Sacramento Press / One organization aims to represent all Democrats in Sacramento. Who are they?

Sacramento Press / One organization aims to represent all Democrats in Sacramento. Who are they?

One organization aims to represent all Democrats in Sacramento. Who are they?

Democrats will carry some momentum into the 2010 elections, thanks in part to the party’s central committee, the Democratic Party of Sacramento County.

The number of registered Democrats in Sacramento County has increased by 23,000 since 2008, while Republican registration has dropped by 3,000.

“It was going up before 2008, too,” said Devin Lavelle, communications chair for the Democratic Party of Sacramento County. “It’s been pretty clear over the past decade that the Democratic Party lines up with most Californians’ values.”

Lavelle’s group serves as a central committee for the party as well as an umbrella organization for other affiliated clubs in the area, including the Young Democrats and the Green Democratic Club.

The organization registers voters, endorses candidates – which will be done April 8 for the next election – and regularly weighs in on policy issues, sometimes to the dismay of Democrats in office.

Members of the group have been harsh critics of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong mayor initiative. They wrote in a February press release that the government should be focusing on improving the city, “not jockeying for power.”

Lavelle called the initiative “a badly written law with a ton of holes. Even if everybody loved it, it would still end

Should local governments use tax money for bond campaigns? | California Watch

Should local governments use tax money for bond campaigns? | California Watch

Should local governments use tax money for bond campaigns?

by Chase Davis

Chase Davis

A coalition of cities, counties and school boards will challenge the authority of the California Fair Political Practices Commission to keep them from spending tax money on political campaigns for bond issues this week, setting the stage for a showdown that could culminate in a lawsuit.
At issue are two regulations, passed in 2008, which prohibit cities, counties and school boards from using public money for "election-related communications." In the past, local governments have used the money in ways that appear to persuade voters to support bond measures that raise money for local projects.
The California League of Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California School Boards Association will petition the FPPC to reconsider the regulations Thursday. The groups have also brought in some

This Week In Education USDE: $18M For Chicago Teacher Prep Programs

This Week In Education

USDE: $18M For Chicago Teacher Prep Programs

Illinois may not have gotten any first round RTTT money but that doesn't mean that Arne Duncan and Barack Obama aren't taking care of their friends back home.

Last week's TQP grant announcement included over $11 million for a small, innovative teacher preparation program at the University of Chicago and $7 million for a program at Governors State University.

Continue reading "USDE: $18M For Chicago Teacher Prep Programs" »

Thompson: Mixed Messages From RTTT

Michelle Rhee’s IMPACT evaluation system has been rightly attacked for its high-handedness. And one reason why theDistrict of Columbia’s RttT proposal was correctly rejected was its "opening statement ... raises several concerns about use of RttT to thwart political resistance to the District’s human resources management style." The judge said that the Chancellor should focus more on developing human resources and "less on creating public notoriety."

Ouch. And yet, those who seek a green light for attacking unions and the rest of the "status quo" have not heard an unambiguous

Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass Endorses Nayiri Nahabedian | Asbarez Armenian News

Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass Endorses Nayiri Nahabedian | Asbarez Armenian News

Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass Endorses Nayiri Nahabedian

GLENDALE, CA–Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass on Monday announced her endorsement of Nayiri Nahabedian for State Assembly. In her endorsement, Bass spoke about Nahabedian’s extraordinary record of service as a community leader and a Glendale School Board Member.

“Nayiri’s background in the community and on the Glendale School Board has prepared her to represent the diverse communities of the district, and she is the kind of leadership Sacramento needs now,” Bass said in a statement. “Nayiri has earned my endorsement because of her long record of public service. As an educator, a children’s social worker and as a leader on the Glendale Unified School District Board, Nayiri has always stood up for what is right, fought to improve our communities and made our public schools work. I am proud to endorse Nayiri Nahabedian for State Assembly.”

“The work that Speaker Bass has done for California has been beyond reproach,” said Nahabedian. “To have the

EIA Exclusive: Indiana State Teachers Association Expects to Be Solvent… in 2027 | Intercepts

EIA Exclusive: Indiana State Teachers Association Expects to Be Solvent… in 2027 | Intercepts

EIA Exclusive: Indiana State Teachers Association Expects to Be Solvent… in 2027

by Mike Antonucci

Click here to read:
1) EIA Exclusive: Indiana State Teachers Association Expects to Be Solvent… in 2027
2) More Students, More Teachers; Fewer Students, More Teachers
3) Last Week’s Intercepts
4) Quote of the Week

Engaging Parents In School...

