FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, June 4, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Monday, June 4, 2012

Suit: Schools got millions, firm got stiffed

The LHA Group filed suit last week against the Garden Grove Unified School District and Y’Deen/Associates Architects, the firm overseeing a 66-school modernization. LHA was asked to swoop in at the 11th hour to help Y’Deen complete plans for 33 schools, so the district could qualify for state matching funds that were disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis, according to court and district documents. LHA jammed, did the work, but never got paid — and was essentially destroyed in the process, it says.

Board candidate's education history adds to Twin Rivers' turmoil

Days before Tuesday's pivotal school board election, new allegations continue to besiege the embattled Twin Rivers Unified School District. Board candidate Michael Baker has come under scrutiny over educational degrees from University of Nevada, Reno, that he claimed to have in voter guides. University of Nevada, Reno, officials said they "found no educational record for him."

Sacramento City Unified teachers to vote on furloughs, health plan concessions

The Sacramento City Unified School District reached a tentative agreement with its teachers union that includes health benefit concessions and two furlough days.

Sacramento County education board races hotly contested

A once-sleepy school board election – in which candidates often ran unopposed and rarely accumulated large war chests – has turned into a hotly contested race bringing in nearly $175,000 and prompting armies of volunteers to call their neighbors and walk the streets promoting candidates.

Alternative school struggles with chaotic year

Super Glue poured into classroom locks. Curses hurled at teachers, fights erupting after class, marijuana wafting on campus and checked-out students. At Odyssey Community School in San Martin, such chaos apparently reigned for months this school year. "In all the years working in alternative schools, this is the worst I've seen," one veteran staffer said.

Temecula school board to consider raising bus fees

The Temecula Valley Unified school board will consider raising bus fees and streamlining bus routes at its meeting Tuesday, June 5.

Modesto schools reorganization includes special education

The key change in Modesto City Schools' administrative reorganization involves folding special education programs into the educational services division.

Borenstein: Culture that enabled teacher sexual abuses continues in Moraga district

A Moraga principal who failed to report student complaints about a molesting teacher remains on the job months after the superintendent learns of the inaction. In another case, faculty turn out in support of an abusive teacher after a former student bravely comes forward to report that the instructor had repeatedly raped her.

$1 million claim filed in teacher's alleged abuse

The mother of a 5-year-old boy allegedly kicked and deprived of food by a special-education teacher at a Redwood City elementary school has filed a legal claim seeking more than $1 million in damages.

San Rafael's Short School now a model site for special teaching method

Less than two years after it reopened, Short Elementary School in San Rafael has become a model school site for a number of educational best practices including a specialized "language acquisition" teaching method.

Stewart: Finance reform without accountability could devastate career tech

Under the current K-12 public education system in California, programs that are not required, measured, or explicitly funded by the state will disappear from our schools. Elective courses are becoming victims of educational policy that only recognizes “success” as defined by scores on standardized tests in courses mandated for graduation or college admission. Since that’s all that is really measured, that’s all that will really matter.

Calendar closes in on key ed bills, including transit money protection

A legislative attempt to secure school transportation funding in future years failed to muster support out of a key committee – a fate it shares with a slew of other education bills that did not meet a key May deadline.

Tech forecast shows crowded web for schools to navigate

Even as some districts still are struggling to provide adequate access to computers in the classroom, a new report from a national educational technology group has a dire warning – just five years from now, Internet traffic will be 35 times greater than today, driven by the use of smartphones, tablets, cloud services and digital video.

Civil rights groups sue state for violating rights of English learners

Civil rights groups are accusing the state of violating the constitutional rights of English learners in the Dinuba Unified School District by implementing a program that bars first- and second-grade non-English-speaking students from reading classes.

Trends in California ed bills

Tomorrow is primary day, but last Friday also marked some significant yeas and nays. It was the final day for bills before the state legislature to pass out of the house where they were introduced, also known as their house of origin.

Class size reduction program continues to unravel

In just three years, California’s class size reduction program in kindergarten through the 3rd grade has unraveled at a rapid rate, and continues to do so.

Lucia Mar teacher training program facing setback

The Lucia Mar Unified School District’s teachers union has voted against an agreement with the district on a training and evaluation program that was started at seven schools last year.

