Monday, March 29, 2010

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National

Tired of Media Bias: Texas Freedom Network vs. Texas State Board of Education
3.29.10 - As an example of the obvious media bias, April Castro, Associated Press reporter, used these words in

HISD’s online radio plans make some waves
3.29.10 - A new Internet-based radio station could generate more than $500,000 a year for the Houston...

Should school districts provide cash rewards for high grades and test scores?
3.29.10 - Peter Stern - Cash rewards for students are another poor option determined by business people

Less Testing, More Learning
3.29.10 - By Lisa Guisbond and Monty Neill - President Obama's blueprint for rewriting No Child Left...
more articles....

San Jose teachers extend day gratis The Educated Guess

The Educated Guess

San Jose teachers extend day gratis

Posted in Program innovation, State Budget, pay

The teachers in San Jose Unified have agreed to extend the school day without extra pay permanently, starting next year.
That gesture on students’ behalf would be noteworthy any time. But coming in a catastrophic budget year, when teachers are being asked to enlarge classes and take pay cuts, it is quite remarkable.
I mentioned this development last week, in the middle of a column on furloughs. It bears repeating and further explaining, since skeptics have told me I must have missed something; unions don’t give up anything for free.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on March 29th, 2010

Is common core good for California?

Posted in Common Core standards, Race to the Top, Standardized tests

Draft common-core standards got a boost this week when the respected Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave it a solid thumbs-up. Fordham’s evaluators called thestandards “a clear, ambitious, and actionable depiction of the essential skills, competencies, and knowledge that our young people should acquire in school and possess by the time they graduate.”
Fordham will be encouraging states to adopt the math and English language arts standards. But interestingly for California was a sentence inserted in a draft of the report earlier this month: “Still, it’s likely that a handful of states—Massachusetts and California come to mind—will decide they’re better off with the standards they’ve got today.”
So now that Fordham has brought the question out into the open — or almost did (the specific references to California and Massachusetts were actually cut from the report’s final version) – it’s time that California’s education community addressed it: Should California go ahead and adopt common core later this summer? A good argument can be made that it shouldn’t. The answer, however, is inextricably tied to decisions related to Race To The Top.
(Read more and comment on this post)

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Private school tax credit bill gains in Maryland

Bill, which has the support of Gov. O'Malley, could help Catholic schools

MORE ON EDUCATION

Gov. Martin O'Malley greets legislators. (Linda Davidson-TWP).

Ed Buzz: The Nation

Could bus ads save school budgets?(Associated Press)
Loan bill stripped of early ed., other priorities (Education Week)
Unions slam Obama's education budget (Education Week)
Obama effigy hung at R.I. school (New York Times)
Hispanics face barriers to college degree (New York Times)
Suspensions lead to legal challenge(New York Times)
Detroit ed chief wants to close 45 schools (Detroit Free Press)
State, district leaders press transformation (Education Week)
Hurdles await new education agenda(New York Times)
Union tries personal tactics on UC regents (San Francisco Chronicle)

Ed Buzz: The Region

Loudoun looking to slash positions, up fees (WTOP)
Kids at Md. school get tainted milk (Fox 5)
McDonnell signs college lab school legislation (Richmond Times Dispatch)
Schools reduce police presence (The Examiner)
Montgomery College, schools brace for cuts (The Gazette)
P.G. County PTA reinstated (The Gazette)
Md. GOP: Don't raise dropout age (The Gazette)
Birth-control center finds home at T.C. Williams (Alexandria Gazette Packet)
Fairfax teacher quits over embezzlement charges (Examiner)
MoCo teachers say they are overwhelmed (Gazette)
Alex. considers new school boundaries(Examiner)
PG parents fear impact of school cuts(WJLA)
Md. lawmakers favor ed cuts (Baltimore Sun)

Rise & Shine: Classroom spending could drop by 3.3 percent | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Classroom spending could drop by 3.3 percent

by Philissa Cramer

A judge ruled the city’s bid to close 19 schools illegal. (GothamSchools, Post, Daily News, Times, NY1)
The Post says the ruling that the closures weren’t decided legally is “nitpicking.”
The Daily News laments that the ruling reflects a win for the teachers union.
Spending on classroom instruction could fall by about 3 percent this year, according to the IBO. (Post)
A second charter school State Sen. Malcolm Smith helps also has structural issues. (Daily News)
Chelsea’s Bayard Rustin High School isn’t happy about Quest 2 Learn moving in. (Chelsea Now)
A family was found to be hiding an arsenal of weapons across the street from Brooklyn’s PS 216. (Post)
Geoffrey Canada: Politicians who oppose charter schools personally use school choice. (Daily News)
Teachers in Los Angeles have agreed to shorten the school year, and cut their own pay. (L.A. Times)
Philadelphia’s schools chief says she didn’t know about major policy proposals. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Students at D.C.’s troubled high schools are gearing up to take standardized tests. (Washington Post)

Schools Matter: Respect vocational education

Respect vocational education

by skrashen

Respect vocational education
Published in the Santa Monica Daily Press, March 28, 2010

Editor:

Education secretary Arne Duncan insists that all high school grads should be ready for college and work. If this idea is accepted, a high school diploma will certify the completion of a college prep program.