Engaging Parents In School...

Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project

April 5th, 2010 by Larry Ferlazzo

Each month, at my other blog, I interview people in the education world about whom I want to learn more. You can see read those past interviews here.

This month’s guest is Carrie Rose, Executive Director of the nationally acclaimed Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project. Our school works closely with Carrie and the Project, I’ve written a chapter about it in my book on parent engagement, and I also wrote an article about it last year for Teacher Magazine.

I posting this interview at both of my blogs.

Can you give a brief description of what the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project is and how it came into being?

The Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project is a unique partnership between a community organizing group (Sacramento Area Congregations Together), a local teachers union (Sacramento City Teachers Association) and a school district (Sacramento City Unified School District). The project developed through an effort to address the cycle of blame that existed between parents and site personnel at several south Sacramento schools where there was a pervasive history of low student achievement, high levels of poverty, and where high percentages of children entered school as English learners. Home visits were identified by teachers as one way to build trust and respect. Community organizers recognized the potential for leadership development through home visits given the similarity to their model of 1:1 interactions. Parents, educators and community organizers came together to develop a training and model for the visits and launched the project in the 1998-1999 school year.

How did you get involved in it, and where do you get the energy to continue being the Executive Director?

My background is in social service and law. In 1999, when my children were very young, I was looking for a more flexible job. The director of Sacramento ACT offered me a part time job as a fund developer and I had to quickly learned to do grant writing and fundraising in the nonprofit world. Luckily, one of my main responsibilities was to raise funds for a new parent engagement project- the parent/teacher home visit effort. As my understanding of community organizing grew, and my participation in the logistics of the home visit project evolved, I experienced a profound shift

Schools Matter: Florida: Crazy as Texas?

Schools Matter: Florida: Crazy as Texas?

The above ad is paid for by Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education. SB6 and HB7189, the Senate and House bills in Florida that would eliminate any form of tenure (one year contracts for all teachers) and "evaluate" teachers almost exclusively with test scores (including hiring and firing). Currently, the Florida legislature is holding a hearing about the bill (streamed lived here), and a rep from the US Chamber of Commerce is babbling on and on about the test-test-test-punish-punish-punish strategy of NCLB and RttT. Citing support from the "progressive" Center for American Progress ("progressive" in name only, of course) and the"Leaders and Laggards" report, the Chamber rep is expressing firm support for RttT and SB6/HB7189.

Jennie Smith at the Examiner provides some great coverage of teachers and other educators trying to convince politicians to pull their heads out of the sand (or other places) and do what's best for kids AND teachers: don't pass SB6/HB7189.

You can follow NoTallahasseeTakeover and No SB 6 for some great

The Rancho Cordova Post — Local News, Events, Things to Do

The Rancho Cordova Post — Local News, Events, Things to Do

Folsom Lake College Offers Wide Variety of Arts Events This Spring

by SCOTT CROW on APRIL 5, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in VIEWPOINTS

The community is invited to attend a series of arts events presented by Folsom Lake College’s Art, Music, and Dance Departments. Events will be held at Folsom Lake College’s main campus (10 College Parkway in Folsom) and El Dorado Center (6699 Campus Drive in Placerville).

Saturday, April 24: Wind Orchestra and College Choir performance directed by Philip Angove, 7pm, Folsom campus. In celebration of Astronomy Day, the ensembles will feature selections from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst. This will be an interdisciplinary, multi-media concert in conjunction with the Astronomy Department and Visual Artists.

Monday, April 26 – Friday, May 7: Annual Student Art Show, El Dorado Center, Library

Friday, April 30 – Sunday, May 16: Falcon’s Eye Theatre production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, Friday and Saturday performances at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, performed at Oak Hills Church (1100 Blue Ravine Road in Folsom). There will be extra performances Saturday, May 8, at 2pm and Thursday, May 13, at 8pm. For more info or to reserve tickets, call 916-608-6800. The Afro-Cuban Funk Band directed by Philip Angove will perform at each play performance.

