Friday, December 3, 2010

SoCal city teachers set to strike over salary cut - BusinessWeek

SoCal city teachers set to strike over salary cut

By CHRISTINA HOAG

STORY TOOLS

LA HABRA, CALIF.

Teachers in the Southern California community of La Habra said Wednesday they were poised to declare a strike after the school district unilaterally implemented a contract slashing salaries by 2 percent and imposing two furlough days.

"We are in the strike-preparation process now," said Danette Brown, president of the union La Habra Education Association. "We are not yet ready to announce the exact date the teachers will walk, but I can tell you that a strike is imminent."

The K-8 district, which serves 5,400 students in a suburb southeast of Los Angeles, has been negotiating with its 225 teachers since the previous three-year contract expired in July 2009,

Diann Woodard: School Reform or Permanent Underclass?

School Reform or Permanent Underclass?

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The recent spate of resignations by heads of school districts in Chicago, Washington and New York City who advocate the so-called business model of school reform has predictably been followed by new appointees as ill-prepared for the challenge of improving student performance as their predecessors.

The common theme in the message of these departing chancellors and the politicians who appointed them is that controversy equals success, with little or no evidence to support the rhetoric, an increasingly disturbing trend among policy elites who are joined at the hip by their neo-liberal proclivities for privatizing public services and

NJ Spotlight | The Clock is Ticking for Teacher Effectiveness Task Force

The Clock is Ticking for Teacher Effectiveness Task Force
Behind closed doors, committee reviews research and interviews experts, with draft report slated for March 1

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By John Mooney, December 3 in Education |1 Comment

With no small task at hand -- and not much time -- a dozen or so educators, advocates and academics have begun gathering regularly in the administrative offices of North Brunswick schools to come up with a way to evaluate teachers and principals across the state.

The members of Gov. Chris Christie’s Educator Effectiveness Task Force, along with state department staff, met on Wednesday for more than five hours, beginning to draft a report to submit to Christie by March 1.

The members appointed by Christie in what was a controversial selection process in itself and have each signed confidentiality agreements.

But their chairman said yesterday that the group has already begin reviewing research and talking to experts, in and out of state. Some early attention has been paid to Delaware’s evaluation system

Daily Kos: For What It's Worth

For What It's Worth

by teacherken

If you think some people here are disappointed - or far worse - at the administration on a number of fronts, what you are seeing starting to become public from members of both the House and now Senate Democratic caucuses is just the tip of the iceberg. The anger among the electeds is palpable, which might be why it is now more frequently exploding into public view.

While I do not always agree with some of my friends among the electeds, I have to say that I am beyond frustrated, albeit for different reasons.

I have been disappointed and then frustrated, and now I am becoming angry.

In saying that I in no way diminish the very significant accomplishments of this term:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: NEW OVERSEER FOR CHARTERS URGED: State board too consumed by charter petitions

NEW OVERSEER FOR CHARTERS URGED: State board too consumed by charter petitions By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/eY6GyP Posted on 12/02/10 • Charter schools have become a time sink for the State Board of Education, with a third of its time spent dealing with schools serving 5 percent of California’s students. ...

CTA CITES QEIA’s BIG IMPACT: Is it teacher leadership or smaller classes? By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/exHvg6 12/01/10 • Over the past three years, API scores have increased significantly for the bottom 20 percent of California schools, despite ongoing budget cuts. But they’ve risen even higher overall ...

CONGRESS SENDS SCHOOL NUTRITION BILL TO OBAMA By The Associated Press | http://bit.ly/fTc0Hb December 2, 2010 – Washington - More children would eat lunches and dinners at school under legislation passed Thursday by the House and sent to the president, part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to ...

STUDY LOOKS AT TURNOVER IN CHARTER PRINCIPALS: "You’re Leaving? Sustainability and Succession in Charter Schools" Report Roundup by By Mary Ann Zehr in Ed Week | http://bit.ly/gG2NO9 December 1, 2010 -- Seventy-one percent of charter school leaders say they plan to leave their schools within five years, raising questions about the stability of the culture of ...

CHARTER SCHOOLS AND OTHERS SUBMIT PLANS FOR CONTROL OF NEW AND STRUGGLING L.A. SCHOOLS Howard Blume in LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/gyoPBY December 2, 2010 | 2:11 pm - Four dozen groups will vie for control of 10 new campuses and three existing schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The applications, which were due ...

Calif. tops nation in English language learners | California Watch

Calif. tops nation in English language learners

by Joanna Lin

Joanna Lin

Students learning English speak more than 150 languages nationwide. The challenges schools face in teaching these students may be most evident in California, which hosts the most English language learners in the country.

The number of English language learners is growing across the country, representing one in four California students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an independent research group.

In an analysis of 2008-09 state education reports [PDF], released Wednesday, the institute found that Spanish was the predominant language for the vast majority of California's 1.5 million English language learners.

Green Chemistry rules draw toxic reaction

by Joshua Emerson Smith

Joshua Emerson Smith

Environmentalists are accusing the Schwarzenegger administration of gutting a landmark California law designed to reduce the number of harmful chemicals in consumer products.

Expectations were set high when the Green Chemistry Initiative was created two years ago and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger predicted it would move "California to the forefront of the nation and the world" in cutting harmful

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bits & Pieces

Bits & Pieces

by Mike Klonsky

Out of the closet: Michelle Rhee dropped her Dem cover. The Waiting for Supermanhero and Broad Academy grad has joined Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott's T-Party team.

Scott was elected last month to succeed Gov. Charlie Crist (I), who had quit the Republican Party to make an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate. Florida, with one of the nation's most closely watched school systems, won a $700 million Race to the Top grant from the Obama administration to improve education. Crist vetoed a bill this year that would have expanded teacher merit pay. (WaPo)

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FairTest's Monty Neil posts an interesting response to the the Ravitch/Finn debate over at NDSG group.

For quite some time Checker Finn of Fordham Foundation has been one of if not the most important ideologue and strategist for neoliberal ed 'reform' (deform). In a reply to Diane Ravitch's Wall St Journal op ed of a few days ago, Finn redefines 'local control' as form of the market, a

The Answer Sheet - Time to pay attention to a reform that works

Time to pay attention to a reform that works

My guest is Marci Young, director of Pre-K Now, a project of the nonprofit Pew Center on the States that advances high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 3 year olds and 4 year olds. By Marci Young There’s an education reform strategy that has 50 years of solid research behind it, with proven results that demonstrate how to improve student achievement. It’s a solution backed by both political parties to help narrow the achievement gap, increase high school graduation rates and reduce crime and delinquency. It’s an investment proven to yield up to $7 for every public dollar invested, paying dividends to families, school districts and taxpayers. It’s voluntary, high-quality pre-kindergarten. Decades of research reveal that most of a child’s brain development takes place before age five. When young children miss out on experiences during this critical time that maximize their immense learning potential, pernicious achievement gaps emerge among children of

NYC Public School Parents: NY1 on the Deny the Waiver coalition rally

NY1 on the Deny the Waiver coalition rally

by Leonie Haimson

Check out the great statement by Patrick Sullivan, Manhattan member from the Panel for Educational Policy. Other newsclips at Gotham Schools, DNA Info, and Gotham Gazette. See photos here.

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Friday, December 3, 2010