California schools rolling in dough, but 'scary' clouds appear on horizon - San Jose Mercury News

California schools rolling in dough, but 'scary' clouds appear on horizon - San Jose Mercury News:

California schools rolling in dough, but 'scary' clouds appear on horizon

VALLEJO -- Vallejo High School teacher Lewis Brown starts his morning government class with a question of the day that takes advantage of newly assigned iPads.

"Today is the one year anniversary of the French magazine terrorist assassination," Brown says. "What was the name of the magazine?" In seconds, 17-year-old SioFilisi Anitoni answers from the back row, "Mr. Brown, Charlie Hebdo."

Vallejo City Unified School District is hoping to improve classroom learning by using increased state funds to raise teacher salaries, open new computer labs and assign iPads to each of its roughly 1,000 high school students.

Lewis Brown, a teacher at Vallejo High School, after class, Vallejo, Calif., January 7, 2016. (Robert Durell/CALMatters) ( Robert Durell )

California Lawmakers Beat Budget Deadline, Funnels Money To Education

CBS San Francisco

And the district is hardly alone. Up and down California, school districts that handed out tens of thousands of pink slips in the recession are now buying equipment and scrambling to find qualified teachers, a problem driven in part by low recruitment and high turnover. With the state's recent economic gains and a temporary tax approved by voters in 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a $71.6 billion education budget for the next fiscal year, up more than 50 percent since 2011.

But California still ranked 41st in the nation for per-pupil spending in 2013, the most recent year available. And looking ahead, educators see financial challenges that are significant enough that they hope to qualify a ballot measure this year to extend some temporary taxes.

Voters approved temporary taxes under Proposition 30 in 2012 to generate about $8 billion per year for schools. Those taxes will phase out at the end of 2018. At the same time, an agreement to pay down more than $67 billion in unfunded debt for teacher pensions is expected to consume about 38 percent of the projected growth in the school budget through 2019.

If there is a recession, as Brown has warned, budget forecasters say schools could be forced once again to lay off teachers and cut costs. "We're really cautioning districts about the outyears because it's starting to look a little scary," said longtime school lobbyist Kevin Gordon of Capitol Advisors.

The pension agreement reached by Brown and state lawmakers in 2014 is intended to eliminate the debt within 30 years. According to projections by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst, school districts will pay $3.1 billion more to the pension system in the 2019-20 fiscal year than they do today while the minimum school budget guaranteed by Proposition 98 is projected to be about $8.3 billion higher in that same year.

If California slips back into recession, the analyst's office warned that the pension obligations could grow faster than school budgets, likely forcing districts to cut elsewhere.

The concern about funding comes as California is implementing a set of new policies to improve academic outcomes.

The lagging performance of low-income, Latino and African-American students is stark. In the state's most recent batch of standardized tests, less than one in four low-income or Latino children and less than one in five African-American children scored high enough to be considered proficient in math. About half of white students and more than two-thirds of Asian students measured as proficient on the same test.

"How it will play out is the biggest question," said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, a former school board member who is chairwoman of the Assembly BudgetCalifornia schools rolling in dough, but 'scary' clouds appear on horizon - San Jose Mercury News: 

Teacher: ‘If Donald Trump gets elected, will me and my family be deported?’ — and other questions from 9-year-olds - The Washington Post

Teacher: ‘If Donald Trump gets elected, will me and my family be deported?’ — and other questions from 9-year-olds - The Washington Post:
Teacher: ‘If Donald Trump gets elected, will me and my family be deported?’ — and other questions from 9-year-olds

 Political discussions can be sensitive for teachers to lead —  especially when young students ask direct and personal questions. How much should teachers reveal about their personal political views? How heated should political discussions be allowed to get in a classroom?

A teacher at one independent school in California e-mailed me recently saying that she and her colleagues were told by administrators to show respect to all views, including those of Donald Trump, who has become known in the campaign for his strong views on building a wall to keep illegal immigrants coming from Mexico and for not allowing Muslims into the United States for an unspecified period of time. This teacher — who requested anonymity because she feared for her job — said she wanted to distinguish Trump’s views from those held by some of the other candidates but felt that she couldn’t.

