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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Big Education Ape: 7-7-11 AM Take away the poverty and urban schools perform as well as rest Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Published by Coopmike48 – 7 contributors today

Another question for the blogger. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - A teacher writes: Do you think that with so many NEA members complaining about the endorsement to the fact that some have threatened to “quit” the union it gives ammo to those that are currently do...

fklonsky

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coopmike48 King City teachers sue district over grades - MontereyHerald.com : -http://goo.gl/ZsWiU7 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Dad at the Chalkboard: A Life Ended Far Too Soon - http://goo.gl/LBz9B7 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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fklonsky Not meeting AYP? Want that RTTT grant? Get out that erasure!13 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

The Brooks/Ravitch Dialogue Expands - Living in Dialogue

blogs.edweek.org - A week ago New York Times columnist David Brooks launched a broadside against Diane Ravitch. This was rather reminiscent of the recent attack by Jonathan Alter. These pieces generally lack substanc...

DianeRavitch

Invitation to a Dialogue: Fixing the Schools

nytimes.com - To the Editor: Re “Smells Like School Spirit,” by David Brooks (column, July 1): Mr. Brooks has misrepresented my views. While I have criticized charter schools, I am always car...

DianeRavitch

School Tech Connect: Rahm's Kids

schooltechconnect.com - Hear, Hear! And here, here! I fully intend to examine the length of the school day, the length of the school year, the curriculum, the use of data, the access to recess, exercise and nutritious f...

tbfurman

LivingSee all

Another Blow to Farmworkers

nytimes.com - In California, once a national model of farmworker organizing and progressive labor laws, things have fallen far since the heyday of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Of the more than 400,0...

fklonsky

Another Blow to Farmworkers

nytimes.com - In California, once a national model of farmworker organizing and progressive labor laws, things have fallen far since the heyday of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Of the more than 400,0...

mikeklonsky

white power candidates are seeking public office

blog.angryasianman.com - You're so awesome, America. This Daily Beast article is a handy overview of the startling number of white power -- yes, white power, of the racist variety -- candidates who are currently seeking pu...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

Murdoch's new fixer, Joel Klein

schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com - Reforming the "reformers"MurdochKleinJohnny-come-lately school reform profiteer Rupert Murdoch has to deal with yet another scandal. It seems his people have been doing some phone hacking, bribing...

mikeklonsky

Today's Teamster News 07.07.11

teamsternation.blogspot.com - Scott Walker’s bogus `mission accomplished’ moment Washington Post ...There are 424 school districts in Wisconsin, and as the AP recently noted, Walker’s policies mean draconian budget cuts to 4...

coopmike48

Art & EntertainmentSee all

Home - Inside Higher Ed

insidehighered.com - February 24, 2011 The return of ROTC to some campuses -- seemingly assured by the end of the military's policy against gay service members -- may be hitting a few bumps.More February 24, 2011 City ...

coopmike48

StoriesSee all

A Life Ended Far Too Soon

chalkboarddad.com - There is something morally repugnant about someone being "taken before their time" as the saying goes. Not that we can truly know when someone's "time" is "supposed" to be up, but we can neverthele...

coopmike48

Restoring Gun Rights to the Mentally Ill

democurmudgeon.blogspot.com - Care 2 published a very thoughtful article on this complicated situation.The horror stories are truly horrifying. What gun rights advocates seem to be forgetting is that having a gun carries a s...

coopmike48

CrimeSee all

#eduRead this paperSee all

School Tech Connect: Rahm's Kids

schooltechconnect.com - Hear, Hear! And here, here! I fully intend to examine the length of the school day, the length of the school year, the curriculum, the use of data, the access to recess, exercise and nutritious f...

tbfurman

Trying To Make Sense of District Data« City School Stories

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Notes from the Field « City School StoriesNotes from the Fieldby fmurphyTrying To Make Sense of District DataSubmitted by Timothy Boyle on July 7, 2011We knew when Imagine 2014 was rolled out that ...

coopmike48

#edreformRead this paperSee all

School Tech Connect: Rahm's Kids

schooltechconnect.com - Hear, Hear! And here, here! I fully intend to examine the length of the school day, the length of the school year, the curriculum, the use of data, the access to recess, exercise and nutritious f...

tbfurman

School Tech Connect: Should Schools Have Uniforms?

