Monday, August 2, 2010

This Week In Education: Thompson: Mr. President, Don't Sell Yourself Short

This Week In Education: Thompson: Mr. President, Don't Sell Yourself Short

Thompson: Mr. President, Don't Sell Yourself Short

by john thompson
ObamartttSurely President Obama doesn't believe what he told the Urban League last week -- that the Race to the Top is the single most important thing his administration has done to help schools. The RttT gamble could fail or succeed but it would have to be one of the great miracles of social innovation to compete with Michelle Obama's health and nutrition initiatives much less the Recovery Act, which saved districts from bankruptcy and more. Mr.


Senate: Offsets Problem In Murray-Harkin Amendment?

by Alexander Russo
Picture 6CEF just put out a letter in support of the Murray-Harkin amendment that would give $10B to states to spend on education, but includes the following
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National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity?

National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity?

Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity?

Last week, a coalition of prominent civil rights groups released a new framework for education reform that said the Obama administration is pushing policies that will exacerbate inequality. In particular, the coalition's framework takes issue with the administration's signature reform initiative -- the federal grant competition Race to the Top -- and the general emphasis on competitive-grant funding. In this troubled economic environment, most low-income and minority children will be left behind under "competitive incentive" federal policies, they argue.
Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus asserted that civil rights groups were picking the wrong fight with President Obama and should be cheering his policies, not picking them apart. Obama, who spoke to the National Urban League, one of the member groups, later in the week, defended his education reform policies, calling Race to the Top the single most important thing his administration has done in education.
The coalition says that competitive grants will always benefit the better-off states and localities, which have more resources to innovate and to compete for grants. Are competitive-grant programs likely to exacerbate inequality in the American education system? Should the administration modify its proposals for education reform to adopt any of the ideas offered in the new framework?
-- Eliza Krigman, NationalJournal.com

Diane Ravitch responded to Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity? on August 2, 2010 11:53 AM

Competitions Favor the Strong Competitions are always won by the strong, never the weak. The civil rights coalition statement pointed out that millions of poor and minority children live in states that will lose the Race to the Top, as well as those that fail to win competitive grants under the Blueprint. Competition does not lead to

Tom Vander Ark responded to Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity? on August 2, 2010 10:23 AM

Reduce Barriers, Promote Incentives When a system is broken, dysfunctional, and inequitable, investors with a long term view--governments and foundations--needs to take strategic action to promote improvement. That's exactly what Ed.gov did with RttT and i3. Guidelines specifically focused on efforts that will benefit low income and minority students. Proposals and policy changes indicate that the concept worked even better than expected--most states now have a comprehensive strategy to raise standards, use data to drive improvement, intervene in low performing schools, expand options, and improve teacher effectiveness. The worst possible next step, as proposed by the Opportunity lobby,...

Chester E. Finn, Jr. responded to Do Competitive Grants Hurt Equal Opportunity? on August 2, 2010 09:42 AM

Failed Imagination--and Memory The Obama administration's education-reform agenda was already in trouble with the teacher unions. Now it's in trouble with the old-line civil rights community, too. I'm tempted to say this is clear proof of the agenda's wisdom and promise as well as the administration's pluck. But I won't. Instead, I'll mourn the inability of these groups to grasp what is really in the interests of poor and minority kids--and their failure, almost half a century after ESEA was first enacted (and the Coleman Report released), to see that the old input-centric approach to education reform doesn't work. To understand (and...
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Cynthia Gilliam named third deputy superintendent of Portland Public Schools | OregonLive.com

Cynthia Gilliam named third deputy superintendent of Portland Public Schools | OregonLive.com

Cynthia Gilliam named third deputy superintendent of Portland Public Schools

Published: Monday, August 02, 2010, 8:46 AM Updated: Monday, August 02, 2010, 9:01 AM
Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
Cynthia Gilliam, former principal of Mount Tabor Middle School and a central office administrator for the past four years, has been tapped by Portland Superintendent Carole Smith to become one of three deputy superintendents.

Gilliam, who worked in the Hillsboro district before serving as principal at Mount Tabor from 1998 to 2006, will oversee schools and principals in the Cleveland, Roosevelt and Wilson high school zones.


Smith needed to pick a new deputy superintendent after two of her four deputies, Charles Hopson and Greg Baker, both were tapped to become superintendents in out-of-state school districts this spring. On Friday, she




Twenty years of Japanese American waterfront memorial to civil rights

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By Carolina Hidalgo, The Oregonian

July 30, 2010, 11:15AM
On the west bank of the Willamette River, between the Burnside and Steel bridges, stretches a 100-year story. Through poems engraved in granite stones, it chronicles decades of hard work, injustice, new beginnings and, finally, hope. Full story »
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School district administrators: Just what do they do to earn their pay anyway?

By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

July 30, 2010, 11:00AM
At budget time, people want to know why school districts don't trim more from the top. Calendars of top schools officials show that they are busy. Full story »
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There’s a Senate vote on school funding tonight. Where’s Arne? � Fred Klonsky's blog

There’s a Senate vote on school funding tonight. Where’s Arne? � Fred Klonsky's blog

There’s a Senate vote on school funding tonight. Where’s Arne?

by preaprez

There’s a Senate vote tonight on a bill that would supply states with $28 billion, including $10 billion for school aid. The school money is intended to help in rehiring laid off teachers and education staff.
If you haven’t called your Senator urging a yes vote yet, to still can and should.
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Remembering Reagan | California Progress Report

