Rethinking Budget Trigger Unlikely, Says Speaker | Capital Notes -- From KQED's John Myers

Rethinking Budget Trigger Unlikely, Says Speaker | Capital Notes -- From KQED's John Myers:

Rethinking Budget Trigger Unlikely, Says Speaker

November 28, 2011, 5:11 pm • Posted by John Myers

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Pool/Hector Amezcua

Assembly Speaker John Perez isn't ruling it out -- never say never, one supposes -- but nonetheless says that talk of the Legislature stopping, or even just rejiggering, the budget's automatic spending cuts isn't likely to go anywhere.

"I don’t know of another approach that has greater support than the triggers that we already voted on," said Perez in comments to reporters after today's long and contentious meeting of the regents of the University of California.

The exact depth of the so-called "trigger" cuts won't be known for another two weeks, when Governor Jerry Brown's budget team releases its state economic and revenue forecast. You'll remember that the budget Brown signed into law in late June contained language that identified almost $2.5 billion in new spending cuts if revenue predictions dropped by more than $2 billion.

The prediction of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office -- which, along with the governor's team, make

Superintendents' Letter About Charter Schools 'Incredibly Misleading' [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

Superintendents' Letter About Charter Schools 'Incredibly Misleading' [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:

Superintendents' Letter About Charter Schools 'Incredibly Misleading'

12 superintendents sign statement with 'completely inaccurate' claim

By TOM GANTERT | Nov. 29, 2011 Follow Tom Gantert on Twitter

A letter-to-the-editor signed by 12 Michigan superintendents attacking Senate bills that support expanding charter and cyber schools contained statements that were “incredibly misleading,” according to Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The letter appeared in the Paw Paw Courier Leader and criticized Senate Bills 618-624.

One paragraph in the letter claimed Senate Bill 621 would allow students who do not attend public school to go to public schools, including charter public schools outside

State Department of Education rejects Martin County school district's evaluation plan

State Department of Education rejects Martin County school district's evaluation plan:

State Department of Education rejects Martin County school district's evaluation plan

• Tyler Treadway, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

STUART, Fla. — The state Department of Education has rejected an agreement between the Martin County School District and the local teachers' union on a teacher evaluation process required for the district to draw money from a $1.3 million federal grant.

An email to district officials sent Wednesday afternoon, just before schools closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, indicated the rejection could affect the district's ability to draw funds from the federal Race to the Top program as early as this week.

But after a conference call with district officials Monday morning, the state relaxed that stance.

Kathryn S. Hebda, deputy chancellor for education quality for the state Department of Education, said the district's funds "are

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_martin_county/state-department-of-education-rejects-martin-county-school-district's-evaluation-plan#ixzz1f6o6qcOP

The Washington State PTA, the League of Education Voters and Stand for Children : The unholy trinity | Seattle Education

The Washington State PTA, the League of Education Voters and Stand for Children : The unholy trinity | Seattle Education:

The Washington State PTA, the League of Education Voters and Stand for Children : The unholy trinity

by seattleducation2011

There will be PTA members saying that they represent our children while visiting with our legislators and speaking in committee hearings in Olympia during the legislative session that started on Monday. They will repeat the phrase Every Child One Voice while pushing the charter school agenda. They will say that a resolution was passed by the PTA Legislative Assembly in support of charter schools and they will stand in support alongside the League of Education Voters (LEV) and Stand for Children (SFC) on this issue.

What I have found out is that the representatives of LEV, SFC and the PTA are all one in the same.

Ramona Hattendorf who was President of the PTA Seattle Council is also referred to as an “LEV Key Activist” on a document that she signed along with other LEV “Key Activist” in support of the RTTT proposal, Bill 6696, during the last legislative session. Ms. Hattendorf is now a paid lobbyist for the Washington State PTA. Her title is Government Relations Coordinator and she has her office in Olympia where she is in daily contact with our

Teacher Arrested Protesting for Education Funding in Olympia

by seattleducation2011

Jesse Hagopian, teacher in the Seattle Public School System and Founding Member of Seattle Equality Educators (SEE) was arrested on Monday for standing up for his students.

Jesse Hagopian standing at the rail with other Seattle Public School teachers.

After the banner was unfurled, Jesse Hagopian called out “mic check!” and the teachers responded. Then the chant began:

It is immoral
It is illegal
These cuts will hurt families
These cuts will hurt kids
These cuts will hurt educators
King county Superior Court judge
Ruled that these cuts are constitutionally illegal
The Constitution of Washington state reads it is the paramount duty to fully
Fund education
We therefore issue a citizens arrest of this Washington State Legislature
We call for taxing the rich
We call to fund the schools

Police officers rushed in and

Hechinger Report | In some U.S. schools, librarians are no longer saying, “Shh!”

Hechinger Report | In some U.S. schools, librarians are no longer saying, “Shh!”:

In some U.S. schools, librarians are no longer saying, “Shh!”

by Nick Pandolfo

Buffy Hamilton speaking at a conference on digital media and education in Chicago. (Photo by Nick Pandolfo)

Buffy Hamilton, who calls herself “The Unquiet Librarian,” holds the phone receiver away from her ear at Creekview High School library in Canton, Ga., revealing a cacophony of noise in the background.

“It sounds like that a lot of the time,” says Hamilton, who welcomes what she calls “the hum of learning”—students talking about projects, watching videos and even singing “Happy Birthday.”

In 2009, Hamilton began re-imagining her role as a librarian at this new high public high school of 1,800 in the

Louder libraries for a digital age to open across U.S.

by Jill Barshay

High schoolers work on projects at the YOUmedia lab at the Harold Washington library in Chicago. (Photo by Nick Pandolfo)

CHICAGO—Imagine walking into a public library filled with PlayStations, Wii game consoles and electric keyboards pumped up to maximum volume. Teenagers are munching on snacks, checking out laptops and slouching on sofas or beanbags. A carousel of computers sits in the middle, navigated to Facebook.

That’s exactly how one enormous room on the ground floor of the Chicago Public Library’s main branch functions. And this noisy library model is expanding around the country. The Miami-Dade Public Library in Florida is opening a high-tech teen room next month (December). The Hartford Public Library of Connecticut will open one next year. Four museums and eight libraries—from California to Missouri to Pennsylvania—recently

Shanker Blog » Has Teacher Quality Declined Over Time? #edreform

Shanker Blog » Has Teacher Quality Declined Over Time?:

Has Teacher Quality Declined Over Time?

by Matthew Di Carlo

One of the common assumptions lurking in the background of our education debates is that “quality” of the teaching workforce has declined a great deal over the past few decades (see here, here, here and here [slide 16]). There is a very plausible storyline supporting this assertion: Prior to the dramatic rise in female labor force participation since the 1960s, professional women were concentrated in a handful of female-dominated occupations, chief among them teaching. Since then, women’s options have changed, and many have moved into professions such as law and medicine instead of the classroom.

The result of this dynamic, so the story goes, is that the pool of candidates to the teaching profession has been “watered down.” This in turn has generated a decline in the aggregate “quality” of U.S. teachers, and, it follows, a stagnation of student achievement growth. This portrayal is often used as a set-up for a preferred set of solutions

Should Schools Be Run for Profit? - Bridging Differences - #Edreform #ows d

Should Schools Be Run for Profit? - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Should Schools Be Run for Profit?

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

The next big idea in "education reform" is online instruction and cyber charters. I know that teachers are doing wonderful, creative activities with technology, and there is no doubt that technology can bring history, science, and other studies to life in vivid ways. But there is a cloud on the horizon, and that is the growth of the for-profit cyber charters. I confess that it troubles me to think of children sitting at home, day after day, with no opportunity for discussion and debate, no interaction with their peers, no face-to-face encounters with a real teacher.

I recently read several shocking articles that have reinforced my concern about for-profit companies that provide

UPDATE: Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #ows #edreform

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform

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