Sunday, January 24, 2010

Leaders look for ways to keep Healthy Kids afloat and kids insured - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Leaders look for ways to keep Healthy Kids afloat and kids insured - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"Seven years ago, a group of Santa Cruz County leaders came together around a shared vision: They wanted to provide health insurance to every child in the county, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.

The program that grew out of that vision, called Healthy Kids, has proved an inspiring success in a generally hope-filled decade for children's health, its founders say. Because of Healthy Kids, some 13,000 local children who might otherwise have been uninsured instead gained access to comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage. In 2007, the California Health Interview Survey, a biannual report conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, showed 98 percent of the county's children were insured -- one of the highest rates in the state."

HoweStreet.com - Why Is California Broke?

HoweStreet.com - The Source for Market Opinions

Inquiring minds are asking "Why Is California Broke?" It's a good question. Please consider ...

California has the 3rd highest state income tax in the nation: 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and 10.55% at $1,000,000 - Tax Foundation 2010 State Business Tax Climate Table 2
California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana is next highest at 7%. Table 15
California corporate income tax rate is 3rd worst in the nation with a rate of 8.84%. - Table 2 and Table 8
California ranks 13th in property taxes. Table 2
California has the fourth highest capital gains tax 9.55%. - Capital Gains Tax Rates By State
California has the highest gasoline tax as of January 2010, averaging 65 cents/gallon. The national average is 47.4% - API Motor Fuel Taxes
California has one of the highest state vehicle license car taxes, 1.15% per year on value of vehicle, up from 0.65% in 2008. [expired link]

So where's the money going?

1 in 5 in LA County receiving public aid, nearly 2.2 million people as of February 2009. 20% in Los Angeles County receive public aid
California has 12% of the nation’s population, but 36% of the country’s TANF (“Temporary” Assistance for Needy Families) welfare recipients – more than the next 8 states combined. Unlike other states, this “temporary” assistance becomes much more permanent in CA. July, 2009 California has more recipients in key welfare category than next eight states combined.
California prison guards highest paid in the nation. The maximum pay of California's prison guards is nearly 40 percent higher than that of the highest-paid guards in 10 other states and the federal government, according to a study by the California Department of Personnel Administration. Cal-Taxletter
California teachers easily the highest paid in the nation. National Education Association
California now has the lowest bond ratings of any state, two steps above junk. The new rating affects about $72 billion of general obligation and lease-supported bonds. July 15 California bond rating cut again
California ranks 44th worst in “2008 lawsuit climate.” Institute For Legal Reform

Education 2010: No money. Zip. Nada. None. Go fish. | Get Schooled

Education 2010: No money. Zip. Nada. None. Go fish.

1:11 am January 24, 2010, by Maureen Downey

I was at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education program for education writers most of Friday.

Here is the message of the day in a single line:

THERE IS NO MONEY. NONE. NOT EVEN A DIME IN THE COUCH CUSHIONS.

Among the presenters: Kathy Cox, state school superintendent, Erin Hames, education policy director for the governor, Alan Essig of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and Herb Garrett of the Georgia Superintendents Association. The teacher of the year was there as were many state people and representatives of the state’s education groups.

Without tax increases, Georgia schools will most certainly take considerable hits in the next two years.

How deep is the financial hole at the state level? So deep, said Essig, that even wiping out 20 state agencies and the legislative branch and firing the 13,000 employees in those agencies wouldn’t plug it.

Bring competition into education - Crain's New York Business

Last week, the forces committed to the educational status quo defeated a proposal from the governor and mayor to double the number of charter schools in the state, and thereby damaged New York's chance to win $700 million in federal funds for states willing to make hard choices to improve their schools.

Soon, the same forces will gather to block the latest proposal to allow SUNY and CUNY to set different tuition levels for each college and university, enabling them to raise money to keep pace with rivals in other states. The prospects are not good for this idea, either. In New York, competition in education is an oxymoron. And that's the fundamental problem.

Start with charter schools. The idea is to create an alternative to rule-bound and unresponsive public schools. Charter schools attract thousands of desperate students, raising the possibility of a decline in public school jobs, thereby forcing public schools to become more flexible and effective.

It is beginning to work in New York City, where the 100 charter schools are a key reason Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein are making progress with public education. The threat is real enough that the teachers union used all its political clout to derail the charter school expansion.

Study Abroad -- Pricey and Priceless - WSJ.com

Patti Ristau says she was terrified when she first landed in Seville, Spain, for a semester studying abroad.

Though she had a double major from the University of Wisconsin-Madison that included Spanish and felt sure of herself speaking the language in Mexico and the Caribbean, Ms. Ristau was worried she would be like a taco at a tapas bar in Seville. And she was all alone.

