Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Diamondback - Staff editorial: University de-Moted

Yesterday marked the beginning of the canonization of St. Clayton Daniel Mote Jr. He “set Maryland on a course charted to place it among the world’s greatest universities,” a university press release gushed. He “led [the university] on a 12-year journey into the top tier of public universities,” according to The Washington Post. The state’s flagship university is now in “the same class as the nation’s crown jewel state schools,” The Baltimore Sun editorial board declared.

When Mote announced he will step down as president, effective at the end of August, it triggered flurries of remembrances from faculty, students and alumni — most of them positive.

Since Mote assumed office in 1998, the university has reached new heights. What was once considered a safety school by many now measures itself against top tier institutions like the University of Virginia, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. Fundraising has increased dramatically. Construction has boomed. Comcast Center and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center — to name two buildings — were completed under his watch. Graduation rates have increased dramatically, along with the credentials of incoming freshmen. And the list goes on. There is no doubt Mote will depart as highly successful and well regarded.

Mote excelled at one of the key tasks of being a university president: scratching the backs of state officials, big donors, students and faculty. He delegated many responsibilities to capable vice presidents and aides. While his speaking skills have never sent a tingle up anyone’s leg, what he lacks in charisma he makes up for in pragmatism, vision and competence.

Officials are working to secure this legacy. The university has created a website outlining his achievements. A photo of him talking with Nelson Mandela is splashed across the top. A 10-page PDF listing Mote’s accomplishments, from “Fund-raising and Friend-raising” to “Academic excellence,” is available.

L.A. Unified to seek $100 parcel tax hike - latimes.com

L.A. Unified to seek $100 parcel tax hike - latimes.com:

"The four-year increase would alleviate the school district's projected budget deficit but probably not prevent class size increases, teacher layoffs or a shorter school year."

Los Angeles voters will be asked in June to approve a temporary $100-per-parcel annual tax to help fund city schools, but Supt. Ramon C. Cortines warned Tuesday that the increase still would not be enough to head off bigger class sizes, teacher layoffs and, possibly, a shorter school year.

Facing a projected $640-million budget shortfall, officials said the parcel tax would yield $95.2 million annually for the four years it would be in effect. The school board needed to act quickly, Cortines said, so the money could offset some cutbacks for the upcoming school year. For the same reason, the measure had to go before voters in June. Pollsters had favored November as likely to deliver a more liberal, tax-friendlier electorate.

Parcel taxes require a two-thirds majority vote within

University of California Student Association to Hold Rally Over Fee Hikes | California College News

University of California Student Association to Hold Rally Over Fee Hikes | California College News
University of California Student Association to Hold Rally Over Fee Hikes

by the California College News Team

Advocates for the University of California are extremely upset and want to see lawmakers make education a bigger priority when it comes to the budget of the state. This unrest has led to a rally by the UC student association. A big part of the demonstration will focus on the fee hikes that continue, yet classes are being cut making it tougher to graduate on time. Over 300,000 people are on the UCforCA.org list which organizes the movement for legislators to fight for more money for education. Governor Schwarzenegger has a good plan for 2010-2011 where he is pushing to allocate more funds towards education, which is a shift in the right direction. However UC schools are still going to feel budget pains, as that plan will not be enough to get things back to where they should be.

On March 1 when the UC President, campus regents, and chancellors meet with legislators in Sacramento, the rally organized by the University of California Student Association will take place. People across the state are rallying to protest this injustice to education, which

Viewpoints: Student voters can influence outcome of education crisis - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Viewpoints: Student voters can influence outcome of education crisis - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee:

"Last fall, students across California mobilized against cuts to higher education to a degree not seen since the student movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

It started on Sept. 24, when thousands of University of California students and faculty skipped or canceled classes and held huge rallies decrying the $812 million that the state Legislature had cut from the UC budget. The activism escalated in advance of the UC Board of Regents' vote to increase student fees by 32 percent, and from Nov. 18 to 20, a three-day strike swept the UC system.