Thursday, May 6: Evening of Dance, 6-8pm, Folsom campus, PE-203 (Dance Studio). Admission is a donation of $3.

Friday, May 7: “The Rites of Spring” Special Ensemble Concert directed by Dr. Derek Lee-Keller, 7pm, Folsom campus, courtyard between the Falcon’s Roost and Aspen Hall – will

Agriculture dean proposes reorganization of Oregon State's program | OregonLive.com

Agriculture dean proposes reorganization of Oregon State's program | OregonLive.com

Agriculture dean proposes reorganization of Oregon State's program

By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian

April 05, 2010, 11:33AM

The dean of Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences isproposing to consolidate departments, put more emphasis on winning grants and ask communities to help pay for 11 statewide experiment stations.

Dean Sonny Ramaswamy also proposes changing the name to the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. In a news release, Ramaswamy said the name change reflects the college's strengths and the qualities that Oregon is known for.

The dean said state support for teaching and research positions within the College of Agricultural Sciences has dropped by 40 percent since the early 1990s, making the college more dependent on grants. The college received more than $44 million in grants last year, and most recently received $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct environmental health and biomedical research.

Ramaswamy is proposing a new business model for the way crop experiment stations are funded, recommending that communities and industry groups pay 25 percent of the cost. One branch station, in Union, will be merged with OSU's agriculture program at Eastern Oregon University in nearby La Grande.

Finally, the proposal reshapes the college's 12 departments into nine: education and communications; animal and range sciences; applied economics and policy; biological and ecological engineering; environmental

The Education Report An Oakland principal goes to new lengths to promote reading

The Education Report

An Oakland principal goes to new lengths to promote reading

By Katy Murphy
Monday, April 5th, 2010 at 9:20 am in elementary schools, literacy, students
No Comments

Over the years, Think College Now Principal David Silver has subjected his staff to the dunk tank, danced to Snoop Dogg on the roof and let students run the school for a day as a reward for reading for at least 100 million minutes by June. The students fell short of their goal last year, but this time the prize might be too tempting to pass up. Silver hasn’t had a haircut in months; if the kids meet the goal, as they explain in the below video (in which a group of students appear to be grooming his curls), the student council will be allowed to shave his head.

Are You a "Linchpin"? Women's Conference

Are You a "Linchpin"?

ARE YOU A "LINCHPIN"?How to Become Indispensible

Work + Money

Seth Godin, Author, Linchpin

Post to FacebookPost to TwitterSend to a Friend

Are you indispensible? This is the question Seth Godin, bestselling author of the newly publishedLinchpin, poses to readers. In this interview, Godin tells us what it means to be indispensible, and why being indispensible, or a "linchpin," is the surest path to success.

What is a “linchpin”?

A linchpin is someone who does work that matters, someone who would be missed if they were gone. A linchpin is someone who has no trouble answering the question, "Why shouldn't I pay someone else less to do what you're doing?" They're a contributor we can't live without.

Why is being a linchpin so necessary today?

The economy has shifted, probably forever. The industrial age is over. The idea of compliant workers following instructions and generating output in a factory (any kind of factory) doesn't work when your competition is everywhere. All that we can do to earn more than the minimum is to be human, to connect, to lead and to create art.

What are the four defining qualities of a linchpin?

1. Work without a map, figure out what to do next instead of waiting to be told.
2. Conquer the lizard, the fear of being laughed at. [The lizard brain is a recurring theme inLinchpin -- it is the primal part of the brain that operates out of fear, not out of creativity or vision.]
3. Ship it out the door. Ship, always ship. [To ship is to send out the product, to share your product with the world.]
4. Practice generosity. Art in all its forms involves a gift, something more than expected or demanded, something personal that changes the recipient.

How can you know if you are a linchpin?

What Adults Can Learn From Kids: "Don't Underestimate Our Ability" - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

What Adults Can Learn From Kids: "Don't Underestimate Our Ability" - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

What Adults Can Learn From Kids: "Don't Underestimate Our Ability"

April 5, 2010 1:29 PM

• 
  
  
  
  

Student Advocate. Literacy Advocate. Kid Advocate.
And She Is Only Twelve.