Here is a post about one such classroom political discussion by Mary Sypek, a student teacher at a Boston elementary school, who makes clear to her students her negative opinions of Trump.  This appeared on the Edushyster website of Jennifer Berkshire, freelance journalist and public education advocate who worked for six years editing a newspaper for the American Federation of Teachers in Massachusetts. She gave me permission to run this post.

Do you think teachers should express their political views in the classroom, as this teacher does? Do you have examples of similar conversations about any of the current candidates for president? Share them with me:Valerie.strauss@washpost.com

By Mary Sypek

 “Ms. Sypek, what do you think of Donald Trump?” a male student asks. I  try to think of an answer that’s both diplomatic and clear. “I don’t really like Donald Trump,” is what I decided to say, to which he promptly responds, “I don’t like Donald Trump either.” I exhale, hoping I have managed to escape the topic of Trump without too much of a hassle. I am wrong.

It’s literacy time in a fourth-grade teacher’s classroom. Students are working with partners and in small groups to read Teacher: ‘If Donald Trump gets elected, will me and my family be deported?’ — and other questions from 9-year-olds - The Washington Post:

Glass Not Even Half Full: Per-Pupil Spending in the U.S. Falls Again - NEA Today

Glass Not Even Half Full: Per-Pupil Spending in the U.S. Falls Again - NEA Today:

Glass Not Even Half Full: Per-Pupil Spending in the U.S. Falls Again

 Per-pupil spending in the United States declined for a third consecutive year in 2012-13, according to new data released by the National Center for Education Statistics(NCES). Although the drop slowed down to less than 1 percent from the previous year (a marked improvement from the 3 percent dip in 2011-2012), the data clearly shows that most school districts’ recovery from the extreme budget cuts triggered by the recession remains slow and painful.

According to NCES, national expenditures on public education totaled $605.3 billion, which translates to $10,763 in per-pupil spending – down 0.6 percent compared with 2012, adjusting for inflation. Overall, the United States spends more per-student on public education compared to a decade ago. Spending increased at least 1 percent per year between 2003–04 and 2007–08, peaking at $11,621 in 2008-09. But it’s been downhill ever since.

The NCES data shows the wide disparities in per-pupil funding across the 50 states (see map below). Those that spend on average more than $15,000 per student are concentrated in the northeast, whereas states that spend less than $10,000 per student are found mostly throughout the South and some Western states. Utah scores the lowest in the nation, spending only $6,432 per student.

State and local governments provided roughly $550 billion, or almost 91 percent of all revenues, with the federal government contributing $55 billion or 9 percent percent. Because local and state funding is so heavily reliant on property taxes, zip code largely determines the quality of education. For students in low-income districts, that means significantly less resources and supports than students in more affluent communities.  Federal funding got a major boost from the American  Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in early 2009, which increased the federal share to 13 percent in 2010-11. But these funds began to dry up the following school year, putting more pressure on state and local governments to provide enough funding for a fair and equitable education – which very few did.

As a recent analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CPBB) revealed, more than 30 states provided less state funding per student in the 2014 school year than in the 2008 school year. In 15 states, those cuts exceeded 10 percent.

At the federal level, funding for programs benefitting disadvantaged students are struggling to recover from the brutal cuts imposed by the harmfulGlass Not Even Half Full: Per-Pupil Spending in the U.S. Falls Again - NEA Today:

Schools Matter: Ravitch Revisionism

Schools Matter: Ravitch Revisionism:
Ravitch Revisionism

 It has taken just over a month since the passage of the god-awful rewrite of ESEA for Diane Ravitch to begin revising the history of her earlier enthusiastic support for the piece of dreck legislation that Gary Orfield and others have noted will turn back education policy in this country by more than a half century.  

In initiating her own limp revisionism, Ravitch has skewed a number of facts and left out out others, while failing to account for her quick pivot from unabashed ESSA fan to its harshest critic.  

A correction is required, then, and in order to do so in manner that does not misinterpret Diane's blog post, I will post her remarks in italics, which I will intersperse with bracketed clarifications.

It was difficult for Congress to agree on a replacement for the failed No Child Left Behind. NCLB was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007, but it took eight long years to finally reach a bipartisan agreement.