A diverse range of students joined together in a wide variety of actions – everything from writing letters to legislators to occupying buildings – and in the end the message made it through to Sacramento: We cannot balance the budget on the backs of students."

On campus, is heckling free speech? Or just rude? - USATODAY.com

Every few minutes during a talk last week at the University of California at Irvine, the same thing happened. A student would get up, shout something critical of Israel, be applauded by some in the audience, and be led away by police.

The speaker —Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States — was repeatedly forced to stop his talk. He pleaded for the right to continue, and continued. University administrators lectured the students and asked them to let Oren speak. In the end, 11 students were arrested and they may also face charges of violating university rules. (Video of the event, distributed by a pro-Israel group, can be found here.)

Those who interrupted Oren, not surprisingly, are strong critics of Israel who believe that they must draw attention to the Palestinian cause. But an argument put forward by some national Muslim leaders in the last week has sent the discussion in a new direction. Those groups maintain that interrupting a campus speech — even repeatedly — should be seen as a protected form of speech.

INSIDE HIGHER ED: Increasing campus tension over Israel

ON THE WEB: Some campuses try to prepare for protests

"The students voiced political views to shame the representative of a foreign government embroiled in controversy for its outrageous violations of international humanit

Districts refusing reforms could hurt California's chances for grant money - latimes.com

Districts refusing reforms could hurt California's chances for grant money - latimes.com:

"The state hopes to win up to $700 million in Race to the Top funds. But a large portion of districts and teachers unions eschew California's proposed changes and refuse to sign its grant application."

A large number of California school districts and teachers unions have refused to accept education reforms being pushed by the Obama administration, and that could hamper the state's chances of winning hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants, some officials fear.

The money would come from a $4.3-billion set of competitive school-improvement grants that Washington plans to begin awarding to states this spring under the administration's Race to the Top program. California officials are hoping to win up to $700 million of that money.

Federal officials have outlined four main areas of reform to be considered in awarding Race to the Top grants: more sophisticated data systems to track student progress, common education standards, intervention in low-achieving schools, and improved efforts to train teachers and principals.

But a majority of California school districts and about three-quarters of its teachers unions, as well as some charter schools and other education agencies, have declined to sign agreements that require them to abide by those changes.

"It's not what I would have hoped for," said state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who sponsored legislation aimed at qualifying California for the federal money.

Many states amended or rewrote education laws to meet the administration's reform agenda. In California, this included a change that was vigorously opposed by unions and others: linking teacher

Pennsylvania Voters Support State-Funded Early Childhood Education -- HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

Pennsylvania Voters Support State-Funded Early Childhood Education -- HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 17 PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An overwhelming majority of voters across all regions ofPennsylvania support continued government investment in quality early childhood education (ECE), according to a new poll released on February 17, 2010 by the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC), the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC) and the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC).

More than four in five voters across the Commonwealth (81%) support providing early childhood education to all children inPennsylvania, with a near three-to-one margin of voters who believe ECE should be state-funded (71% in favor).

Support for the programs also crosses ideological lines. Approximately seven in ten conservatives (70%) favor quality early childhood programs, while nine in ten self-described liberals (92%) and moderates (88%) also express support.

Support of quality early childhood education programs is consistent across the state:

In the T, the rural swath of the state outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, voters indicate strong support for quality early childhood education, with 88 percent in the Scranton- Wilkes Barre media market, 81 percent inJohnstown-Altoona, and 69 percent in Harrisburg-Lancaster-York favoring the programs;
In Western Pennsylvania, three in four voters (75%) in the Pittsburgh media market favor early childhood education; and
In Southeastern Pennsylvania, over four in five voters (81%) favor early childhood education, including an

Voters to Decide Fate of Strong Mayor Form of Government - San Diego 6

Voters to Decide Fate of Strong Mayor Form of Government - San Diego 6:

Voters to Decide

SAN DIEGO - San Diego voters will decide in June whether to make the city's strong-mayor form of government permanent, create a ninth City Council district and increase the number of votes needed to override a mayoral veto.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place the measure on the June 8 ballot.