School bond measures raise funds from businesses with financial interest

As voters around the state decide on more than two dozen local school bond measures tomorrow, the campaigns promoting many of them are funded largely by businesses that stand to benefit financially.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Tax initiative to have 'profound' effect on schools

This November will bring the "most profound election for public education in decades," local school officials heard at a budget summit of sorts in Bakersfield Thursday.

A day of energy savings will dawn soon at Pacifica High

Pacifica High School's electric bill is about to shrink. The school's solar panel project, located on the roof of the gym and in the parking lot, is expected to go on line in the middle of the month.

National Green Ribbon Schools Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

National Green Ribbon Schools Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Congratulates First U.S. Department
of Education National Green Ribbon Awards Winners

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson congratulated four California schools that were among the 78 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools  recognized today at a national ceremony in Washington, D.C.

"Science, environmental, and outdoor education are all keys to helping our students become knowledgeable citizens and responsible stewards of California’s environment," Torlakson said. "These winners are models not only for California, but for the entire nation. I commend them for their commitment to the earth and to learning."

Twenty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and the Bureau of Indian Education nominated nearly 100 schools, of which 66 were public, including eight charters, and 12 were private. California nominated four schools and all were declared winners:

• Environmental Charter High School  , Lawndale Elementary School District.
• Longfellow Elementary School  , Long Beach Unified School District.
• Grand View Elementary School  , Manhattan Beach Unified School District.
• The Athenian School  , a private school in Danville.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, and U.S Surgeon General Dr.Regina Benjamin in congratulating the honorees for their exemplary enviro nmental programs and practices.

Honorees were awarded Forest Stewardship Council and Green Guard certif, ied plaques and biodegradable banners made of recycled bottles. This winter, all schools in participating states will have another opportunity to apply to their state education agencies to compete for state nominations for next year’s awards

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Blue Jersey:: Why Sheila Oliver, Loretta Weinberg & I are supporting Marie Corfield in LD-16

Blue Jersey:: Why Sheila Oliver, Loretta Weinberg & I are supporting Marie Corfield in LD-16:

Why Sheila Oliver, Loretta Weinberg & I are supporting Marie Corfield in LD-16

by Rosi Efthim

Marie Corfield for NJ Assembly

Support teacher Marie Corfield in her campaign!

Both Speaker Sheila Oliver and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg are in strong for Marie Corfield in Tuesday's primary. Both recorded calls for Corfield going out to voters. Do you know how unusual it is for legislative leadership to involve themselves in a primary fight to this degree? Very. But this is a solid chance for a Democratic pickup, and Corfield is a natural leader who nearly won the seat in November - coming about 3% behind entrenched GOP control (in a newly configured promising District) - and she's heavily endorsed. By comparison,  opponent Sue Nemeth has based her campaign on little more than mischaracterizing Corfield in nasty, personal terms, and insulting the intelligence of voters.Loretta Weinberg says:

"While Marie's opponent resorts to Chris Christie-style personal attacks Marie is busy campaigning to increase funding for education, deliver middle-class tax relief and bring jobs to NJ. 

OUCH: E-Mail From Baton Rouge Area Chamber Escapes, Stir Ensues (Updated)

OUCH: E-Mail From Baton Rouge Area Chamber Escapes, Stir Ensues (Updated):

OUCH: E-Mail From Baton Rouge Area Chamber Escapes, Stir Ensues (Updated)

by MacAoidh

Last week a move by citizen activists in Southeast Baton Rouge to create a breakaway school district independent of the failed East Baton Rouge Parish school system along the lines of those created by the people of Zachary and Central fell just four votes short of passage in the House of Representatives (nine votes short when the bill was brought for a second vote on the floor).

Among the groups fighting against the bill was the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.

It was puzzling why BRAC would take a position on the bill, a public policy argument which was not directly related to the question of economic development and the effect of which would not have been demonstrable one way or another. BRAC touted a study in progress by LSU professor Jim Richardson on the creation of a 

Analysis: Ruston school raises new voucher concern

BATON ROUGE — The New Living Word School probably wasn't the poster child Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration wanted for its new statewide voucher program.

The Ruston church-affiliated school has gotten widespread attention at the Capitol because of its plan to more than triple its enrollment by adding voucher students while raising tuition costs on the state's dime, though it's questionable whether the school has the immediate capability to handle such growth.

It's been a public relations nightmare for Superintendent of Education John White, and it has left even supporters of the voucher program that was pushed by the Republican governor publicly questioning whether enough safeguards were added to the program that will use tax dollars to send children to private and parochial schools.

Critics of the voucher program saw the example of the New Living Word School as new ammunition against a program that expands statewide for the upcoming school year.

But the attention generated by the school's plans could highlight potential loopholes and areas of concern, as education officials 

Vincent Precht: A Liberator | United Opt Out National

Vincent Precht: A Liberator | United Opt Out National:

Vincent Precht: A Liberator

by admin

Our Don’t Negotiate campaign is possible due to Liberators – those who do not negotiate with children’s lives.  Vincent Precht, also known as Califather, livestreamed our Occupation of The Department of Education in D.C. from March 30th to April 2nd.  He allowed the world to hear what mainstream media refused to share. Please follow him at his livestream channel or his blog and today, we share his words – we share what mainstream media denies the public – the truth.

In the words of William Lloyd Garrison, who famously declared in the first issue of The Liberator: “I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”

Vincent Precht will be heard.

Watch live streaming video from califather at livestream.com

A Florida Teacher Explains Why She Thinks VAM is a Scam - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

A Florida Teacher Explains Why She Thinks VAM is a Scam - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

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A Florida Teacher Explains Why She Thinks VAM is a Scam

by Anthony Cody

Guest post by kafkateach, originally posted at her blog here.
In my previous post about VAM, I chose to discredit value added models on a purely humanistic level and to leave the attacks on the validity and reliability of the algorithm to the mathematicians. In the past week, I have learned so much about how VAMs will now be used in annual teacher evaluations in Florida that I can completely leave the pseudo science behind the algorithm out of the equation. I do not even need to prove that value added models are merely overpriced tarot card readings to demonstrate the truly malicious nature of how these models will be used to evaluate teachers. The master plan to use value added models to dismantle the teaching profession and anyone's chance of ever collecting a pension again is truly brilliant in design. Keep reading to see the scam for yourself.
This week I was called in to sign on the 50% of my evaluation that is actually based on MY performance instead of my students' performance. Teachers have been working this entire year without a clear idea of how they would be evaluated, even the administrators do not understand the new evaluation system. My administrator tried to tell 

Was I Mean to Eli Broad? « Diane Ravitch's blog

Was I Mean to Eli Broad? « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Was I Mean to Eli Broad?

by dianerav

This morning my former colleague Mike Petrilli at the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute wrote a paean of praise in honor of billionaire Eli Broad. He began it by saying:
It wouldn’t be super-hard to poke fun at Eli Broad. (Diane Ravitch did a mean-spirited version of that when she called him and his peers “The Billionaire Boys Club.”) Here’s a man who made his fortune  building tract housing in the ‘burbs,  who micromanages grants down to the penny, a man who names more than a few things after himself (the Broad Prize, the Broad Fellows, and his latest museum project, simply The Broad). He’s the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent, and not ashamed of it, either.

I was surprised to hear Mike say that it was “mean-spirited” of me to refer to him and Bill Gates and the Walton Family Foundation as members of “the Billionaire Boys’ Club.” They are billionaires and they are guys. So I wrote Mike and asked him if I had said anything that was inaccurate, and he said, no, nothing inaccurate, just mean-spirited.

I admit I didn’t realize that people as powerful as Eli Broad (“the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent”) were 

Vouchers and the Future of Public Education

by dianerav

I debated whether to give this blog the title you see or to call it “State Commissioner of Education John White Acknowledges That He Doesn’t Know How to Improve Schools.”
I felt a sense of outrage as I read the latest account of the Louisiana voucher program. Since Bobby Jindal is already doing what Mitt Romney promises to do, I keep a close watch on Louisiana. So should the national media. A Shreveport newspaper ran an article linking Jindal’s plan to the ALEC model of school reform.
The Reuters article skips the rhetoric about “the civil rights issue of our era” and goes to the heart of the voucher program:
“Louisiana is embarking on the nation’s boldest experiment in privatizing public education, with the state preparing to shift tens of millions in tax dollars out of the public schools to pay private industry, businesses owners and church pastors to educate children.“
The voucher program is a bold effort to privatize public education by taking money away from public schools and giving it to anyone who claims that they can offer some sort of an educational or tutoring or apprenticeship program, in person or online, regardless of its quality.
Commissioner John White defends the radical privatization scheme, saying that: ”I know the governor and bill 

Trust and skepticism « Deborah Meier on Education

Trust and skepticism « Deborah Meier on Education:

Trust and skepticism

by rogermeier

Dear friends.
The poor get poorer, and more get poorer. Meanwhile college tuitions keep rising. Meanwhile the media declare that no one who hasn’t got a BA can possibly qualify for a living wage. Something’s rotten in this proposition. It’s a catch-22. And it doesn’t have to be that way. It isn’t that way in Finland, for example.
Finland didn’t do it overnight, but they built it around critical democratic habits: competence and trust. They didn’t trade off one for the other. They joined competence and trust—just as we do when we hire a baby-sitter. I often go back to this metaphor because it seems so odd that we understand trust when it comes to a babysitter (even when our children are so young that we can’t really get “their side” of the story) but keep looking for a trust-proof solution to system-wide public schooling.
Trust and skepticism go fine together. The leap of faith we make is always temporary—whether it’s a question of when to lock one’s car doors, leave chairs out on the lawn, etc,
It’s another reason why I like both small class and small school size. It’s easier to learn the culture: what’s 

What's the Secret to Student Success? — Whole Child Education

What's the Secret to Student Success? — Whole Child Education:

What’s the Secret to Student Success?

by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Willona Sloan and originally featured in Education Update.
Educators today face many exciting challenges: preparing students for life and careers in the 21st century and helping every student overcome obstacles and experience the joy of learning. To meet these challenges, every teacher and every administrator must work together within their schools and across schools, breaking free of their silos and collaborating. Just as principals can no longer stay in their offices, administrating behind closed doors, teachers also cannot seal themselves inside of their classrooms.
Research proves that when teachers collaborate effectively to analyze student performance, create interventions for struggling students, and continue their own professional learning, they can increase their efficacy. When principals empower teachers to do what they know is best for kids, children learn more and teachers find more satisfaction in their work. Collaboration creates a win-win-win situation for students, teachers, and

The Unknown Students

by Sean Slade

How well do you know your students? How well do you know each student? Many schools use the following activity or something similar as part of professional development.

Step 1: Arrange all the students' names by either year level or in the whole school, depending on size of the school, onto a large wall.
Step 2: Give each adult a Post-It note and ask him or her to stick it next to each student he or she "knows." Knowing can include knowing what sports the students play, what their interests are, or how many brothers and sisters they have—in short, knowing each student as a person.
Step 3: Step back and look at the wall. What do you see?
What typically happens is that there is somewhat of a bell curve represented across the wall. Then there is silence as the adults realize what they are looking at.

• There are 15–25 percent of students that everyone knows. These may be the outgoing, exuberant, or popular students. They may also be the more disruptive students. They are the ones that make 

Vallas, Adamowski et. al. – Undermining Connecticut’s Economy…One job, One Family at a Time - Wait, What?

Vallas, Adamowski et. al. – Undermining Connecticut’s Economy…One job, One Family at a Time - Wait, What?:

Vallas, Adamowski et. al. – Undermining Connecticut’s Economy…One job, One Family at a Time

by jonpelto

Just a few weeks ago, Bridgeport, Windham and other school districts cheered when the Legislature approved and Governor Malloy signed legislation that allocates an additional $98 million as part of the new “education reform” act.

Of that, Bridgeport will be receiving at least $4 million more in state funds while Windham will collect at least $800,000.  Depending on how the Malloy Administration approaches the creation of the new “Commissioner’s Network” system, the towns may receive significantly more.

So what is the first thing that Paul Vallas (Bridgeport’s $229,000 part-time interim 

Creative Approach Schools Lawsuit and Fundraiser | Seattle Education

Creative Approach Schools Lawsuit and Fundraiser | Seattle Education:

Creative Approach Schools Lawsuit and Fundraiser

by seattleducation2011

This is a guest post by Jack Whelan and an action that I support.
Why We’re Bringing Suit against the Creative Approach Schools MOU
On June 22, there will be a hearing to decide whether the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Creative Approach Schools between the district and the SEA, the local teachers union, is legal. This MOU grants the superintendent the right to waive any Board policy while approving the transformation of neighborhood schools into Creative Approach Schools. This could include waiving whistle-blower policy, conflict of interest policies, academic and financial policies–any policy!  It also removes parents from the process.
A group of citizens–Rita Green, Carlina Brown, Eric Muhs, Robert Femiano, and I—is bringing a suit against the district because we think this MOU is illegal. The lawsuit does not attack the idea of Creative Approach Schools, but we are concerned about the precedent it sets regarding to whom these schools will be ultimately accountable. We believe that in approving this MOU the board has abdicated its responsibility to represent the broader community’s interests regarding the establishment of Creative Approach Schools.
Here’s some background:
On February 15, 2012, the Seattle School Board voted to approve this MOU despite Director Peaslee’s catching 