The good part about the Every Child Succeeds Act is that it spells the end of federal punishment for schools, principals, and teachers whose students have low test scores, and it restricts the ability of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to dictate how schools should reform. There is no more AYP (adequate yearly progress); there is no more deadline of 2014 by which time every student everywhere will be proficient, which was always a hoax that no one believed in.

 [I'm afraid there is bad news in Diane's good news.  The federal punishments in ESSA continue, if we mean by punishment annual testing in all schools and  months of test prep that go with annual testing in high poverty schools.  For even though Adequate Yearly Progress has been officially removed, those schools with highest poverty and the lowest scores must engage in a test-based version of The Hunger Games, whereby every poor school battles to avoid ending up dead in the bottom 5 percent of schools.  

By federal mandate in ESSA, the schools in the bottom 5 percent must be turned around.  And with ESSA's massive charter incentives to states and the corporate foundations, charter conversion will be the turnaround of choice in most states. 

So even though the ludicrous 2014 target date for proficiency is now gone, every poor school in America has a target on its back with the new ESSA.   And with a new 5 percent of lowest performing schools emerging each year, the privatization will continue just as before under NCLB, except that there will be much less federal oversight.  Of course, none of this is news to Diane, even though she does not talk about any of it when she is offering the "good news" about ESSA].  There would be no "good news" if she did.]

The bad part about ESSA is that it preserves the mindset of NCLB, a mindset that says that standards, testing and accountability are the keys to student success. They are not. NCLB proved they are not. Since “A Nation at Risk” in 1983, policymakers have been in love with the idea that this combination will cause a Schools Matter: Ravitch Revisionism:

Malloy Budget Plan – Coddle the rich while cutting vital state services - Wait What?

Malloy Budget Plan – Coddle the rich while cutting vital state services - Wait What?:
Malloy Budget Plan – Coddle the rich while cutting vital state services

 On Wednesday, February 3, 2016, Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy, flanked by Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman and the rest of his administration will submit his latest budget plan to a joint session of the Connecticut General Assembly.

Malloy’s approach, one that borrows directly from the disgraced trickle-down economic strategies of the Neo-Conservative/Neo Liberal philosophy, will be to balance Connecticut’s state budget by continuing to coddle Connecticut’s wealthiest citizens while cutting critically important health, human service and education programs for those who are struggling those most in today’s troubled economy.

The sad reality is that Connecticut’s most vulnerable citizens will be those who suffer most from Malloy’s proposals.

Governor “There Is No Budget Deficit – I Will Not Raise Taxes” Malloy will also propose sifting more of the burden for paying for government services onto Connecticut’s local property taxpayers, despite the fact that Connecticut’s property tax system is regressive and unfairly burdens middle-income and working families in Connecticut.

Finally, yet again, as if to reiterate that Malloy has to have it have it his way or no way, Governor Malloy will be proposing a dangerous and unprecedented power grab that would transfer significant budget control and oversight away from the Legislative Branch of government to the Executive Branch, giving him and his budget chief unparalleled authority over how appropriated state funds are actually spent.

Malloy Policy #1 – Coddle the Rich

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a national non-partisan Malloy Budget Plan – Coddle the rich while cutting vital state services - Wait What?:

Education Department Tells States: If Students Don't Take Tests, You Will Lose Funding

Education Department Tells States: If Students Don't Take Tests, You Will Lose Funding:
Education Department Tells States: If Students Don't Take Tests, You Will Lose Funding
"The volume of testing remains the same, which many parents and educators view as overkill."

 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- The U.S. Education Department is not relenting on requirements to test students on math and language arts abilities, despite the end of No Child Left Behind, and it reminded some states that federal funding could be at stake if too many children skip the annual assessments.

But testing opponents say they're not giving up either, and after a surge in students opting out last year, they're looking for even more to sit out in the coming assessment season.

A letter from the federal department last month reminded state school chiefs that the requirement to test at least 95 percent of grade 3-8 students is still in place and will continue under the nation's new education law, passed in December.

