Thursday, August 12, 2010

Feds to schools: Check is not yet in the mail | California Watch

12:35 AM (7 hours ago)

Feds to schools: Check is not yet in the mail

by Louis Freedberg

Many unknowns stand in the way of California school districts actually being able to spend money from the $26 billion state relief fund signed into law by President Obama this week.
The president declared that, among other things, the fund "will keep at least 160,000 teachers in the classroom this fall who would otherwise be out of a job."
Of the $26 billion, California will get at least $1.2 billion for its schools. But it is impossible to visualize how many districts will be able to rehire teachers, draw up staffing patterns and assign kids to respective classrooms by opening day. Some schools on year-round schedules are already in session. Others like those on traditional

Attorney general goes after poisonous lead levels in bounce houses

by Susanne Rust

Susanne Rust

If visions of broken legs and whiplash isn’t enough for anxious parents watching kids romp in a giant, vinyl air-filled castle, California’s Attorney General has another nightmare scenario to add to the list: lead exposure.
Jerry Brown’s office filed suit Wednesday against nine manufacturers, distributors and renters of children’s bounce houses,

8 percent of U.S. babies born to illegal immigrants

by Joanna Lin

Joanna Lin

Illegal immigrants constitute about 4 percent of adults in the United States, but they gave birth to about 8 percent of babies in 2008, according to a study published yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The findings, based on 2009 census data, reveal how illegal immigrants differ from the overall American population in age, fertility and

Unclear Impact Of Federal Education Fund - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Unclear Impact Of Federal Education Fund

by Alexander Russo

Federal Bill Gives CPS Cash to Prevent Layoffs WBEZ: Chicago Public Schools could get more than $80 million from a federal bill aimed to prevent teacher layoffs.... Bill Saves 5,000 Education Jobs in Ill. Fox: U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Mayor Richard Daley spoke at a South Side high school Wednesday to announce the jobs bill signed by President Obama on Tuesday will help save teachers' jobs in Illinois... Kirk changes mind, votes

AM News: Should City Colleges Remain Open? CPS improves high schoolers going to college rate Clout Street: The percentage of Chicago Public Schools graduates going on to college continued to increase in the past year, Mayor Richard Daley and school officials announced today, though the city ...

Smaller Changes To The 2010-2011 School Year [image: college-text-books.jpg] Behind the headlines, there are probably going to be lots of small but important changes at schools around Chicago -- schedule changes, assignment changes, curriculum changes -- that usually get lost in the hullabaloo of ...

Ghotit | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Ghotit Ghotit is a super-spell-checker that is ideal for very beginning English Language Learners and ELL’s with learning disabilities (as well as native speakers with challenges). It has the ability to help “sleuth-out” words that people are trying to ...

“Scary Bridges” Scary Bridges is the title of a slideshow from the News in Australia. Though it isn’t a perfect “fit,” I’m still adding it to The Best Images Of Spectacular Bridges (& How Students Can Make Their Own).

Now We Know How To “Fix” Schools — Fire 80% Of All New Teachers In May, Newsweek came out with a cover story proclaiming that “the key to saving American Education was…we must fire bad teachers” (see my post, Did You Know That THE Key To Saving American Education Is Firing Bad Teachers?). Now, a study has ...

Require kindergarteners to be 5 by Sept. 1

Diana Argenti,Natalie Bivas

Thursday, August 12, 2010

E-mail

Comments (4)

Font | Size:

OPEN FORUM

Should judge have recused himself on Prop. 8? 08.11.10
Reward doctors for spending time with patients 08.10.10
The poor must be spared in state's budget cuts 08.09.10

More Open Forum »

When you think back to kindergarten, you probably remember finger painting, listening to stories, playing in the sandbox and nap time. You probably do not remember solving story problems in math and writers' workshops.
Over the past 10 years, kindergarten has become increasingly academic, though teachers still make time for art, music and play. For some children, it is too much.
They try to keep up, but fall behind right away. They keep lagging their classmates when they are 7 and 10 and 15 - or until they give up.
As teachers, it breaks our hearts, especially when their struggle has such as an obvious

State board approves BEST grants | EdNewsColorado

State board approves BEST grants

by Todd Engdahl

The State Board of Education Wednesday approved $252.1 million in school construction projects and ruled against the Adams 12 Five Star Schools in a dispute with the Prospect Ridge Academy charter school.
The board’s actions were just two of several key decisions and discussions that came during its daylong meeting. The board heard a discouraging report about future state funding of schools, was briefed about a new Department of Education initiative on educator effectiveness and approved the first innovation schools application

The Daily Churn: Thursday

by Alan Gottlieb

What’s churning:

After all the hoopla surrounding the recently-passed “Edujobs” bill, is it possible that Colorado might not qualify for up to $159 million in federal aid to prevent teacher layoffs (oh, yes, and to shore up Medicaid)? That possibility has state officials fretting a bit, and they expressed their worry Wednesday to the State Board of Education. This seems more likely than not to be a classic case of the federal bureaucracy being in conflict with itself, but folks at the Colorado Department of Education will be holding their collective breath until the matter gets resolved.

