PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

PE.com Southern California News News for Inland Southern California:

"More than a quarter of English learners don't make it into mainstream classes by the eighth grade in Los Angeles and most of those who don't were born in the United States, according to a study released Wednesday.

The study by Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California showed 29 percent of English learners in the Los Angeles Unified School District were still in these classes in the eighth grade. More than half of these students were born in the United States and were in classes for English learners for more than eight years.

'They're staying too long' in these classes, Institute President Harry Pachon told reporters.

'It's much easier to be shunted into the ELL (English language learner) classes than it is to be shunted out,' he said."

Daily 49er - Calif. oil, gas tax bill in Assembly

Daily 49er - Calif. oil, gas tax bill in Assembly:

"A bill that could give higher education funding in California a shot in the arm is currently in committee in the Assembly.

Assembly Bill 656, authored by majority leader Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, would place a 9.9 percent severance tax on oil and gas extracted in California. According to a statement released by Torrico, the bill would raise approximately $1 billion for the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems.

The California Faculty Association has been collecting pledges in support of the bill since Oct. 12. Roughly 5,000 signatures were collected in the first week alone, according to CFA Communications Director Alice Sunshine.

CFA members spoke and collected pledges at Cal State Long Beach on Tuesday. Sunshine said the events have been successful in raising awareness and collecting signatures."

Gazettes Town-News > Opinion > Editorials

Gazettes Town-News > Opinion > Editorials:

"What? They want money again?

They do. And we need to give it to them.

The “they” is the Long Beach Unified School District, and the “they” is us. We need to keep our schools functioning at their current level, and the only way to insure that is to pass Measure T at the special election Tuesday.

Measure T would impose a $92 parcel tax in Long Beach for the next five years. The only property owners to be exempted would be seniors older than 65 who apply for that exemption.

That means we all would share the burden — homeowners, shop owners and factory owners. And you can bet home and business renters will foot part of the bill in the form of increased rent, just as they do every time a property tax comes along."

Classwish

Classwish:

"Our schools simply don’t have the resources our children need to explore their potential and excel.

ClassWish.org, an exciting new nonprofit, offers a simple solution.

Teachers and school leaders create Wish Lists of the items they need, as easily as shopping online. Parents, alumni, local businesses and others see exactly what is needed and how their tax-deductible contribution can help. ClassWish sends the materials to the school at no cost.

The result? Teachers get the support they need. Communities are engaged in supporting classrooms and funding the things they care about. And everyone is united in helping our children learn, grow and perform at their best.

Get Involved: Teachers Parents & Supporters PTA & PTO"

PunjabNewsline.com - Student kicked out from school for wearing traditional nose stud

PunjabNewsline.com - Student kicked out from school for wearing traditional nose stud:

"NEVADA(USA): Indo-Americans have urged Bountiful Junior High School in Utah (USA) to immediately reinstate its student who was reportedly kicked out of school for nose piercing, alleging violation of school dress code.

Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that this student was apparently honoring the tradition of her father, who was reportedly from India, by putting a stud in her pierced nose. Nose piercing and nose ornaments had been a tradition of women of India for centuries and the Hindu goddesses had been depicted wearing nose ornaments."

The DC VOICE Ostrich: Moving the Discussion to Teacher Quality

The DC VOICE Ostrich: Moving the Discussion to Teacher Quality

Teacher quality and effectiveness have long been topics of debate among DC VOICE members and constituents. One positive aspect of the recent RIF (Reduction In Force), school equalization, and DCPS budget discrepancies is that teacher quality has once again been positioned at the forefront of discussion. Chancellor Rhee has stated that this RIF was necessitated by school budget cuts at the City Council level, while many others believed that it was an internal strategy aimed at improving teacher quality beyond the strict confines of the existing, yet outdated, Washington Teacher’s Union Contract. While the RIF will long be argued, DC VOICE believes this is an opportunity to refocus the conversation on overall teacher quality. Budget shortfalls and tenure aside, DCPS students deserve quality, experienced teachers who are continually offered enhanced development and instruction techniques.

Texas Education Agency Launches New Brand and Website for Texas 21st CCLC Program | Business Wire

Texas Education Agency Launches New Brand and Website for Texas 21st CCLC Program Business Wire:

"SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced today a new dynamic brand for the Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Program. The new brand, Afterschool Centers on Education™, referred to as ACE™, communicates the focus of academics through extended learning with the incorporation of “Education” in the program name.

ACE provides extended learning opportunities for students and their families in over 630 Centers across the state that offer innovative, hands-on activities based on research and best practices. A main goal of ACE is to provide engaging out-of-school-time activities to ensure that all students graduate prepared for college and the work place."

http://www.texas21afterschool.org/08/

Education Week: STEM Defection Seen to Occur After High School

Education Week: STEM Defection Seen to Occur After High School:


"Despite popular opinion, the flow of qualified math and science students through the American education pipeline is strong—except among high-achievers, who appear to be defecting to other college majors and fields.
That is the provocative conclusion of a study, released today, which disputes the idea that students are leaving the mathematics and science fields because they lack preparation or ability.