Last year, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a group known as FairTest that's critical of standardized assessments, counted more than 640,000 students in over a dozen states who refused to take the assessments to protest the high-stakes consequences begun under No Child Left Behind.

The new Every Student Succeeds Act that was passed to replace NCLB leaves it to states how to handle schools that fall short in participation, but Ann Whalen, an assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, stressed in her letter that assessment requirements remain.

Whalen's Dec. 22 memo followed a series of individual requests for improvement plans from states at risk of falling short of the threshold in 2014-15. Letters went out to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

Most states responded with plans that stressed improving communication with parents and teachers about the importance of assessments. Several promised to downgrade a district or school's rating should they miss participation targets, or revoke eligibility for recognition awards, according to responses obtained by The Associated Press. None of the plans appeared to carry any financial consequence.

New York Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia described a host of initiatives after 20 percent of students didn't take the tests last year, which was about four times the number as the previous year. New York replaced test vendor Pearson with Questar to develop new test questions with more teacher input and shortened the assessments, Elia said. After complaints from teachers and parents that the Education Department Tells States: If Students Don't Take Tests, You Will Lose Funding:

State says number of students approved to get free lunch is way up | 89.3 KPCC

State says number of students approved to get free lunch is way up | 89.3 KPCC:
State says number of students approved to get free lunch is way up

 A change in the way California determines which students are eligible for meal programs means far more kids this year will receive free lunch at school.

There was a 32 percent increase in December to the number of California studentsautomatically enrolled in the federally funded free and reduced meal program, California Department of Education officials announced. 

The increase is due to big changes the state made in July.

Rather than relying on paperwork, officials now match CalFresh data -- that’s the new name for food stamps – and other information about eligibility for poverty programs with public school student enrollment information to sign students up.

“We didn’t expand eligibility; this is just streamlining government so kids who are entitled to the service can actually access it,” said L.A.-area State Senator Holly Mitchell.

Mitchell is one of two state legislators who gathered education and social service administrators last year to find ways to improve.

Mitchell said school lunch eligibility was denied if addresses didn’t match, so officials found other ways to confirm a student’s address.

In L.A. County, the new methods led to more than 86,000 new students automatically enrolled.

Educators believe that automatically enrolling students who are eligible for free lunch programs is good for schools and good for students.

“So the moment that you are able to have children that have food and that they don’t worry about being hungry,” said Hacienda-La Puente Unified Superintendent Cynthia Parulan-Colfer, “then you have an opportunity to be able to help the focus in the classroom and that’s only going to be able to be beneficial in terms of increasing knowledge for our kids.”

The changes are part of a national trend to make it easier to make sure poor kids are getting school meals.State says number of students approved to get free lunch is way up | 89.3 KPCC:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

 

Rahm's council rubber-stamp, Ald. Will Burns bails out. Takes job with AirBnB.

CTU Vice-Pres. Jesse Sharkey 

“The Big Bargaining Team will tell us if there’s a [tentative agreement].” -- Sun-Times

Freep Editor Stephen Henderson on Flint

This is about cities themselves, and how Michigan’s system of governance permits and even incentivizes the creation of poor, isolated urban centers that don’t have enough population or resources to deliver services. This is about race and class, and the historic emphasis of suburban development on moving away from black and poor communities, stripping them of the tax base and other resources Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

All Things Education: Charter schools in Virginia whether we want them or not

All Things Education: Charter schools in Virginia whether we want them or not:

Charter schools in Virginia whether we want them or not

Charter schools may soon be coming to Virginia communities whether those communities want them or not. This is not about whether or not to have charter schools or whether or not charter schools work. This is about power and democracy.

In Virginia, what's known as the "charter school bill," HB 3 in the Virginia House of Delegates and SB 588 in the Virginia Senate, establishes a resolution (HJ 1 and SJ R6) that will trigger a referendum on a constitutional amendment giving the Virginia State Board of Education the power to go over the heads of local school boards and establish charter schools in local communities.  This resolution will be voted on in the Virginia House of Delegates tomorrow (Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016), so you must contact your Delegate ASAP.