Remembering Reagan | California Progress Report

Remembering Reagan

by kaldveer
By Peter Schrag
California Progress Report
Every now and then, the fractious California legislature can still achieve unanimity. It accomplished it again this summer in the name of Ronald Reagan, when both houses passed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed, two bills to honor the late president and former governor.
With some effort, they provide a wonderful opportunity to rescue the man from the mythic fog in which some of his latter-day acolytes have shrouded him.
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Arnold Ignores Kennedy Legacy in Vetoing Farmworker Overtime

by kaldveer
By Randy Shaw
While it’s no longer news that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a fraud (which helps explains poll numbers that are lower than George W. Bush and the pre-recall Gray Davis), his veto this week of an overtime bill for California farmworkers is particularly disgraceful. Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, is the daughter of Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver.
Her mother was Eunice Kennedy Shriver – sister of John, Robert and Ted Kennedy. Schwarzenegger likes to say how influenced he was by his father-in-law, but his record in office exposes that lie. No politician fought harder for farmworker rights than Robert Kennedy, and the Governor’s veto insults the Kennedy legacy.
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Patients Should Be First Priority

by kaldveer
By Anthony Wright
Health Access California
On Jan. 1, 2014, at least two million Californians will become newly eligible for Medi-Cal; but this is not to say that they will magically be enrolled when the ball drops in Times Square. Without carefully laying the proper groundwork, this and other provisions of health reform law won't have their full impact.
How to best make this transition for Medi-Cal, which currently serves more than seven million Californians -- including low-income children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities -- is just one of the key goals through the current negotiations between the state and federal governments over the program's next five years. The stakes are high on these and other issues, all considered as part of discussions around a new Medicaid waiver.
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Insurance Companies Find Way To Invest Benefit Money Even After Policyholders Die

by kaldveer
By JG Preston
Protect Consumer Justice
Here’s how I thought life insurance worked:
1) I buy a life insurance policy.
2) I pay my premiums under the terms of the policy.
3) I die.
4) My beneficiary receives a check for the benefit amount specified in the policy.
Silly me. I forgot the insurance company’s purpose is to make money, even if it means my beneficiary doesn’t receive the benefit right away.
read more
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Renaissance Fund Member Named To Convention Bureau - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Renaissance Fund Member Named To Convention Bureau - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Renaissance Fund Member Named To Convention Bureau

by Alexander Russo

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The Mayor has named another political ally, Bruce Rauner, to a top city spot (Chicago convention bureau chairman named). Rauner heads the Civic Committee's education committee and is on the board of the

AM News: Daley Won't Give TIF Funding Back To CPS

by Alexander Russo

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Mayor Daley rules out several options to close Chicago's record $654 million budget gap Tribune: Aldermen have talked about declaring surpluses in the city's tax increment finance districts... but Daley warned such a move is shortsighted, because the city would also then have to give back $560 million to other taxing districts, such as Chicago Public Schools... Chicago Expected to Face Record Budget Deficit CNC: Mayor Daley's administration is predicting the biggest budget deficit in Chicago's history next year, and aides said today the mayor is mulling all options except a property tax hike to close the expected shortfall of $654.7 million...Chicago Public Schools hosts back-to-school festivals at Chicago parks ABC7: Schools operating on a traditional schedule are back in session on Tuesday, September 7. Students who attend school year-round go back to class Monday, August 9...
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Eduflack: Testing Throwdown in NYC

Eduflack: Testing Throwdown in NYC

Testing Throwdown in NYC

by Eduflack
When are lower student achievement scores a good thing? That seems to be the question thrown about up in New York City this past week, where Big Apple officials have been grappling with the reality that city students' performance on the state's math and reading proficiency tests fell after a newer (and harder) exam was put into place.

As always, it is most fun to read the evolution of such stories in the New York Post, which first reported on theplunge, and then editotrialized on the issue twice -- first on Thursday praising the new "truth-telling" and then again today, condemning the United Federation of Teachers for jumping on the test score drop to "discredit alleducation standards."

It should be no secret that state standards -- and the tests that measure those standards -- have been a problem
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Today’s Edujobs Marching Orders from NEA | Intercepts

Today’s Edujobs Marching Orders from NEA | Intercepts

Today’s Edujobs Marching Orders from NEA

by Mike Antonucci
The following was sent this morning from NEA headquarters in Washington, DC:
Subject: URGENT REQUEST FOR MEMBER MOBILIZATION TODAY
Message from John Stocks
Deputy Executive Director
National Education Association
Senator Harry Reid has filed for a cloture vote on the Reid / Murray amendment to H.R. 1586 scheduled for today @ 5:30pm. This amendment contains the Ed Jobs and Federal Medical
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Lunch ladies going gourmet as food gets new look

Lunch ladies going gourmet as food gets new look

Lunch ladies going gourmet as food gets new look

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 2, 2010
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Barry Gutierrez / AP
A photo taken Monday, July 19, 2010 at the Bruce Randolph School In Denver, shows Chef Daniel Young choosing winner fruit salad tray made by Denver Public School food service personnel during a half day of instruction on how to make healthier options with fresher foods for students. The instruction culminated with a competition and feast of what they had made.
(08-02) 04:50 PDT DENVER (AP) --
They still wear sensible shoes, but the nation's lunch ladies are trading in their hair nets for chef toques as they undergo a gourmet makeover.
With the childhood obesity rates creating demand for healthier foods in schools, more attention is being placed on the culinary skills of those charged with preparing it. What good are fresh local produce and grass-fed beef, for example, if the lunchroom employees know how to make only canned vegetables and frozen fish sticks?
"It's more work to cook from scratch, no doubt," said Dawn Cordova, a longtime school cafeteria worker attending Denver Public Schools' first "scratch


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/02/national/a024008D35.DTL&type=education#ixzz0vS6nOKFr
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