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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fremont High's grand experiment begins - latimes.com

Fremont High's grand experiment begins - latimes.com

Fremont High's grand experiment begins

Fremont High's grand experiment begins

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
The L.A. Unified campus reopens with a mostly new staff as the district attempts to address the campus' historically dismal academic results. But the approach has its critics.

Jewish organizations protest UC president's handling of reports of anti-Semitism

By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
The groups assert that the university's reaction has been too weak. University chief Mark G. Yudof says the groups may be basing their responses on an unreliable sampling of student opinion.

Santa Monica Fourth of July Parade celebrates the national holiday and environmental advocacy.

By Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times
Locals and nonresidents alike gather along Santa Monica's Main Street on Sunday to watch the parade. Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental organization, was the parade's grand marshal.


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Education | Seattle Schools reorganizes oversight into regions | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Seattle Schools reorganizes oversight into regions | Seattle Times Newspaper

Seattle Schools reorganizes oversight into regions

Seattle Public Schools on Tuesday announced a shake-up in the oversight of its 88 schools.
Seattle Public Schools on Tuesday announced a shake-up in the oversight of its 88 schools.
In the past, five instructional directors have been responsible for assessing principals and school performance. Three directors oversaw elementary schools, one oversaw middle schools and one oversaw high schools.
But a year after taking over as the district's chief academic officer, Susan Enfield has reconfigured oversight into regions. Five new "executive directors" will now oversee a geographic cluster of schools from pre-K through high school.
Just one previous director has been named to the new oversight panel: Michael Tolley, who has overseen high schools since 2007.
Two new directors have been named to the oversight panel: Phil Brockman, who has been principal of Ballard High School for the past five years; and Aurora Lora, founder and administrator of the Harriet Tubman

Washington school districts going to voters again

Some Washington voters will be asked to consider new school levies on either the August or November ballots.
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Rise & Shine: Closing HS awarded diploma to no-show student | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Closing HS awarded diploma to no-show student | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Closing HS awarded diploma to no-show student

by Philissa Cramer
News from New York City:
  • Summer school started yesterday in blistering heat but mostly with air conditioning. (NY1, Times)
  • Investigators found that the principal of PS 50 in the Bronx helped himself with contracts. (Daily News)
  • Through credit recovery, closing Lafayette HS graduated an overage student who rarely attended. (Post)
  • A city schools superintendent, Cami Anderson, is applying to open three charter schools. (Post)
  • City schools are suspending students 40 percent more than they did four years ago. (Daily News)
  • School construction workers held a boozy end-of-year party on a high school campus. (Post)
  • Nicole Suriel’s drowning death is a lot like another field trip downing that happened in 1994. (Post)
  • Fearing repercussions, Suriel’s Harlem school, is rallying to keep its administrators. (Times)
  • Economics is a central part of the curriculum at MS 223 in the South Bronx. (Wall Street Journal)
  • More on the city’s controversial move to consolidate two programs for students on Rikers Island. (Times)
  • Queens high schools make up a large proportion of those on the city’s restructuring list. (Daily News)
  • The New Teacher Project’s head says Randi Weingarten deserves credit for backing reform. (Daily News)
  • Mayor Bloomberg said the UFT is like a bad lawyer because it defended weak schools. (Daily News)
  • But recent history suggests that teachers unions are even less popular than lawyers. (NY Magazine)
  • A Democracy Prep charter school teacher says he prefers his 403B to his old pension plan. (Daily News)
And beyond:
  • Suburban Princeton, N.J., is grappling with the charter school question. (Wall Street Journal)
  • The rigorous International Baccalaureate program is a growing alternative for advanced students. (Times)
  • Fearing heckling, the Obama administration is staying away from teachers union conventions. (Times)
  • More parents are trying to avoid vaccinating their children. (Wall Street Journal)
  • A bid for mayoral control in Rochester is on the rocks without Albany’s support. (Democrat and Chronicle)
  • Kansas City schools are set to start arranging classes by ability instead of age. (AP)
  • A D.C. principal who has boosted performance has also made some enemies. (Washington Post)
  • A Los Angeles school opened yesterday under the mostly-new-staff turnaround model. (L.A. Times)

Remainders: No retirement incentive for you

by Anna Phillips
  • Mayor Bloomberg said he’s not going to offer senior teachers a retirement incentive. (Daily Politics)
  • He also said it’s likely the city will have to make more cuts. (State of Politics)
  • A Department of Education official is leaving to kick anti-gay marriage legislators out of office. (Times)
  • Bloomberg get a “D” for letting Albany compromise Klein’s charter authorizing power. (City Hall)
  • President Obama is relying on the Senate to save Race to the Top from millions in cuts. (WaPo)
  • Thirteen senators have written a letter in opposition to the cuts. (Edweek)
  • Jonathan Alter says cuts had to be made, but Obey pulled from the wrong places. (Newsweek)
  • There could be a silver lining to cutting funding from RttT: more qualified winners. (Flypaper)
  • A parent says her school is squeezed but the city says it can enroll more students. (NYC Parent blog)
  • A teacher wonders what Bill Gates will say to a teachers union convention. (NYC Educator)
  • In time for CA’s upcoming budget fight, a report says its schools are underfunded. (Educated Guess)
  • And Stephen Sawchuk promises coverage of the new teachers union conventions. (Edweek)
  • Finally, we’re extending our long weekend through Tuesday. Enjoy the break and see you next week!
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Education Overload � InterACT