This resolution and accompanying legislation is before the General Assembly for the second year in a row. (I wrote about this last year here and before that I wrote about the concept, when it was the Opportunity Educational Institution, here.) Last year, it passed both chambers and, hence, if it passes this year—and as of this writing the House Privileges and Election Committee has sent it on to the House floor on a 10-9 vote—it will go onto the ballot this November. (Or maybe not this November if the Virginia GOP doesn't think it will pass then, but I digress.) 

“Work” is not the right way of looking at this, in any case. Like any model, some charter schools are successful and some aren’t. Some charter schools are true institutions of education, created by parents and educators, while some are real estate scams, developed by hucksters and charlatans. But given that all students are not served as they should be in public schools, I agree that conversations about the merits and disadvantages of charter schools are worth having.

But it is a conversation worth having among parents, citizens, educators, and educational leaders in the communities where charter schools are potentially to be located. Setting up schools in local communities is not a state matter. While many of its members are knowledgeable and passionate about K-12 education in Virginia and the Virginia State Board of All Things Education: Charter schools in Virginia whether we want them or not:

What Does the So-Called Corporate Takeover of Government Mean? | janresseger

What Does the So-Called Corporate Takeover of Government Mean? | janresseger:

What Does the So-Called Corporate Takeover of Government Mean?

 Democracy has failed in Michigan.  In November, 2012, voters repealed a state law permitting the governor to impose state appointed austerity fiscal managers on local jurisdictions, but the legislature came back by the end of the year with a new, un-repealable, emergency manager law.  For years the state emergency managers running Flint’s water system have insulted citizens who complained about water quality at the same time the same officials knew about the rising level of lead and other toxic substances in the water but kept poisoning Flint’s children anyway.  And state emergency managers in Detroit’s public schools have run up a cumulative deficit of $3.5 billion at the same time they have neglected the decaying conditions in which children are expected to learn and teachers to work.  Citizens in Michigan’s poorest communities have been rendered powerless by the loss of checks and balances.

Through weeks’ of rolling sick-outs, Detroit’s teachers have tried to bring attention to the roof leaks and buckling gym floors and rodents (alive and dead) littering the buildings where they work.  Although photographs in newspapers have been distressing,  Michigan’s laws, as they have been adjusted in recent years, don’t really provide a path for citizens to regain control.  So last Thursday, according to Corey Mitchell writing for Education Week,  “The Detroit Federation of Teachers, along with the American Federation of Teachers… filed a lawsuit against Detroit public schools and Emergency Manager Darnell Earley, alleging that the district has failed to ‘provide a minimally adequate education and to properly maintain the schools.’  Parents and students are also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the latest volley in a frenzied legal struggle between teachers and the leadership of the troubled state-run school district… Recent inspections of schools by city workers have uncovered numerous code violations including issues with mold, rodents, broken glass, and leaking roofs.  The lawsuit said district officials, including Earley, have allowed the condition of the schools to ‘deteriorate to the point of crisis’….” Mitchell adds that Darnell Earley, Detroit Public Schools’ current emergency fiscal manager—and previously the state emergency manager involved with Flint’s water poisoning—has turned (unsuccessfully) to the courts to try to prevent What Does the So-Called Corporate Takeover of Government Mean? | janresseger:

School spending per student drops for a third year in a row - The Hechinger Report

School spending per student drops for a third year in a row - The Hechinger Report:
School spending per student drops for a third year in a row
Towns and cities spent more on schools during 2012-13, but federal poverty and special education funds dropped

Turn the education spending clock back to 2007.

Per-pupil spending in the nation’s public schools fell for the third straight year in 2012-13*, according to the most recent federal financial data, which was released on January 27, 2016. In that school year, U.S. public schools spent only $10,763 per elementary, middle and high school student, on average, across the country. That’s a tiny $62 per-pupil decrease from the previous school year (2011-12), after adjusting for inflation. But it comes on the heels of two straight years of spending declines, putting us back roughly to how much we spent on public education in 2007, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Cumulatively, we’re spending $858 less per student than we did at the peak, back in 2008-2009, when we spent $11,621, adjusted to today’s dollars.

“You’ve been educating more students with more need as the dollars have been dwindling,” said Hilary Goldmann, executive director of National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, an advocacy organization that lobbies the government for education funds.

