Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: CTU charges 'education on the cheap'; East Coast dominates Race to the Top

Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: CTU charges 'education on the cheap'; East Coast dominates Race to the Top

Catalyst writers and editors share their perspectives, analyses and the news behind the news on improving Chicago area public schools. Our on-the-ground reports will tell you what’s happening in schools and education circles here and elsewhere. Our views will tell you what to make of it.

In the News: CTU charges 'education on the cheap'; East Coast dominates Race to the TopThe Chicago Teachers Union on Tuesday accused Chicago Public Schools officials of hiring "baby sitters" to provide "education on the cheap," in reference to a plan to use non-teachers for online, after-school classes that will extend school days for 5,500 students.

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Posted By: Cassandra West On Wed Aug 25, 2010 In In the News
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Illinois doesn't win Race to the Top grantDespite many last minute changes to state law to make the state more competitive, Illinois fails to win a piece of the 3.4 billion of federal education grant money.

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Posted By: The Staff of Catalyst On Tue Aug 24, 2010 In In the News
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In the News: More longer CPS days; turnaround plans in doubtChicago Public Schools plans to add 90 minutes to the schedules of 15 elementary schools using online courses and nonteachers.

Continue Reading In the News: More longer CPS days; turnaround plans in doubt »

Beacon Hill Has a Chance to Restore Funding for Early Education and Care with FMAP Money �

Beacon Hill Has a Chance to Restore Funding for Early Education and Care with FMAP Money �

Beacon Hill Has a Chance to Restore Funding for Early Education and Care with FMAP Money

August 25, 2010 by Irene Sege

Yesterday’s big news was the awarding of $250 million in federal Race to the Top funds to Massachusetts, nine other states and the District of Columbia.

In other news, earlier this month President Obama signed legislation passed by the United States Congress to provide $10 billion to support teacher jobs and $16 billion to help states fund Medicaid (FMAP). An estimated $655 million from this bill is coming to Massachusetts; of this, Governor Patrick today allocated $204 million directly to school districts. State leaders have yet to decide how to distribute the rest of the funds. The absence of FMAP relief prior to Governor Patrick’s

August Board Meeting - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

August Board Meeting - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

August Board Meeting

by Alexander Russo

What's happening at the Board meeting today? Well, the CTU planned a protest. I'm sure there's lots of talk about this new extended learning thing, and the layoffs vs. edujobs vs. TIF funding debate. The heat in the classrooms at Track E schools is all but guaranteed to get some air time. There are also probably a couple of important items snuck into the reports and policy changes, as well as a couple of big and easy items that are

N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error | NJ.com

N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error | NJ.com

N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error

Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:44 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:45 PM

Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau
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Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerAssembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, pictured in a file photo, today called for a hearing on the "clerical error" that cost the state federal funding.

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TRENTON — Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) has ordered a hearing on the Christie administration's error that helped sink the state's chances for up to $400 million in a competitive federal education grant called Race to the Top.

“With nearly half of a billion dollars lost because of human error, this hearing is an absolute must,” Oliver said in a statement. “The state, our taxpayers, and most of all our children deserve answers from the administration as to how such an egregious blunder could have been overlooked with so much as stake.”

Oliver did not give a time or date for the meeting of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The statement from the Assembly Democrats said "top to bottom" officials will be called, including Education Commissioner Bret Schundler.

In a press conference this morning, Gov. Chris Christie said he would "take the responsibility we need to take for putting one wrong piece of paper in a thousand-page application," but said the Obama administration should have allowed the state a chance to fix the mistake. The state

Does the Fordham Reform-Friendliness Index Matter? � The Quick and the Ed

Does the Fordham Reform-Friendliness Index Matter? � The Quick and the Ed

Does the Fordham Reform-Friendliness Index Matter?

