Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Seton Hall's lone finalist for presidency withdraws from consideration | NJ.com

Seton Hall's lone finalist for presidency withdraws from consideration | NJ.com

Seton Hall's lone finalist for presidency withdraws from consideration

Published: Wednesday, June 09, 2010, 10:00 PM
seton-hall.jpgSeton Hall University
SOUTH ORANGE — The lone finalist for the presidency of Seton Hall University said tonight he is withdrawing his name from consideration for the post, amid a brewing controversy among university officials over his alleged demands.
"I’ll be withdrawing my candidacy," Monsignor Stuart Swetland, professor of Christian ethics at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Maryland, told The Star-Ledger. "I wish Seton Hall well in its search for a new president ... I’ve discerned right now that God has other things that he wishes for me to do."
In recent days, several university officials said that during preliminary negotiations, Swetland asked for a yearly salary of nearly $300,000. The current president, Monsignor Robert Sheeran, makes approximately $31,000, which is consistent with the low salaries many priests and nuns are paid to run Catholic colleges.
Officials at the Catholic university also said Swetland was seeking a long list of other perks, including a three-year severance package. The officials did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the confidential negotiations.
Swetland tonight denied making the salary request and said he was disappointed details of the

North Clackamas School District commitee to vote on budget that could shorten next school year | OregonLive.com

North Clackamas School District commitee to vote on budget that could shorten next school year | OregonLive.com

North Clackamas School District commitee to vote on budget that could shorten next school year

Published: Wednesday, June 09, 2010, 5:24 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 09, 2010, 5:49 PM
The North Clackamas School District's budget committee will vote Thursday on a budget recommendation that could include cutting several days from the 2010-11 school year.

The district has been looking into a shorter school year to combat a $7 million budget gap stemming from Gov. Ted Kulongoski's mandated cuts to state programs.


Superintendent Tim Mills last week presented four options to address the shortfall, which is equivalent to eliminating 15 days of school or 126 full-time employee positions. Three of the four plans proposed reducing the school year, and the district's own recommended option included cutting five days and 42 full-time employee positions.

The district already plans to lay off 36 teachers, 24 classified staff and five administrators.

California election results: So much for losing gracefully| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

California election results: So much for losing gracefully| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

Now comes this concession statement from state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who lost in her bid in the race for superintendent of public instruction.
"The victors in the race for superintendent of public instruction were two different wings of the same status-quo education establishment: ACSA's [the Assn. of California School Administrators'] interests for administrators prevailed alongside CTA's [the California Teachers Assn.'s] interests for teachers. The interests of the reform community, on behalf of parents and kids, lost.
"I am deeply saddened by the outcome of this race, which had signaled so much hope for the possibility of true education reform in California and an overdue shakeup of an education morass which remains complacent with failure."

PG&E Customers Killed Prop 16 | California Progress Report

PG&E Customers Killed Prop 16 | California Progress Report

PG&E Customers Killed Prop 16

By Richard Holober
Consumer Federation of California
It was a long night of watching election returns. I was at an election night party with scores of labor and community activist at an IBEW hall. That’s right - construction electrician locals OPPOSED PG&E’s Prop 16. We were all waiting to see if PG&E’s early lead would dissolve.

It was after midnight when Prop 16 dropped below 50% on its way to the final count: 47.5% Yes to 52.5% No.
PG&E spent $46 million of its ratepayer dollars on Prop 16 to make sure our electric rates remain high, without asking the consent of its ratepayers. PG&E spent those dollars try to convince ratepayers that elected local officials shouldn’t enter into any cost saving direct purchasing arrangements with electricity generating companies unless the government agency first received the approval of two-thirds of local voters. Maybe PG&E couldn’t see its double standard, but voters certainly did.
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LAUSD Still Wishing We Would Go Away... - Perdaily.com

LAUSD Still Wishing We Would Go Away... - Perdaily.com

LAUSD Still Wishing We Would Go Away...

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In plumbing the depths of ignorance at LAUSD, I am always surprised when I realize that I have come no where near the bottom of their self-inflicted stupidity. In the never ending soap opera that is my daily interaction with LAUSD's staff as much as I should have learned by now that they have no shame and will say anything, I still have a difficult time having such a low expectation of people who should be my colleagues in furthering the

We read the Race to the Top application so you don’t have to | GothamSchools

We read the Race to the Top application so you don’t have to | GothamSchools

We read the Race to the Top application so you don’t have to

Raise your hand if you know what the state’s 450-page Race to the Top application actually says. Besides, of course, “We raised the cap on charter schools and came up with a new way to evaluate teachers.”
Here’s a quick-and-dirty guide to what the application actually proposes, including some details about the proposal that I hadn’t heard before I read it. The application is divided into four main goals. You can find more background on Race to the Top here.
Making better tests and curriculum:
National reading and math curriculum standards are coming, and New York education officials plan to opt in to them. The state wants to spend $26 million to write curriculum based on the new standards, which will show up in classrooms beginning in February 2012. Another $40 million would be used to create new tests, including a way to judge kindergartners through third-graders’ progress in learning to read. Students would start to take

Hechinger Report | Interactive: Academic standards are all over the map

Hechinger Report | Interactive: Academic standards are all over the map

Interactive: Academic standards are all over the map

From who the president is to how to tell time, what you’re expected to learn in school each year depends on where you live in the U.S.
South Dakota’s second-graders are supposed to learn how to tell time to the minute. In Alaska, students might be forgiven for being late – they aren’t required to learn how to tell time to the minute until fifth grade.
Academic standards range widely across the country for even the simplest set of facts. Such disparities are one reason why 48 states jointly developed a set of common standards, which seek to provide a single, clear definition of what should be taught in English and math in America’s public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. The common standards, released on June 2nd, are also intended to better prepare U.S. children for

Improving the District, step by step…Ending the Cycle of Violence � SCUSD Observer

Improving the District, step by step…Ending the Cycle of Violence � SCUSD Observer

SCUSD Observer

Improving the District, step by step…Ending the Cycle of Violence

On April 25, 2010, Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee wrote a chilling article about the death of teenager Rebecca Layson at the hands of her boyfriend. The article focused on the issue of domestic violence. Rebecca was the third woman in her family, after her mother and grandmother, who was also murdered by her boyfriend, to be involved in an abusive relationship.
Three generations of abuse is too much. In my job, I often see the disarray and pain that abusive relationships cause families. Often going unreported, abusive relationships silently affect not only the person suffering the abuse, but the children who often witness the violence as well. We as a community must do more to stop this cycle of violence and tragedies like Rebecca’s death.
As a board member, I would ask the Superintendent to implement a curriculum designed around recognizing, educating, and ending domestic violence. A local higher education institution, such as Sacramento State University, in conjunction with the district, could design this curriculum if one has not been already finalized. The design would not be cost prohibitive given the obvious need and benefits such a program would have for our children. Also, this curriculum fits appropriately with the curriculum, programs, and policies already in place regarding the issue of bullying.
A few tenets should guide the curriculum. First, students need the tools to recognize abuse. Although sometimes self-evident, abusive relationships can take on a number of different qualities and contexts. This type of conduct must be categorized separate and apart from other behaviors and school children taught to recognize it as such. Second, students should be taught that abuse, in any form, is unacceptable behavior. Third, strategies to proactively manage relationships, emotions and behaviors should be taught. Ending the cycle of violence must be stressed. These principals are not, of course, an exhaustive list and I would defer to the experts in crafting a more detailed, nuanced and engaging curriculum. But my direct experience mentoring neglected and abused children in our community does shed some light onto how the district should tackle this

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Colo. colleges given flexibility to raise tuition

By Steven K. Paulson
Associated Press Writer / June 9, 2010
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DENVER—Calling it a stopgap measure to save higher education, Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill Wednesday giving Colorado colleges more flexibility to set tuition rates.
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He also signed a measure providing $35 million to help lower- and middle-income students with tuition.
"Higher education has reached a funding crossroad here in Colorado and many states across the country. We face serious challenges if we do nothing. This is not a long-term fix; this is not a panacea," Ritter said as college presidents and lawmakers joined him in his office.
Lawmakers say the legislation was necessary because the state plans to cut college funding by $300 million next year to cover a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit.

D.C. Wire - Ex-Board of Education chief: Gray or Rhee is a bogus choice

D.C. Wire - Ex-Board of Education chief: Gray or Rhee is a bogus choice

Ex-Board of Education chief: Gray or Rhee is a bogus choice

Christopher Dean Hopkins
As expected, former D.C. State Board of Education president Lisa Raymond, who scuffled with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty over budget and policy issues, has endorsed Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray in the Sept. 14 primary. In a statement that went out Tuesday night to parents and activists in Ward 6 (which she represented on the panel), she took a shot at the Fenty camp for pushing the scenario that has Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee resigning if Gray is elected.
"I know that some of you are afraid that if Vince Gray is elected mayor, Chancellor Rhee will leave, and all of the tremendous movement we have seen in our schools would depart with her. Well, I am among the growing chorus of parents and others who care deeply about education and say that I support both Vince Gray for mayor and Michelle Rhee for chancellor," Raymond said.
"I reject this notion -- and let's not kid ourselves, it's coming directly from Mayor Fenty and his team, who have the most to lose -- that I have to choose between the person that I think is best qualified to lead our city and the best person to lead our school system."
Rhee, appointed by Fenty three years ago this week, has refused to say publicly whether she would serve in a Gray administration if asked. Gray has not committed to keeping her if he wins. Raymond said she hopes they would find a way to work together.
"I would never presume to speak for Vince Gray or Michelle Rhee, but I