot, saying there is not enough support from council members. Johnson said he now plans to start campaigning to place the proposal on the November ballot.

He also cited the city’s budget deficit as a reason to delay the initiative to November.

“There’s not a lot of appetite from council members to put it on the ballot in June,” Johnson said. “Secondly, we had a budget workshop last week on Thursday and we have some significant challenges that we need to deal with going forward.”

He said he will ask the City Council at tonight’s meeting to consider placing the proposal on the November ballot.

The city’s estimated budget deficit for the 2010/2011 fiscal year is $35-40 million, according to a Feb. 11 budget report.

Johnson presented his new strong mayor proposal last week after his old proposal was shut down by Sacramento Superior Court Loren McMaster in January. McMaster ruled that Johnson’s initiative broke California law.

Johnson had planned to ask the City Council to approve the new measure

Education | Obama: No weeknight television for Malia, Sasha | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Obama: No weeknight television for Malia, Sasha| Seattle Times Newspaper:

"President Barack Obama, who is spending billions of dollars to overhaul the U.S. public education system, says there's one sure thing parents can do to help their kids learn, regardless of financial means: Forbid them from watching television on school nights.

Of his own daughters, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, Obama told Essence magazine: 'The girls don't watch TV during the week. Period.'

The first thing they do after school is homework. If they haven't finished by dinnertime, around 6:30 p.m., they pick up where they left off after the meal. And after that, they can read until they hit the sack. Malia's bedtime is 9 p.m.; Sasha's lights go out a half hour earlier, he said.

The president discussed his daughters in response to a question about what parents can do to help foster learning."

Education Week: Schools Stuck at Bottom Target of $3 Billion Push

It's an unprecedented gamble by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: $3 billion in federal economic-stimulus money aimed at one of the most vexing issues in public education, turning around large numbers of chronically underperforming schools.

The infusion of federal money is intended to supercharge state and district efforts to overhaul their worst-performing schools under a new set ofTitle I School Improvement Grants. An additional $546 million for the grants has been appropriated for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, and some states will also secure varying amounts of aid for school turnaround efforts under the $4 billion Race to the Top grant competition.

Sacramento Press / Black Expo serves as showcase for Black community in Sacramento

When it comes to a showcase of events from Sacramento’s black community there is only one event that stands out and that is the annual Sacramento Black Expo exhibit held at the Convention Center this weekend from February 19-21. From people shopping to vendors selling goods it’s a chance to experience a lot of what the culture of African-Americans is all about. Whether its business, health, spiritual, finance, fashion, music, food, and education there is something for everyone.

Among special events include a “Youth Talent Show”, “Glory Awards”, Soul Food and Exhibitors”, and “Gospel Sunday Program”. There will be a host celebrities and personalities in attendance. Major sponsors include SMUD, NAACP, Wells Fargo, McDonald’s, Regional Transit, PG&E, Comcast and others.

For more information or if you interested in becoming a vendor/exhibitor contact Lesley Leatherwood at (916) 838-9467 or

U.S. Department of Education Awards Two Blanket Purchase Agreements to Kratos

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (Nasdaq:KTOS), a leading provider of National Defense, Information Technology Assurance and Security solutions, today announced that it has been awarded two ED-SAT blanket purchase agreements (BPA) by the U.S. Department of Education (DoED) to provide technical assistance and educational policy analysis services to support the Department's policy, program and performance evaluation, assessment, and research efforts.

The BPAs enable Kratos to offer services to DoED across a wide range of subject areas relating to key educational issues. The base period of performance during which purchase orders can be awarded is 24 months. At the end of the base period the BPAs can be extended on a year-to-year basis at the Department's discretion.

"Kratos has a successful, long-standing relationship with the Department of Education, and we are pleased to once again have the opportunity to support the Department's efforts to foster educational excellence and ensure that all Americans have equal access to educational opportunities," commented Phil Carrai, President of Kratos IT Solutions Division. "Kratos has a significant Department of Defense focused Workforce Training, Management and Performance business, including a large practice with the United States Navy, and these Department of Education contracts are a strong complement to our overall Strategic Communications, eLearning, and Workforce Performance services with the Federal Government."

