Monday, June 14, 2010

N.J. Assembly committee approves bill allowing schools to charge students for summer classes | NJ.com

N.J. Assembly committee approves bill allowing schools to charge students for summer classes

Published: Monday, June 14, 2010, 5:00 PM Updated: Monday, June 14, 2010, 5:02 PM

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Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerA March 2010 file photo of the Assembly Chamber.

TRENTON — A New Jersey Assembly committee has approved a bill allowing public school districts to bill parents for children's summer school classes.

The Assembly Education Committee voted unanimously today to advance the bill allowing schools to pass on the costs of summer remedial and enrichment classes to families that can afford it.

Full tuition would be charged for students from families whose household income exceeds the limit qualifying them for the reduced-price school lunch program.

Less well-off families would be charged partial tuition.

Districts would be barred from charging families with incomes below the federal poverty guideline. A family of four earning less than $22,050 is considered below the poverty level.

The Senate has not taken up the bill.

More school-related coverage:

• N.J. appeals court upholds Gov. Christie's order forcing school surplus spending

• N.J. teacher raises average 3.4 percent, survey finds

Assistant Secretary Thelma Melendez Visits Schools in St. Louis – ED.gov Blog

Assistant Secretary Thelma Melendez Visits Schools in St. Louis

St. Louis students, parents, teachers, administrators, local union leaders, and community partners met with Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Melendez when she visited Yeatman Middle School and Clay Elementary School in the St. Louis school district on May 27.
At each school, the school community engaged in a candid discussion with Dr. Melendez about the reforms they are implementing to improve student achievement. Kelvin Adams, the Superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools, also participated in the dialogue about the challenges facing St. Louis. Later in the day, Dr. Melendez held a roundtable discussion with teachers from across the district at a meeting of local leaders of the affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.

In discussions throughout the day, parents, teachers, and administrators raised the challenges of parent engagement, ensuring that students come to school ready to learn, and ensuring that students are making strides towards achieving at or above grade level. Dr. Melendez encouraged the teachers and school leaders to keep up their strong partnerships with the community to provide additional supports for students. She engaged in a candid dialogue with teachers and acknowledged the difficult work of turning around schools in the district. She listened to their concerns. Dr. Melendez encouraged the entire school community to think about a common vision for what a successful turnaround looks like at their school, and to keep working towards this vision.

Dr. Melendez described ways that the U.S. Department of Education could assist schools turning around, and she discussed ways that the ESEA Blueprint proposal can support schools’ work through school turnaround grants, Promise Neighborhoods Grants, teacher and leader development, afterschool and extended learning time supports, accountability growth models, and improved assessments and standards towards college- and career-readiness. Teachers and administrators expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to share their challenges and successes and the opportunity to keep an open dialogue with the Department of Education.
Kathryn Young
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules - Boston.com

In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules

In this photo taken May 20, 2010 at the Capitol in Denver, State Senator Michael Johnston, D-Denver, right, leans on the shoulder of Romel Greer, left, a member of Project Voyce who supported the teacher's tenure Bill that was being signed into law by the Governor. Greer, who just graduated from Bruce Randolph High School, was one of the key spokesman who met with legislators. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

By Colleen Slevin

Associated Press Writer / June 12, 2010

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DENVER—Colorado is changing the rules for how teachers earn and keep the sweeping job protections known as tenure, linking student performance to job security despite outcry from teacher unions that have steadfastly defended the system for decades.

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Many education reform advocates consider tenure to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving America's schools because it makes removing mediocre or even incompetent teachers difficult.

Colorado's legislature changed tenure rules despite opposition from the state's largest teacher's union, a longtime ally of majority Democrats. Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat, signed the bill into law last month.

It requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their rating based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Beginning teachers will have to show they've boosted student achievement for three straight years to earn tenure.

Teachers could lose tenure if their students don't show progress for two consecutive years. Under the old system, teachers simply had to work for three years to gain tenure, the typical wait around the country.

After the bill survived a filibuster attempt and passed a key House vote, Democratic Rep. Nancy Todd, a 25-year teacher who opposed the measure, broke into tears.

"I don't question your motives," an emotional Todd said to the bill's proponents. "But I do want you to hear my heart because my heart is speaking for over 40,000 teachers in the state of Colorado who have been given the message that it is all up to them."