schooltechconnect.com - Who cares? And who would want to write about this topic besides the five people who are interested in it? And even those five kids are stifling yawns because this kind of thing sucks the life force...

tbfurman

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      Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) (10)
      Race to the Top: Standardized testing for preschoolers - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post Race to the Top: Standardized testing for preschoolers - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post Race to the Top: Standardized testing for preschoolers by Valerie Strauss On January 17, 2003, The Washington Post published a Page 1 story (that I wrote) ...
      Duncan letter to state officials: integrity of test is a ''national interest'' Duncan letter to state officials: integrity of test is a ''national interest'' Duncan letter to state officials: integrity of test is a ''national interest'' by admin Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has sent this letter to chief state school ...
      Hechinger Report | High-stakes tests and cheating: An inevitable combination? Hechinger Report | High-stakes tests and cheating: An inevitable combination? High-stakes tests and cheating: An inevitable combination? by Sarah Garland Robert Tobias A simmering scandal in Atlanta over cheating on standardized tests came to a head ...
      Charter School Alternative Form 2010-11 - Financial Reporting (CA Dept of Education) Charter School Alternative Form 2010-11 - Financial Reporting (CA Dept of Education) Charter School Alternative Form 2010-11Download the 2010-11 Charter School Unaudited Actuals Financial Report Alternative Form as well as instructions on how to ...
      Education Secretary | School Reform | CRS Report | The Daily Caller Education Secretary | School Reform | CRS Report | The Daily Caller Education secretary can go around Congress for No Child reform, report says Published: 3:16 PM 07/06/2011 | Updated: 3:27 PM 07/06/2011 By Gabrielle Levy - The Daily Caller Archive | ...
      Teachers, Nurses, Parents Battle SB 161 – “Diastat” Bill Would Harm Students, Educators, and Schools « State of Emergency Teachers, Nurses, Parents Battle SB 161 – “Diastat” Bill Would Harm Students, Educators, and Schools « State of Emergency Teachers, Nurses, Parents Battle SB 161 – “Diastat” Bill Would Harm Students, Educators, and Schools by Leonard Feldman ...
      Schools Matter: National Lessons to be Learned from Studying Atlanta Cheating Scandal Schools Matter: National Lessons to be Learned from Studying Atlanta Cheating Scandal National Lessons to be Learned from Studying Atlanta Cheating Scandal by Jim Horn From Bob Schaeffer, posted at ARN: Two excellent news stories put the Atlanta scandal ...
      Zip it! Charters and Economic Status by Zip Code in NY and NJ « School Finance 101 Zip it! Charters and Economic Status by Zip Code in NY and NJ « School Finance 101 Zip it! Charters and Economic Status by Zip Code in NY and NJ by schoolfinance101 There’s no mystery or proprietary secret among academics or statisticians and data ...
      Sacramento Press / State Assembly Passes Fair Education Act Sacramento Press / State Assembly Passes Fair Education Act State Assembly Passes Fair Education Act by Ken Pierce Tuesday, the California State Assembly passed a bill that would require schools to fairly and accurately portray the lesbian, gay, ...
      Dad at the Chalkboard: Joplin, Missouri and Will Norton Tribute by S2JVox Dad at the Chalkboard: Joplin, Missouri and Will Norton Tribute by S2JVox Joplin, Missouri and Will Norton Tribute by S2JVox by Brian H Hey there folks. Been a busy time around here. I have some posts in the works plus some good writing news that is not ...
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      Advocate Of Parent Trigger Warned By State For Ethics Violation | Engaging Parents In School...

      Advocate Of Parent Trigger Warned By State For Ethics Violation | Engaging Parents In School...
      Advocate Of Parent Trigger Warned By State For Ethics Violation Gloria Romero, the former California State Senator who attacked the PTA and compared schools to batterers, was warned by the state ethics agency for violating lobbying restrictions in her advocacy for the parent trigger. You can read about it in the ...
      Parent University Program Begins In Birmingham A very major effort is getting underway in Birmingham, Alabama, to create a series of “Parent Universities” throughout the school district. I’ve written quite a bit about “Parent Universities” in the past. Elisa Gonzalez, our school’s Parent ...
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      The Best Resources For Learning About The Phoenix Dust Storm | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

      The Best Resources For Learning About The Phoenix Dust Storm | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
      More On The Space Shuttle Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The Space Shuttle: Around the World (About 20,000 Times) is a pretty darn impressive interactive from The Wall Street Journal. Space Shuttle, Thirty Years of Spaceflight is a ...
      The Best Resources For Learning About The Phoenix Dust Storm Yesterday’s dust storm in Phoenix just seems amazing! Since we start off our ninth-grade English classes with a unit on Natural Disasters, and since I had never heard of such a major dust storm, I thought a short “The Best…” list on it would be ...
      If This Isn’t A Great Reason To Do Teacher Action Research And/Or To Write A Blog, I Don’t Know What Is… Though I do a lot of what I consider “teacher action research,” I’m sure many readers know more about it than me. My simple understanding of it is that it means teachers take on small-scale “action research” projects in their classroom. For example, ...
      Contribute A Post To The Next ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Eva Buyuksimkesyan, who’s hosting the next ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival on September 1st, has announced that the theme for that Carnival will be “Warmers, Fillers and First Week Activities.” Great timing! You can contribute a post to it by using this ...
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      Atlanta works to root out cheating educators

      Atlanta works to root out cheating educators

      Atlanta works to root out cheating educators

      By DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writer

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      Bob Andres / AP

      Gov. Nathan Deal concludes his news conference in the Capitol to discuss the findings of the special investigation of alleged cheating on test scores in the Atlanta Public School System on Tuesday, July 5, 2011 in Atlanta. Deal said 44 of the 56 schools investigated took part in cheating. Investigators also found that 38 principals were wither responsible for the cheating or were directly involved in it. And they determined that 178 teachers and principals cheated. Of those, 82 confessed to the misconduct.



      (07-06) 20:57 PDT ATLANTA (AP) --

      Just a month before classes start, Atlanta schools officials are trying to determine how many of the 178 teachers and principals accused of cheating are still on the job following a scathing state investigation that found some educators held "changing parties" to correct answers.

      The yearlong probe revealed the nation's largest cheating scandal yet on standardized tests, with nearly half of the city's 100 schools involved, and highlighted the immense pressure put on educators to produce better scores. Criminal charges are likely for some of the 82 educators who confessed and the rest who were implicated by colleagues.

      Officials have pledged that the educat



      Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/06/national/a142642D04.DTL#ixzz1RQ4cf17l
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      Who influences education in America? Can anyone? | Thoughts on Public Education

      Who influences education in America? Can anyone? | Thoughts on Public Education

      EQI may replace API in school rankings - by Kathryn Baron California’s Academic Performance Index (API) was never supposed to be based on a single test. When it was created as part of the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999, the legislation was clear on that point. “This bill would require the ...
      FORUM: testing science - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess Should science be tested as frequently on statewide standardized tests as English language arts and math? That’s one of a package of recommendations in “Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, ...
      Who influences education in America? Can anyone? - by Peter Schrag John Merrow, the respected reporter and producer of education pieces for the PBS NewsHour and other documentaries, recently “speculated [as he put it] about the most influential person in American education.” At the top of his original list of ...
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      Why “I Don’t Do Technology” Isn’t Acceptable | Connected Principals

      Why “I Don’t Do Technology” Isn’t Acceptable | Connected Principals

      Why “I Don’t Do Technology” Isn’t Acceptable

      by Gerald Aungst


      The FAA Credit Union building which stands in for the Crime Lab in CSI: Miami.

      The FAA Credit Union building, which stands in for the Crime Lab in "CSI: Miami". Image by Tony Hoffarth.

      Imagine an episode of CSI where the main character doesn’t “do” technology:

      “Tonight, on CSI: Miami, Horatio Caine investigates a brutal crime wave using only his wits and his sunglasses. He matches fingerprints, tire tracks, and fiber samples…by hand! His new motto: ‘DNA? We don’t need no stinking DNA! Sherlock Holmes got by with a magnifying glass and adeerstalker! Why do I need technology?’”

      Imagine the conversation you have with your doctor when he diagnosed you with cancer after a brief examination.

