FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Morro Bay

Education Headlines

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Valley schools tap state repair fund for $36 million, hope for more

Central San Joaquin Valley school districts have received nearly $36 million in state Emergency Repair Program money and are waiting for more than $12.8 million that the state has approved but not yet paid.

Tustin school district, city heading to court over land

Land on the former Tustin Marine base is at the center of multiple lawsuits between the city and Tustin Unified that have dragged on for two years and frustrated residents and officials on both sides of the issue.

Schools decay as they await state emergency repair funds for years

Eight years after California settled a landmark lawsuit promising hundreds of millions of dollars to repair shoddy school facilities, more than 700 schools still are waiting for their share of funds as students take classes on dilapidated campuses with health and safety hazards.

Brown signs double-dipping bill

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Tuesday allowing some retired educators to continue collecting their pensions without penalty after returning to work at a school or community college district.

Corona-Norco school officials hold bond vote for further study

District officials shifted gears at the last minute and decided not to vote Tuesday, July 17, on a bond for school improvements that would increase property taxes, saying they needed additional information on whether now is the right time.

Moreno Valley school board rejects $198 million bond measure

The Moreno Valley School Board on Tuesday, July 17, rejected a bond measure for the November election that would have raised $198 million to improve schools and upgrade classrooms. The vote was 3-2 in support of a bond measure; however, four supporting votes were needed to move forward.

Charter expert teams with LAUSD on Future Is Now project

Charter pioneer Steve Barr plans to partner with Los Angeles Unified to create technology-based academies at middle and high schools in Silver Lake, Fairfax and Venice, officials said Tuesday.

New Hayward school to open Wednesday

When East Avenue Elementary School students return to school Wednesday, they will enter a new campus that has been built from the ground up. "This school does everything but fly," said a beaming principal JoDana Campbell, calling it "a beacon on the hill."

Rishwain questions school site

A bar owner and unsuccessful 2012 mayoral candidate has thrown a monkey wrench into plans to open a 300-student charter school that advocates say would help spur downtown revitalization.

State Board of Education weighs cost waiver for Clayton Valley Charter High School

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District hopes state education trustees will side with it Wednesday, when the state board reconsiders a waiver of extra costs to run the new Clayton Valley Charter High School.

Police keep order as Long Beach USD moves to revoke New City School's charter

As the Long Beach Unified School District board moved forward Monday night on revoking the school's charter, protesters disrupted the meeting and were forced outside by campus police.

State defunds program to fix ‘slum’ schools

Eight years after California settled a landmark lawsuit promising hundreds of millions of dollars to repair shoddy school facilities, more than 700 schools still are waiting for their share of funds as students take classes on dilapidated campuses with health and safety hazards.

Obama calls for $1b master teacher program in STEM

The Obama Administration today is unveiling a plan to create a new, national Master Teacher Corps to elevate math, technology and science instruction they hope will lead a transformation of both teaching and learning in the core subjects.

Rosenblatt: With budgets, as with the weather, the problem’s not just the heat

Although not the most familiar refrain to West Coast natives, residents in the rest of the country know that while the summer heat may be tough to take, it’s actually the humidity that truly makes us uncomfortable. Through the last few years of state budget crises, school boards across the state have adopted an analogous mantra: “It’s not just the cuts, it’s the uncertainty.”

Security breach will delay release of CST results

The public release of this year’s California Standards Tests results will be delayed two weeks, until Aug. 31. Blame it on the students who took cell phones into test sites in April, and then posted photos of exam questions on Facebook and other social media.

State Board urged to reject waivers from Transitional Kindergarten

Gov. Jerry Brown’s attempt to eliminate funding for Transitional Kindergarten created so much confusion that a handful of school districts sought waivers from it out of fear they would have to bear the cost of the program. The State Board of Education will consider those waiver requests at its meeting today, even though TK survived the governor’s attempt to de-fund the new program, making the districts’ concerns moot.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Panama-Buena to sell land once intended for school

Panama-Buena Vista Union School District's board on Tuesday will vote to authorize the district to sell a 10-acre property near the Park at River Walk.

Rancho Mar Monte residents want neighborhood moved into Carmel school district

A group of residents at Rancho Mar Monte near Carmel want to carve out their neighborhood from the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to join the Carmel Unified School District.

SD Unified to sell old schools, surplus property

The most controversial cost-cutting measure to come from the San Diego school board this year might just be plans to sell off some of its most valuable assets: Southern California real estate.