August 25th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized

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Yesterday, Fordham released a measure of which cities were reform friendly and which ones weren’t. Their study identified New Orleans, Washington D.C, New York City, and Denver as the most reform minded cities. At the bottom of their index were Albany, Philadelphia, Gary, and Detroit. Their index measured the district’s reform environment based on six domains – human capital, financial capital, charter environment, quality control, district environment, and municipal environment. This study was an interesting idea. I generally think that these reform areas are important policy areas, and should in theory have an impact of the quality of education that students in these districts receive.

But, after taking a look at their study, the question that came to mind for me is

CSU official says public, private funds were mixed - San Jose Mercury News

CSU official says public, private funds were mixed - San Jose Mercury News

CSU official says public, private funds were mixed

SACRAMENTO -- A top official at California State University says the system has improperly mixed public funding with money from private foundations and the problem is so bad he can't tell how much money is involved.

California loses bid for 'Race To The Top' education funds

High-school exit exam pass rates rising, especially among minorities

Document: Santa Clara County analysis of exit exam results

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Good Reading

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Good Reading

Interesting paper from Bridgespan on next generation learning initiatives. Tom Friedman hearts Waiting for Superman. And an op-ed from the President of Strayer lays out the contours of the debate over for-profit higher education and accountability. If nothing else that debate is going to finance the college tuition of a lot of

Everything is for sale! | Dailycensored.com

Everything is for sale! | Dailycensored.com

Everything is for sale!

by Danny Weil

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

August 22, 2010

Donor Pledges Dollars if Stephens College Workers Lose Pounds

By Ilana Kowarski

A Stephens College alumna has promised to give her alma mater $1-million, with one weighty condition: Employees of the women’s college in Columbia, Mo., must lose a total of 250 pounds by the stroke of midnight on January 1.

And if the college’s president, Dianne M. Lynch, sheds at least 25 pounds, the donor will add $100,000 to her gift.

“This donation is unusual because it’s not about a program or a scholarship or any other kind of naming

Groundwork for next round of Race to the Top

Groundwork for next round of Race to the Top

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

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MORE OPINION

• Letters to the editor 08.25.10
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• Legislature must authorize insurance exchanges 08.25.10

California's effort to win the second phase of the federal Race to the Top competition was impressive and passionate. We didn't win, however.

We didn't take the competition or the $700 million in federal educational reform funds that a victory could have brought us. That's no small amount of money for a state that ranks 44th in the nation in per-pupil spending. But that doesn't mean we've lost everything.

California's legislators and superintendents did important groundwork that our students will still benefit from in the years to come. If our educational leaders follow through on

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/25/EDUL1F2HVQ.DTL&type=education#ixzz0xdIK7cDy

ASCD Inservice: Hiring and Keeping the Best Teachers

ASCD Inservice: Hiring and Keeping the Best Teachers

Hiring and Keeping the Best Teachers

What are the best strategies for recruiting and hiring teachers? Once a school opens its doors to the best educators, how should it keep them happy and productive?

Many of the issues around teacher retention revolve, surprisingly, not so much around money as around administrative support for staff, opportunities for professional development, and a positive school culture. We're looking for articles about successful strategies for hiring and retaining teachers—including merit pay, a

Race to Top: The Follow-Up Edition - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to Top: The Follow-Up Edition - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to Top: The Follow-Up Edition

by Alyson Klein

Posted by guest blogger Sean Cavanagh

Reaction rolls in from across the country on yesterday's announcement that nine states, plus the District of Columbia, won Race to the Top Fund awards. Much of the discussion focuses on why some states that weren't on many prognosticators' radar—such as Hawaii—made the final cut, while other states thought to be favorites, like Colorado and Louisiana, were left out.

Over at the Fordham Institute, Mike Petrilli is particularly tough on the administration's choices, calling it a "disastrous outcome." He rips the choices of Hawaii and Maryland and the denial of grants to Colorado and Louisiana. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan could have waded in and selected those two losing states,

John Rogers: Value Added is No Magic: Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

John Rogers: Value Added is No Magic: Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

Value Added is No Magic: Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

That old sorcerer has vanished
And for once has gone away!
Spirits called by him, now banished,
My commands shall soon obey.

