Friday, March 5, 2010

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California disqualified from receiving federal school funds
3.5.10 - No reason was given for the decision. Education leaders announced that 15 other states and Washington, D.C., are in the running for billions in grants under the...
No-Child Law Is a Highlight of Hearing on Education3.4.10 - San Dillon - WASHINGTON - Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is presiding over the rollout of the largest competitive grant program in his department's history, a vast expansion of the government's direct loan program for college students and sweeping new expenditures on failing schools, teacher quality and other big initiatives.
In New Book, Ravitch Recants Long-Held Beliefs3.5.10 - Once an avid supporter of improving schools through accountability and choice, the scholar now says those ideas have led education astray.
New York Is Among Finalists for U.S. School Grants3.5.10 - Sam Dillon - WASHINGTON - New York, Florida and Pennsylvania are among the 16 first-round finalists in the federal
more articles....

Davis Protest Moves From Freeway To Intersection - Most Popular News Story - KCRA Sacramento

Davis Protest Moves From Freeway To Intersection - Most Popular News Story - KCRA Sacramento:

"DAVIS, Calif. -- Students protesting California education cuts marched toward Interstate 80 in Davis and threatened to shut down the freeway Thursday afternoon, and that evening, a busy intersection was closed to traffic because of people who sat on streets.
The freeway confrontation came on a day when students around the state gathered to protest steep fee hikes, canceled classes and faculty furloughs. The protest, which is part of the Day of Action, comes at a time when the state is facing a $20 billion deficit.

Police in Davis fired a projectile pepper ball, hitting some people in the legs. Protesting students stood toe-to-toe with officers a short distance from I-80.

Officers swung batons at students and eventually dragged away Laura Mitchell, one of the organizers.

"I'm worried about everybody's safety but we're doing this as a group," Mitchell said.

The California Highway Patrol slowed down traffic on westbound I-80 as a safety precaution, but the road remained open.

"Public safety's impacted, we've got to make sure that those freeways stay open," Marvin Williard from the CHP said."

Video: Raw: Protesters Threaten To Close I-80
Video: Raw: Davis Protesters Disperse
Video: Candlelight Vigil Held At Delta College
Video: Delta College Holds Education 'Funeral'
Video: Some Sacramento Schools Protest Cuts
Video: Education Budget Ire Displayed At Rally
Video: Education Rally Gets Wild Over Budget
Video: Is A California Education Worth It?
Video: Several Hundred March At UC Davis
Video: Walkout Reported At Natomas School
Video: Prof: Tax Oil To Pay For Education
Video: O'Connell: Now Is Time To Invest In Ed
Slideshow: Protesters Threaten To Close I-80
Slideshow: Students Protest Over Education Cuts
Slideshow: Students Gear Up For Big Protest
Slideshow: Students Carry Education Coffins
Story: Calif. Shut Out Of 'Race To The Top'
Story: California Moves To Change Gas Taxes
Story: Governor Discusses Higher Ed Cuts
Story: Poll: Californians Want Budget Cuts, Not New Taxes

Day of Action in San Francisco: Impressions : Indybay

Students, parents, teachers and other malcontents gathered at SF’s Civic Center this afternoon to protest public education cuts and more.

San Francisco, March 4-The day was sunny. The convergence at the Civic Center in San Francisco was for the national Day of Action to protest cuts in public education, one. There were similar actions in 32 states and 40 California counti4es.

The SF gathering represented all the diversity and exuberance and boldness and determination of the new student movement. “Save Our Schools!” rang out across the plaza and into the streets.

On stage the emcee boomed out the student bodies arriving: “Lincoln High, Laney College in the house, Mission High, Lakeshore Elementary, College of San Mateo, UC Berkeley, Jefferson Elementary of Daly City, City College, Cal State East Bay, 10 busloads from DeAnza!”

On adjacent Grove Street school buses were parked on one side of the street and police vehicles on the other.

And signs were everywhere: Fund Schools Not War, Why Pay More For Less, Bail Out Students Not Banks, Race To the Bottom Shame California, and the inimitable Three Word Sign.