This will have the effect of making a high school diploma irrelevant for all those who are not interested in college, who have different interests, talents and career paths. It will also mean a continuation of the decline of vocational

As Go Wake Schools, So Goes Wake's Economic Drawing Card

by Jim Horn

When the Teabagger majority on the Wake County School Board voted to shut down the nation's premier socioeconomic integration plan, did they consider the repercussions beyond the killing of educational opportunities of the poor? From the News and Observer editorial today:

Is it a mystery? Or is the answer staring us in the face?
Everybody knows that Charlotte is North Carolina's largest city, by a pretty wide margin. Yet the county where Charlotte is located, Mecklenburg, is expected to be overtaken in population by Wake County within the next couple of years. What's going on?
Well, probably several things related to the economy, geography and transportation patterns. But there's also no doubt that a main reason for Wake's turbocharged growth over the past couple of decades has been the fine reputation of its public schools.
People who want or need to relocate find it easy these days to turn up a ton of information about

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: It's hard to lose something you were so involved and invested in"

It's hard to lose something you were so involved and invested in"

by Mike Klonsky

Interview with a Green Dot Animo Justice student and a teacher

I spoke with a teacher and a student from Green Dot's Animo Justice Charter High School, to gather material for a larger piece I'm working on. Green Dot founder, Steve Barr, had earlier told me that the school has been marked for closing by Green Dot's board of directors, on recommendation from the management team, on grounds that it's not cost effective to run the school with 450 students and that the school has been the "lowest performer" among a cohort of Green Dot schools.. The announcement has led to ongoing student protests and an angry response from parents.

Ismael is a 17 year-old senior at Animo Justice and vice-president of the senior class. He's on his way to

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

L.A. Supt. Ray Cortines as he cuts more days from school year

"Our people will be asked to do more with less." (L.A. Times )

Herman Brewer, acting president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League

"These folks who have known nothing but prosperity are now in shock because all of a sudden the crisis they have generally associated with poor communities -- with the city of Chicago -- has hit them," Brewer said. "Our funding formula has created disparities so acute, people are starting to see it now." ("Layoffs could top 20,000 in school districts" Sun-Times)

FairTest's Lisa Guisbond & Monty Neill

George W. Bush’s education secretary, Margaret Spellings, often said we need to give state tests every year, because otherwise we would have no way of knowing if students were falling behind. But that’s hogwash, as any teacher, student or parent could have told her.In the classroom of any reasonably competent teacher,

Christie backs school choice plan | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/28/2010

Christie backs school choice plan

Students in underperforming public schools would get money to attend private school under a proposed bill the governor favors.

By Adrienne Lu

Inquirer Trenton Bureau

For years, school-choice advocates in New Jersey have pushed for public school students to be allowed to attend private schools through voucherlike programs.

With Gov. Christie now in office, those advocates have their best chance in recent years, although they still face a considerable battle against those who say such programs would hurt the public schools and the students left behind. Christie supports this legislation, according to his spokesman.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union) and Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R., Union) are proposing a five-year pilot program, roughly modeled on a similar program in Pennsylvania, under which low-income students in "chronically failing" public schools would be able to apply for scholarships to attend private schools, including parochial schools, or other public schools. The scholarships would be funded by private corporations, who would in turn receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits.

The program, which has been proposed for introduction in the Legislature, defines chronically failing public schools as those where, for the past two years, 40 percent or more of students scored "partially proficient" - the lowest score possible - in both language arts and math, or 65 percent or more of students scored partially proficient in either subject.

Two hundred and five public schools statewide (including charter schools) - or 8 percent - meet the criteria, including 24 in Camden, 42 in Newark, and 25 in Paterson. A handful of schools in Burlington and Gloucester Counties also meet the criteria.

The bill also would establish a competitive grant process, through which any of the so-called chronically failing public schools could compete for grants funded by the state.

Lesniak said the bill would "reduce class sizes, provide more choices to students in the state's lowest-performing

The Key to It All � InterACT

The Key to It All

MARCH 29, 2010

tags: recruitment, teaching

by Kelly Kovacic

“Will you do what you can to keep them interested in the teaching profession? They need some inspiration.”

It is a Friday morning and the auditorium at Santiago Canyon College, a community college in Orange, California, is filling up quickly with college kids who want to be teachers. Despite being the last day of Spring Break, and an early start time, there is a buzz and energy in the room.

This year’s theme for the annual Future Teacher Conference is “Raising the Bar in Teacher Education.” As the keynote speaker, I am asked to keep the students interested in the teaching profession and inspired. I know I have a tall order to fill. Not only do I need to speak for 50 minutes, but the “warm-up” by Kalonji Saterfied, one of the conference facilitators, will be a tough act to follow. He is personable, funny, and positive, and his persistent question to the audience – “Is that good or great” – elicits shouts of “great” every time.

Plus, the education news these last few weeks has not been good. A few days earlier, State Superintendent O’Connell announced that 21,905 pink slips were issued to teachers across California. Several school districts, including massive Los Angeles Unified School District

School districts backing effort to make it easier to pass parcel tax - SGVTribune.com

School districts backing effort to make it easier to pass parcel tax

By Maritza Velazquez, Staff Writer

Posted: 03/28/2010 07:03:00 AM PDT

At a time when districts across the state are slashing teaching positions, raising class sizes and cutting programs, a group of educators are making a big push toward reducing the voter support requirement for a school district to pass a parcel tax tax.

Californians for Improved School Funding (CISF) is trying for a ballot initiative to lower the threshold to pass a parcel tax from two thirds to 55 percent.

Local school districts are hailing the effort, which they say would make it easier to pass parcel taxes.

Last week, the Bassett Unified school board unanimously passed a resolution in support of the proposal.

"I supported it because the bottom line is for districts, we can no longer depend on the state for a steady stream of funding," said school board member Paul Solano. "That's become obvious and this is an option for us districts to rely on local control."

The district is cutting $2.5 million from its budget next year and may lay off 50 employees.

Solano said the school board hasn't discussed the possibility of a parcel tax in over a year, but he wouldn't rule out the option.

Pasadena Unified is attempting to pass a parcel tax that it says could raise $7 million annually to preserve teachers and programs. If passed by voters on the May 4 mail-in ballot, it would cost $120 a year for 59,000 property-owners in Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Altadena.

The effort would not be affected by a November

ballot measure, but a school district official said he would still support an initiative.

"School districts have been most greatly affected from state cuts more than any organization in the state," said school board president Tom Selinske.

Arne Duncan and Corruption At the Top : Indybay

Arne Duncan and Corruption At the Top

by Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer
Sunday Mar 28th, 2010 6:18 PM

A recent New York Times article (March 23, 2010) - discreetly tucked in the back pages of the newspaper − reported that Arne Duncan, Obama’s Secretary of Education, kept a confidential log of names of the rich and powerful who were trying to take advantage of their political connections to get their children admitted into Chicago’s best schools when Duncan was Chief Executive of the school system there.

http://www.workerscompass.org/robleum_03-26-2010.html

Arne Duncan and Corruption at the Top

By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer

A recent New York Times article (March 23, 2010) - discreetly tucked in the back pages of the newspaper - reported that Arne Duncan, Obama’s Secretary of Education, kept a confidential log of names of the rich and powerful who were trying to take advantage of their political connections to get their children admitted into Chicago’s best schools when Duncan was Chief Executive of the school system there. On the list were local politicians and business people, including the state attorney general, the former White House social secretary (a personal friend of the Obama family), and an unnamed former United States senator. The Times based its information on an article in the Chicago Tribune.

We can all quietly speculate about the identity of the former United States Senator who was seeking special treatment for his children.

Peter Cunningham, Arne Duncan’s current spokesperson in the Department of Education, was questioned about Duncan’s activity in relation to the log.

The Times accordingly reported: “A spokesman for the Department of Education [Peter Cunningham] said Tuesday that the log was a record of those who asked for help, and that neither Mr. Duncan nor the aide who maintained the list, David Pickens, ever pressured principals to accept a child. Rather, he said, the creation of the list was an effort to reduce pressure on principals.”

The Times then directly quoted Cunningham as stating: “This was an attempt to buffer principals from all the outside pressure, to get our arms around something that was burdensome to them. It was always up to the principal to make the decision. Arne never ever picked up the phone.”

Given these statements, one might conclude that everything was in order and above-board.

Nevertheless, The Times also went on to observe: “The log noted ‘AD’ [Arne Duncan] as the person requesting help for 10 students, and as a co-requester

Parents fear students may lose placement outside L.A. Unified - latimes.com

Parents fear students may lose placement outside L.A. Unified

Cortines wants to limit out-of-district permits to help curb budget shortfall. More than 12,200 students now use them.

Dana Middle School Principal Aileen Harbeck, right, shows Ivy Koester, 9, and other L.A. Unified students and parents around the Hawthorne campus. Transfer pupils from Los Angeles make up 18% of the Wiseburn School District's student body. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / March 25, 2010)

By Carla Rivera

March 29, 2010

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Parents touring Richard Henry Dana Middle School in Hawthorne were impressed last week with descriptions of its history, science and arts programs, intrigued by a class conducting DNA experiments and pleased with the cleanliness of the campus. But one issue dominated: Will my child get a permit from the Los Angeles Unified School District to attend Dana?

It is a question on the minds of thousands of parents in the wake of a decision by Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines to greatly limit permits that currently allow more than 12,200 students who live in the district to attend schools elsewhere.

Cortines, facing a $640-million budget shortfall, said he wants the transfer students back -- along with the $51 million they bring in state funding. L.A. Unified has been lax in allowing so many permits in the past, Cortines said.

He argued that the district has improved academics and school options so that families shouldn't feel the need to escape.

But students' flight from L.A. Unified factored into a controversial decision by the Beverly Hills school board, which voted in January to end special permits for hundreds of students who live outside of that city. According to L.A. Unified figures, 945 of those students were from the L.A.

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