In Goethe's classic, the apprentice uses a sorcerer's spell to ease his daily chores. Chanting the master's words, he brings a broomstick to life and tells it to fetch water to clean the workshop. The broomstick obeys, only too well. It races between the well and back until the workshop begins to flood. Although the apprentice had enough knowledge to set magic in motion, he could not think ahead to what he did not know.

I worry about a similar flood of unintended consequences if the Los Angeles Times moves forward with its plans to publish a database that places 6,000 Los Angeles third- to fifth-grade teachers on a spectrum from "least effective" to "most effective." The Times believes that the data will be a powerful tool to force better teaching, but it cannot anticipate all of the consequences. For example, consider that capable prospective teachers might avoid a profession in which they risk public embarrassment based on an undeveloped science. Consider the well-documented estimates

Pa. and N.J. fall short in bids for Race to the Top education funds , Aug. 25 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 25 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 25

by Erika Owens

Pa. and N.J. fall short in bids for Race to the Top education funds The Inquirer
Ten states got funds this time, but PA again lost out in round two of the competition for federal stimulus funds, which could have brought $400 million into the state.

See also: PA not among Race to the Top winners The Notebook blog
Pa. loses out on school funds AP via Centre Daily Times

Philadelphia schools all staffed up WHYY
The Renaissance Schools' vacancies are down to three and districtwide there are about 100 open teaching positions.

Unity is the theme for Childs-Barratt pupils Daily News
Parents, teachers, students, and Superintendent Ackerman toured the spruced up Barratt Middle School, which will hold students from both schools next year.

COULD SCHOOL CHOICE PREVENT COP KILLINGS? The Philly Post blog

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Notes from the news

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A Promise Broken...What Anti-Tax Rhetoric Has Wrought | California Progress Report

A Promise Broken...What Anti-Tax Rhetoric Has Wrought | California Progress Report

A Promise Broken...What Anti-Tax Rhetoric Has Wrought

by christine

By Brian Leubitz

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to graduate from Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. While there, I had the opportunity to meet Michael O'Hare, a professor there. To put it simply, he was a fantastic teacher, somebody who could break down complicated ideas into digestible nuggets.

read more

Ugly Politics Ahead: Result of RTT's Focus on Words, Not Deeds :: Frederick M. Hess

Ugly Politics Ahead: Result of RTT's Focus on Words, Not Deeds :: Frederick M. Hess

Ugly Politics Ahead: Result of RTT's Focus on Words, Not Deeds

by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 25, 2010 at 9:40 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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While I've my doubts about urging states to launch new initiatives when job one ought to be financial retrenching, I'm happy to see heavy lifts and real accomplishments recognized in places like Rhode Island, D.C., Massachusetts, and Florida.

That said, in assessing a process that inexplicably left Louisiana and Colorado out of the winners circle, we need to recognize that Congress and the Department of Education conspired to create a competition that primarily rewarded states for embracing ED-endorsed best practices rather than the more mundane efforts to clear away anachronistic policies and reset the policy environment. As I wrote in March:

"RTT embodies two visions of reform. The first cracks open systems hampered by anachronistic bureaucracies and policies; thus the enthusiasm for encouraging states to knock down data firewalls or to lift charter-school caps...

The second vision is a reiteration of the familiar progressive predilection for prescriptive reform. For

Weblogg-ed � 10 Questions for Arne Duncan

Weblogg-ed � 10 Questions for Arne Duncan

10 Questions for Arne Duncan

by Will Richardson

1 person liked this

1. Can you describe how you personally use technology to access, create and share information?

2. In terms of technology use, what were the most innovative ideas for education that you saw in the Race To The Top applications that you reviewed?

3. The National Education Technology Plan calls for the end of “one size fits all learning.” Do you agree and, if so, what does that mean for students and teachers?

4. The plan also calls for teachers to take part in “online learning communities” and “personal learning networks.” What types of professional development should schools be engaging in to achieve those goals?