While other states have tried to modify tenure, Colorado's law was the boldest education reform in recent memory, according to Kate Walsh, the president of the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality, which promotes

Obama Officially, and Personally, Asks for Edujobs Money - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Obama Officially, and Personally, Asks for Edujobs Money

by Alyson Klein

I'm sure you've heard by now that the White House, which some folks said wasn't going after the edujobs money with sufficient gusto, sent a letter, on a weekend no less, to congressional leaders asking them to please pass legislation to stave off what some warn could be 300,000 teacher layoffs.
A couple of things to note here:
*The version of the edujobs bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in December, was set to provide $23 billion, but the letter doesn't specify an amount. Still, published reports say this is an ask for $50 billion in total state aid, which would seem to suggest that the administration wants the full $23 billion.
*The White House also asked Congress to pass an extension of the Medicaid FMAP program, which could cost about $24 billion. That money is also pretty important to education funding because some 30 states have already written it into their budgets. If it doesn't come through, there could be more cuts to state ledgers, which usually

Flypaper: Education reform ideas that stick, from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Education’s golden parachutes?

A few weeks ago the edu-documentary The Cartel had a showing here in Columbus. If you’ve not seen it (which we highly recommend), The Cartelprofiles widespread corruption and administrative waste in New Jersey schools. One particularly notable segment featured the shocking number of NJ district administrators that were fired for not performing to expectations, yet still collected huge severance packages.

Think this sort of practice is confined to the Garden State? Definitely not.

The same situation is playing out with the resignation of a Columbus-area superintendent.

Steve Castle, the superintendent of the New Albany-Plain school district, recently resigned amidst a negative performance review from his freshly elected local school board.

The new school board, most of whom ran on platforms to depose Castle, brought enough pressure to force him to resign a year before his current contract expires. Complaints of Castle range from overall lack of vision to giving raises to teachers during a heated levy campaign. However, Castle was still able to walk away with a substantial golden parachute. According to the Columbus Dispatch:

…. Castle can stay on with the district as “immediate past superintendent” and will do some other work, as spelled out by the board, until his contract expires July 31, 2011. But board President Mark Ryan could not explain what that work would be.

If Castle does that, he’ll receive a salary and benefits package that would total $422,209, which would include his annual salary of $173,666; severance pay of $134,769; $91,000 in sick leave, and other benefits such as vacation pay and a car allowance.

If he chooses to leave before the end of the contract for another job, Castle would receive the difference of what he would have earned with the school district through the end of his contract – $287,440 in salary

To lobby Albany, mayor invited union leaders on his private jet | GothamSchools

To lobby Albany, mayor invited union leaders on his private jet

by Anna Phillips

The other day, a mayor, two union presidents, and a schools chancellor walked onto a private jet. It was not the start of a joke; it is what actually happened when Mayor Bloomberg gave a ride to some of his toughest labor counterparts last week.
On the jet heading upstate with the mayor were teachers union President Michael Mulgrew, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernest Logan, schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, the mayor’s Press Secretary Stu Loeser, and Mulgrew’s Deputy Director of Communications Peter Kadushin.
The group of labor and management leaders was in Albany to ask the legislature not to make severe cuts to

300,000 teacher pink slips. Call congress now. � Fred Klonsky's blog

300,000 teacher pink slips. Call congress now.

by preaprez

An estimated 300,000 teaching jobs across the country are at risk. Congress is considering a $28 billion dollar emergency education funding bill. Call now: 866 608 6355.

Chicago Teachers' Union Victory Against Scapegoating Teachers - Perdaily.com

Chicago Teachers' Union Victory Against Scapegoating Teachers

Someone once said, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." That is true to the nth degree for teachers who have one of the most stressful jobs there is, but also must deal with a constant assault from LAUSD to try -- as I have said many times on this blog to scapegoat them -- for a system they have no control over. Well, while it is too early to tell, there might have been the first step toward turning this regrettable circumstances around in Chicago Public Schools, where its 30,000 teacher have just elected Karen Lewis to end the 40 year reign of business and politics as usual at their teachers' union.

If you would like to hear her comments, you can listen here.

Let me take this opportunity to summarize some of the points she made in the speech so you can see that although we don't often have the time to appreciate it, the battles that we are fighting for real education reform are being waged in every major city throughout this

Unity, Proven Education Reforms Will Move State Forward, Jerry Brown Tells 800 Teachers In L.A. - California Teachers Association

Unity, Proven Education Reforms Will Move State Forward, Jerry Brown Tells 800 Teachers

Contacts by cell: Mike Myslinski at 408-921-5769 or Sandra Jackson, 916-801-4776

LOS ANGELES — Calling for more proven, teacher-supported reforms for our public schools, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown today told 800 educators from across California he would “mobilize the people of this state” behind public education to achieve a better future for all.