The strong-mayor system was approved by voters for a five-year trial period with the passage of Proposition F in 2005. The system will be automatically repealed on Dec. 31 unless it is made permanent by voters.

The language authorized by voters nearly five years ago mandates that a measure be placed on the ballot this year that would make strong-mayor permanent and establish a ninth City Council seat to coincide with the 2010 U.S. Census. It would also require a two-thirds majority to override a mayoral veto.

Under the switch to a strong-mayor form of government, San Diego's mayor assumed the duties previously held by a city manager, such as hiring and firing department heads and proposing the budget.

In the process, the mayor ceased to be a voting member of the City Council, which now consists of eight members. The mayor was given veto power, but that mayoral veto can now be overturned by a simple majority vote

Editorial: Wanted: School board candidates - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

A strong public education system inSacramento's central city is crucial to the prosperity of the entire region. Sacramento City Unified seems primed for progress, even with the budget challenges that all school districts confront.

The school board has hired a talented and innovative superintendent. The board itself has four new members as the district switched from at-large voting to a system of seven geographic district seats.

Yet despite some hopeful signs, there's a chance that two school board incumbents will go unchallenged in November. That's not good for the school district or the incumbents themselves.

The seats up for grabs include those for District 1 (the area surrounding McClatchy High School);

Join us in resisting the cuts | SocialistWorker.org

Andy Libson, a science teacher at Mission High School, and member of United Educators of San Francisco and the Educators for a Democratic Union reform caucus, has some questions for Superintendent Carlos Garcia.

February 17, 2010

A UESF member rallies for funding for schools, not war (Steve Rhodes)

Dear Superintendent Carlos Garcia,

I WAS one of the 100 or so teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, child-development teachers or union representatives who attended your presentations at our United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) assembly meeting last month.

I heard your presentation where you reported that San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) was going to have to figure out how to cut $113 million from its budget over two years from a general fund that is just over $400 million per year. Of course, I was shocked to learn this, and for a while, it was hard to think of what to say. I think the words "Are you kidding me?" ran through my head, but beyond that, I wasn't sure.

One thing I do remember was how you spoke so eloquently about how you feel that the cuts that you intend to make were wrong. You spoke of how what you were being asked to do was wrong. How if any of us sitting in the audience actually "agreed" with

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

LAUSD officials vote to place parcel tax on June ballot - The Daily Breeze

LAUSD officials vote to place parcel tax on June ballot - The Daily Breeze

In an effort to save jobs and soften the impact of budget cuts to classrooms, Los Angeles Unified officials Tuesday approved placing a new $100 parcel tax on the June ballot.

The limited tax would generate $92.5 million per year for four years, to help the district whittle down a deficit estimated at $640 million next year.

Taxpayer advocates blasted the idea of asking homeowners, already suffering during the financial downturn, to bail out the district. But school board members said it was a necessity.

"We ask because it is an emergency," said board member Steve Zimmer. "This is a time when we all must come together as a city. We are asking Los Angeles not to tax itself, but to invest in its future."

School board member Tamar Galatzan, the lone dissenter in the 5-1 vote, said she feels the district needs to slash spending first and then ask community members for more money if they feel the cuts went too far.

"Our responsibility is to make these cuts and these changes, many of which we've known we've had to do for a long time and have put off," she said.

"If at that point, the community says that they want these things back, then that is the time to put a parcel tax on the ballot."

District officials said if approved, the new tax will limit class size increases, reduce teacher layoffs and maintain

Tuttle SVC: Millot: Sound Decision or Censorship at TWIE?

Millot: Sound Decision or Censorship at TWIE?

