Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

School Tech Connect: Illinois Lurches Toward Basic Responsibility Without Osterman

School Tech Connect: Illinois Lurches Toward Basic Responsibility Without Osterman

Illinois Lurches Toward Basic Responsibility Without Osterman

Here's the roll call on the House vote to increase taxes so that this state can start to pay its bills. H/T to@IEANEA.




My own representative, Harry Osterman, voted no.
I'm sure he has

NJEA.org - Christie’s education rhetoric doesn’t add up

NJEA.org - Christie’s education rhetoric doesn’t add up

Christie’s education rhetoric doesn’t add up

Published on Tuesday, January 11, 2011

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement in response to Governor Christie’s State of the State address:

“NJEA is eager and willing to enter the discussion over education and pension reform in New Jersey, because we have much to add to that discussion.

“It calls for honesty and candor, yet today Governor Christie painted a picture of his first year in office that does not match up with the experience of people who lived through it. He conveniently failed to mention his $1.3 billion in cuts to public education, but students, parents, and all New Jerseyans have paid steeply for them in larger class sizes, reduced programs, and higher property taxes.

“He may have forgotten, but New Jerseyans remember his administration’s bungling the $400 million Race to the Top application, and his foot dragging on the $268 million in federal jobs funding that could have saved 3,900 New Jersey jobs if he had acted more quickly.

“Instead, he wants to strip teachers of due process rights in order to fire more of them, while openly advocating for private school vouchers and more charter schools.

“His vision for pension reform is fatally flawed because he still refuses to admit his role in

Obama aims to revise No Child Left Behind

Obama aims to revise No Child Left Behind

Obama aims to revise No Child Left Behind

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 11, 2011; 8:47 PM

President Obama will mount a fresh attempt this year to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a top administration official said this week, and key congressional Republicans said they are ready to deal.

THIS STORY

"The president is ready to move on this," Education Secretary Arne Duncan told The Washington Post.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of a subcommittee on elementary and secondary education, said there is bipartisan consensus that the 2002 law should be overhauled. "We have a lot of common

At The Capitol: Education Improvement

At The Capitol: Education Improvement

At The Capitol: Education Improvement

Updated: Tuesday, 11 Jan 2011, 6:10 PM CST
Published : Tuesday, 11 Jan 2011, 6:10 PM CST

by Jeff Goldberg / FOX 9 News

ST. PAUL, minn. - At the Minnesota State Capitol, lawmakers are taking a closer look at education. That's after a report comes out ranking Minnesota schools with mediocre marks. "Education Week" gave the state an overall mark of "C," ranking 36th in the U.S.

Minnesota got a "D+" on efforts to improve teaching. So what's being done to get a better grade??

Education a big topic of discussion here today as Education Minnesota teacher's union laid out its goals for the session -- goals they believe will lead to better results in the classroom.

They say the top issue, far and away, is closing the state's achievement gaps.

The three steps Education Minnesota is recommending: enhance parent and community involvement with schools -- like home visits and orientation, Bring support services to schools, like medical screenings and lower class sizes.

Union President Tom Dooher

Jerry Brown selects wife of longtime friend for education post| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

Jerry Brown selects wife of longtime friend for education post| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

Jerry Brown selects wife of longtime friend for education post

January 11, 2011 | 5:32 pm

Jerry Brown has named the wife of one of his top advisers to the state Board of Education. Ilene Straus was named to the board Tuesday, replacing Brown's earlier pick, Louis “Bill” Honig.

Honig was named to the board by Brown last week but withdrew from consideration Monday.

Straus, an assistant superintendent in the Beverly Hills Unified School District and former Santa Monica High School principal, is married to Tom Quinn, a longtime Brown confidant. Quinn was Brown’s first pick to head the California Air Resources Board in the 1970s, and he played a key ro

Del Valle: Teacher Strikes ‘Not An Issue’ « CBS Chicago – Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic, and the Best of Chicago

Del Valle: Teacher Strikes ‘Not An Issue’ « CBS Chicago – Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic, and the Best of Chicago

Del Valle: Teacher Strikes ‘Not An Issue’

January 11, 2011 1:55 PM

Miguel Del Valle

Mayoral candidate Miguel Del Valle. (Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (WBBM) – Mayoral Candidate and City Clerk Miguel Del Valle outlined his vision for Chicago Public Schools Tuesday, and took a shot at the frontrunner in the race.

As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Reporter Craig Dellimore reports from Little Village neighborhood, Del Valle slammed Rahm Emanuel for backing legislation in Springfield that would, among other things, bar teachers from striking.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

Park Slope high school students call new school plans racist | GothamSchools

Park Slope high school students call new school plans racist | GothamSchools

Park Slope high school students call new school plans racist

Students from three Brooklyn high schools protested tonight the arrival of a new, selective school that will open in their building next year, arguing that the city has neglected their schools.

Students from the Secondary Schools for Law, Research, and Journalism marched up and down a Park Slope sidewalk this evening chanting and waving signs at startled passersby. All three 6-12 schools share the John Jay High School campus. The city has told them to make room next year for a fourth: the Millennium Brooklyn High School.

Modeled on Millennium High School in lower Manhattan, the new school answers some Park Slope parents’ demands for a selective high school in the area, but it’s also become a

School Tech Connect: Ken Swanson in Springfield

School Tech Connect: Ken Swanson in Springfield

Ken Swanson in Springfield

This is Ken Swanson, president of the IEA-NEA, laying out the combined unions proposals during the January 3, 2010, hearing in Springfield. The sound is terrible; I'll remix it overnight and post a louder version tomorrow morning. It's all available in print, but for you folks who like to watch some video during breakfast, here you go.

The juicy stuff regarding evaluations, tenure, and "last in/first out" is in the last third.

Column: Poll shows big disconnect among Americans about school reform | MLive.com

Column: Poll shows big disconnect among Americans about school reform | MLive.com

Column: Poll shows big disconnect among Americans about school reform

Published: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 12:00 PM
generic teacher
Most Americans worry that our education system is failing behind, compared to the rest of the world, but most of them don’t support a longer school year or school day.

A majority of Americans think teachers are underpaid, but they don’t want to pay more in taxes to increase school spending.

There’s a strong consensus that K-12 education should be a state or local matter, but many still think President Barack Obama is not doing enough to improve U.S. education.

A recent national poll by the Associated Press and Stanford University on American attitudes about education show some interesting contradictions, but also overwhelming agreement that education is important to the nation’s well-being.

“Overall, 88 percent say economic prosperity and quality education are closely entwined, a 12-percentage-point increase over a similar poll two years ago,” the AP said in its report

Unlikely Allies: Unions and Districts in the Battle for School Reform Youth Today

Youth Today

Unlikely Allies: Unions and Districts in the Battle for School Reform

January 11, 2011 by Ben Penn

Unlikely Allies: Unions and Districts in the Battle for School Reform

Education Sector

Faced with the task of turning around failing schools using federal stimulus funds, the city of Providence, R.I., is believed to be the first in the nation to align its school district leadership and local teachers’ union into a single governing body responsible for reform.

Though this partnership taking place at four Providence public schools is new and cannot yet report results showing improvement, or failures, the nonprofit education policy think tank Education Sector has issued a report on this partnership between two bureaucracies normally in

Teacher pensions less generous than other public workers | TradingMarkets.com

Teacher pensions less generous than other public workers | TradingMarkets.com

Teacher pensions less generous than other public workers


Jan 09, 2011 (North County Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

Educators in North County and throughout the state get lesser retirement deals than most city and public safety employees whose pricey pensionpackages have made headlines and increasingly drawn the ire of taxpayer advocates in the past few years.

Some former public school employees still draw big money in retirement -- four in North County pull in pensions of more than $200,000 per year -- but even those top earners don't get the benefits enjoyed by public safety workers and other city employees.

"Teachers have a more modest formula, and it has been fixed for a number of years now," said Jack Dean, vice president of the nonprofit California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, which pushes for pensionreform.

In addition to the lower scale, educators must also pay 8 percent of their annual salaries toward their retirement. In several cities, police and