Back on the stage a band of teachers broke into a rocker whose chorus went “It’s a long way to the top, If you want to teach in school,” and mantra’d “San Francisco Unified makes you wanna cry.”

The already electrified crowd rocked out too, as expensively clad people on the mayor’s balcony across the street gawked and got their share of snaps before disappearing back into their den of iniquity.

The song ended but the show went on. “On this stage today you will see not one elected official,” the emcee decreed, perhaps in response to the decadent display on the balcony. “NEVER AGAIN!” the call and response again in reference to their betrayal at every level of government.
A number of students took the stage next. “Each prisoner costs $25,000 a year,” Aliya edified us with, “while each student gets funded $7,000 a year. So is that fair?”

Reston from City College in SF declared, “I’m outraged. Our schools are bleeding to death. Education is vital to our humanity. Let us raise our hands, clench our fists and go forward together. Education is not a privilege, it is a right.”

A San Francisco State student announced that “This year 40,000 will be denied the right to be in the California education system. Today is a starting point. We won’t back down even when we

Protesters clash with cops at CSUN - LA Daily News

Protesters clash with cops at CSUN - LA Daily News
NORTHRIDGE — An afternoon march and rally Thursday involving some 2,800 students and faculty at California State University, Northridge, turned into a tense evening standoff as protesters blocked off a major intersection and defied dispersal orders from officers in riot gear.
Police arrested at least five students, while a 73-year-old faculty member had to be treated for a broken arm when she was pushed to the ground.

The march was part of a nationwide "Day of Action" in which thousands of teachers, professors, students and parents joined rallies, sit-ins and marches to protest steep cuts in public education.
At most other locations, the demonstrations were peaceful, except at UC Davis, where students engaged in a standoff with police, at UC Santa Cruz, where students broke car windows, and in Wisconsin, where demonstrators threw punches and ice chunks at police, leading to the arrest of at least 15 people.
At CSUN, protesters blocked off several sections of Reseda Boulevard, and some defied orders from police to disperse.
Karren Baird-Olson, a 73-year-old Native American studies professor, was standing in solidarity with her students, who had formed a human chain at Reseda Boulevard and Prairie Avenue when police rushed the crowd to disperse them. She was tossed to the ground and broke her arm in the fall.
"The First Amendment gives us the right to assemble and demonstrate," Baird-Olson said. "That is not a privilege.
It is a right. This is supposed to be a place where voices are heard."Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, head of the Valley Bureau, said

Students protest cuts to higher-education funds - washingtonpost.com

Student activists in California and elsewhere took to the streets Thursday in a national day of protest against rising fees and dwindling services in public higher education, drawing attention to a wave of tuition hikes, budget cuts and furloughs at colleges and universities across the country.

Organizers said they seek to dramatize mounting frustration as the recession forces deep cuts in higher-education budgets, especially in California, whose higher-education system is both largest in the nation and facing the deepest cuts. Colleges in Virginia and Maryland and across the nation have raised tuition, cut positions and absorbed funding cuts, but not to the extent as in California.

California student activists declared Thursday a Day of Action to Defend Public Education, and rallies were planned for nearly every college and university campus in the state, in addition to several K-12 schools. The University of California at Santa Cruz, expecting disruptions, had advised employees and others not to come to campus Thursday. Dozens of students blocked roads, prohibiting drivers from entering the campus at its main and west entrances. There were also reports of students intimidating employees. At Berkeley, the Academic Senate urged protesters to "stay on your feet" and offered helpful hints for those who chose arrest. Organizers hoped to spur events in 30 other states.

"There are student activists all over the country who are looking to California as something to emulate," said Doug Singsen, 32, a graduate student at the City University of New York who has helped organize events outside California. "We want this to be the beginning of a movement that gets stronger."

At the University of Maryland in College Park, some students walked out of classes at noon. About four dozen people gathered at the student union and then marched to an academic building that was decorated with posters reading "Demand nothin occupy 'erything'" and "Life sucks, Let's dance." Early this afternoon students discussed how much money goes toward athletics and how to grow their small movement. Junior Marty Handelman heard about the rally from a flier and decided to attend. "It really clicked. This is really important and I should really be a part of this," said Handelman, 21. "This is really just a gathering about what's wrong with public education."