This is a rare guest post on Tuttle SVC, by Marc Dean Millot. Enjoy! --TEH

I am at turns, flattered, amused, confused and annoyed at Andrew Rotherham’s decision to call on a colleague at Scholastic and force This Week in Education's editor, Alexander Russo, to pull “Three Data Points. Unconnected Dots or a Warning?"within hours of its posting. I’m flattered that Education Sector’s departing founding would give the effort that kind of priority. I’m amused that he would be sufficiently sensitive on behalf of his colleagues at the Department of Education to leap to their defense within moments of the slightest provocation, but remain completely silent when confronted with my direct accusation that he was complicit in academic fraud three months ago. I am confused by this articulate and well-read University of Virginia Ph.d candidate’s failure to distinguish between the plain meaning of my sentences and his own inferences. I am annoyed that someone who I know personally wouldn’t just contact me, or even my editor, before taking action, when he’s had satisfaction before.
I know what I did and have explained as best I can. I know what Russo did, what he told me, and I have

Conflicts of Interest and the Race to the Top - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Dear Deborah,

It is not surprising that the Race to the Top has generated enormous buzz among educators since it dangles $4.3 billion to states that do what the U.S. Department of Education wants them to do. Now President Obama has announced that he is so pleased with the response to the Race that he intends to add another $1.3 billion in prize money to the competition.

Since this is an administration that claims to be about results, it is surprising, is it not, that they are increasing the prize money in the absence of any evidence that the competition is on the right track?

No, it is not surprising because the competition is in the hands of people who arrived in Washington with an ideology. They are not pragmatists. There is a nexus of power, and it begins with the Gates Foundation, which has a lock on decisionmaking at the Department of Education. If this election had been held five years ago, the department would be insisting on small schools, but because Gates has already tried and discarded that approach, the department is promoting the new Gates remedies: charter schools, privatization, and evaluating teachers by student test scores.

As we both know, personnel is policy. Secretary Duncan put Jim Shelton, a Gates Foundation executive, in charge of the department's half-billion-dollar Innovation Fund. And he selected Joanne Weiss to run the Race to the Top competition. Weiss was chief executive officer of the NewSchools Venture Fund, whose primary purpose is to launch charter school networks. I do not know Weiss, and I assume she is an upstanding citizen; but to my knowledge, she has never been

Schools Matter: More Millot, Ravitch Joins In

More Millot, Ravitch Joins In

Marc Dean Millot's third piece is up, this one at Tuttle SVC. Rotherham must be the early frontrunner for Scrooge of the Year, an award he won just a few months ago.
Ravitch's newest letter to Deb Meier is titled, "Conflicts of Interest and the Race to the Top". She touches on the Millot censorship, new philanthropy, and NSVF. Good stuff.
The Imagine Schools and Inland Public Properties Properties, a Chicago-based real estate development company, closed a $61 million, 7 school deal. Imagine will

Sacramento Press / City Council campaign contributions for Districts 5, 7

The Sacramento Press is reviewing campaign contributions for the candidates in June's City Council race. Here is a breakdown of the main contributions to the candidates in Districts 5 and 7 from July to December 2009. Read our guide to campaign contributions for Districts 1 and 3 here.

The June 8 election covers four City Council seats for Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. The July to December figures provide the most recent information on campaign contributions for City Council candidates. The next deadline for candidates to submit statements listing their contributions is March 17, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. Those statements will list contributions from Jan. 1 to March 12.

Campaign contribution statements are published at the city’s online campaign finance system.

DISTRICT 5

Henry Harry, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $508.92

Top contributors, July to December 2009:

Felix Luna, law enforcement occupation: $100
Tony Brown, self-employed: $200

Terrence Johnson, City Council Candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $8,830

Top contributors, July to December 2009:

Mulleian Investments, LLC: $500
Ronald Emslie, retired: $200
King Smith, restaurant owner: $200

Patrick Kennedy, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $96,339.26

Top Contributors from July to December 2009

Kennedy received eight contributions of $5,000 each during the July to December 2009 timeframe:

California State Pipe Trades Council Political Action Fund
Pipe Trades District Council #36 Political Action Committee
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 447 Federal Political Action Fund
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 467 Political Action Fund
Sacramento Builders Exchange Political Action Committee
Southern California Pipe Trades District Council #16 Political Action Committee
U.A. Local #246 Plumbers & Fitters COPE Committee
United Association Journeyman Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 343 Political Action Committee

Jay Schenirer, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $69,512

Top contributor, July to December 2009:

AT&T California Employee Political Action Committee: $3,000

Schenirer received $1,500 each from the following contributors from July to December 2009:

John Adkisson, attorney
Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation
Marcine Friedman, retired
O’Connell 2006
Dale Shimasaki, president of Capitol Impact

Immigrant Charter Schools: A Better Choice? | Teaching Tolerance

Immigrant Charter Schools: A Better Choice?

Number 37: Spring 2010

Third-grader Jaime of Denver, Colorado, was having a hard time concentrating in school. The son of Mexican immigrants, he had learned to speak English perfectly in his dual-language public school, but reading and writing was another story.

“The teaching method wasn’t working for him,” said Jaime’s mother, Xochitl Rico. She was anxious to change schools, but, due to the economy, could not afford to spend extra money on the English tutoring he would need.

“I had to choose between paying for health insurance and tutoring,” Rico said.

A friend told her about Cesar Chavez Academy, a new tuition-free charter school where the majority of students are of Hispanic origin. She enrolled Jaime in the fourth-grade class and his younger brother into the first grade. Within months, she said, the difference was “amazing, something like magic.”

“I was surprised. They are motivated and want to be number one in the class. My oldest is writing and reading in English. It was everything I was looking for,” Rico said.

Stories like Rico’s are becoming increasingly common as parents of English language learners, or ELLs, are turning to charter schools to provide their children with a school experience that meets their academic needs and honors their cultural heritage. And as more immigrant parents seek alternatives, charter schools are becoming increasingly focused on serving specific immigrant populations. For example:

At Twin Cities International Charter School, founded by East African immigrants, school lunches meet Islamic dietary requirements, girls can wear headscarves without being teased, and officials are trained to help students who have grown up in refugee camps.

At Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Brooklyn, immigrant students from Russia and Israel can learn subjects such as art, music and social studies in a dual-language, Hebrew/English environment.

Immigrant parents often praise these schools for providing a sensitive transition to English language proficiency. In a country where students of color succumb to an “achievement gap” and ELLs are often underserved, the hopeful image of immigrant students in friendly schools has drawn national media attention.

But even if immigrant-focused charter schools are indeed “something like magic,” some educators worry the trend will only increase the pervasive de-facto segregation in America’s schools.

“I think there are some reasons to worry that programs that expand parental choice over schools could also expand segregation,” said Robert Bifulco, Jr., an associate professor of public affairs at Syracuse University who has studied school choice and segregation. “But do they do better in segregated schools? It depends on what you mean by better. Better in what?

“They may do better in some ways and not in other ways; there’s a tradeoff.”

Urban sociologist Pedro Noguera of New York University describes how parents

voiceofsandiego.org Gifted Cuts Ruled Out

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Gifted Cuts Ruled Out

The San Diego Unified board shied away from cutting administrators who help run programs for gifted and talented students, leaving advocates for gifted kids breathing a sigh of relief. But school board members also put some unpopular options back into play: Closing elementary schools with low enrollment and reconsolidating schools-within-a-school on its high school campuses.

The ideas came up at a budget workshop Tuesday as the school board tried to figure out how to close an estimated $91 million budget gap. School district officials rebuilt the budget based on ideals chosen by the school board, such as diversity and increasing achievement for all students. Now the school board is trying to refine those ideas, deciding which recommended cuts to explore and which to rule out.

Taking cuts to the gifted and talented programs off the table means forgoing nearly $400,000 in cuts from eliminating four jobs, including the program director, a clerk, a secretary and a resource teacher. The board didn't formally rule out the cuts, but San Diego Unified is unlikely to keep exploring the idea because a majority of school board

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