Per-pupil school spending 2012-13

(Navigate to any state and click to see student spending data. Interactive map created by Jill Barshay of The Hechinger Report. Source data: Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2012-13, NCES)

The reasons for the 2012-13 dip in education spending are different than those in previous years.  Following the 2008 recession, state and local budgets had dried up. Many regions were forced to make education cuts under balanced-budget rules. Those state and local cuts were only partly offset by a surge in federal funds, aimed at reviving the economy. By 2011-12, President Obama’s stimulus funds had been largely spent down, causing education spending to decline yet again.

In the newly released financial figures for 2012-13, there is evidence of economic recovery. Local funding to schools — from cities, towns, counties and districts — actually went up almost 1 percent, or $2.3 billion, thanks to an increase in housing prices, which led to higher property tax collections. State funds to schools remained stable from the previous year. But surprisingly, federal funds went down 10 percent. That’s $6 billion fewer federal dollars going to public schools.

It’s not immediately obvious why federal funds would tumble like that, since the stimulus funds had already been spent. Meanwhile, the deep “sequestration” budget cuts of 2013, which forced automatic reductions on most federal programs, didn’t kick in until spring, and mostly affected students the following school year.

I talked with Joel Packer, the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group, and he explained that Congress actually began cutting funds to education before the sequester budget battle. Programs that target high-poverty schools, such as Title I, and special education were both hit. Federal agencies have formulas for distributing this money, based on the number of poor and special needs children, but these formulas are based on a percentage of the money that Congress appropriates. When Congress appropriates less, schools get less — even as the School spending per student drops for a third year in a row - The Hechinger Report:

Pondering the future of CTA, Sacramento post-Friedrichs :: SI&A Cabinet Report

Pondering the future of CTA, Sacramento post-Friedrichs :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Pondering the future of CTA, Sacramento post-Friedrichs

(Calif.) For decades they have cast an imposing political shadow over the Capitol – dictating terms on budget deals, elevating supporters and isolating opponents while exercising a de facto veto power over many, if not most, legislative offerings.

Deserved or not, the California Teachers Association has a reputation as kingmaker in Sacramento – a status so solid that only a handful of other stakeholder groups in the country can match. But later this spring, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to deliver a life-threatening blow to them – as well as to all other public employee unions – by trimming their ability to raise money.

If so, there is broad consensus that party politics in the U.S. will be fundamentally changed and the labor movement severely wounded.

There’s less consensus, however, on the ruling’s impact in Sacramento and on the California political landscape.

“I’m not discounting how important this decision will be – it is a direct assault on public employee unions and the impact will be significant,” said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

“Money is important to CTA and the CFT (California Federation of Teachers) but that is just one thing they do,” he explained. “They also do a lot of organizing and will still have the ability to affect close elections with constituencies that you might not always notice, especially when it comes to school boards and some Assembly races. It’s not as if their capacity to be politically active will evaporate.”

At issue in Friedrichs v. CTA is a ruling made in the 1970s that upheld as constitutional state laws requiring government employees represented by a labor union to pay their share of collective bargaining activities whether they are members or not. California and 22 other states have such laws on the books and a reversal by the court would mean those unions wouldn’t be able to collect hundreds of millions of dollars, likely diminishing their overall effectiveness.

The plaintiffs have challenged the mandate on First Amendment grounds saying their dues help support a union that pushes a political agenda they do not agree with. Hostile questioning of CTA’s attorneys by the high court’s conservative majority at a hearing last month suggests that the justices will rule against the union when the opinions are made public probably in June.

CTA officials have been characteristically circumspect in most of their public statements. They have expressed hope that the court will maintain the status quo, but have also criticized the suit as “politically inspired” and a vehicle of “corporate interests.”

In a November seminar held in Sacramento, Teri Holoman, CTA’s political action manager, gave perhaps the most in-depth response when she insisted the ruling wouldn’t have as substantial an impact as many believe. She argued that the union leadership pays a lot of attention to the grass roots.

“CTA is an incredibly democratic organization,” she said. “In terms of how it functions, decisions they make, political campaigns they get involved with and candidates they back.”