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      Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan says he's "stunned" by Atlanta cheating scandal

      Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan says he's "stunned" by Atlanta cheating scandal

      Duncan says he's "stunned" by Atlanta cheating scandal

      by Mike Klonsky
      Arne Duncan's last shred of credibility seems to have vanished after he announced to the press that he was "stunned" by the scope of the Atlanta cheating scandal. As one Tweeter put it, "Stunned Arne? Why? You (and NCLB) caused it "

      Duncan seems completely bewildered by the cheating pandemic breaking out most recently in D.C. (Rhee's Erasuregate) Baltimore, and now in Atlanta. At first, he minimizes the problem:
      "I think this is very isolated. In Baltimore, there's two schools and they dealt with it. This (Atlanta)
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      NYC Educator: His Area of Expertise

      NYC Educator: His Area of Expertise

      His Area of Expertise

      by NYC Educator
      Joel Klein, who blithely observed scandal upon scandal for Mayor Bloomberg, has been tapped by Rupert Murdoch to oversee his own scandal. It's about time we saw Klein utilized for something he actually knows about. Wasn't it Klein who rationalized when his no-bid contracts resulted in children freezing on street corners, while waiting for buses that never came? And didn't Klein tirelessly plug the achievements on state tests that proved to be nothing whatsoever after revelations in 2010 that they'd been dumbed down?

      Joel Klein brought accountability to students, making sure they could pass tests before graduation. Diane Senechal took one of these tests, marked A, B, C, D in a pattern without reading the answers, and passed

      Guilty Pleasures

      by NYC Educator
      This summer is very odd for me, in that I've actually got more time than I know what to do with. I turned on the History Channel, which I never do, and came across this very cool show called, of all things, Pawn Stars. Then I found three seasons of it on Netflix, and I've watched maybe eight episodes.
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      Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Unprecedented testing madness

      Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Unprecedented testing madness

      Unprecedented testing madness

      by Mike Klonsky
      "All you’re learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test and that’s not going to make education interesting." -- President Obama
      It's been denounced by educators far and wide. Education research has approached a consensus on it's negative affects, especially on poor kids and children of color. President Obama has repeatedly criticized it. The world's highest performing school systems discard it.

      In February 2009, Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall was named 2009 Superintendent of the Year in San Francisco. Ms. Hall stepped down from her post on June 30, days before the release of a report that documented widespread cheating by teachers and administrators in the 55,000-student Atlanta Public School District.
      Paul Sakuma / AP / File
      Yet the nation's standardized testing madness, sanctioned under No Child Left Behind law continues to expand
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      No One Best Way To Parent, No One Best Way To Teach | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

      No One Best Way To Parent, No One Best Way To Teach | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

      No One Best Way To Parent, No One Best Way To Teach

      by larrycuban

      That child-rearing theories have swung back and forth between disciplinarians and children-bonding-with-parents, between child-centered and parent-centered is obvious to middle-age Moms and Dads who think but a moment about their parents and grand-parents. Psychologists and novelists have taught us a great deal about parents’ child-raising practices and how children’s growth physically, emotionally, and intellectually can flourish or get stunted. Still, uncertainty hovers over what is best practice for parents today.

      The current mantra among educated elites is to build your children’s self-esteem and make them into happyadults which might explain the media and blogosphere furor erupting among those same elites over Amy Chua’sTiger Mom recipe for high-performing, anxious, and successful daughters. The furor confirms that in 2011, even certified experts can not tell parents how to raise their children.

      Because parental values of what constitutes a good life, character, and behavior drive child-rearing, facts and evidence about child development get drafted to support one view or another, no certainty is in sight for those parents who haunt libraries and bookstores for the most recent guru’s published advice on raising babies and

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      Daily Kos: Taxes and Billionaires and the rest of us

      Daily Kos: Taxes and Billionaires and the rest of us

      Taxes and Billionaires and the rest of us

      by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)
      The larger question is this: Do we try to balance budget deficits just by cutting antipoverty initiatives, college scholarships and other investments in young people and our future? Or do we also seek tax increases from those best able to afford them?

      And when Congressional Republicans claim that the reason for their recalcitrance in budget negotiations is concern for the welfare of ordinary Americans, look more closely. Do we really want to close down the American government and risk another global financial crisis to protect the tax bills of billionaires?

      Those are the final two paragraphs of Taxes and Billionaires, Nicholas Kirstof's New York Times column this morning. Kirstof is not an economist, and tax policy is not his usual subject, but he provides a column that puts things in clear and understandable English. I urge you to read and pass on his column.