A chorus of elected officials and policymakers have suggested that U.S. schools are not producing students with the talent necessary to make it academically or professionally in the “STEM” fields of science, technology, engineering, and math."

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Talks Begin Quietly on Fixing Schools

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Talks Begin Quietly on Fixing Schools

Education, business and community leaders who earlier aired their concerns about the exit of Superintendent Terry Grier are meeting at the University of San Diego today to go over a new study of test scores, finances and employment in San Diego Unified.

They also plan to talk about improving what happens for kids in the massive school district.

It is the first such gathering after Grier departed, signaling that the alarm about the status quo at the school district hasn't disappeared along with the last superintendent. It could be a reawakening for business leaders, who have shied from school matters in the years since Alan Bersin led the schools, though members stress that the coalition also includes educators, community members and parents outside the business sphere.

Nestle Waters gets partial OK to resume plant construction - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Nestle Waters gets partial OK to resume plant construction - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Nestlé Waters can resume building its water bottling plant in south Sacramento after City Attorney Eileen Teichert ruled Tuesday the project was exempt from special permits the City Council might pass regulating similar facilities.

City building officials said the company could resume electrical and utilities work at its plant in the Florin Fruitridge Industrial Park today, after part of a stop work order issued Friday was removed. The work stoppage had been ordered while the council considered placing special permits on beverage bottling plants and building officials researched permits issued to Nestlé."

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency:

"(Media-Newswire.com) - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today called for America’s colleges of education to dramatically change how they prepare the next generation of teachers so that they are ready to prepare their future students for success in college and careers.

Noting that America’s schools will need to hire up to 200,000 first-time teachers annually for the next five years, Duncan said that those new teachers need the knowledge and skill to prepare students for success in the global economy.

“By almost any standard, many if not most of the nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom,” Duncan said in a major speech at Teachers College, Columbia University. “America’s university-based teacher preparation programs need revolutionary change--not evolutionary tinkering.”"

State Board of Education members accused of not disclosing gifts | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Politics | The Dallas Morning News

State Board of Education members accused of not disclosing gifts News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Texas Politics The Dallas Morning News:

"AUSTIN – A nonprofit watchdog group filed complaints Monday with the Texas Ethics Commission against two State Board of Education members, saying they failed to disclose gifts they received from a company seeking an investment contract with the board.

Texans for Public Justice said board members Rick Agosto and Rene Nunez, both Democrats, did not disclose gifts they received last year from AEW Capital Management of Boston in their personal financial disclosure statements filed with the ethics commission.

Public officials in Texas are required to disclose gifts they receive valued at more than $250."

After Complaints, Gates Foundation Opens Education Aid Offer to All States - NYTimes.com

After Complaints, Gates Foundation Opens Education Aid Offer to All States - NYTimes.com:

"Last July, Bill Gates sat down with lawmakers from 15 states in a conference room in Philadelphia, and he had good news. His foundation would give their states up to $250,000 each, he said, to help them prepare the kind of sparkling grant proposals that could help their states win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money.

“He said he’d identified 15 states he’d like to work with, and if you’re in this room, you’re one of the 15 states,” said Senator Nancy C. Detert, chairwoman of the Education Committee in the Florida Senate, one of the lawmakers who attended."

Naturally, the 15 states were delighted. But the other 35, not so much. Some officials complained that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was trying to handpick the winners of the Department of Education’s $4 billion grant competition, known as Race to the Top. The National Conference of State Legislatures was one of several groups that relayed objections.

“We expressed concerns that it appeared that Gates people were involved in helping the department pick winners and losers,” said David Shreve, federal affairs counsel at the national conference.

Editorial: New approach needed for funding education | Kalamazoo Opinion - - MLive.com

Editorial: New approach needed for funding education Kalamazoo Opinion - - MLive.com:

"It’s ironic that at a time when schools are showing gains in test scores and other areas, they are also under increasing pressure to cut everywhere.

On the positive side, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores have been on the increase.

The Kalamazoo Public Schools are making great strides in better preparing students, including minorities, for college. A major example is the explosion of numbers of KPS students taking AP classes.

Advanced Placement courses follow a national curriculum and offer college-level academics to high school students who then get college credit for passing a national AP test.

Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Michael Rice recently reported that enrollment in the AP program in his district has increased 71 percent during the two years he has been at the helm. Especially encouraging is that the percentage of minority AP students has tripled. Rice also reported that the goal of doubling the AP enrollment within six years will happen much sooner."

Albert Lea Tribune | Special education services start shortly after boy’s birth

Albert Lea Tribune Special education services start shortly after boy’s birth

At the age of 5 months, Jesus Sifonte became a student of Albert Lea Area Schools. He has been receiving service year-round since Feb. 12, 2007. Jesus was born with Down syndrome, a condition known to hinder development.

Jesus is eligible to receive special education services according to both federal and state statutes. In Minnesota, these services are mandated for school districts to provide.
Services provided included home-based visits by an early childhood special education teacher, occupational therapist, and physical therapist serving him in his home. He also received indirect service from one of the district’s speech/language pathologists. Before Jesus was 2 years old, he had gained enough skills so the services of the occupational therapist and physical therapist have become less direct and more consultative.

http://idea.ed.gov/

Vampire Lit Lures Students at VCU | Articles/Archives | Style Weekly Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion

Vampire Lit Lures Students at VCU Articles/Archives Style Weekly Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion:

"It’s an old story: Boy meets girl, boy sneaks into girl’s room and gnaws on her neck, girl joins ranks of the undead, boy turns into a large bat and flits out a window.

With one foot in eastern European lore and the other straddling 21st-century popular culture, vampire legends are now the topic of a Virginia Commonwealth University literature course, Vampires from Dracula to Twilight, which explores the birth of the original undead bloodsucker and his seemingly eternal life in pop culture.

The class charts his bizarre evolution from ghastly ghoul to lisping breakfast cereal pitchman to irresistible teen heartthrob."

Obama to visit Madison

Obama to visit Madison:

visit will be about education

"On the anniversary of his historic election November 4, President Obama will visit the Madison area. The White House says Wednesday’s visit will be about education. There’s speculation the event meant to drum up support for a potential gubernatorial run by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Rumors have circulated that the Obama team is secretly encouraging Barrett to run for the seat

The event also coincides with a bill supported by Governor Doyle and Barrett to have the Milwaukee mayor’s office take control of city schools. Barrett argues such education reforms are looked favorably upon by the US Education Department and would put Wisconsin in better standing for federal stimulus funds.
The scheduled stop will be Obama’s first to the Madison area since November of 2008 while campaigning prior to the Democratic primary."

Ex-member of DPS reform board testifies | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com

Ex-member of DPS reform board testifies Detroit Free Press Freep.com:

"A former member of the city's reform school board testified today that the body had a few reports about the progress of the $1.5-billion bond program but no authority over the spending."

Reginald Turner, who left the Detroit Public Schools reform board in 2003 to join the state school board, also told school officials that he had concerns about the district's move from its former headquarters that it owned outright to the Fisher Building.

The transaction cost the district $24 million for five floors of the Fisher in addition to $17 million in construction costs and $2 million a year in leasing costs.

Turner testified this morning at the third investigative hearing into real estate transactions that occurred during the state takeover using funds from the $1.5-billion bond voters approved in 1994.

Turner said a school official assured him at the time of the transaction - 2002 - that the move to the Fisher Building would result in "significant savings."

Fenty Gets the Royal Treatment: Loose Lips Daily - City Desk - Washington City Paper

Fenty Gets the Royal Treatment: Loose Lips Daily - City Desk - Washington City Paper:

"AFTER THE JUMP—WaPo editorial calls for investigation of parks contracts; TV reporters dig in; closed-door council meeting gets testy; key senator refuses to allow D.C. vote on defense approps bill; principal neglects to proofread court filing; judge stalking trial begins

The WaPo opinion page is starting to realize that, with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, good intentions do not necessarily make good government. Editorialists say that his parks contract maneuverings demand further investigation: ‘Fenty boasts that his administration represents a break from the old ways of doing business in the District, when whom you knew mattered more than what you could do for the city. What, then, to make of reports that the administration bypassed the D.C. Council to award tens of millions of dollars in contracts and that some of the firms may have ties to Mr. Fenty?

…It’s important that the D.C. Council, which plans a roundtable on the issue on Friday, get all the information about the projects in question, determine whether proper procurement steps were indeed followed and then decide how to proceed in protecting the best interests of the city.’ The piece also describes as ‘apt’ Mary Cheh’s comment that the process seems ’sneaky.’"

Power to the principals -- baltimoresun.com

Power to the principals -- baltimoresun.com:

"Most school districts find something that works for one particular teacher for one particular group of kids and then try to force everyone to apply it, as if teachers were robots and kids were interchangeable. It doesn't often result in high-quality education, but it sure makes life easier for central office bureaucrats.

Education is supposed to involve professionals building relationships with kids. Good teachers in good schools get to know their students and then figure out what works for those kids. Good principals are the same. The best ones are empowered leaders who allocate resources based on what their students need - not what the central office wants.

That is the theme of this year's must-read education book, 'The Secret of TSL' by William G. Ouchi, a professor at UCLA and arguably the nation's best management writer. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Ouchi explained Japanese management to U.S. business. Now, after observing 665 schools across the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Ouchi concludes that, as in business, management matters in schools."