As a result, she argued, even if the court takes away the mandated dues enough teachers will Pondering the future of CTA, Sacramento post-Friedrichs :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

You Have To Read This Letter From A School To Students Receiving Test Scores - Yahoo News

You Have To Read This Letter From A School To Students Receiving Test Scores - Yahoo News:

You Have To Read This Letter From A School To Students Receiving Test Scores

 A primary school has sent out a heartfelt letter to pupils alongside their exam results.

The letter sent by staff at Harmony Hill Primary School in Lisburn, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, contained words of inspiration for pupils receiving their transfer test scores.

The letter has been shared across social media and has been praised for its content.

It reads: “We believe your attitude and who you are as a person is much more important than any mark on a test.”

In the letter, staff at the school tell pupils not to be anxious if they didn’t achieve the result they had had hoped for.

“We know that each one of you has worked very hard and with a great attitude,” it said.

“No score can ever take that away from you.

“Remember, the score in the envelope is just a mark for some tests. It cannot measure how amazing you are!“

“So, no matter what happens in the next few minutes, today you must celebrate you!”

The letter begins: “Inside this envelope is a score.

“It’s a score you’ve been waiting for, but it might not be the score you’ve been hoping for. If that’s the case, it’s only natural that you will feel disappointed ‘in you’.

“Unfortunately, in life, things don’t always work out the way we want them to and it can take a little time to sort out the feelings and thoughts we can have when that happens.

“We know that each of you has worked very hard and with a great attitude.”

Harry Greer, the school’s principal, told the BBC that vice-principal Hillary Johnston had come up with the idea for the letter and worked with staff to finalise the wording.

“We just wanted them to know that we were thinking of them today,” said Mr Greer.

“It can be a time of great excitement, but for some children, it can be a time of great disappointment.”

(Picture: @paddyc13/Twitter)

You Have To Read This Letter From A School To Students Receiving Test Scores - Yahoo News:

Teachers reported moderate to major concerns prior to 2015 state testing

Teachers reported moderate to major concerns prior to 2015 state testing:

Teachers reported moderate to major concerns prior to 2015 state testing

Prior to the first round of K-12 standardized testing under Common Core education standards last year, most teachers had moderate to major concerns about test difficulty and low student performance, according to new studies from the RAND Corporation.

Most English language arts and mathematics teachers felt prepared to help their students meet the standards. However, the new standards expect teachers in other subjects to help students improve their literacy and master mathematics concepts, and these teachers reported less familiarity with the new state standards. Both groups reported needing additional professional development, according to results of a new survey.

"The survey results provide an opportunity for school district leaders to understand how prepared teachers are to teach the new Common Core standards and then tailor the professional development to the areas the teachers feel they need the most support," said Julia Kaufman, co-author of the studies and a policy researcher at RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.

The findings are from the first survey done with the RAND American Teacher Panel, a representative national panel of K-12 teachers organized to provide feedback on issues of educational policy and practice.

With the introduction of Common Core State Standards during the past few years, many states made major changes to K-12 student testing programs. The new tests were administered to students across the country for the first time in spring 2015.

The new state standards changed expectations for what students should learn in English language arts and mathematics, and what teachers should know and teach in their classroom. The RAND surveys asked teachers how prepared they felt to address Common Core State Standards in their classrooms and what additional professional development is needed. It also gathered information about teachers' concerns about the new state tests.

Non-English language arts teachers reported needing professional development in writing instruction and differentiation of instruction for students at different achievement levels. Non-mathematics teachers reported needing professional development in complex, inquiry-based modes of instruction, such as problem-solving and argumentation.

Researchers said that the analysis did not show any differences in perceived preparedness between teachers in high- and low-poverty schools, although teachers at high-poverty schools expressed a greater need for writing professional development compared to those at low-poverty schools. There were also differences between teachers in states that had adopted Common Core State Standards and those that had not and thus were preparing students for non-Common Core tests.

Among English language arts teachers in Common Core states, only 47 percent reported some level of familiarity with the standards. Meanwhile, 70 percent of teachers in non-Common Core states reported being familiar enough with their non-Common Core standards to develop lesson plans. Mathematics teachers in Common Core states were also significantly less likely to report being well prepared to address the Common Core mathematics standards than were mathematics teachers in non-Common Core states regarding their own non-Common Core standards.