      Carried Interest is currently taxed at the Capital Gains rate of 15%. John Paulson is a hedge fund manager who made almost $5 billion last year. Hedge fund managers receive bonuses of 20% or more of the profits they

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      Trying To Make Sense of District Data« City School Stories

      Notes from the Field « City School Stories

      Notes from the Field

      by fmurphy

      Trying To Make Sense of District Data

      Submitted by Timothy Boyle on July 7, 2011

      We knew when Imagine 2014 was rolled out that the School District of Philadelphia was headed for a serious shake-up. There was a plan in place for, a theory of action on; the interventions schools that fared the worst on the PSSA (low-achieving in the parlance of our times) would receive. The School Performance Index was supposed to be the metric by which turnarounds would be judged. Or so we thought.

      The School Performance Index results came out, and speculation about which schools would be turned around began. Receiving a score of 10:10 meant a school was performing the worst compared to demographically similar schools, as well as the District schools as a whole. All schools rated 10:8 or worse made the Renaissance or Alert school list. Of the original 10:10 schools, only five became charters or promise academies. The other five schools were relegated to the Alert list. Thirteen schools were turned around however. Seven of the

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      Wednesday, July 6, 2011

      Letting teachers re-invent their own wheel - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

      Letting teachers re-invent their own wheel - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

      Letting teachers re-invent their own wheel

      by Valerie Strauss

      --

      Joanne Yatvin, a vet­eran public school educator, author and past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, wrote this piece in 1990, when it was published in Education Week. I am republishing it now as a reminder of how some things change over time — and some don’t. Yatvin is now teaching part-time at Portland State University.

      Read full article >>
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      Last Stand for Children First: Last Stand for Children and Peterson Testing Partner to Create New Assessments

      Last Stand for Children First: Last Stand for Children and Peterson Testing Partner to Create New Assessments

      Last Stand for Children and Peterson Testing Partner to Create New Assessments

      by Last Stand for Children

      It was with a great deal of excitement here in the Last Stand for Children First home office that we reacted to the announcement that the second round of the Race to the Top initiative would focus on early childhood education. That is because for the last several months, Last Stand has partnered with Peterson Testing, a purveyor of the finest in standardized testing materials for education.

      We are currently designing the next generation of tests for the next generation of students and by Fall well will be ready to roll out our line of testing materials for children between 3 and 5 years of age. It had previously been
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      Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's new fixer, Joel Klein

      Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's new fixer, Joel Klein

      Murdoch's new fixer, Joel Klein

      by Mike Klonsky
      Reforming the "reformers"

      Murdoch
      Klein
      Johnny-come-lately school reform profiteer Rupert Murdoch has to deal with yet another scandal. It seems his people have been doing some phone hacking, bribing and spying on police on behalf of some murder suspects -- or something like that. Who the hell can understand this latest Murdoch mess?

      So who does he call on to bail his News Corp conglomerate out of trouble? None other that fixer Joel Klein, former N.Y. schools chancellor. It was Klein who recently engineered the $400 million-dollar deal between News
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      Kline Unhappy With Duncan's Lack of Details on NCLB Waivers Plan - Politics K-12 - Education Week

      Kline Unhappy With Duncan's Lack of Details on NCLB Waivers Plan - Politics K-12 - Education Week

      Kline Unhappy With Duncan's Lack of Details on NCLB Waiver Plan

      by Alyson Klein

      So, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, is less than thrilled with the response from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to his request for more information about the department's plan to give states leeway on parts of the No Child Left Behind Act in exchange for signing onto a package of reforms-to-be-named-later.

      Here's Duncan's response. To summarize, if you expected the department to provide Kline & Co. with a thorough, detailed explanation of the waiver proposal, you'll be sorely disappointed.

      The letter lays out the rationale for the waiver plan (the law is overdue for reauthorization, states are clamoring for an update, the vast majority of the nation's schools will be identified as failing). And, in response to Kline's query on the legality of waivers, Duncan cites a section of the law that gives the department flexibility to waive

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      Another question for the blogger. « Fred Klonsky's blog

      Another question for the blogger. « Fred Klonsky's blog

      Another question for the blogger.

      by Fred Klonsky

      A teacher writes:

      Do you think that with so many NEA members complaining about the endorsement to the fact that some have threatened to “quit” the union it gives ammo to those that are currently doing their best to bust the unions? I can see them spinning it now: largest union’s own members say unions are no good!

      This is not aimed at you in any way…I respect your viewpoints and know you’re a huge union supporter; you just disagree with some of the decisions that are made up top, and lots of the time I agree with you. I’m talking about the people who spout off about it who you know are many of the same people who never attended a union meeting in their lives, never even tried to make a difference in their union.

      Just thought you’d have a good take on this, and I respect that you’re always honest when you

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      Digital Native Myth Buster « My Island View

      Digital Native Myth Buster « My Island View

      Digital Native Myth Buster

      by tomwhitby

      After a wonderful experience at the ISTE11 Conference in Philadelphia, I finally made the decision to get away from any computer and get myself to the beach for a week to decompress. Of course, I have my Droid, so I am still somewhat connected, but frustratingly so. A mobile device doesn’t yet fully replace the speed and convenience of a loaded laptop or desktop. Yet, it is that very inconvenience with only a mobile phone at the beach that enables me to say to my family that I am, for the most part, disconnected. If truth be told I have gotten a few socially oriented Tweets off with beach and sunset pictures. I needed to share some of those moments. I guess my reality is that I am not so good at decompression by disconnecting.

      During my stay at the beach, I am constantly asked by folks what is it that I am doing these days. Of course explaining my involvement in Social Media in Education is a discussion that eradicates decompression, so I try to simplify. “I am involved with using technology as a learning tool in education.” This often brings the response about how kids today know everything they need to know about computers. They are “Digital Natives!”

      It is that very attitude by adults that had a generation of kids programming the family VCR’s to record shows, or to at least stop the blinking “12 AM” light. That single task may have marked the very time when adults relinquished responsibility for technology to kids. It is true that when it comes to Technology stuff, kids approach

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      Jonathan P. Raymond, SCUSD Superintendent Budget Update

      July 6, 2011
      Dear Colleagues:
      As SCUSD’s year began on July 1, I would like to wish you all a belated happy new year! Let’s hope the positive momentum from the past 12 months keeps growing as we work to improve our schools for the children we serve.
      Of course, that work cannot be accomplished without our many great employees. From bus drivers to principals, office managers to teachers, each of you play a itally important role in preparing students for college and careers – our mission as we move forward.
      Last month, we rescinded 191 certificated and classified lay-off notices. This week, we will begin the process of rescinding more certificated lay-off notices to bring as many of our teachers and counselors back to their campuses in the fall as we can, given our fiscal constraints.
      You may have heard in the news that the recently signed state budget provides “flat funding” for schools. But “flat funding” doesn’t mean we are without challenges. Our costs – health benefits, chief among them – continue to rise. And our state funding is actually less than what we received last year due to fluctuations in our ADA (Average Daily Attendance) and reductions in categorical dollars. Confounding these challenges, the state budget partly relies on an anticipated future climb in tax revenues. Therefore, we believe it is prudent to move ahead with rescissions but to proceed cautiously.
      As teacher positions are tied to class sizes, we are planning at this time to:
      ·         Retain the 25-to-1 ratio in kindergarten and first grade as per our agreement with  CTA
      ·         Return to 2010-11’s 33-to-1 ratio in fourth through sixth grades
      ·         Return to 2010-11’s 31-to-1 ratio for seventh and eighth grades
      ·         Return to 2010-11’s 35-to-1 ratio for ninth through 12th grades

      Given that we are still delving into the details of the state budget and many uncertainties remain, we will continue to monitor and review staffing levels and layoff rescissions throughout this month. We should have a clearer picture by early August.
      For now, and as a precautionary measure, we are continuing with plans to increase second- and third-grade classroom size to 29-to-1. With the specter of mid-year cuts looming, and projections that 2012-2013 will be another tough year for schools, we need to retain flexibility should state revenues fail to materialize as projected.

      With these formulas in place, we will be bringing back 142 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers beginning this week. In addition, we will be bringing back all 14.6 FTE counseling positions and three of the four pink-slipped high school assistant principals.
      This is the plan for now. I know this is hard. I understand the stress that comes with the noticing process – and with all budget matters in this frustrating time of state underfunding. Our intention is to alleviate that stress for as many of our employees as possible as quickly as possible while keeping our financial responsibilities as stewards of taxpayer dollars in mind.
      I will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
      Sincerely,
      Jonathan P. Raymond
      Superintendent 
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