Local legislators comment on Thursday's rallies - San Jose Mercury News

East Bay lawmakers weighed in throughout the day on Thursday's education protests:

* State Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, said she attended the rally Thursday morning at the state Capitol and "heard the students' voices.

"This should be the beginning of their advocacy throughout the budget process. More legislators and the governor need to heed their call," Corbett said. "I am well aware of the struggles California's students and families are going through because of the cost of going to college. In some cases, students have seen tuition triple, and this deeply concerns me. I am worried because families have had to make really difficult decisions about whether or not they can invest in their child's higher education, and this is wrong.

Especially in a down economy, California should be encouraging students to attend college, not turning them away, she said.

"As a state, higher education is one of our most important investments. We should not be destroying our future," Corbett said. "In Sacramento right now we are talking a lot about protecting and creating jobs. California's investment in education is directly tied to the economy and the availability of good jobs. Cuts to education rob our students of the tools they need to enter this state's highly skilled workforce and as a state we must renew our promise to California's students."

* State

Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said it was encouraging to see that

faculty, students and parents care so deeply about the future of education in California.

"It is disgraceful that California's per pupil funding of K-12 education is ranked near the bottom among all states — 47th out of 50, according to 'Education Week' magazine. That is not acceptable and it is certainly no way to prepare our young people for the future or to build the California economy," Hancock said.

Meanwhile, state college and university students face overcrowding, reduced class availability, furloughed faculty and unprecedented fee hikes, she said, noting per-student state funding for the UC system has fallen 54 percent since 1990 and remains precarious in the face of another $20 billion state budget deficit. She urged protestors to support her proposed constitutional amendment to let the state budget be adopted by simple majority votes of the Assembly and state Senate rather than the two-thirds votes now required.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who attended the State Capitol rally before joining parents and teachers in El Cerrito and Berkeley, said further state budget cuts to education would shorten the school year, eliminate summer-school programs and devastate art, music, physical education and special education — all when California already is ranked 47th in the nation for per-pupil spending.

"California cannot afford further cuts to schools that are still struggling to cope with the aftermath of last year's budget," she said. "Class sizes have increased, teachers and staff are facing lay-offs, purchases of essential classroom materials are being delayed, and adequate school maintenance has become impossible."

She renewed her call for California to collect sales tax owed by online retailers as New York does, and to pass an oil-severance fee just as all other oil-producing states have done. "Together these would generate billions in new revenue. Cutting education is not a budget solution," she said, adding local communities should be able to pass parcel taxes and the

Thousands protest California education cuts - WQAD

Thousands protest California education cuts - WQAD:

"Rallies and walkouts are largely peaceful, but 150 are arrested in Oakland as a freeway is blocked. The demonstrations are part of a nationwide 'Day of Action for Public Education"

A day of passionate protest against education funding cuts attracted thousands of demonstrators Thursday to mostly peaceful rallies, walkouts and teach-ins at universities and high schools throughout California and the nation. In Oakland, however, about 150 protesters were arrested after they blocked a freeway, snarling rush-hour traffic.

From Los Angeles to New York and from San Diego to Humboldt in Northern California, students, faculty and parents at many schools decried higher student fees, reduced class offerings and teacher layoffs in what leaders described as a "Day of Action for Public Education." Labor unions and student government groups were the main organizers.

"We are paying more to get less of an education. That's why I'm out here today to protest against that," said Cal State Long Beach art education student Jessica Naujoks, who joined an estimated 2,500 others at a campus rally. Among their complaints: the cutting of more than 1,500 class sections this year, a 13% drop.

Demonstrators held up traffic about an hour on Interstate 880 in Oakland, where one protester was seriously injured after jumping off the freeway near downtown, police said. He was expected to survive, said Officer Jeff Thomason of the Oakland Police Department.

With the toll the recession took on state revenue over the last two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators have said they had no choice but to cut billions from primary, secondary and higher education to close enormous deficits.

In Southern California, busloads of demonstrators converged from schools across the region Thursday evening at downtown Los Angeles' Pershing Square. The crowd, estimated at more than 2,000, then marched to the nearby state office building on Spring Street, as commuters faced temporary street closures.

Race to the Top Finalists Are Named - WSJ.com

The Obama administration picked 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in a heated competition for extra federal education funds to shake up underperforming schools.

The states that made the cut in the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition were Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Under the program, states stand to garner hundreds of millions of dollars each, depending on their size, at a time when many local education budgets face deep funding shortfalls.

The sheer number of finalists surprised outside observers, who had predicted the administration would impose more stringent standards. The list included a number of states whose applications were considered weak.

A total of 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications in January for the first round of funding, with a second round set for summer.

The administration defended the selection of the 16 finalists, saying that all states whose applications cleared a pre-set score automatically advanced to the next round.

The Education Department promises to be tougher in winnowing the list down to the winners, which will be announced next month, and are expected to include fewer than a half-dozen states.

March 4 'Day of Action' in California: Thousands Rally Against Education Cuts -- Politics Daily

March 4 'Day of Action' in California: Thousands Rally Against Education Cuts -- Politics Daily
"No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!"

This chant, and others similar to it, reverberated throughout the campus of San Francisco State University on Thursday. Later in the day, demonstrators yelled it into their loudspeakers as they marched through downtown San Francisco and into Civic Center plaza.

These events were all meant to celebrate and promote the March 4 "Day of Action" that has been long-planned by supporters of California's public education system. The state's record budget deficit (a $20 billion dollar gap this year, coupled with $60 billion from last year) has dramatically impacted all levels of public education in California, from the elementary to graduate level, resulting in crippling spending cuts that have caused great concern for many who believe drastic reform is needed.

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The public education woes of California hit a fever pitch this past year: last fall, the UC and CSU systems both announced the intention to increase tuition rates more than 30 percent, and in addition to the fee hikes, university staff were furloughed and course offerings were downsized or cut altogether. California's community college system has not been spared, either. And the budget pain is

The Associated Press: Angry students protest cuts to schools, colleges

BERKELEY, Calif. — Anger over rising tuition and school budget cuts boiled over as students across the country staged rowdy demonstrations that led to clashes with police and the rush-hour shutdown of a major freeway in California.

Students, teachers, parents and school employees rallied and marched at college campuses, public parks and government buildings in several U.S. cities Thursday in what was called the March 4 Day of Action to Defend Public Education.

In Oakland, protesters evaded police and walked onto Interstate 880 near downtown Oakland just before 5 p.m., forcing the closure of the freeway in both directions for more than an hour and causing traffic to back up for miles.

Police arrested more than 150 people who blocked the freeway after breaking off from a peaceful rally at Oakland City Hall, said Officer Sam Morgan, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

One protester suffered serious injuries after jumping from the elevated freeway while officers were making arrests, authorities said.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police arrested at least 15 people protesting tuition hikes after demonstrators tried to enter an administrative building to deliver petitions to the chancellor. When police turned them away, some protesters threw punches and ice chunks, university spokesman Tom Luljak said.

Faced with plunging tax revenue and massive budget shortfalls, states have slashed funding to K-12 schools and universities. In response, school districts are laying off teachers, expanding class sizes and scrapping academic programs, while many colleges have cancelled classes, furloughed instructors and raised tuition.

Experts say schools and colleges could face more severe financial problems over the next few years as they drain federal stimulus money that temporarily prevented widespread layoffs and classroom cut

Oakland: Protesters arrested, traffic flowing again on Interstate 880 - San Jose Mercury News

Teachers and students from schools of all levels are fanned across the state today as part of a "day of action" that started with discussions at University of California-Berkeley and spread across the country.

Here's a running account of the protests.

SANTA CRUZ — 9:00 p.m.

Just before 9 p.m., the group headed to a Front Street parking structure and the crowd mostly dispersed.

All in all, said Santa Cruz Police Capt. Steve Clark, actions within the city were peaceful.