For more than 14 years Kratos has served numerous agencies within the DoED, including the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, and the Office of Postsecondary Education. Kratos DoED initiatives have

Johnson won't push strong-mayor plan for June ballot - Latest News - sacbee.com

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced this morning that he will no longer push for his scaled-down strong-mayor plan to be on the June 8 ballot.

Instead, Johnson said he will recommend that the change-in-governance issue be debated and resolved in time for the November general election.

"In light of the serious budget deficit the city faces" and his understanding that there "is not a lot of appetite" for putting the issue on the June ballot, Johnson said he would ask the City Council tonight to move consideration of his strong-mayor proposal to a later date. That means the earliest the measure could be placed on a ballot would be in November.

"I'm disappointed we couldn't do it sooner," Johnson said today at his morning news conference.

A week ago, Johnson introduced the new version of a plan for expanding the mayor's power. It would increase mayoral authority over the budget and hiring and firing over abut 20 city department heads.

Can Reform Solve Federal Student Loan Conflicts of Interest? The Quick and the Ed

The Quick and the Ed
Can Reform Solve Federal Student Loan Conflicts of Interest?

Media coverage of pending legislation to eliminate subsidies for bank-based federal student loans and redirect savings into the Pell Grant Program has recently focused on the fierce lobbying effort made by Sallie Mae and other lenders to get the U.S. Senate to accept their own reform proposal–an alternative that saves less money while also keeping much of the flawed policy structure that makes the current bank-based program inefficient and open to waste, fraud, and abuse.

While lenders do represent a massive portion of the bank-based program, they are not the only actors who stand to gain a good bit from prolonging the existing operation. There are a host of other actors, including guaranty agencies—which administer the insurance on these loans, help prevent default, and take over the title of defaulted—and collection agencies that also take in substantial federal subsidies for their involvement. But while many of the subsidy recipients are distinct companies, some are also the same group of familiar faces. In that regard, this quote that Tim Ranzetta from Student Lending Analytics picked up from Sallie Mae’s recent investor credit meeting is pretty enlightening:

The collections side of the business is a great business for Sallie Mae. One of the things where we really stand out. We help collect for

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government (PPIC Publication)

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government (PPIC Publication)
PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government

Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, and Nicole Willcoxon

January 2010

Full Report[PDF]

Press Release[HTML]

Read in Spanish

Some findings of the current survey:

Two-thirds of Californians would pay higher taxes to avoid cuts in K–12 funding.
Seventy percent support spending cuts in prisons and corrections.
Tom Campbell is ahead in the Senate primary race among Republican likely voters.
Meg Whitman’s lead grows in the primary race for governor.

Job Approval Ratings:
   President Obama
   Governor Schwarzenegger
   California State Legislature
   U.S. Congress
   Senator Boxer
   Senator Feinstein

Time Trends of Job Approval Ratings:
   President Obama
   Governor Schwarzenegger
   California State Legislature
   U.S. Congress
   Senator Boxer
   Senator Feinstein

Mood of Californians:
General Direction of Things in California
Economic Outlook for California

Time Trends for the Mood of Californians:
General Direction of Things in California
Economic Outlook for California

This survey is supported with funding from The James Irvine Foundation.

Fixing funding for schools -- and colleges, and all the rest California Progress Report

California Progress Report

Fixing funding for schools -- and colleges, and all the rest

CSBA, the California School Boards Association, and other major education groups have been talking for years about suing the state to bring California’s dismally low school funding up to something approaching adequate levels.

And while there are still no details, it now seems increasingly likely that a suit will be filed this spring, possibly as early as April. There are certainly ample grounds for it.

The suits would come at the same time that researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California are working on a plan to thoroughly revamp what they call California’s “overly complex” and “inequitable” school funding system and as the U.S. Department of Education is reportedly readying its own civil rights suit against educational inequities in some Southern California school districts.

Six years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, much to his credit, settled the Williams v. California, a suit demanding that the state provide the materials, decent facilities and competent teachers – or indeed any regular teachers – that tens of thousands of poor and minority California school children weren’t getting.

But the settlement, which promised a book for every student, better facilities and the eventual end of truncated, broken-up school calendars and fractured school years,

Lori Jablonski on her support for Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council District 5

Lori explains how Patrick Kennedy will bring his Sacramento School Board experience to City Council.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 16

Submitted by Erika Owens on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 10:07 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Phila. schools ready for first full day in a week The Inquirer
Schools are "at 100%" according to District Chief of Operations John Frangipani.

School reform's alphabet The Inquirer (opinion)
Chalk and Talk blogger and teacher Chris Paslay wrote that A is for accountability and accomodations.

University of Pennsylvania President Supports the DREAM Act and Immigrant Youth Young Philly Politics
The DREAM Act is a "pathway to citizenship" for kids who were not born in the U.S., but were brought up here and then have difficulty paying for college due to their undocumented status.

Art Sanctuary Hosts Haiku Writing Contest For Teens KYW
The contest relates to African American history and is for high school students.

North Philadelphia: The Village Teaches Digital Media Philadelphia Neighborhoods

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Notes from the news

This Week In Education TV: Duncan Appearance On Home Makeover Show

This Week In Education

TV: Duncan Appearance On Home Makeover Show

Fans of Extreme Home Makeover already know that EdSec Arne Duncan was on the show this past Sunday. Politico has some of the details, including the tidbit that Duncan isn't very good with a hammer (Secretaries appear on ABC's 'Extreme Makeover'). Feel free to add your own jokes here.

Homeless in high school - The Boston Globe

MALDEN - After her sister kicked her out, Barbara Hollis started bouncing from one friend’s house to another’s, sleeping on couches and keeping her possessions in trash bags. Couch surfing was terrible, she thought as she wandered through a neighborhood where many of her high school classmates lived.

Several nights last summer, the 18-year-old Malden High School student slept in area parks. At Suffolk Park, she curled up on an elevated rubber platform at the playground, wary that a classmate might see her. She attempted to fall asleep by counting sheep. She got to 180. “I wouldn’t say I was really asleep - my eyes were just resting,’’ said Hollis. “I could never get to a deep sleep there.’’

The number of high school students who become homeless after turning 18 has increased dramatically in recent years, far outpacing the few housing assistance programs available to them, say advocates for the homeless. Some youths leave home voluntarily to escape abusive situations, and others are forced out by parents or relatives. Youth advocates say economic hardship, family disputes, and, in some cases, the belief that children should support themselves at 18 lead

Counselors have reservations about university waiting lists - latimes.com

Counselors have reservations about university waiting lists - latimes.com:

"CSU, UC may only be raising anxiety for students who have a slim chance of being accepted, advisors say."

As California's public universities prepare to break with tradition and make broad use of waiting lists in their admissions decisions this spring, high school counselors and even some university officials worry about the emotional toll on students.

For an applicant, getting onto a favorite school's waiting list offers a glimmer of hope that a spot on campus might eventually open up. But because relatively few students ever make the jump from waiting list to enrollment, some experts say the lists merely increase anxiety and extend an already stressful time for college-bound high school seniors.

Concern about the lists has been rippling through California high schools since the University of California announced in January that for the first time, it will employ waiting lists extensively this spring for fall freshman applicants. Last week, officials specified that at least six of UC's nine undergraduate campuses will use the lists. UCLA and UC Merced will not and UC Berkeley has yet to decide.

The state's other public university, the Cal State system, said it too will expand its use of freshman waiting lists this year to include many of its 23 campuses and will place transfer students on some lists.

UC and Cal State admissions officials say that they need the lists as a tool to help them hit enrollment targets at a time when state budget reductions are forcing them to cut the number of new freshmen. As a result, thousands of students and their counselors will soon have to deal with a practice more commonly associated with selective private colleges. Many are not happy.

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