At the time of the survey, the American Teacher Panel was composed of approximately 1,129 teachers, and the companion American School Leader Panel was composed of approximately 557 school leaders. The same teachers and school leaders, along with others recruited during the past year, will participate in future surveys. The first surveys provide a baseline that will allow researchers to see the changes over time in teacher and school leader perspectives and experiences with the new state standards and tests.

To ensure a representative sample, panel members were chosen randomly from across the country. The teacher sample included full-time public school teachers in grades K-12 across all subjects, including teachers of special education students and English-language learners.

 Explore further: Obama signs education law rewrite shifting power to states

More information: The reports, "What Are Teachers' and School Leaders' Major Concerns About New K-12 State Tests?", "What Supports Do Teachers Need to Help Students Meet Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy?" and "What Supports Do Teachers Need to Help Students Meet Common Core State Standards for Mathematics?" are available at www.rand.org

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-02-teachers-moderate-major-prior-state.html#jCp

Big news: from LA School Report founder Jamie Alter Lynton - LA School Report

Big news: from LA School Report founder Jamie Alter Lynton - LA School Report:
Big news: from LA School Report founder Jamie Alter Lynton

Dear Readers:
I am thrilled to announce today a partnership betweenLA School Report and the online education news site The 74.

I founded LA School Reportmore than three years ago on the belief that there is an urgent need for quality journalism in the education arena; that without vigorous scrutiny, decisions made by elected officials, special interests and district bureaucrats go unchecked. Why the urgency? Because the Los Angeles public school system – which ranks among the worst in the country –  is profoundly failing the vast majority of students, especially those who are not white and middle class. At the same time the district’s sheer size and diversity make it a national player. If this district can turn itself around, the whole country will benefit.

Since our launch, LA School Report has sought to bring some of the critical issues Big news: from LA School Report founder Jamie Alter Lynton - LA School Report:

LA School Report announces partnership with ed news site, The 74

The 74 and LA School Report – two rapidly growing education news sites – will partner to expand coverage of education in Los Angeles and America’s second-largest school district, the founders of the sites announced today.

In less than four years,LA School Report has become a must-read for insiders and everyday Angelenos alike. The site follows the politics and policy of the public school system in Los Angeles, shining a light on underreported but critical developments in education.

“The 74 brings with it a deep bench of veteran journalists, and together with our team at LA School Report we will be positioned to expand our reach and deliver a more robust news site that helps keep education front and center throughout the city,” saidJamie Lynton, founder of LA School Report, who will join The 74’s board as part of the partnership.

“All of us at The 74 and LA School Report firmly believe there is a real opportunity to expand coverage throughout Los Angeles and the West Coast and put an even greater spotlight on the system,” said Campbell Brown, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The74Million.org. “We will bring the same kind of aggressive and substantive coverage that has defined our reporting since we launched to an even greater 

LA School Report announces partnership with ed news site, The 74

La. House Ed. Chair, Nancy Landry, Publicly Demeaned Teachers in 2012 | deutsch29

La. House Ed. Chair, Nancy Landry, Publicly Demeaned Teachers in 2012 | deutsch29:

La. House Ed. Chair, Nancy Landry, Publicly Demeaned Teachers in 2012

On January 28, 2015, the Louisiana House Education Committee chose chose Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette) as its chair.

  

Nancy Landry

Louisiana teachers remember Landry from 2012– March 14, 2012– and the House Education Committee hearings on the Jindal “overhaul” of Louisiana public education– which included legislation on the Jeb-Bush-influenced ed reforms of voucher expansion and grading teachers using student test scores.

The hearings were held during the school day; therefore, any teacher wishing to attend and/or testify had to leave school to do so.

Landry promoted the idea of requiring teachers to open their remarks with a statement regarding personnel issues; namely, what type of leave they were under in order to be present at the House Education Committee hearings that day. (Landry’s degrading of La. House Ed. Chair, Nancy Landry, Publicly Demeaned Teachers in 2012 | deutsch29: