News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News:

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team

Yesterday Amplify laid off upwards of 500 employees. Today Amplify has new owners.

Or does it? News Corporation announced today that it has “sold its Amplify Insight and Learning businesses to a management team supported by a group of private investors.” These buyers include familiar faces from the company’s existing leadership, notably Larry Berger and Joel Klein, both of whom were the face of the Amplify. The deal is effective immediately.

The leadership team also includes many former executives from Amplify: Laurence Holt (Chief Product Officer), Leslie Kerner (General Manager at Amplify Insight), Kate Finnefrock (Senior Vice President of Product Development), Shannon Kete (Chief Operating Officer at Amplify Learning), Catherine Mackay (Senior Vice President of Digital English Language Arts curriculum team), Jim Mylen (Senior Vice President of Sales), Pat Smith (Chief Operating Officer) and Adam Zalisk (Chief of Staff, Amplify Learning)

The new company—which will retain the Amplify name—will be led by Larry Berger. He had previously co-founded Wireless Generation, the education data and analytics company that News Corp. purchased for $390 million in 2010. Wireless became one of the foundational elements for Amplify.

“I will lead the new Amplify,” Berger wrote in an email sent to the company—presumably, those employees who survived yesterday’s cuts. “I look forward to working with you to build great products and a great company. I am proud of the technology we’ve invented, the educational innovations we’ve pioneered, and the results we’ve delivered—and most importantly, of the team we’ve assembled.”

Joel Klein, former CEO of Amplify, is ceding the leadership role but “will play an important role in our future, including serving on our board of directors and providing critical strategic advice,” Berger said in his note.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News:

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?:

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich — It’s the Malloy Way

At yesterday’s State Bond Commission meeting, Governor Dannel Malloy’s plan to give $1 million in taxpayer funds to the private equity company MC Credit Partners so they could move to Stamford sailed through despite the fact that days earlier Malloy announced more than $100 million in deep budget cuts to a variety of vital services as part of  his effort to knock down what will surely be a significant budget deficit before the year is out.

Adding insult to injury, Malloy continues to pay for his Corporate Give-A-Way Program with funds that he is charging to the state’s credit card, meaning, he is actually borrowing the money from Wall Street, which in turn, pushes up the long-term cost to taxpayers since we have to pay back the money plus the associated interest.

According to the Malloy administration, in return for the $1 million, MC Credit Partners [Yes, McCredit is their real name], will move their office, along with their 21 employees, from New York City to space in a building in downtown Stamford, Connecticut.

The office building is owned by one of the city’s biggest campaign contributors and is already the home of two other companies that received Corporate Welfare payments from the Malloy administration.

Malloy’s political spin about the whole arrangement takes a bit of hit when one learns, thanks to a quick search on Bloomberg.com, that MC Credit Partners is already located on the 5^th Floor of 2200 Atlantic Street in Stamford.

But then again, perhaps the “deal was done” long before the people of Connecticut were provided the opportunity, through the Bond Commission, to actually vote on the decision to give taxpayer funds to MC Credit Partners.

According to the language adopted by the State Bond Commission,

“These funds are requested to provide a loan to MC Credit Partners, LP to assist in Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?:

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report:

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment

In building a case for creating 260 charter schools within in LA Unified eight years at a cost of $490 million, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has cited “significant” gains by three charter organizations that have received $75 million from the foundation.

But when all factors are considered, there is little conclusive evidence in the report outlining the expansion plans that shows big investments in charters always — or evenly routinely — achieve consistent academic improvements, raising an important question: Just what can Broad and other foundations promise for an investment of nearly half a billion dollars in an expansion effort that would dramatically change the nation’s second-largest school district?

The Broad plan points to three of LA Unified’s largest charter operators that have received Broad largess — Green Dot Public Schools, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools and KIPP Public Charter Schools — and says, “These organizations have turned our investments into significant academic gains for students.”

In some cases, the gains are clear, but in others they are not. One category shows a regression in test scores, and others that demonstrate only marginal gains.

The analysis looks at five years of “proficiency rates” for the organizations’ schools, spanning 2008-09 through 2012-13. Although the document does not explicitly say, it appears the data refers to scores on the old Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exams, which were discontinued after 2012-13.

It’s also unclear what exactly “proficiency rates” refers to. For purposes of comparison with the new Smarted Balanced tests, the district and the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) combined the top two categories, “met” and” exceeded” standards. In the previous tests, the state broke down results into four levels of achievement, with one called “Proficiency” and a superior level called “Advanced.” But it’s not clear if the Broad report used one category or combined the higher two.

Swati Pandey, the Broad Foundation communications manager, did not respond to an email, seeking an explanation.

Over five years, proficiency rates for Green Dot students in English language arts Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report:

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity:

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools

Dr. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell provided a guest lecture at the University of Arkansas

Day five of CIED 694V: Progressive Education Policy welcomed a guest lecturer from Louisiana State University to talk about charter schools, especially the charterization of the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell is associate professor of Literacy and Urban Education at LSU and coordinates the elementary grades teacher education programs. Beyond living through Hurricane Katrina in the area and bearing witness to what happened in New Orleans–the city is now 100% populated by charter schools–she recently co-edited a special issue of the journal Equity & Excellence in Education on “The Promises of Charter Schools.” The issue was built around a single question: “How is the promise of charter schooling, as a vehicle for social justice in public education, playing out? (Dowell & Bickmore)”

I’ve questioned the motives of charter schools for a host of reasons, including the concept that they are leading to increased segregation of our public school system and the notion that students should not, in any situation, be turned into a profit scheme. To me, charters are a smoke and mirrors attack on public education marauding around as “choices” for parents who might be disenfranchised with their local public school. When I invited Dr. Dowell to speak to our Progressive Education Policy course, I thought I might finally get some nuance to my stance.

In preparation for class and at the invitation of our guest, we read the introduction to the themed issue as well as a piece by Nancy Picard, a Louisiana attorney who penned Louisiana’s Great Education Giveaway, a lengthy blog post that captures the genesis and repercussions of the New Orleans takeover. Ms. Picard doesn’t hedge language in her opening paragraph:

Instead, [charters] create a separate and wholly unequal educational system masquerading as choice, which serves to destabilize and discredit public schools in the name of improvement and to make state funds accessible to a wide range of individuals and corporations with little or no oversight.

As Picard point by point explained what happened in New Orleans, the “Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity:

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299:

RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299

William Ashton is in trouble again.

Ashton is an English teacher in Rhode Island. If you remember his name, it's because last spring, the Jacqueline Walsh School for the Performing Arts suspended him for allegedly badmouthing the PARCC. The "badmouthing" was the process of correcting student misconceptions about how an under-95% testing rate would affect the school; to put it another way, he contradicted the standard state-generated propaganda about why students "must" take the Big Standardized Test.

The suspension spurred student protests, including old-school (picketing) and new-school (facebook page). And ultimately, Ashton was back in his classroom. That was last March.

Now, Ashton is in trouble again.

This time, he appears to have answered a question about birth control in the time of the Pilgrims. And now the student is back out on the sidewalk, picketing and protesting that her teacher is in trouble for answering her question.

Pawtucket Superintendent Patti DiCenso has seized this teachable moment by dragging the students out of class to scold them, informing them that "they were being inappropriate and shouldn't be protesting." DiCenso, in what I can only assume is a bid to model how grown-up professionals deal with disagreement, has blocked one of the students from the superintendent's twitter page (@PawtuckSup, just in case you want to say hi). 

DiCenso told Norton and Roberts that they were being bullies because they were demanding the return of their teacher and threatening to peacefully protest if he wasn’t reinstated, they said.

Now, we are only getting the students' version of this meeting, so I'm going to hope that this is a big of hyperbole on their part and not their superintendent of schools saying foolish, foolish things. DiCenso's office CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299:



Students Should Be Able To Show What They Know

Students should be able to show what they know.

Many folks take this as a self-evident truth. Arne Duncan has said it more than a few times, and heads nod as if this is one of those reasonable-sounding things that Duncan says from time to time.

But I think it demands closer examination.

Because possessing a skill or piece of knowledge is not the same thing as being able to demonstrate it. This problem lies at the heart of public education; it is one of our largest, most fundamental, and yet most commonly unexamined issues.

Ask your students. This is why many smart young people hate school. Understanding, figuring out, getting a handle on a piece of knowledge is really exciting-- but having to prove to somebody else that you understand is a big fat pain in the ass.

Finding proof of student learning is a huge part of the teacher's job, and whether it is done poorly or not makes all the difference in that teacher's effectiveness. The challenge starts from the very moment you formulate the problem. There is a huge difference between "How do I figure out of this student understands" and "How do I make this student prove to me he gets it." The first is a valuable Students Should Be Able To Show What They Know

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children

No, this is not Montclair or Mendham

The woman at the heart of this story doesn’t want me to use her name or her picture–or the names and pictures of her children.  I can’t blame her for that. I don’t know anyone who wants to tell the world about her troubles, especially personal financial troubles.  The story would have more impact if she were willing to provide identifying details and you could see a picture of her and her children, but I understand why she wishes not to do that. The woman, however, is real and I have spoken to her at length. If someone in authority wants to help her, I will tell that person how to reach her.

I will call her Dolores because that means sad. I will call her 8-year-old son David because that is my son’s name. I will call her 4-year-old son Henry because that is my grandson’s name.  All children are our children, after all.

Dolores recently moved to Newark from another town in Essex County.  She is unemployed. She ran out of benefits and she is broke.  Although she and her children moved into the city before the school year began, she was unable to register her children in the school closest to her apartment, Belmont-Runyon.

Newark doesn’t really have neighborhood schools anymore. Rich white people who live in places like Montclair and Glen Ridge and Mendham have decided the residents of Newark must go to the schools they–the rich white people–say they should go to.  So Dolores’s two sons could not go to Belmont Runyon, just a short walk away.

It’s almost funny because those rich white people call this system “choice.”  No one I know can explain why. If Dolores could choose, she says, she would choose the school a block or so away. But strangers who can’t possibly  know how it is to live like Dolores chose to send Dolores’s 8-year-old son, David, to a school more than a mile away. It’s called the Hawthorne School.

To get David to school every morning, Dolores must get up about six when it is still dark and feed and dress her two sons. Then Dolores walks with her two young children to the bus stop and catches the bus that goes partly across town to the Hawthorne Avenue School.

Then Dolores gets back on the bus with Henry to go home. A few hours later, she Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio:
Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

A top Ohio Department of Education official who resigned in July after manipulating data to boost charter schools also participated in a successful effort to obtain $71 million in federal money that could allow the wholesale takeover of urban school districts.

The U.S. Department of Education this week announced that it is providing $249 million to six states and the District of Columbia over the next five years for the expansion of charter schools.

The single-largest grant of $71 million goes to Ohio, which ranks near the bottom nationally for charter-school academic performance and has a history of financial failures.

Records show that David Hansen, a longtime advocate for charter schools hired by State Supt. Richard Ross to run his school-choice office, was involved in the grant application that will facilitate the takeover of Youngstown city schools and other targeted urban districts.

The takeover of so-called “recovery school districts” such as Youngstown was secretly negotiated by Ross, Kasich’s then chief of staff Beth Hansen and Youngstown business officials and approved by the legislature in June in a stunning last-minute maneuver.

David and Beth Hansen are husband and wife, and she left Kasich’s staff in July to run his presidential campaign.

Records released by the Ohio Department of Education Sept. 3 in response to newspaper investigations of Hansen’s role in the data manipulation also show that he assembled the supporting documents for the federal grant.

In those supporting documents, charter schools, charter-school advocates and members of the U.S. Congress painted a positive picture of Ohio.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in announcing the $71 million this week, cited a Stanford University report suggesting that charter schools nationwide are showing improvement.

He didn’t mention another Stanford report that says Ohio charter schools areOhio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio: 

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson says he used a controversial privacy phone app to conduct school district business, but denies allegations that it was used to cover up his involvement in no-bid contracts that are now the subject of a federal investigation.

Hanson said Tuesday that he and a small group of senior staff used Cyber Dust – an app that automatically erases any record of text messages, leaving no digital footprint – in 2014 for less than a month. It was done as an experiment, he said.

“We used it as a trial run to see if it would help us do our work better and more effectively, and it didn’t,” Hanson said. “Nothing we used it for had anything to do with things that are now the topic of the grand jury investigation, and the use of this app will be fully disclosed when we turn over and disclose all of our documents.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office served the district with a grand jury subpoena last month, requesting a wide range of documents pertaining to Fresno Unified’s involvement in no-bid construction contracts – including district officials’ personal phone records.

“I think with respect to technology, normal is always changing,” Hanson said. “But let me be very, very clear: When we used it, we were totally within our district policy around electronic records in that we don’t retain instant or text messages of any type. It’s not something we archive.

“But that has all changed from the moment we got notified by the grand jury. We have been active in making sure we’re preserving everything they’ve asked for.”

NOTHING WE USED IT FOR HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THINGS THAT ARE NOW THE TOPIC OF THE GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson on Cyber Dust

The use of Cyber Dust was discussed in a closed session school board meeting last week, but trustees were unsure Tuesday who actually had used the app.

Hanson would not name the other staffers who also used the Cyber Dust app, but he said no trustees were involved.

Chief Operations Officer Karin Temple said she did not use the app and was not aware it was being used. Chief Financial Officer Ruthie Quinto could not be reached.

Trustees Brooke Ashjian, Carol Mills, Luis Chavez, Janet Ryan and Christopher De La Cerda also said they have never used Cyber Dust. Trustees Cal Johnson and Valerie Davis did not return phone calls.

Ashjian said trustees were left in the dark about who used the app and why it was used.

“For a district official to have that on their phone and communicate with other districtFresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article36993945.html#storylink=cpy

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system

The National Education Association-Dallas is planning to file a “class-action” grievance with Dallas ISD over its new teacher evaluation system.

The evaluation system, called the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI), bases teacher pay on performance, student surveys and test scores. The old system mainly tied teacher pay to tenure.

Under TEI, teachers receive points for each evaluation area that is used to determine their “effectiveness level.” Salaries for the nine different levels can range from $50,000 for new teachers to $90,000 for “master” teachers. The top five levels are for teachers who go through a “Distinguished Teacher Review.”

Angela Davis, president of NEA-Dallas, called the new system “unfair.” She said that some teachers who did well didn’t get raises because they were already at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Davis said that some teachers don’t know exactly how they were measured, and in some cases the principals that evaluated them have left the district. This school year, 1 in 3 campuses have new principals.

“It’s just not right,” Davis said.

Davis said the deadline to join her group’s grievance is 5 p.m. Thursday. She said that teachers who have already filed individual grievances can still have their grievance included. She added that if the matter can’t be settled at the district level, her group will consider other action.

Teachers found out their effectiveness level on Sept. 18 and the complaints have run the gamut. Some teachers have complained that while they did well on their evaluation, they won’t get raises because they are at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Other concerns center on teachers with several years of experience, who made in the $47,000 range last school year. They now earn around the same amount as beginning teachers, who received this year’s new starting salary of $50,000. The district capped raises at $5,000.

The evaluation system was briefly discussed at last week’s board meeting. A couple of trustees raised questions to interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa about teachers who did well but didn’t get raises.

“Dr. Hinojosa that needs to be cleaned up, because that is not correct,” trustee Joyce Foreman said. “We have employees who will not receive an increase who did not have unsatisfactory performance.”

Trustee Dan Micciche asked Hinojosa if the district was considering making adjustments in the plan for teachers considered “distinguished” who did not get a raise because they are already above their compensation level.

Hinojosa said there were preliminary discussions but there are no specific recommendations at this time. He said that the district has to be careful with its budget Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers

This survey by EdSource, in partnership with the California Teachers Association (CTA), provides new insights into teacher attitudes toward preparing students for college and careers, a principal goal of all major education reforms being implemented in California, including the Common Core State Standards.

Of the 1,000 teachers surveyed, 95 percent support setting college and career readiness as the goal for the state’s students. The teachers surveyed also said they felt critical thinking skills are a more important indicator of college readiness than standardized test scores.

But while indicating a high level of support for the Common Core standards, teachers also expressed a need for a clearer definition of what constitutes “college and career readiness” and for greater professional development to support these goals. The survey also found that teachers’ confidence in the attainability of the career and college readiness goals varied based on the socioeconomic background of their students.

Even as the major focus is on preparing students for college, teachers ranked career academies, linked learning or other programs that tie the high school curriculum to a specific career pathway as the resource their school or district needed most.

The teachers surveyed generally responded positively when asked about their job satisfaction, with nearly three-fourths saying they are either “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied.”

The survey was conducted in April 2015 by the public opinion research firm GBA Strategies on behalf of EdSource and the CTA. College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

SURVEY DOCCollege and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation:

BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Arizonans for Charter School Accountability is an amazing organization that is exposing malfeasance and fraud in one of the worst charter school states in the nation. We have opined here in the past that Arizona has no concept of a conflict of interest and allows the starkest, most absurd entanglements of financial interests one can imagine.

Now, Arizonans for Charter School Accountability has exposed a crass and cynical manipulation of the charter school financing system. Cynical and crass because it exploits money designated for special needs students to increase its already considerable profits. You can read the details at ACSC's website or jump to the story immediately that has been reproduced below:

Special Education Fraud II: BASIS Inc.BASIS Inc. does everything possible to game Arizona’s financial system. They received Federal start up funds, designed for new charter holders, to build their 12th school. They charter each school individually and claim they are “small” schools to receive additional funding, even though they have over 8000 total students. Now we find that in 2013-14 they claimed to have 19 severely handicapped students in eight schools. Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired, Multiple Disabilities, Autism, Intellectual Disability - all students that require a great deal of support to achieve in school. These students generate four to six times the revenue per pupil of a regular education child to pay for the extensive services they require. These 19 students netted an additional $350,000 in state assistance for BASIS Inc. (Data is on the ADE Finance site: Charter Equalization Report (CHAR55-1) 2014)

The problem? According to their 2014 Annual Financial Report, BASIS expended ZERO dollars on special education in all of its 12 schools, except for $244,800 for “general administration” that went straight to BASIS Inc. Worse yet, every BASIS school claims to have spent an identical amount, exactly $20,400, for special education general administration, whether they had education students or not.

It is hard to image 19 severely handicapped students being able to navigate one of the most rigorous curriculums in the country without assistance. There are three possibilities:

• First is the possibility that BASIS is collecting $350,000 for special education students that don’t exist. That is fraud on both a state and federal level. Or maybe BASIS legitimately has 19 handicapped students and is not providing them appropriate services. That would Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation:

¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL? - 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux):

¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux)

BY HOWARD BLUME | LA TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/1KLZR8R

also see+hear:

• LAUSD SOLICITING FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS ON PROPOSED SCHOOL YEAR CHANGES + smf’s 2¢ |  http://bit.ly/1MVqEVl
• Los Angeles Times : LAUSD Survey Prompt by Ray Cortines | Audio file | http://bit.ly/1FEM9HD
• Los Angeles Times: LAUSD apologizes for phone system error | Audio file | http://bit.ly/1LkiANN

30 Sept 2015  ::  Los Angeles school district officials are considering redoing a telephone survey after technical glitches complicated a weekend attempt to determine parents' and employees' opinions about the academic calendar.

The survey sought feedback on when the school year should start, how long winter break should last and how important it is to have the same days off for elementary and secondary schools. The district also wanted to know how people feel about having the first semester finish before winter break and about the timing of enrichment and intervention programs.

The effort arose out of discontent with the L.A. Unified School District's decision to move up the start of the traditional school year into August, rather than beginning after Labor Day, in September.

Calls went out to 550,000 households, including both parents and employees. The automated phone system made the first attempt Friday night, and then tried again on Saturday if it collected no information.

But the system’s software is designed to pause if there is noise on the receiving end. And background noise, apparently, was enough to derail the effort. In all, the phone system collected 58,000 surveys, but the district also received about 50 complaints.

“Some people said they couldn’t respond to the survey,” said Paul Ishimaru, an administrator in operations who manages the phone system. With background noise over a certain level, the system “may either attempt to start and then stop, and or it may never deliver the message.”

One option for an academic schedule would be a significant departure from past practice: a five-week break in summer and a seven-week vacation in winter.  Although that alternative was one of six presented to a calendar committee, officials have not seriously considered such a schedule in recent times.

The survey presented that approach by asking parents if they would like a “year-round” style calendar that allowed for four-week intercession classes in both the winter and summer. These courses would allow students to catch up or get ahead academically.

In past years, there was no phone survey. Instead, district staff worked out the schedule with input from employee unions. The calendar then went to the Board of Education for approval.

On the recommendation of Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, the district had switched to the earlier, August start in 2011. The goal was to allow high school students to avoid having first-semester finals after winter break.

Before the switch, parents were able to weigh in with their views on the calendar through an online survey, but few participated.

Since then, a contingent of parents has been persistently unhappy over the early start. For one thing, they said school was in session during more of the intense heat of summer, especially a problem in the San Fernando Valley.

Some parents also had greater difficulty scheduling vacations and summer enrichment programs for their children. Parents turned in petitions with thousands of signatures requesting that school begin after Labor Day.

The district bent a little this year, starting later in August.

The discontented parents had an ally in school board member Richard Vladovic, who wanted the issue revisited, and Cortines agreed to4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux):

A little background/updated: LAUSD PHONE SURVEY SEEKS INPUT FOR THREE-YEAR SCHOOL CALENDAR

Sep 30, 2015  ::  In an effort to get as much input as possible into the planning process, LAUSD is polling parents, teachers and other school-site staffers about the upcoming school calendar.

More than 58,000 people responded last Friday and Saturday to the survey, which seeks information about what date the school year should start and when the first semester should end, how long winter break should be, whether elementary and secondary schools should be on the same calendar and how enrichment and intervention programs can best be accommodated.

The results will be compiled for a calendar committee convened by Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. Rather than having to go through the process annually, he instructed the panel to recommend calendars for the next three years – through 2018-19.

“Our students and our employees and their families should be able to plan ahead,” the superintendent said. “This is not a debate that we should be having every year.”

The school calendar has become a contentious issue since 2012, when the school board instituted an “early-start” schedule, beginning classes in mid-August rather than after Labor Day. Critics complained that the early start to the school year cut into family vacations or put kids in classrooms during the sweltering summer days. Others, however, said that finishing first semester before winter break was better for them academically.

This year’s start date was Aug. 18, an effort to broker a compromise between the two sides.

The calendar committee is currently looking at six options; five of them would start school in early to late August, while the sixth would have a post-Labor Day start. The proposal, dubbed Option 5, includes a seven-week winter break and an official summer break of just five weeks, which would give students the opportunity to make-up classes or to take enrichment classes.

The phone poll had been scheduled to end on Tuesday, but some respondents reported that they were unable to complete the survey because of technical difficulties. As a result, Mr. Cortines has extended the deadline.

The District did a survey prior to implementing the early-start calendar, but it was conducted online and generated limited results.

“We opted to do a phone poll this time so that we could reach all parents, teachers and other employees who work at all of our schools,” said Zsuzsanna Vincze, director of School Operations.  “This is an important issue, and we want to make sure we get feedback from as many people as possible.”

School Board member Mónica Ratliff suggested a phone survey during discussions of this year’s calendar.

“I greatly appreciate Superintendent Cortines’ commitment to gathering feedback from the many stakeholders who lack internet access, and I look forward to reviewing this feedback. While internet surveys can appear easier to conduct than telephone surveys, they do not allow us to access the opinions of the many families who lack Internet access.”

“I was, obviously, disappointed by the reports of some technical difficulties that arose with the phone surveys. I commend the Superintendent and staff for their quick and diligent responses to these reports and for their commitment to facilitate input on the instructional calendar.”

• 
  
  
  
  Written by: Barbara Jones on September 30, 2015.
  Last revised by: Daryl Strickland

Parents, teachers and other school-site staffers are expected to opine-in-an-informed-manner  upon the following in a telephone survey – a blind call –without the benefit of actually seeing the following?

A little background/updated: LAUSD PHONE SURVEY SEEKS INPUT FOR THREE-YEAR SCHOOL CALENDAR

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics:

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life 

By Nancy Xiong, HIP Organizer

Early this month, HIP joined La Familia Counseling Center for the 10th Anniversary of the Sacramento Hispanic/Latino Parade. On a street more known for its traffic, seeing families and children lined up along Franklin Boulevard was a welcomed change. This parade celebrated Sacramento’s deep-rooted Latino heritage and the stubborn resiliency of our South Sacramento community. 