Education Overload � InterACT

Education Overload

by David B. Cohen
I was feeling pretty smart last week, strolling the halls of our state capitol and talking about teacher evaluation reforms with members of our legislature. The policy report that Accomplished California Teachers published recently has been well-received, and policy makers are, as we’d hoped, asking for our input about current initiatives and future ones. I was in a follow-up meeting in my hometown, meeting in my state senator’s office on Tuesday, when his legislative director asked me if I had actually read one of the bills we had touched upon in our conversation. It wasn’t meant as a challenge, but simply a point of clarification regarding the background of our discussion. I freely admitted I hadn’t read the actual bill yet, and we continued to converse pleasantly about the issues; then, I went home to do my homework.
For teachers like me, who take an interest in political developments in education, it can become a time-
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Schools Matter: Generation of High Stakes Testing Produces the Next Generation of White Collar Thieves

Schools Matter: Generation of High Stakes Testing Produces the Next Generation of White Collar Thieves

Generation of High Stakes Testing Produces the Next Generation of White Collar Thieves

by Jim Horn
The School of Business at U. of Central Florida has a testing center that is as secure and as intrusive as a Vegas casino. The age of "accountability" has produced a generation of cheats, along with a policing system that will forever be trying to catch up with the cheating technology. The only people benefiting are the tech companies. Imagine that. From NYTimes:
ORLANDO, Fla. — The frontier in the battle to defeat student cheating may be here at the testing center of the University of Central Florida.
No gum is allowed during an exam: chewing could disguise a student’s speaking into a hands-free
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Dallas City Council seeks bids to privatize police auto pound, may sell site | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Dallas City Council seeks bids to privatize police auto pound, may sell site | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Dallas City Council seeks bids to privatize police auto pound, may sell site



11:32 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com
City officials are looking for a firm that can take over the Dallas police auto pound, an idea long on the cash-strapped city’s list of potential ways to generate more money.
At the bustling 24-hour impound lot, tow-truck drivers bring in more than 100 vehicles a day. Some are wrecked. Others are stolen vehicles found by the police. Still others have been impounded after their drivers were arrested.
Vehicle owners must pay the city $20 for each day the vehicle is in the pound. These fees, along with related towing and auto-auction revenues, bring in a net profit of about $3.2 million a year after covering the city’s lot operation costs of about $9 million.
Officials hope the auto pound could make more money for the city in the hands of a private contractor.
“We don’t know whether it’ll make financial sense yet, that’s part of why we’re putting out” the request for bids on a contract, said Mark Duebner, a civilian who oversees the Police Department’s financial and contract management division.
The city also is considering the sale of the 50-acre site where the impound lot now sits, at 1955 Vilbig Road.
The site is in an industrial area of West Dallas being eyed by
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LA high school reopens with new teachers, staff

LA high school reopens with new teachers, staff

LA high school reopens with new teachers, staff

Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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(07-06) 18:22 PDT Los Angeles, CA (AP) --
It's the first day of school at Fremont High School, with mostly new teachers, administrators and even cafeteria workers.
The South Los Angeles school began its school year Tuesday because it operates on a year-round schedule because of overcrowding.
The school was restructured under the Los Angeles Unified School District's drastic reform program that requires all educators and staff to reapply for their jobs.
About half of the school's teachers returned. Others refused to apply and a few were


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/06/state/n182230D72.DTL&type=education#ixzz0sxthLAhx
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Oregon universities and colleges brace for record fall enrollments | OregonLive.com

Oregon universities and colleges brace for record fall enrollments | OregonLive.com

Oregon universities and colleges brace for record fall enrollments

Published: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 6:25 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 7:24 PM
Bill Graves, The Oregonian Bill Graves, The Oregonian
Portland State University Physics ClassBeth Nakamura/The OregonianEvan Luehrs, second from left, attends a full physics class Tuesday morning at Portland State University, which saw its enrollment climb slightly this summer to about 14,000 students or half its fall enrollment.
While the recession continues to deliver high unemployment, budget cuts and economic uncertainty, it also keeps filling Oregon colleges and universities with an unprecedented flood of students.

The state's community colleges, public and private colleges and universities are seeing record numbers of summer students and bracing for record-high enrollments this fall. The growth comes atop record enrollments last year and the year before, putting a strain on state institutions as they scramble to hire more professors and add more classes. Some say they are nearing capacity.

The Oregon University System projects enrollment will climb at its seven campuses by about 5 percent to a record 96,200 students this fall.

The state's 17 community colleges all expect to grow, with some projecting increases as high as 25 percent. They continue to enroll students looking for a more affordable path to a degree and displaced workers trying to get job skills.



At the same time, students are taking on more debt as state financial aid shrinks and some of their parents lose jobs and wages. Some students are opting for graduate school, and deeper debt, because they can't find jobs.

In addition, a large number of high school graduates, an influx of students shut out of Washington and California financially-strapped state universities and a continuing stream of people into Oregon all help fill the state's universities and community colleges.

Oregon University System enrollment trendsView full sizeThe Oregonian

Enrollment has climbed at Portland Community College every term since 2007, said spokesman Dana Haynes.

Fall enrollment "will be up again, and it will be up double digits," he said. "The reason is because of the recession. Anytime the economy goes south, people swarm to community colleges."

Every community college also is reporting increases in summer enrollment ranging from 
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