Schools Matter: Science Education: We can do even better

Schools Matter: Science Education: We can do even better:

Science Education: We can do even better

by skrashen

Sent to USA Today, June 4, 2012

Rising scores on the national (NAEP) science test are indeed reasons to “Quit fretting. U.S. is fine in science education” (June 3).

But we can make more progress: The average score for students not eligible for free and reduced price lunch was 164, just below the demanding proficient level (170), Those eligible for free/reduced lunch averaged 137, just below the basic level (141).

This is no surprise: Our middle class students who attend well-funded schools score at the top of the world on international tests. Our overall scores are less than spectacular because of our high rate of poverty, now 23%, highest in the industrialized world. Poverty means food deprivation, lack of health care, and lack of reading 

Failing Data in Education Reform

by P. L. Thomas

Few phrases have been written or uttered more often than "data-driven instruction" or "evidence-based decision making" since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) codified "scientifically-based" practices in 2001.

The accountability era begun in the early 1980s intensified the near mania for data in the U.S. that can be traced back to the first few decades of the twentieth century and the promises associated with quantifying student learning and teacher quality through standardized testing. Although the past century and the more recent thirty-year cycle of accountability based on standards and standardized testing have not delivered on the promises (see Hout & Elliot, 2011), "No Excuses" Reformers, including the current Department of Education headed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, remain steadfast in pursuing better tests based on better standards.

The "No Excuses" Reform movement is driven by bully politics that ironically includes an unbending faith in data 

UOON Supports Barbara Madeloni and UMass Students

by Jim Horn

Link from United Opt Out:

This week United Opt Out National stands in solidarity with the UMass teacher educators and the sixty-seven student teachers at UMass Amherst School of Education who together chose to boycott the Teacher Performance Assessment field test via Pearson.  Barbara Madeloni, lecturer at UMass and one of the teacher educators who joined the boycott, has recently been told that her contract will not be renewed. Today we share an interview with Barbara Madeloni as she shares her views on the TPA, Common Core and education activism.

After reading the interview please take action. Our action for the week of June 3, 2012, is to ask 

The Chinese Secret to Test Prep: IV Drips

by Jim Horn

Attention: Manhattan moms who are looking for the edge that Taylor and Thomasina need to get into that AP Kindergarten on the Upper East Side.  "A" is for Amino Acids!

Popout

Pinellas County School Board Looks to Endorse National Resolution on High Stakes Testing | Scathing Purple Musings

Pinellas County School Board Looks to Endorse National Resolution on High Stakes Testing | Scathing Purple Musings:

Pinellas County School Board Looks to Endorse National Resolution on High Stakes Testing

by Bob Sikes

Reports Cara Fitzpatrick in Gradebook:

A resolution against high-stakes standardized testing seems to have found favor with the Pinellas County School Board.
Board members discussed it briefly Monday during a workshop meeting, quickly agreeing to add it to the agenda of their next regular meeting.
“I think we need to adopt this resolution and sign it,” said board member Janet Clark. “I don’t know what conversation needs to be had.”

GO TO 

National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing

RheeFirst! » StudentsFirstNY’s Micah Lasher discussing education politics in New York City tonight

RheeFirst! » StudentsFirstNY’s Micah Lasher discussing education politics in New York City tonight:

StudentsFirstNY’s Micah Lasher discussing education politics in New York City tonight

by admin

Democratic Leadership for the 21^st Century will be hosting the discussion 7pm tonight (6/4) at Alpha Fusion II169 8th Ave (between 18^th and 19^th).
Details can be found here.  Moderator @elizwgreen is soliciting questions for Lasher, but readers should be advised that, in keeping with StudentsFirst tradition, Lasher will probably not be shedding any light onStudentsFirst’s funders.  Banalities will fly freely, tough questions will be dodged.  Don’t miss it.