This weekend I spoke with a mom who was just seething about an incident during a recent parent-teacher conference. When told by the math teacher that her 12 year old daughter was not paying attention in class, the mother asked if the teacher had talked to her after class about it to gain more insight or perspective such as - was she bored? Or, was she lost? The teacher said, "What would a 12 year old know about why she wasn't paying attention?" In other words, the teacher made the parent feel like it was an inappropriate request. After all, her daughter was just a "kid".

So when I came across this new TED talk from 12 year old Adora Svitak, I thought not only we will post it, but let's just say I will be sending it personally to the mom and maybe it will make its way to the school. Sometimes I think we (adults) are too lenient with kids about discipline and comportment, and then we act like taskmasters when it comes to intellectual challenges and

Education Sector: Research and Reports: Understanding Teachers Contracts

Education Sector: Research and Reports: Understanding Teachers Contracts

Explainers

Understanding Teachers Contracts

Author:

Andrew J. Rotherham

Publication Date:

March 23, 2010

Read more about

Teacher Quality

Media and other inquires please contact Kristen Amundson, or 202-552-2849.

Whether it's the contentious multi-year negotiations over the teachers contract in Washington, D.C., or the debates in many states over competing for Race to the Top funds, teachers contracts are at the center of the education reform debate today. Once of interest only to education insiders, contract issues and calls for reform are now widespread. High profile editorial boards at major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal regularly weigh-in on the topic. Articles in magazines like The New Yorker detail the effects of various contract provisions and processes.¹ National voices as diverse as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are calling for more flexibility in how teachers are hired, fired, evaluated, and paid.

Despite increasing attention to contract reform, the public often has no idea what a typical teachers contract looks like. Although they are public documents, most contracts are not easily found on the Web sites of school districts or teachers unions; newspapers and local media do not publish them (and often offer only cursory coverage of the issues being discussed during collective bargaining negotiations).² Meanwhile, those negotiations are often held out of public view, and the deals cut late at night. The documents themselves can be cumbersome, lawyerly, heavily influenced by side agreements and addendums, and generally hard for non-experts to figure out.

In 2007, the National Council on Teacher Quality launched the database "TR3" cataloging teachers contracts in the nation's

California Progress Report Lakoff’s Initiative: Don’t T- You, Don’t T- Me, T- The Man Behind The Tree

California Progress Report

Lakoff’s Initiative: Don’t T- You, Don’t T- Me, T- The Man Behind The Tree

By Peter Schrag

The chances that Berkeley linguistics expert George Lakoff will get his California Democracy Act initiative on the November ballot range between slim and slimmer. But in contending that Attorney General Jerry Brown’s title and ballot summary would destroy any chance of its passing even if it qualified, Lakoff starts an argument that goes well beyond semantics. It tells a lot about why California is stuck in the mess that it’s in.

In requiring two-thirds majorities to approve both the annual budget – and all other spending measures – and to raise taxes, California is the only state in the union that gives legislative minorities -- usually meaning Republicans – a veto on both budgeting and taxes. Lakoff, who’s been a guru on language to a lot of politicians, wants to end what is in effect minority rule.

Marcher Irene Gonzalez Revisits Childhood in Atwater & Livingston

By Willie Pelote

Los Angeles probation officer and Central Vally émigré Irene Gonzalez, who is participating in a 48-day trek from Bakersfield to Sacramento to highlight the need for quality public services and education in California, revisited parts of her childhood when the March for California’s Future reached Atwater and Livingston this past weekend.

As a child, Gonzalez cycled between various foster homes in the Central Valley before finding a permanent home in the town of Atwater.

Her foster parents also ran a flower shop in Livingston called Rose’s Flowers, which has long since disappeared, another casualty on the long list of small businesses that

Ed Sector’s “Interactive Explainer” Omits Important Variable | Intercepts

Ed Sector’s “Interactive Explainer” Omits Important Variable | Intercepts

Ed Sector’s “Interactive Explainer” Omits Important Variable

by Mike Antonucci

I’m a great admirer of the work of Andrew Rotherham and the Education Sector, and their latest report,Understanding Teachers Contracts, is impressive. You’ll particularly want to click on the “Interactive Explainer” button, which lines up provisions from the teachers’ contract of the San Diego Unified School District against that of the Green Dot charter schools in Los Angeles. It’s illustrative of the differing approaches to collective bargaining the two organizations take.
But it’s not really a fair comparison. The Green Dot contract used, from 2006, is one of the first contracts