"But it was an amazing, self-enlightening experience," says the 22-year-old. "I found out a lot about who I was being there by myself. And I became a lot more confident about everything, not just my Spanish."

It's a common theme from students who give up the comforts of home and campus to live and study abroad and immerse themselves in another country's culture. They come back changed. And some even admit to becoming more mature -- and with a more wide-eyed view of the world.

Teachers selling their lesson plans online | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | News: Education

Teachers selling their lesson plans online | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News| News: Education:

"Ken Norman used to give away to other teachers lesson plans that he had spent hours and hours creating for high school government and economics classes.

But times have changed.

Online auction sites and marketplaces can make anyone an entrepreneur, and Norman has joined the thousands of teachers buying and selling lesson plans online. A nine-week Texas history course with a syllabus, quizzes and tests can retail for $10. Colorful diagrams to help kindergartners learn to count using coins go for $3.

On these Web sites, teachers can browse and buy lesson plans for students in pre-K through 12th grade in every imaginable subject."

Alberto Torrico: Save California's colleges and universities with AB 656 - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Alberto Torrico: Save California's colleges and universities with AB 656 - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"Alberto Torrico

What if we lived in a world where your cell phone carrier drastically raised your bill and at the same time reduced your coverage? What if your landlord increased your rent by a third and then took away your bathroom? What if you took a flight and the airline raised the price while in midair?

These seem like ridiculous scenarios, but something similar is happening all across University of California campuses right now.

The cost of education is skyrocketing just as students are forced to endure overcrowded classrooms, all too common full enrollment rosters and reduced course offerings. It is the start of the semester and that means it's time to worry about adding classes in order to graduate on time so you don't have to take out even more loans, on top of the thousands of dollars you may already owe.

If only papers and finals were the worst of your worries."

City Brights: Marina Park : Our education disaster

Our education disaster

As reported in yesterday's Chronicle the recession is hitting kids hard. There's less at school and less at home.
The article quotes the recently published California Educational Opportunity Report: "one in four California students lives in poverty and is likely attending a school with reduced funding, larger classes and fewer instructional materials."
But what's the solution? The middle class is struggling too. . . The key point in the Report for me is this: "The short term is crucial for the millions of students who can't wait for the economy to improve. They only get one chance to have a high-quality and equal education." I think we are blowing that chance.
In their inspiring book, Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn share a Hawaiian parable about a boy walking along a beach. Thousands of starfish have washed ashore and their chances don't look good. As the boy picks up a starfish and throws it back into the water a man asks - why bother, there are too many for you to possibly make a difference. The boy answers, "It sure made a difference to that one."
The issues contributing to our education disaster -- unemployment, underfunded state pensions, foreclosures, rising health care costs, crowded prisons -- are too complex and too politicized to be solved in time for today's 8th graders. As the Report makes clear, even if we could pump more money into schools, that won't solve hunger, homelessness and underemployment.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/mpark/detail??blogid=164&entry_id=55893#ixzz0dXdgw3GJ

Shasta County schools tell why they didn't apply for federal Race to the Top money� Redding Record Searchlight

Shasta County schools tell why they didn't apply for federal Race to the Top money� Redding Record Searchlight:

"More than 800 California school districts have applied for funding through President Barack Obama's Race to the Top educational reform initiative.

California could receive up to $700 million of the $4.35 billion in grants awarded to states.

Part of the Obama administration's economic stimulus package, California Department of Education officials say it is 'the single largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in U.S. history.'

Even with that much money on the line, 11 of the 25 school districts in Shasta County - 44 percent - have opted not to apply for the grant."

Students Face a Class Struggle at State Colleges - NYTimes.com

Students Face a Class Struggle at State Colleges - NYTimes.com:

"At 2:29 p.m. on Jan. 12, Juan Macias, 19, a sophomore at San Francisco State University, sat in a cafe near the engineering firm where he works part time as an office assistant, staring at a laptop computer screen."

In one minute he would get a crucial opportunity to register for classes for the spring semester. “This is so nerve-wracking," he said as he waited for the clock to signal that his assigned registration period had begun.
Hours earlier, scrutinizing the class schedule, he considered about 30 courses — then had to rule all of them out. They were full. The last slot on the waiting list for a 146-seat introductory physics class he has been trying to join for a year had disappeared minutes before, taken by another student with an earlier registration period.
“You’re trying to compete with all the other students, when we all want education,” said Mr. Macias, a business major. “It really makes me angry.” His classes — the ones that had an opening — begin on Monday.
Welcome to state-run higher education in California. Mr. Macias is just one of more than 26,000 students at San Francisco State, and now educational opportunities cost more and are harder to grasp and even harder to hold onto than ever before. Mr. Macias’s experience of truncated offerings, furloughed professors and crowded classrooms is typical.
Neither of Mr. Macias’s parents went to college; his father is a railroad conductor. One of his five siblings dropped out of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo to go to community college because of financial constraints.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Local News | UW President Mark Emmert to tout program across state for low-income students | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | UW President Mark Emmert to tout program across state for low-income students | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"University of Washington President Mark Emmert will hit the road on a statewide tour Monday to promote Husky Promise, a program that guarantees lower-income students will get their full tuition paid at UW.

Emmert and other top administrators have stops planned at high schools in Seattle, Tacoma, Aberdeen and Toppenish, Yakima County. More stops are expected to be added to the itinerary.

Launched in 2007, Husky Promise covers the tuition of about 7,000 students, more than 20 percent of all undergraduates. But the program is under threat from state budget cuts"

Transparency Watch: Race to Top Judges to be Kept Secret - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Transparency Watch: Race to Top Judges to be Kept Secret

By Michele McNeil on January 22, 2010 4:11 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has pledged to conduct an open, transparent competition for $4 billion in Race to the Top funds.

But the Education Department is falling short on one key piece: letting the public know who will judge the competition.

The department has vetted and selected 60 peer reviewers, and there will be a training session for them tomorrow. But the department won't say who they are—that will be announced in April when the winners are named. These are the folks who are tasked with reading through thousands of pages of applications from 40 states, plus the District of Columbia, and scoring them on a complex, 500-point grading scale. Although Duncan has the final say on who wins, the peer reviewers hold a considerable amount of power in determining who wins and who loses.

Who are the Education Experts that will Judge Race to the Top???

Who are the Education Experts that will Judge Race to the Top??? -

CONTROVERSIAL DOCUMENTARY PICKED UP BY PARAMOUNT AT SUNDANCE - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

The controversial documentary on education, Waiting For Superman, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, 1/22/10, was picked up by Paramount for worldwide rights.

Directed and produced by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim of An Inconvenient Truth,Superman "reminds us that education 'statistics' have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily."

According to the Festival's info page here which includes a brief trailer and interview with Guggenheim, Waiting for Superman:

". . .follows a handful of promising kids through a dysfunctional education system. Embracing the belief in the philosophy that good teachers make good schools, and questioning the role of unions in maintaining the status quo, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have - in reshaping the culture - refused to leave their students behind".

Judging from this comment alone, The Daily Riff expects this film to

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - San Diego Unified Asks Teachers to Take a Pay Cut

San Diego Unified is asking its teachers to weigh a salary cut for the 2010-2011 school year. How much of a salary cut? It hasn't said. The proposed cut would be temporary and would be reversed between 2013 and 2015. You can check out the full proposal here. The idea is that San Diego Unified would fill in the blank later as budget numbers get clearer.

"We're heading out into schools and having discussions with members to decide" what to do, said Camille Zombro, president of the teachers union. With little information about how much, exactly, San Diego Unified would cut, Zombro said "all we can do is talk about concepts and options."

Rancho Cordova Library to Re-Open February 13 — The Rancho Cordova Post

Rancho Cordova Library to Re-Open February 13 — The Rancho Cordova Post
As an early Valentine’s Day gift to local residents, Rancho Cordova Library will re-open its doors with a community-wide celebration beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 13 at 9845 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento. The free family festivities will include formal remarks from elected and library officials, a face painter, a magic show, a classical string-music trio, a Friends of Rancho Cordova Library book sale, and light refreshments.

The library branch has been closed since October 26 for refurbishment and renovation. Among the building’s new features are a “just for teens” area with four new computers, new lounge space with comfy furniture and an expanded view of the landscaped patio, colorful new carpet, an enhanced children’s area, more catalog computers and expanded self-check opportunities. Two large book drops have also been added for customer convenience. In addition, the staff workroom has been renovated through a generous bequest from a passionate library volunteer and member of the Rancho Cordova Friends of the Library, Anne Richardson.

The Educated Guess O’Connell’s big plans for his last year

The Educated Guess

O’Connell’s big plans for his last year

Posted in Achivement GAP, Common Core standards, Race to the Top

Superintendent of Public Instructions Jack O’Connell can legitimately claim some accomplishments during his seven years in office: enacting and successfully defending the high school exit exam; broadly expanding career academies in high school with courses approved for UC admission; drawing attention to disparities of achievement among ethnic and racial groups and creating strategies, through his P-16 Council, for narrowing them; and cheerleading a modest growth in test scores.
But even with debilitating cuts in school funding beyond O’Connell’s control, his last year could be his best – if the state wins hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Race to The Top money.
Listening to his final State of Education address, you’d think that it already has. He’s clearly jazzed at the possibility, devoting the bulk of his speech to Race to the Top – even though there’s no saying California will get a penny. It’s one of 40 states that applied to the competition this week.
(Read more and comment on this post)

SAC CHARTERGATE: Rhee says Laid-off Teachers in D.C. Abused Kids

Rhee says Laid-off Teachers in D.C. Abused Kids

The Washington Post is reporting today that DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee claimed in an interview with a national business magazine that some of the teachers laid off as part of a disputed budget reduction plan had sex with children or had hit them.

The explosive charges were made as she responded to interview questions about teacher union allegations that the budget crisis was manufactured to attack teacher seniority rules and move out older teachers.

DC teacher union members are furious, with the union head noting that he received no information that any of the 266 teachers laid off was under investigation for sexual misconduct with children.

Other union activists said they were especially offended by Rhee's remarks, in light of the recent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by her fiancé, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Before Johnson's 2008 election, the inspector general for the federal Corporation for National and Community Service filed a criminal referral with the U.S. attorney in Sacramento about Johnson. It included allegations that Johnson had inappropriately touched a minor girl and climbed into bed with a teenager who worked for the charter school he founded. The school received funding from Americorps, which is part of the community service corporation. Johnson was not charged.

Antihunger groups ask $1 billion a year for U.S. child meals - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. child nutrition programs need at least $1 billion a year in new funding as a step toward elimination of childhood hunger by 2015, an anti-hunger coalition said on Friday.

Congress delayed a renewal of the nutrition programs until this year because it could not find the additional money last year. The programs, centered around school lunch programs, were given $24 billion this fiscal year.

In a letter to congressional leaders, the antihunger coalition pointed to President Barack Obama's proposal a year ago for a $1 billion increase for child nutrition. Obama has a goal of ending child hunger by 2015.

"Given the recent (Agriculture Department) report showing that one in every four children live in households struggling against hunger, the child nutrition programs will need at least that amount of funding, if not a significantly higher investment, to respond to the current crisis," they wrote.

Signing the letter were 53 farm, education, health, religious and food groups.

Backers say more money is needed because of the surge in food prices in 2007 and 2008, higher enrollment due to the recession and the cost of putting fresher and healthier foods into school meals.

Cuts needed amid S.F. schools' $113 million gap

Cuts needed amid S.F. schools' $113 million gap:

"San Francisco schools are facing a $113 million budget shortfall over the next two years - a staggering figure that would mean layoffs, cuts to popular programs like summer school and increases in class size."

Superintendent Carlos Garcia announced the projections Wednesday in a letter to San Francisco Unified School District staff and at a teachers union meeting.

Garcia said there will be layoffs, but the number of teachers and staff members released will depend on what else is cut. Given the shortfall, however, the district can't avoid pink slips.
"Inevitably you're not going to cut $113 million without a single person laid off," he said Thursday. "We want to get it down to as few people as possible."
The district's projected shortfall is $30 million more than previous forecasts and reflects the latest numbers in the governor's proposed budget.
Garcia said he will lay out a specific plan to address the cuts at Tuesday's school board meeting, but his list is likely to include cuts in the district office, summer school and busing, increases to class size, and employee furloughs and layoffs.
"These numbers are large, and they will be devastating," Garcia said in his letter. "The cuts that

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNCG1BLM6G.DTL&type=education#ixzz0dS6SVwhs

EPA vows to do all it can for school's air - USATODAY.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pledged Thursday to "use all the tools at our disposal" to reduce high levels of a toxic chemical that continues to permeate the air outside an elementary school in Marietta, Ohio.

The chemical, manganese, can affect children in much the same way as lead. Government scientists have concluded that long-term exposure can cause mental disabilities and emotional problems.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Toxic Air and America's Schools

The EPA plans to release data today that show high levels of manganese outside a cluster of schools in and near Marietta. One air sample — taken Oct. 22, 2009, outside Warren Elementary — shows manganese levels that were 23 times above what the EPA considers safe for long-term exposure.

"That is pretty remarkable," said Stephen Lester, science director for the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a Virginia-based advocacy group that focuses on children and schools.

Two other schools, including Neale Elementary in Vienna, W.Va., just across the Ohio River from Marietta, also appear affected. One reading at Neale was five times higher than what is considered safe for long-term exposure.

Breathing high levels of manganese for extended periods can cause "irreversible damage," Lester said. He worried that the readings might represent "just the tip of the iceberg. How many other chemicals are these kids exposed to?" he asked. "It's not just manganese alone that you worry about. It's the combined effect of all these chemicals on the central nervous system."

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