“Look, we’re facing big changes, and people who haven’t been around always want to reinvent the wheel with yesterday’s tried and failed programs,” Brown said of state and federal obsessions with standardized testing and other so-called reforms. “We don’t make progress by dividing. We make progress by uniting.”

Drawing enthusiastic applause, he said teachers should be trusted to know what works in our classrooms – and need proven reforms like more time for colleagues to share ideas. He called for one united California to protect the middle class and to end political gridlock. Society needs more “thinking as Californians first, and members of the Democratic party second, and the Republican party,” Brown said. “When we invest in our people and in our schools, when we pull together, then we know that we don’t just defend the land of our fathers – we defend and protect the land of our children. That’s the future, that’s our future, and together we’re going to take back California.”

Brown spoke at the quarterly meeting at a downtown Los Angeles hotel of the CTA State Council of Education, whose 800 democratically elected delegates represent the union’s 325,000 teachers, counselors, librarians, school nurses and education support professionals.

David A. Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association, introduced Brown today by reminding delegates that the current state attorney general “knows that California’s future depends on a world-class, quality public school system. He believes that the best education reform happens when there is collaboration among teachers, administrators and parents.”

Sanchez also praised teachers this weekend for leading the primary election fight victory for CTA-backed Assembly member Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, in the critical race for state superintendent of public instruction. Torlakson emerged from a crowded field to join former Bay Area school district superintendent Larry Aceves in a November runoff. The CTA Council endorsed Jerry Brown earlier this year, along with other candidates. CTA delegates this weekend completed all endorsements for state constitutional offices: Jerry Brown, governor; Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor; Kamala Harris, attorney general; Dave Jones, insurance commissioner; Debra Bowen, secretary of state; John Chiang, state controller; Bill Lockyer, state treasurer. For complete CTA candidate recommendations, go towww.cta.org.

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The 325,000-member CTA is affiliated with the 3.2 million-member National Education Association.

This Week In Education Reviewing My Inactive Roll Sheet - Accountability: Gimmicky Acceptance Rate Claims

This Week In Education

Thompson: Reviewing My Inactive Roll Sheet

by john thompson

When I began teaching at an alternative school for felons, the mental health counselors said that I would be witnessing the results of child abuse and kidnapping cases that make the headlines and then are forgotten. Now I see the same stories as I review my "Inactive Rolls" at the end of the year. Every year I see on the Inactive list a full case load for a mental health professional, as well as a load for one or more teachers. Some Inactive students are deceased, while others transferred to better schools. My Inactive Roll averages around 75, and most of the kids end up on the streets. Four years ago when our school becameThe Wire, it topped 150. I wish that decision-makers, who follow the conventional wisdom and starve alternative services for fear of warehousing troubled kids, could

Accountability: Gimmicky Acceptance Rate Claims

by Alexander Russo

More and more, it seems, schools are touting high graduation and college acceptance rates -- and the media are by and large passing them along as truth. But should we believe them? What about about schools and districts that require seniors to apply to schools as part of their graduation requirements, no matter whether they plan to attend? What about college acceptance rates padded with community colleges that take pretty much anyone? What about all the kids who may have dropped out along the way, including since the beginning of senior year? Graduation rates have always

National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Should Congress Delay Reauthorization Of The Elementary And Secondary Ed Act?

Should Congress Delay Reauthorization Of The Elementary And Secondary Ed Act?

The prospects for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year are increasingly dim. With climate change, financial regulatory reform, a Supreme Court nominee, November elections and fallout from the BP oil spill on lawmakers' minds, little legislative bandwidth remains to be used elsewhere. Not to mention that congressional leaders with jurisdiction over education are currently focused on finding a way to advance a $23 billion education jobs bill intended to avert hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs.

To create the best law possible, should Congress delay further work on ESEA reauthorization to 2011, when the legislative agenda will be less crowded? Is there concern that progress made during 2010 ESEA hearings will be lost if the bill isn't acted upon this session?

-- Eliza Krigman, NationalJournal.com

Slow and steady MIGHT win this race
Chester E. Finn, Jr.
President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Sooner? Later? Does it Matter?
Steve Peha
President, Teaching That Makes Sense

Do It Right, Do It Now
Gov. Bob Wise
President, Alliance for Excellent Education

Don't Delay -- This Will Take Time
Gary Huggins
Executive Director, Commission on No Child Left Behind

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Monday, June 14, 2010