"There's been no other acts of violence, no vandalism," he said Thursday night. "We're just putting together resources and preparing for what they are going to do tomorrow."

SANTA CRUZ — 6:30 p.m.

About 150 to 200 students left the base of UC Santa Cruz and were headed to the Town Clock at 6:30 p.m., according to emergency radio traffic. The group was trying to decide what the next steps would be. The options being debated were taking the protest downtown tonight, occupying a campus building or continuing the strike on Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO — 6 P.M.

Shortly before nightfall, hundreds of protestors of all ages filled San Francisco Civic Center for a noisy upbeat rally. A group of six San Jose State Unified School District classified workers joined the protest to make sure the voices of support staff

were heard.

The decline of bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom aides and secretaries have created real hardship for children in poorer districts, said Robin Hill, a San Jose office technician.

Kids waiting longer in lunch lines often end up skipping their only meal of the day, she said, and families who lack insurance can no longer rely on medical care at school.

"We can't support the kids in the way we would like to," Hill said. "Paper, pens and pencils they are all lacking." A mother- daughter pair of teachers from San Mateo carried a symbolic coffin through the throngs of protestors Thursday.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Sacramento Press / Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit

Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit
About 430 teachers and other school staff, 125 central office workers would lose jobs

By Maria L. Lopez

March 4, 2010 – Elementary class sizes will be larger and about 430 teachers and other school staff would lose their jobs under a plan approved by the Sacramento school board Thursday night for millions of dollars in spending cuts to close a $30.6 million budget deficit.
The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the cuts to take effect in the next school year unless the district’s unions join the administration in agreeing to concessions to stave off some of the cuts.
Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond said the school district must close a $30.6 million deficit for the 2010-11 budget. The board approved Raymond’s plan to lay off about 340 teachers, 60 counselors, social workers and psychologists, about 38 school administrators and five school clerical workers.
Class sizes in kindergarten through third grade will be increased from about 25 students per class to 30 students under the plan. An agreement by employee unions to accept concessions is still in discussion and could help save jobs and keep class sizes smaller.
“These cuts in the budget definitely will impact our ability to educate children. Class sizes would be larger and good teachers would be lost. But we are hopeful that our continuing discussions with our employee bargaining units will be successful and we will be able to avert some of the job losses and some of the class size increases,” Superintendent Raymond said.
Employee health care benefits have skyrocketed 50 percent over the past five years. Teachers pay virtually nothing for health care. If the employee bargaining units would agree to a $50 per month insurance premium and three furlough days, the same number of furlough days as Superintendent Raymond and other unrepresented employees, the district could save $5.1

###

Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site

This meeting of the Sacramento City School Board is videotaped in its entirety and will be cablecast without interruption on Metro Cable 14, the government affairs channel on the Comcast and SureWest Cable Systems. Today’s meeting will be replayed Sunday,

Or go to the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education Meeting Web Site to watch the archive video of the meeting

Education funding demanded in 'Day of Action' - San Jose Mercury News

Thousands of students, teachers, janitors and other school employees crowded campuses, civic centers and roads Thursday in a massive show of force against education budget cuts.

The mostly peaceful gatherings brought to the streets people who had experienced the state cuts in a variety of ways: layoffs, student-fee hikes, an inability to get into classes. The protests, billed as a Day of Action, also were staged in other states.

In a break from the relatively uneventful rallies, more than 150 protesters were arrested after they marched onto Interstate 880 in downtown Oakland as the evening commute was beginning, shutting the roadway in both directions. One person was hospitalized after falling from a tree near the freeway; his name and condition were not immediately known.

After holding a midday rally that blocked the intersection of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue near UC Berkeley, about 1,000 demonstrators walked nearly five miles from the campus to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, in front of Oakland City Hall. There, they joined with at least 200 community-college and high-school students and employees to rail against legislators, school administrators, the media and a variety of other groups.

State and school leaders are "morally bankrupt," UC Berkeley librarian Jason Schultz told the Oakland crowd.

"It's messed up, folks," he shouted. "Let's reclaim this university."

Protesters blocked the main entrance of Oakland City Hall with a large banner reading, "Fight

Back."

Despite the late arrests, school officials and authorities expressed relief at the mostly quiet protests. Police had admitted some apprehension about the protests, especially after last week's overnight UC Berkeley rally, which led to vandalism to campus buildings and nearby businesses.

In Concord, more than 300 students and parents walked off the Mt. Diablo High School campus just after 1 p.m., eliciting compliments from administrators and police for their behavior.

"They did a good job," School Resource Officer Todd Stroud said. "There were no problems."

The protests followed months of growing unrest throughout the state's educational institutions, including violent clashes between demonstrators and police at UC Berkeley in the fall

March 4 Evening Wrapup � Student Activism

March 4 Evening Wrapup

March 4, 2010 in Students

Most of today’s protests have wound down, or seem likely to in the near future, and the day is coming into clearer focus.

There have been clashes with police. Most notable was the takeover of a freeway in Oakland which ended, one officer estimated, in 150 arrests. One student was injured in that incident, though reports differ as to the severity of his injuries. Students were also arrested or detained in New York, in Michigan, and elsewhere, though rarely in large numbers.

Oakland was not the only place where students took to the streets. One college — UC Santa Cruz — was closed for much of the day after demonstrators blocked both roads onto campus to vehicular traffic. Many other marches spilled off sidewalks onto intersections, even highways, leading a blogger for the Berkeley student newspaper to declare that “freeways are the new buildings when it comes to occupying stuff.”

There were few of those more traditional occupations. Students at UCLA sat in at their chancellor’s office for most of the day, but left peacefully not long ago. At UC Irvine and New York’s Hunter College, students tried and failed to find a space they could take and hold. At the State University of New York an occupation was going on this afternoon, but no reports have been heard from it in hours.

At UC San Diego, wracked by racial traumas for weeks, administrators and representatives of the Black Student Union negotiated an agreement that resolved many of the issues that had divided them in the recent past. But UCSD was an exception — today’s protesters rarely articulated immediate demands, and administrators rarely engaged with them. Today was more about activists talking to each other, working with each other, than it was

Remainders: NY spends more on busing, most kids ride the rails | GothamSchools

15 states (plus DC) have made it to the Race to the Top finals, but only a handful will win.
New York is among the finalists, but Mayor Bloomberg said being a finalist isn’t good enough.
Peter Murphy imagines a worst-case-scenario: NY wins RttT, but with so little money, it can’t do much.
The number of semi-finalists was both tough and fair says Education Sector’s Chad Aldeman.
Of the states that got Gates Foundation RttT planning grants, most made it into the finals.
Every school bus trip costs $19, while the city and state pay pennies for students to get free metro cards.
Some city schools were mistakenly told they were failing and, of them, many are being closed.
Charter school teachers who backed the union’s RttT bill were applauded at a union meeting.
A recent LaGuardia High School grad is starting a music program at his little sister’s school.
Teachers in NY and CA echoed the Gates teacher study findings on the Takeaway.
Teachers union caucus New Action lists all the reasons its different from everyone else at the UFT.

Photos of Students, Teachers, and Citizens Protesting Tuition Increases, Cuts in Education, Layoffs | California Progress Report

Recent hate crimes at Davis mirror others within UC campuse | California Progress Report

By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center on the University of California, Davis campus was the target for a hate crime Friday night when derogatory and profane words were spray-painted across the center’s front entrance.

The LGBT center attack occurred within days after a Jewish student living in the pastoral campus’s Tercero dormitory discovered a swastika carved into her room’s door.

While UC campus police believe the incidents are unrelated, both join a recent list of hate crimes that have been reported throughout the University of California’s ten campus system.

Weeks earlier, a UC San Diego fraternity garnered nationwide scorn for holding a mock tribute to Black history month with at “Compton Cookout” themed-party. A disruption by UC Irvine students of the speech of the Israeli ambassador to the United States is also being investigated as a religiously-biased act.

“I am deeply troubled by the horrific incidents that recently took place on various campuses throughout the University of California system,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an uncommon weekend press release issued Saturday.

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