On tap today:

The State Board of Education wraps up its two-day meeting. Other than that, it looks to be a quiet day on the education front.
Good reads from elsewhere:
Keep hope alive: Is desegregation dead as a school reform strategy? This blogger says no.
Help on the way: President Obama signed the “Edujobs” bill Wednesday.
Lap of luxury: CU-Boulder unveils new student hub

The Answer Sheet - Dogs: An unusual guide to school reform

Dogs: An unusual guide to school reform

My guest today is Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.

By Marion Brady
Driving the country roads of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, I have sometimes been lucky enough to be blocked by sheep being moved from one pasture to another.

I say ‘lucky’ because it allows me to watch an impressive performance by a dog – usually a Border Collie.

What a show! A single, mid-sized dog herding two or three hundred

Education Research Report: Teacher Attrition and Mobility

Teacher Attrition and Mobility

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Among teachers who left teaching in 2008-09, about 5.3 percent of public school teachers left because their contract was not renewed, compared to 13.0 percent of private school teachers whose contract was not renewed. NCES has released the Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2008–09 Teacher Follow-up Survey. This First Look presents findings about teacher mobility and attrition among elementary and secondary school teachers in grades K–12 in the

Why Rhee chose Anita Dunn D.C. Schools Insider - Bill Turque #educations.

D.C. Schools Insider - Bill Turque chronicles Chancellor Michelle Rhee's effort to transform District public schools.

Why Rhee chose Anita Dunn

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee called on Washington's top echelon of political consultants when she began looking for help with her communications strategy last year. Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry, Bill Clinton campaign manager James Carville and Gore campaign chairman Donna Brazile were among those she said she spoke with.

But it was Anita Dunn, President Obama's former communications director, who made the most favorable impression, Rhee said, because of how relatively little she suggested in the way of changes to her often unvarnished public pronouncements. She said that while the others proposed major fixes, Dunn called for "tweaks." It probably also doesn't hurt that Dunn remains well-wired in the Obama administration, still carrying out spot communications assignments, including Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court.

"We just hit it off," Rhee told the Young Education Professionals at a

Obama signs $26 billion bill to save state jobs

President Obama approved a 26 billion dollar bill aimed at protecting thousands of teachers' jobs.

(AP).

YOUR TURN

Instead pass legislation requiring merit be the primary consideration in laying off public employees, school teachers and otherwise. "

-- drwilly » Obama urges House to pass emergency funding for teachers | Weigh in

Notes from the news, Aug. 12 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 12

by Erika Owens

It's time for the Philadelphia School Reform Commission to step up on accountabilityDaily News (opinion)
Phil Goldsmith writes that the responsibility rests with the SRC to take the lead on setting "high standards for transparency to build public trust" for the District.
Access to District payroll records restored for some The Notebook blog
City Controller Alan Butkovitz' office again has access to the records, but District staffers will need to explain why they need global access to salary and other "sensitive" data.
See also: Deal afoot to restore access to school salary files WHYY
Onorato claims Williams’ mantle… will he get the money? PA2010.com
School choice supporter State Sen. Anthony Williams endorsed Democratic candidate for governor Dan Onorato. Onorato supports the EITC program that is largely used to help fund private and parochial schools.
See also: Onorato Backs State Grants For Private Schools AP via KDKA
Editorial: Feeding their brains The Inquirer
The Senate passed a childhood nutrition bill that includes a provision to continue the Universal Feeding Program in Philadelphia.
Charter battles Philly district over its expansion The Inquirer
Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School did not get official SRC approval for additional seats or to permanently expand to serve high school grades, and now it is urging the SRC to act so that hundreds of students won't have to find new schools for the fall.
Diplomas Now Wins $30 Million Education Department Grant PR Canada
Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.
Click here to get Notes from the news in your inbox every day.
Notes from the news
read more

School Tech Connect: Actually, I Just Want The Jameson

Actually, I Just Want The Jameson

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

There's a pretty good letter to Robert Gibbs right here. I'd like to add my name to it. I'd also like to recognize that even though I think the President is actually worse on education than his predecessor, all of this is taking place in a country where a good chunk of the population is getting its information from people like this. Given that reality, it makes more sense that the

Help an Oakland school, have a martini! The #Education Report

The Education Report

Help an Oakland school, have a martini!

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 4:31 pm in community, finances
4 Comments »

The bartenders in Oakland’s Uptown like to mix really delicious, complicated and expensive cocktails, often with unusual ingredients. (The `sour’ I ordered last night at Era Art Bar involved maple syrup and egg whites.) At a back-to-school fundraiser and Uptown Block Party Aug. 28, a $20 ticket will buy you a cocktail and a donation to a local public school.

Could goodwill get any easier?

The 5 p.m. block party will be hosted by Era, Ozumo, Pican and Luka’s, which

A Health Care Cost Control Model for Higher Ed � The Quick and the Ed

A Health Care Cost Control Model for Higher Ed

by Bill Tucker

Kevin’s last post, which compared cost control efforts and incentives in health care and higher education, reminded me of this recent interview in Health Affairs ($) with Geisinger Health System CEO Glenn Steele, M.D. (Geisinger is recognized as one of the few health care providers successful at controlling costs AND improving quality.)
Geisinger has developed several innovative, cost-saving reimbursement models with better patient outcomes, such as ProvenCare Heart, which provides a single price for coronary surgery, including any complications that occur in the following 90 days. But Steele notes that he’s never received a call from the other insurance payers wanting in on Geisinger’s reimbursement models. To explain, Steele says:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Teacher purge begins in Chicago's Little Village

Teacher purge begins in Chicago's Little Village

by Mike Klonsky

Little Village hunger strikers and supporters created the school

I'm sickened by a message I received this morning telling me that the Race To The Top teacher purge has begun in earnest in Chicago with mass firings at Little Village High School's Multicultural Arts School. Readers

More Atlanta...

Authorities: Kids and dogs to blame for fiasco

From CNN:

But officials said crowd control became an issue after many families brought more than one member -- children, other relatives and even dogs in some cases, according to Kimberly Lemish, executive director of the East Point Housing Authority.

Obama signs bill that could save 300,000 jobs
But 40 million Americans on food stamps may pay the price

Congrats to Pres. Obama, Pelosi and the Dems for passing the Edujobs Bill despite near total opposition of the Limbaugh Party. Doesn't it feel good to stand up for a change? The vote, as expected, was basically along part

Are You Recession-Proof? � InterACT

Are You Recession-Proof?

by Martha Infante

Recently I came across an article written by an older teacher in Slate magazine lamenting her job loss due to the hiring of a younger, more energetic teacher. The author, Beth Aviv, did good job conveying her sense of foreboding, anxiety, and ultimate disappointment as the year wore on, because she could read the writing on the wall.
I am a strong believer in the power of unions to uplift the lives of students, teachers, and school communities, but my first and foremost goal is to educate and empower students to be successful citizens in our society. For this reason, I was not feeling the usual empathy I feel for that teachers who are unfairly singled out for political reasons. It seemed like the teacher was someone who passively accepted the developments in her career

NPR is a mouthpiece for GOP talking points? � Fred Klonsky's blog

NPR is a mouthpiece for GOP talking points?

by preaprez

Congress passed a domestic spending bill the other day that provided $10 billion to rehire laid off teachers. The number of teachers who lost their jobs this past Spring vary from 150,000 to 300,000.
A couple of anti-union bloggers have used this range of numbers to question whether there is a problem at all.
The obvious problem is that US schools are very local institutions and so getting an accurate number is not so

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Access to District payroll records restored for some | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Access to District payroll records restored for some

by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 11 2010

Access to School District payroll records has been restored to key people in Controller Alan Butkovitz's office, while employees within the District whose access was cut off are being asked to justify why they need the records to do their jobs.

"The issue here is to review the access level for all employees and make the the type of access matches the job and duties they must accomplish," said District spokesman Fernando Gallard. He said the "policy change" was triggered by a "security breach," not by a critical column last week in the Daily News raising questions about salaries of the superintendent and several of her top deputies, which exceed that of the governor, mayor, and school leaders in other big cities.

Salaries of top officials are published annually in the District's consolidated budget document, which breaks down spending by department, although they are

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Require kindergarteners to be 5 by Sept. 1

What’s churning:

On tap today:

Dogs: An unusual guide to school reform

Why Rhee chose Anita Dunn

Obama signs $26 billion bill to save state jobs

MORE ON EDUCATION

YOUR TURN

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Access to District payroll records restored for some

by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 11 2010