Grossmont charity ties questioned

Relationships between school officials and contractors are under scrutiny, as District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is prosecuting several in the South Bay for accepting entertainment and gifts and then handing out multimillion dollar contracts. The officials have pleaded not guilty to bribery.

Education Research Report: Students Attending K12 Inc. Cyber Schools Fall Behind

Education Research Report: Students Attending K12 Inc. Cyber Schools Fall Behind:

Students Attending K12 Inc. Cyber Schools Fall Behind

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

A new report released today by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at the University of Colorado shows that students at K12 Inc., the nation’s largest virtual school company, are falling further behind in reading and math scores than students in brick-and-mortar schools. 

These virtual schools students are also less likely to remain at their schools for the full year, and the schools have low graduation rates. “Our in-depth look into K12 Inc. raises enormous red flags,” said NEPC Director Kevin Welner. 

The report’s findings will be presented in Washington today to a national meeting of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), where the report’s lead author, Dr. Gary Miron, is scheduled to debate Dr. Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the International Association for K–12 Online Learning. The report is titled, Understanding and Improving Full- Time Virtual Schools. 

“Our findings are clear,” said Miron, an NEPC fellow, “Children who enroll in a K12 Inc. cyberschool, who receive 

Students From Improving Schools Score Lower on ACT

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

For more than half a century concerns about the ability of American students to compete in a global workplace focused policymakers' attention on improving school performance generally, and student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specifically. In its most recent form—No Child Left Behind—there is evidence this focus led to a repurposing of instructional time to dedicate more attention to tested subjects. While this meant a narrowing of the curriculum to focus on English and mathematics at the elementary level, the effects on high school curricula have been less clear and generally absent from the research literature.

A study published this week in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching covering thousands of Indiana high 

Modern School: Welfare By The Elite, For the Elite at CSU

Modern School: Welfare By The Elite, For the Elite at CSU:

Welfare By The Elite, For the Elite at CSU

by Michael Dunn

The California State University (CSU) trustees decided to offer three of its presidents nearly $85,000 in raises on Tuesday, despite its ongoing budget shortfalls that have led to layoffs, slashing of course offerings, wage freezes and double digit tuition hikes  (including a 12% tuition increase last year). The university faces another midyear tuition increase, pay cuts for teachers and hundreds more layoffs if the November tax measure fails. The trustees have justified the move by arguing that the money will come only from private donors who wish to augment the pay of CSU’s executives, the SF Chronicle reported today.

This begs the question of who would give away money to a university expressly to boost the pay of its bosses, all of whom already earn over $300,000 per year (not including perks like subsidized housing and a $12,000 per year vehicle allowance), while allowing these same 

Geaux Teacher!: I TOLD YOU SO MOMENT #3 VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

Geaux Teacher!: I TOLD YOU SO MOMENT #3 VIRTUAL SCHOOLS:

I TOLD YOU SO MOMENT #3 VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT)

I am posting a press release that I received today regarding on-going research into the viability of virtual charter schools.

Much has been said by many, including me, about the limitations, pitfalls and opportunities for abuse with the current reform supported proliferation of on-line learning for K-12 students. Bottom line - in too many cases virtual charters feed the corporate bank accounts and political aspirations of one "He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named" current Louisiana Governor.

Colorado has had longer to feel the pain of K12 Inc. and it is from that state that this report eminates. However, it was previously reported that K12 Inc. is being sued by its own stockholders for inflating its claims of success 

Endangered Languages Project

Endangered Languages Project:

Koro

threatened

Koro is a language previously unknown to science that was documented in the mountains of northeast India. It is spoken by no more than 4000 people.

Photograph of Abamu Degio singing in Koro. Provided by Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, filmed by Jeremy Fahringer.

Navajo

Southwestern Ojibwa

Aragonese

Nyagrong Minyag

About endangered languages

• 
  Experts estimate that only 50% of the languages that are alive today will be spoken by the year 2100.
  Learn more
• 
  The disappearance of a language means the loss of valuable scientific and cultural information, comparable to the loss of a species.
• 
  Tools for collaboration between the world communities, scholars, organizations and concerned individuals can make a difference.
  Learn more

About this project

The Endangered Languages Project, is an online resource to record, access, and share samples of and research on endangered languages, as well as to share advice and best practices for those working to document or strengthen languages under threat.

ABOUT THE LANGUAGE DATA

The languages included in this project and the information displayed about them are provided by the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat), produced by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and The Institute for Language Information and Technology (The Linguist List) at Eastern Michigan University. Learn more

How America Pays 2012:

How America Pays for College 2012: A national study by Sallie Mae and Ipsos

Sallie Mae's "How America Pays for College 2012" (PDF, 1.3MB) study, conducted by Ipsos, finds that:

• 83% of college students and parents strongly agreed that higher education is an investment in the future, college is needed now more than ever (70%), and the path to earning more money (69%).
• Drawing from savings, income and loans, students paid 30% of the total bill, up from 24% four years ago, while parents covered 37% of the bill, down from 45% four years ago.
• The percentage of families who eliminated college choices because of cost rose to the highest level (69%) in the five years since the study began. Virtually all families exercised cost-savings measures, including living at home (51%), adding a roommate (55%), and reducing spending by parents (50%) and students (66%).
• In 2012, families continued the shift toward lower-cost community college, with 29 percent enrolled, compared to 23 percent two years ago. In fact, overall, families paid 5 percent less for college compared to one year ago.
• 35% percent of students borrowed education loans to pay for college: 25% borrowing federal loans only, 9% using a mix of federal and private loans, and 1% tapping private loans only.

Telephone interviews about how families paid for college in academic year 2011-12 were conducted with 801 undergraduate college students, ages 18 to 24, and 800 parents of undergraduates. 

How the average American family pays for college

For more information about this report and how families are paying for college, view the infographic:

REPORTAGE. Vivre l'austérité, épisode 3 : les écoles à New York

REPORTAGE. Vivre l'austérité, épisode 3 : les écoles à New York:

REPORTAGE. Vivre l'austérité, épisode 3 : les écoles à New York

by Joy Resmovits

Alors qu'en France les députés commencent l'examen de la loi de finance rectificative et alors que l'on ne sait toujours pas si il faut parler d'austérité, de rigueur ou d'"effort juste", ce reportage est le premier épisode d'une série des éditions internationales du Huffington Post sur les gens qui vivent au quotidien les mesures d'économie en temps de crise.

NEW YORK – Shania avait pourtant débuté sa troisième année avec enthousiasme. La jeune fille de huit ans était heureuse de retrouver ses camarades de l'école primaire “148”, située dans l'arrondissement Queens, à New-York, car elle y avait grandement apprécié son année précédente. Son enseignante prenait le temps de lui expliquer personnellement des notions compliquées comme l'addition et la soustraction, et son apprentissage rapide lui avait valu le titre d'élève du mois.

Or depuis 2007, l'économie américaine en a pris pour son grade, et les dépenses publiques n'ont cessé de grimper. La ville de New York a dû contraindre les directeurs 

Michigan Plan to Defund Public Education « Diane Ravitch's blog

Michigan Plan to Defund Public Education « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Michigan Plan to Defund Public Education

by dianerav

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has his own plan to hack away at the foundations of universal, free public education.
He is vying to be one of the national leaders of the education reform movement.
Like Bobby Jindal, his Southern counterpart in the far-right of the Republican Party, Snyder would love to offer vouchers but the Michigan state constitution doesn’t permit it (neither does the Louisiana state constitution, but who cares when you are a reformer?). Leaving constitutional niceties aside, Snyder wants to promote, encourage, expand, and fund with taxpayer dollars anything that is not a public school.
Governor Snyder wants to reshape the state’s school finance system so that public money “follows the child,”

New Study Shows Irrelevance of Gains on State Tests

by dianerav

We have known for some years that the scoring of state tests is easily gamed. In fact, proficiency rates don’t tell us much, because state officials may raise or lower the passing score for political reasons. It happened in New York for years, when the proportion of students passing the state tests went up and up until it collapsed in 2010 as a result of an independent investigation. The state officials enjoyed their annual press conferences where they announced annual too-good-to-be-true gains. And they were too good to be true. They were fake. When the fraud was revealed, there was no accountability. No one admitted having done the dirty deeds. No heads rolled. Accountability is for “the little people,” as real estate queen Leona Helmsley once said about paying taxes. In education, the little people are teachers and principals. At the top–at state departments of education–heads 

Education Policy is Politics; Politics is Education Policy - Wait, What?

Education Policy is Politics; Politics is Education Policy - Wait, What?:

Education Policy is Politics; Politics is Education Policy

by jonpelto

Today’s Courant headline reads – “State Keeps Lid On Mastery Test Scores.”

Wait, What?  Does that mean the State of Connecticut won’t release the results of this year’s Master Test results?

No, instead watch for a Friday press conference where Governor Dan Malloy and Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor can attempt to take credit for what appear to be the higher test scores that students got on this year’s Connecticut’s Mastery Tests.

For background, in March of each year, the “teaching to the test” approach to American Education reaches its crescendo as Connecticut students stop practicing taking standardized tests and actually spend two weeks taking Connecticut’s barrage of tests.

After spending millions to design, buy and scores the tests, the results arrive in mid-July of each year.

Connecticut’s results are in and it turns out Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan 

Malloy to make major economic development announcement this morning

by jonpelto

Late yesterday, Governor Malloy’s press operation released a media advisory that “On Wednesday morning, Governor Dannel P. Malloy will hold a news conference in North Haven to announce the details of a new international company that will be establishing its headquarters in Connecticut and creating hundreds of jobs in the state.”

Using scarce tax dollars (the state is facing a major budget deficit), Connecticut’s governor, like governors all across the nation, will provide another company with an 

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Teachers take Rahm to school. « Fred Klonsky

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Teachers take Rahm to school. « Fred Klonsky:

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Teachers take Rahm to school.

by Fred Klonsky

Even the Chicago Sun-Times, which was recently bought by close pals of the Mayor, have pointed out the obvious.
Chicago teachers have taken Rahm to school.

For a political chess player who never makes a move without thinking three moves ahead, Mayor Rahm Emanuel looks more like a high school clubber than a grand master when it comes to the teachers contract.

One year into his first term as mayor, the guy who came swaggering into town with a reputation as a tough foul-mouthed street fighter has been shown to be the suburban whiny rich kid that he really always was.
It is proper that the ones who have brought him down to earth are Chicago’s teachers, led by their truly tough-as-nails president, Karen Lewis.

Parental Authority: Do You Have It?

Parental Authority: Do You Have It?:

Parental Authority: Do You Have It?

by Rick

 Talk So Your Kids Will Listen

“I listen to my father because I have found that he tells me things that turn out to be true,” said Allison (18 year old high school senior) as I drove her home from the basketball game the Wednesday after the Saturday night party where some of her classmates got into trouble, getting drunk and trashing the house of a classmate. “Like ‘Never go out without money,’ he says.”
I felt like saying: “That’s interesting. Your parents think you never listen. It drives them crazy that you get mad at them every time they try to tell you something, and that you insist on doing it your own way. Yesterday, your mother even said to me with a sigh ‘It’s as if she is bound and determined to make mistakes.’” But I just listened.
(Doesn’t she know her parents and I are friends? Ah, yes. She does, doesn’t she. Hmmmmm.)
She continued: “I wish I could talk to the parents of my friends and tell them how to talk to their kids. I wish they would tell them things like ‘Never go out without money.’ There we are at Starbucks and they’re all, ‘Allison, can 

The “Frantic Class,” Time, and another plea for Slow Schooling « engaged intellectuals

The “Frantic Class,” Time, and another plea for Slow Schooling « engaged intellectuals:

The “Frantic Class,” Time, and another plea for Slow Schooling

In creativity, democracy, anti-bias teaching, Standing up for Kids, Education Policy, class-sensitive teaching on July 17, 2012at 8:06 pm

I love the way Paul Thomas thinks and writes, and he has another great post at the Daily Kos called “Time as Capital: The Rise of the Frantic Class” that is worth the read, and it has inspired me to watch the film In Time. Paul’s right about a lot of things in the post, but one issue rises to the top of my list of concerns that I’ve been fretting over for years – the way time is connected to the earning potential of a working body (and how that earning potential is always regulated by people who have access to money). Simply put, if you are a painter who works for yourself, for a small business, or for lots of different people depending on who has the work, the money you are capable of earning is at most equal to 

Jersey Jazzman: The Economist Fails On Charter Schools

Jersey Jazzman: The Economist Fails On Charter Schools:

The Economist Fails On Charter Schools

by Duke

Last week, The Economist decided it wanted to try to do charters, giving us yet another opportunity to see how the press so often gets education wrong. As is apparently taught at all journalism schools, the story starts with an example of chartery success:

“EVERYONE’S pencil should be on the apple in the tally-mark chart!” shouts a teacher to a class of pupils at Harvest Preparatory School in Minneapolis. Papers and feet are shuffled; a test is coming. Each class is examined every six or seven weeks. The teachers are monitored too. As a result, Harvest Prep outperformed every city school district in Minnesota in maths last year. It is also a “charter” school; and all the children are black.

Notice the careful phrasing: Harvest Prep didn't beat every city school; it beat every city school district. See,