Before the Sacramento City Unified School Board voted to close Maple Elementary and 6 other neighborhood schools in a controversial 4-3 decision, the vibrant campus was full of colorful laughter and supported by passionate parents. For those families, Maple was more than just a school. It was a place where they felt they belonged. It was a place they took ownership of because it represented hope for a better future. I thought to myself during the final tour of Maple Elementary, 'is this really it?' I felt frustrated because this community had endured so much and instead of celebrating Maple's tremendous parent involvement, the District shut the door on this incredible community. I wondered, what can we do to transform this space so that it will continue to meet the needs of our South Sacramento community? 

For two years, this campus sat completely vacant until this past July when La Familia signed a lease to officially take over Maple Elementary.  Maple Elementary is now re-opened as the Maple Neighborhood Center where it will serve as La Familia’s headquarters and resource hub for families.

Our community deserves a place to gather, grow and prosper. As a Mexican proverb states, "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds."New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics:

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee:

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee

Students, administrators, teachers and board members participate a "listening circle" at Mesa Verde High School on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Citrus Heights, Calif. A recent lawsuit contends that the recent state budget improperly manipulates the state’s school-funding guarantee. Randy Pench rpench@sacbee.com

California school boards want a judge to force changes to the June state budget that would provide more money for schools, among the interests that fared best in this year’s plan.

In a lawsuit last week, the California School Boards Association argues that the budget improperly included additional spending on childcare within the voter-approved constitutional guarantee for spending on K-12 schools and community colleges. The guarantee should have been adjusted, or “rebenched,” to reflect the change, the suit contends.

“This case is not about childcare. It is about the proper interpretation of Proposition 98,” the lawsuit reads, referring to the 1988 ballot measure that established the guarantee.

THE CURRENT BUDGET HAS $68.4 BILLION IN PROPOSITION 98 SPENDING, UP FROM $66.3 BILLION IN THE LAST BUDGET.

Childcare programs had been part of the schools budget before being removed during the recession. At the time, the suit says, lawmakers adjusted the Proposition 98 guarantee to reflect the lower spending. It’s only fair that the guarantee be adjusted upward now that some childcare spending is back within the formula, the lawsuit claims.

The desired adjustment would increase school funding by $150 million to $180 million, the lawsuit said.

A confluence of factors meant that Proposition 98 absorbed almost all new state revenuethrough June 2016. The phenomenon led to grumbling among advocates for some health and welfare programs, which also sustained deep cuts during the recession.

“Funding child care from Proposition 98, as this year’s budget does, is consistent with the California constitution, with state statute, and with the Legislature’s past practice,” Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said. “We’re confident that the court will concur with this conclusion.”

The suit marks the second recent high-profile effort by the school boards group to change an aspect of state fiscal policy toward schools. In August, the organization championed a bipartisan bill to relax a state cap on school district budget reserves. The measure never advanced before lawmakers left town for the year.Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee:

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop:

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail

Governor Cuomo has once again tapped former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to lead his second Commission on education. The first one ended in a report ironically entitled “A Final Action Plan.”  I wonder if this means a teacher will be tasked with directing Citigroup’s next $45 billion bailout?

This Commission is comprised a lot of fractured reputations that haveprivately agreed to do some mending. Let’s be clear, these reputations have taken a well-deserved hit because the parents of 225,000+ children have been screaming for help and these leaders have ignored their call. For many in this Cuomo Common Core group, it is not an act of altruism, but one of self-preservation.

Yet, I remain hopeful that the predetermined solution arrived at this committee in a few months will present some form of compromise.  There is no way these figureheads would risk what little is left of their reputations.

Take for instance AFT President Randi Weingarten.  Randi has hitched her hopes and future to the Hillary Clinton bus and there is no way she can afford another misstep- especially in her home state of NY.  She robo called for Cuomo, fully supports Common Core testing IN ALL GRADES, stood by UFT President Mulgrew as he threatened to punch anyone in the face that opposed Common Core…  I could go on, but considering her role is the President of the teachers’ union, I think that should suffice.

Then there is our new NY Commissioner of Education Elia.  She wore out her welcome pretty quickly by insisting parents of the opt out moment just needed to be educated on the matter.  She shared some more of her profound thoughts on education when suggesting that the solution for NY’s education NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop: