Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Race to the Top Participants - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

State Schools Chief O'Connell and Secretary of
Education Thomas Announce Hundreds of Local Educational
Agencies Intend to Participate in Race to the Top

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and Secretary of Education Glen Thomas today announced that to date, almost 800 local educational agencies (LEAs) have indicated their intent to participate in the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) reforms and support California's RTTT application. Under the Obama Administration's guidelines, in addition to prompting legislative education reforms required for states to compete,Race to the Top calls on LEAs to voluntarily partner with the state through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to implement reforms that improve student outcomes. LEAs that wish to partner with the state's RTTT application were asked to submit letters of intent by December 31, 2009 prior to the January 8, 2010 deadline for submitting their final MOU. California's MOU was developed in accordance with recently released final Obama Administration Race to the Top guidelines.

"The federal Race to the Top competition has spurred tremendous interest among an amazing array of talented educators in California," said O'Connell. "I'm delighted that almost half of our local educational agencies already have stepped up to the challenge and agreed to partner with the state in making the fundamental education reforms called for in the Race to the Top competition. By investing in state and local systems that will accelerate and drive growth in student achievement, the Race to the Top will help California develop a highly skilled workforce, fuel future innovations, and maintain California's standing as a leading world economy."

"Representing more than 3,796,709 students, school districts that have submitted letters of intent demonstrate the collaborative effort it takes to strengthen California's Race to the Top application. However, the California legislature must still pass comprehensive legislation to ensure that California is highly competitive for this much-needed funding," said Thomas. "The leadership shown by these school district superintendents, board members, and stakeholders is truly commendable. The administration looks forward to receiving their final MOUs."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $4.35 billion nationally for RTTT. California may be eligible for up to $700 million. The competitive grant program is designed to encourage and reward states and LEAs that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform with a specific focus in four core areas:

Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
Recruiting, developing, retaining, and rewarding effective teachers and principals;
Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
Turning around the lowest-performing schools.

LEAs are invited to participate in California's RTTT application by signing an MOU that establishes a framework of collaboration and articulates specific roles and responsibilities for the LEA and the state in the implementation of an approved RTTT grant. The number of local educational agencies that have indicated their intent to sign the RTTT MOU represent nearly half of the school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools throughout the state. LEAs that want to be part of California's RTTT application have been asked to submit their signed MOU by January 8, 2010 in order for the state to prepare its application to the U.S. Department of Education for RTTT funds that is due by January 19, 2010.

For a complete list of local educational agencies that have submitted their intent to participate, please visit Race to the Top (Outside Source). For a sample of the Memorandum of Understanding, please visit Memo of Understanding Letter - Letters.

Pittsburgh Promise program offering FAFSA, tax help

Pittsburgh Promise program offering FAFSA, tax help:

"The Pittsburgh Promise last night announced a new benefit to families of some high school students -- free tax preparation and help filling out the federal financial aid application.

The services will be offered to about 3,700 families that have incomes of about $52,000 or less and that have children in their junior or senior years in Pittsburgh Public Schools or city charter schools.

Saleem Ghubril, Promise executive director, outlined the services for the city school board Education Committee last night.

Mr. Ghubril said the services will cost about $30,000 and expand two existing programs -- free tax preparation offered to low- and moderate-income residents through United Way of Allegheny County and financial aid expertise offered by NEED, a Downtown nonprofit group.

He said parents of juniors and seniors will be sent postcards providing additional details. Services will be offered at four workshops citywide; the workshops begin next month."

Teachers' union sues Ed Dept. - NYPOST.com

Teachers' union sues Ed Dept. - NYPOST.com:

Teachers sue city

Rip 'misuse' of $760M meant to slash class size

By YOAV GONEN Education Reporter

Last Updated: 5:54 AM, January 6, 2010

Posted: 4:09 AM, January 6, 2010

The city teachers union filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education yesterday, charging officials with misappropriating $760 million in state funds that were earmarked for class-size reduction over the past three school years.

The filing in Bronx Supreme Court says the city DOE's failure to ensure that principals were using the massive funding infusion as promised -- under a so-called "Contracts for Excellence" agreement with the state -- has sent class sizes soaring at an unprecedented rate.

"As far as we're concerned, this is deliberate, and one of the clearest examples of mismanagement we have ever seen in the history of this city," said United Federation of TeachersPresident Michael Mulgrew. "[Class size at] every grade level has gone up. Why are people not being held accountable for this?"

DOE officials said state and city budget cuts over the past two school years have impeded their efforts to reduce class size.

"The charges are without merit," said DOE spokesman David Cantor.

In a September 2008 monitoring report, state education officials said that the city had made some progress toward meeting its class-size targets in 2007-08 but that improvements were needed in the second year of the program.

They didn't release a similar monitoring report in 2009, and declined comment yesterday on the lawsuit.

According to city data, class sizes had been steadily dropping in most grades between kindergarten and eighth grade since at least 2004 before suddenly shooting up considerably over the past two school years.

For example, kindergarten classes went from an average of 20.6 kids in 2007-08 to 21.7 kids this year -- the highest level since 1999-2000, preliminary data shows.

Similarly, fourth-grade class sizes climbed from an average of 23.5 kids in 2007-08 to 24.4 students this year.

Senators hear debate on MPS’ future - JSOnline

Senators hear debate on MPS’ future - JSOnline:

"Dozens of speakers passionately disagreed about how to fix Milwaukee Public Schools during a daylong state Senate hearing Tuesday, with the only consensus being that a solution is unlikely to come soon in Madison.

Several hundred people packed the auditorium at MPS' central office to testify before the Senate Education Committee on a bill that would give the city's mayor more power over Milwaukee Public Schools and a separate measure that would allow the state's school superintendent to more easily intervene in failing schools in Wisconsin.

Like the Milwaukee legislators who have split over the mayoral-control legislation, members of the public at the hearing were fairly evenly divided about whether allowing the mayor, rather than the School Board, to appoint MPS' superintendent was necessary to improve academic performance in the school system or a step backward for democratic representation.

'How in the world does excluding parents from selecting their school leadership encourage them to participate in the education of their children?' Milwaukee resident Mike Rosen said."

LAUSD agrees to state mandate - LA Daily News

LAUSD agrees to state mandate - LA Daily News:

"The Los Angeles Unified school board agreed in principle Tuesday to accept new state accountability standards for teachers, principals and schools, potentially making the district eligible for millions of federal dollars.

At least 800 other school districts statewide have also agreed to implement new reforms in exchange for a shot at the $4.35 billion available in competitive federal 'Race to the Top' grants. Those reforms could include using test data to evaluate teachers and pushing for the shutdown of low-performing schools - policies long opposed by teacher unions.

The board's approval came as the state Legislature also voted on two bills to change state law to allow some of the controversial reforms required by the Obama administration to qualify for the grants.

'What I am asking you to do today is to approve a placeholder for LAUSD so that if the state gets Race to the Top dollars, we are there to receive them,' said LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines."

$250 million initiative for science, math teachers planned - washingtonpost.com

$250 million initiative for science, math teachers planned - washingtonpost.com

President Obama will announce a $250 million public-private effort Wednesday to improve science and mathematics instruction, aiming to help the nation compete in key fields with global economic rivals.

With funding from high-tech businesses, universities and foundations, the initiative seeks to prepare more than 10,000 new math and science schoolteachers over five years and provide on-the-job training for an additional 100,000 Fin science, technology, engineering and math.
It effectively doubles, to more than $500 million, a philanthropic campaign for STEM education that Obama launched in November. Separately, the government spends about $700 million a year on elementary and secondary education in the STEM fields through agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Education Department. But it's unclear how much federal spending can grow in a time of rising budget deficits.

"There is a recognition we can't do everything," said John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "We really need all hands on deck from the private sector and the philanthropic sector because the government can't foot the whole bill for this."

Education officials blamed in missing charter proposal papers - The Boston Globe

Education officials blamed in missing charter proposal papers - The Boston Globe:

"State education officials have either destroyed or refused to turn over key documents related to the evaluation of a controversial charter school proposal in Gloucester, in violation of the state public records law, according to a report released yesterday by the state inspector general’s office."

The report provides further ammunition to critics who have questioned the legitimacy of the review process and could complicate an already politically charged charter school debate scheduled to begin on Beacon Hill today as part of a sweeping education bill.

At least two members of the panel that reviewed the charter proposal said they may have shredded their evaluation notes, according to the report from Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan. The department also hampered the investigation by refusing to comply with the office’s repeated requests for a 29-page evaluation of the charter proposal, the report said.

The findings last night prompted Governor Deval Patrick, who has long had concerns about the Gloucester approval process, and Education Secretary Paul Reville to support a legislative amendment that would nullify the charter. A Gloucester state repre sentative has proposed the highly unusual action, which would circumvent the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, as part of the education bill under consideration today.

County schools put complex grading system on hold amid teacher backlash - baltimoresun.com

County schools put complex grading system on hold amid teacher backlash - baltimoresun.com:

"Baltimore County schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston backed away Tuesday from a directive requiring teachers to start immediate use of a complex online grading system after intense criticism from teachers who say the program is cumbersome, time-consuming and redundant.

Hairston's pronouncement marks a setback for an initiative developed and copyrighted by one of his top administrators who hopes to spread it across the state and beyond.

Blaming 'miscommunication and misinformation' from educators who raised concerns about the Articulated Instruction Module - or AIM - Hairston said he would work to streamline the program and limit the number of teachers who have to use it.

The system as now constructed would require every teacher to judge each student's performance in 100 different skills."

Ohio.com - Math requirements getting harder for Ohio students

Ohio.com - Math requirements getting harder for Ohio students:

"CINCINNATI: Ohio high school students entering their freshman year this fall will face tougher math requirements as part of a growing effort by Ohio and other states to better prepare students for college and careers in the global economy.

Ohio will require the incoming freshmen to complete four units of math for graduation, compared to the three now required. Another new requirement for graduation is that one of those four units must be Algebra II.

''With Algebra II, students will get a stronger background in math going into college, and career-wise — with technology growing at such a fast pace — there is a demand for students to know more math,'' Scott Blake, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, said Monday."

No consensus on prevention at South Phila. High meeting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2010

No consensus on prevention at South Phila. High meeting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/06/2010:

"No one disputes that 30 Asian students were victims of racial violence last month at South Philadelphia High School.

Yesterday, however, there was little agreement on the reasons behind the problem, who or what was to blame, or how to prevent it from happening again.

As part of an investigation begun last week, the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations called a private meeting with representatives of the Asian community to get their take on the trouble.

Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman had not been invited. But on Monday, she contacted Commission Chairman Stephen A. Glassman and asked to be heard.

So for four hours yesterday, Ackerman and the Asian advocates presented widely divergent analyses of the Dec. 3 attacks, in which Asian students were beaten by large groups of primarily African American students."

Student volunteers prove pivotal to Sacramento-area nonprofits - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Student volunteers prove pivotal to Sacramento-area nonprofits - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:

"When the region's school leaders began requiring students to perform community service about 10 years ago, they were largely motivated by what the experience could give to teenagers: character, civic engagement, a sense of purpose.

A major side effect, it turns out, is what the requirement has given to local nonprofits.

'It's a whole volunteer force, or work force, that wasn't there before,' said Christine Wallace, community resource coordinator at the Volunteer Center of Sacramento."

Mass. college bans head coverings that block face - USATODAY.com

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts pharmacy college instituted a ban on clothing that obscures the face, including face veils and burqas, weeks after a Muslim alumnus who is also the son of a professor was charged with plotting terror strikes.

The policy change at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services, announced in a campus-wide e-mail last month, went into effect Friday.

Michael Ratty, a college spokesman, said the policy was developed in the fall during the school's annual review of its public safety procedures and was unrelated to the arrest of 2008 graduate Tarek Mehanna.

"It is not directed to any group or individual. It applies to all students and faculty," Ratty said.

Ratty said the school believed everyone entering the small Boston campus should be able to be properly identified. He said the college discussed the policy with Muslim students and officials at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, and all understood the need for the change.

The policy bans only those head coverings that entirely conceal the face, which could also apply to winter clothing such as scarves or ski masks, Ratty said. The college has about 4,300 students, including 3,300 at its Boston campus. The school remains closed for winter break this week.

Jonathan Kassa, executive director of Security on Campus, a nonprofit that advocates for safer college campuses, said his group had not heard of similar policies at any other U.S. college.

EducationNews.org - A Leading Global News Source - More taxes for Michigan public education is like a Ponzi scheme

Our system of funding public schools is broken.

Yet, the race that is on to extract more tax dollars from those who have yet to lose their homes and jobs to protect the status quo borders on a Ponzi scheme. There is a clear attempt to use our children as pawns to generate additional tax support for fraudulent investments in a broken system that protects what was vs. what needs to be.

Our system of funding public education is dysfunctional and need of a systematic overhaul. The governor and legislature know this and have avoided the advice of studies and recommendations from distinguished organizations to address the structural funding crisis facing our schools, including: The Center For Michigan (http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/), Business Leaders for Michigan (formerly Detroit Renaissance) (www.businessleadersformichigan.com), Citizens Research Council (www.crcmich.org), Mackinac Center (www.mackinac.org). In addition, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed a bipartisan Emergency Financial Advisory Panel, co-chaired by former governors William Milliken and James Blanchard and stacked with knowledgeable Lansing insiders, that offered recommendations on how best to avoid ongoing budget crises like Michigan is experiencing now. The governor never acted on her panel's recommendations.

Avoiding these reports and asking for new taxes is perpetuating an intentional deception on the public. Like a giant Ponzi scheme, as long as there is new money coming into the system, the scam can continue. It is when we stop feeding the status quo with new tax dollars that the system, like a Ponzi scheme, seizes up.

Asking for new taxes without reform is a fraudulent investment in a system that will not make us competitive in the global economy. Without serious reform of the system, it is like pouring new money into a glass with a hole in the bottom and wondering why it can never be filled.

Albany 'talking' to charters, but still wary -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Albany 'talking' to charters, but still wary -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:

"ALBANY -- Albany school leaders are considering an expansion of the district's extended day and academic programs to better compete with the city's ever-increasing number of charter schools.

District officials have also extended an olive branch to the city's biggest charter school organizer, a move that would have been unprecedented just 12 months ago.
The Albany district's newly formed Charter Schools Committee quietly met last month with leaders of the Brighter Choice charter school network, which has provided assistance to 11 of the 12 charter schools that will be operating in Albany by next fall. The two sides in a decade-long bitter war for students in Albany discussed enrollment issues and agreed to share data, student information and effective teaching practices.

'We both serve the same kids and we should be talking,' said Chris Bender, executive director of the Brighter Choice Foundation."

Gov. Granholm signs education reform bills | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Package aimed at helping state qualify for federal aid for schools

Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing -- Michigan has two weeks to finalize its application for about $400 million in federal "Race to the Top" cash, following Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signing of education reform bills Monday aimed at qualifying for the aid.

The five-bill package will raise the state's dropout age to 18, tie teacher pay and job security to student achievement and open about 30 new charter schools.

"The reason this is so significant is now everything will be focused on: 'Is this child learning?' " Granholm said. "It's all about academic progress."

State schools Superintendent Michael Flanagan added: "This is a game changer forever."

Granholm also said there should be clear authority for emergency financial managers, such as Robert Bobb in the Detroit Public Schools, to also be emergency academic managers, which would allow those leaders to take over entire districts.

Deadline for the state Department of Education to complete application for the federal aid is Jan. 19. But Flanagan said it's his sense that only a couple of states will be awarded grants in the first round and the others will be given feedback and asked to reapply in April.

"If Michigan is one of the first two or three, that would be great," he said. "But there are 50 states. You do the math."

Local districts are expected to send letters of support by the end of this week, Flanagan said. But union leaders argued in a statement Monday it doesn't make sense to sign off on an application

Charters & special ed: the truth: Don't believe the UFT's distorted claims

Charters & special ed: the truth: Don't believe the UFT's distorted claims:

"In a new report, the United Federation of Teachers has committed to a fresh line of attack against charter schools: Charters aren't enrolling enough special education students. The teachers union doesn't want the state Legislature to lift its cap on the number of charter schools until - among a whole raft of other 'reforms' - they enroll their fair share of disabled kids.

It's true that a lower proportion of charter school students are in special education relative to the surrounding public schools. However, the reasons for the special education gap are nuanced and are not primarily driven by the charters' bad behavior. In fact, the lower percentages of special education students in charters may actually be a sign of what they're doing right."

Williams backs more charter schools : City & Region : The Buffalo News

At the request of Superintendent James A. Williams, the Buffalo Board of Education last month urged the state to impose a moratorium on new charter schools in and around Buffalo.

But Williams is now about to endorse a state grant application that calls for a major expansion of charter schools in New York State.

The reason for the turnaround is money — big money.

The state seeks as much as $700 million from the federal Race to the Top grants, which will be awarded to states later this year on a competitive basis.

Buffalo figures to get a sizable portion of any money New York lands but will be eligible for the money only if Williams signs off on a set of reforms the state Education Department proposed.

Based on federal guidelines stressing innovation and reform, the state loaded up that application with initiatives to increase the number and scope of charter schools.

That left Williams with two choices: stand firm on his effort to halt the growth of charter schools or put Buffalo in the running for millions of federal dollars.

He chose the latter. “Sometimes as superintendent you have to take the middle of the road,” Williams said Tuesday. “If it means an additional $500,000 at five or six of our schools, selfishness should not be the driving force. You have to do what’s best for the children.”

As a result, Williams said he will tell a Board of Education committee this evening that he will sign the state memorandum, even though it would broaden the role of charter schools. The document urges the State Legislature to:

• Raise the statewide cap on charter schoo

Duncan promotes simpler college financial aid application - washingtonpost.com

Duncan promotes simpler college financial aid application - washingtonpost.com:

"Torrin King, a college-bound senior, was racing through an online student aid questionnaire Tuesday morning in the counseling center at Banneker Senior High School. He clicked through one Web page after another, demonstrating the streamlined federal application as Education Secretary Arne Duncan watched over his shoulder."

"It's pretty easy to do," the 17-year-old student from Southeast Washington said. "You don't have to be a specialist. It's user-friendly." Torrin, who is applying to Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said his older sister had painful memories of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
"When she did it years ago, she said it was a hassle," he said.
This month, the government is rolling out a shorter, simpler aid application to reduce barriers to higher education, especially for needy students. About 20 million students file the FAFSA, as it is known, each year.
Duncan and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, promoted the revised

City Schools Ignore Law to Cut Class Sizes, Lawsuit Says - NYTimes.com

City Schools Ignore Law to Cut Class Sizes, Lawsuit Says - NYTimes.com:

"Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce class sizes, the city’s Department of Education has ignored state law and allowed classrooms to grow in the last couple of years, the city teachers’ union and other groups said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The dispute stems from a lengthy legal battle that ended in 2006, when the state’s highest court ruled that the state was failing to ensure that New York City and other high-needs districts were providing all children with the opportunity for a sound basic education. The ruling led the state to send the city about $1.5 billion in the last three years, about $750 million of which was earmarked for class-size reductions.

But despite the new money, and a decline in student enrollment citywide, class sizes have increased, according to the lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in the Bronx."

School renewal won't end :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

School renewal won't end :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

Renaissance 2010 and its push to create 100 new schools by this year, many of them from rejuvenated failing ones, won't end in 2010, Mayor Daley vowed Tuesday.

"We'll always continue," Daley told a group of educators and reporters at a news conference. "I hope there's a chapter two [of Renaissance 2010], a chapter three, a chapter four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10."

Chicago Public Schools are expected to soundly meet Daley's challenge, announced in June 2004 before a host of civic leaders, to create 100 new schools, in part by closing at least 70 troubled ones.

So far, Renaissance 2010 has given birth to 94 new schools -- many in high-poverty communities. Seven more are expected by fall, CPS officials say. Many were placed in dozens of schools closed for failing test scores or low enrollment.

Although bits and pieces of the initiative have been studied, no thorough analysis of all Renaissance 2010 schools has been released. Meanwhile, the effort has drawn both praise and protests.

Chicago Teachers Union officials and some parents have complained about children being shuffled from school to school, teachers being displaced, and spikes in violence at schools forced to absorb kids from closed schools. Some call the initiative an attempt to "privatize" the system with outside operators and "gentrify" struggling neighborhoods.

But many business leaders, nonprofit foundations and parents at some rejuvenated schools embrace the innovation and passion the effort has reaped. Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman calls it a

Calif. Assemblymember Nava Introduces Oil Industry Fair Share Act : Wed, 06 Jan 2010 : California Newswire™

SACRAMENTO /California Newswire/ — On the eve of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s State of the State Address, and the release of his 2010-11 Budget Proposal, Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) introduced today The Oil Industry Fair Share Act. The legislation will establish an oil severance tax of 10% on the gross value of each barrel of crude oil pumped by companies in California. This tax will provide more than $1.5 billion in revenue to the General Fund annually. These desperately needed dollars could be used for public safety, education, health programs for children, human services, and other vital programs.

“California oil companies are getting a free ride. Right now, California is the only major oil producing state that does not charge a severance tax on oil extraction. It is time for California to catch up with Alaska, Texas, Alabama, and Arkansas. We need to collect the people’s share of this revenue source by forcing Big Oil to pay its fair share,” said Nava.

The Governor is advocating for a proposal to allow a single oil company to bypass existing environmental review processes and begin the first new drilling in Santa Barbara in California Coastal Sanctuary waters in more than 40 years, since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. This will raise less than $100 million annually.

Said Nava,”The Governor is placing at risk coastal recreation and tourism industries by advocating for new offshore oil drilling

in the Coastal Sanctuary. This is just plain wrong and wrong headed. New drilling is not the answer and is not worth the risk. My proposal will generate more than 15 times the Governor’s proposal annually without any new drilling or jeopardizing California’s coastal environment and economy.”

Nava’s Oil Industry Fair Share Act has received broad su

Dan Walters: 'Race to the Top' a brief skirmish in state's long education war - Opinion - SanLuisObispo.com

Dan Walters: 'Race to the Top' a brief skirmish in state's long education war - Opinion - SanLuisObispo.com:

"Two dynastic families jousted bloodily for 30 years during the 15th century for control of the English throne, a struggle that historians call the War of the Roses.

California's version is the three-decade-long (and counting) struggle between rival factions over public education, the state's most expensive and arguably most important program.

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, shifted financial responsibility for schools to the state while a wave of immigration and massive changes in the economy immensely complicated what occurred in the classroom. As educational achievement – indicated by such measures as academic test scores and high school dropout rates – declined, political war erupted over whether more money or structural reform was the antidote."

Schwarzenegger enters final year plagued by overwhelming budget problems, low approval - latimes.com

Schwarzenegger enters final year plagued by overwhelming budget problems, low approval - latimes.com:

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday will seek to put a fresh spin on a host of familiar money problems facing California as he delivers his final State of the State address.

After six full years in office and numerous failed efforts at budgetary reform, the Republican governor is confronting the reality that he has largely failed to achieve the fiscal reforms he promised when he took office in 2003. His chances of securing them are waning.

His final year in office is likely to be overshadowed by the economic misfortune that has plagued the state in recent years and sent tax revenue plunging."

"There is something very wrong with our budget, with our tax system. There is also something very wrong with our budget system, since we don't have a rainy day fund to cover some of these downturns and so on," he told reporters during an education event in Sacramento. "So I've been talking about that since I came into office and I will continue talking and fighting for those kind of issues."

Still, he lamented entering his final year, asking reporters to let him "live in denial" about his shrinking window of opportunity to achieve long-lasting fiscal reforms.

But the ever-optimistic governor indicated Tuesday that he will continue pushing an aggressive agenda in 2010 that will include plans for tax, political and pension reforms.

Study Turns up 10 Autism Clusters in California - ABC News

Study Turns up 10 Autism Clusters in California - ABC News:

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have identified 10 locations in California that have double the rates of autism found in surrounding areas, and these clusters were located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of white, highly educated parents.

Researchers at the University of California Davis had hoped to uncover pockets of autism that might reveal clues about triggers in the environment that could explain rising rates of autism, which affects as many as one in 110 U.S. children.

But the findings likely say more about the U.S. healthcare system than the causes of autism, said researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto of UC Davis' MIND Institute, whose study will be released online Wednesday in the journal Autism Research.

Advocacy groups have been clamoring for treatment options and for better research to show what might be causing an apparent increase in autism cases.

Hertz-Picciotto and colleagues used a research technique that has been effective at identifying cancer clusters."

Assembly rushes to pass Race to the Top reforms - San Jose Mercury News

Legislators on Tuesday passed two education reform bills, including a cutting edge proposal that allows parents at failing schools to force wholesale changes. But overall, the trumpeted bills could fall short of their key goal: making the state competitive toward billions in federal education dollars known as Race to the Top.

Lawmakers are scrambling to reform the state's education code in the face of a Jan. 19 application deadline for a share of the $4.35 billion stimulus pot. The state Assembly passed SBX5-1 and SBX5-4 to help qualify California for the funds after daylong hearings and debates Tuesday. The bills will go back to the Senate today and, if approved, then to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

"These and other reforms clearly set the stage for the governor to submit a competitive application for California to bring home a coveted Race to the Top grant," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said in a statement.

Many of the proposed changes — including updating data collection and standards — would help California meet the basic eligibility requirements for the grants. But a few states that have adopted more aggressive reforms are better positioned to win the funding, experts warn.

"Unless we are willing to step out in front, we're going to be left behind," said Linda Murray, former superintendent of San Jose Unified and now superintendent-in-residence Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based reform advocacy group.

Even

the state education leaders seemed to acknowledge the challenges. "We're happy it appears we're going to have legislation that at least minimally qualifies us" for the funds, said Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for state Superintendent Jack O'Connell.

California appears to be staking its application on an unorthodox reform measure: a so-called "parent trigger" that would let parents at failing schools demand changes in staff, leadership and operation, even inviting a charter to take over from a local school district.

Schwarzenegger 'in denial': News24: World: News

Schwarzenegger 'in denial': News24: World: News:

"California - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday will seek to put a fresh spin on a host of familiar money problems facing California as he delivers his final State of the State address.

After six full years in office and numerous failed efforts at budgetary reform, the Republican governor is confronting the reality that he has largely failed to achieve the fiscal reforms he promised when he took office in 2003. His chances of securing them are waning."

His final year in office is likely to be overshadowed by the economic misfortune that has plagued the state in recent years and sent tax revenue plunging.

"There is something very wrong with our budget, with our tax system. There is also something very wrong with our budget system, since we don't have a rainy day fund to cover some of these downturns and so on," he told reporters during an education event in Sacramento. "So I've been talking about that since I came into office and I will continue talking and fighting for those kind of issues."

Still, he lamented entering his final year, asking reporters to let him "live in denial" about his shrinking window of opportunity to achieve long-lasting fiscal reforms.

Aggressive agenda

But the ever-optimistic governor indicated

Assembly OKs bills to change California schools - latimes.com

Assembly OKs bills to change California schools - latimes.com:

"Parents would be given more power to transfer children out of poorly performing campuses and petition for changes, including removal of the principal. Teachers unions oppose the provisions."

Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento - Despite strong objections from teachers unions, the state Assembly on Tuesday night approved changes to California schools that would give parents more power to transfer their children from badly performing campuses and petition for fixes that could include removing principals.

The changes are intended to help California win a share of $4.3 billion in new federal funds that will be available through the Race to the Top program. The Obama administration is using the promise of that money to push states into adopting education reforms the president and his aides favor.

The legislation will signal to President Obama "that California is ready to experiment with promising reforms," said UC Berkeley education professor Bruce Fuller, although he added that the legislation does not go far enough.

The measures target for improvement the lowest-performing schools in the state, as judged through student performance on standardized tests. They would give parents more say in how their schools are run.

The bills would require districts to take aggressive steps to turn around failing campuses. Those steps could include firing the principal and the staff; reopening the school as a charter; or closing the school and moving students to higher-performing campuses.

Students in the 1,000 lowest-performing schools in the state could transfer to better schools, even across district lines. The legislation would also allow districts to link teacher evaluations to student performance, if local collective bargaining agreements concurred. The L.A. teachers union has opposed such links.

And in 75 failing schools, districts would be required to revamp campuses in response to parent petitions. Currently, most districts are not required to act on parent complaints.

Assembly Passes Reforms in Race to the Top | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News

Assembly Passes Reforms in Race to the Top | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News:

"SACRAMENTO, CA - The state Assembly passed new education mandates in order to compete for some $700 million in federal funds.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said in a statement Monday, 'the Assembly passed legislation to provide California schools with key reforms and strengthen the state's application for federal education funding under President Obama's Race to the Top initiative. '

Senate Bill X5 1 deals with teacher credentialing, measuring student academic performance and fixing low-performing schools.

Senate Bill X5 4 also deals with reform of low-performing schools, as well as inter-district transfers and funding.

Sen. Gloria Romero, D- East Los Angeles, is the author of both measures."

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

School Accountability -- A Broader, Bolder Approach | Reports | A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education | BoldApproach.org

Reports

June 25, 2009

School Accountability — A Broader, Bolder Approach

Report of the Accountability Committee of the Broader Bolder Approach to Education Campaign

The Accountability Committee of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign has released its report with recommendations for the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, known temporarily during the Bush Administration as the "No Child Left Behind Act," or NCLB).

This new BBA report recommends that ESEA expand the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test given to a representative sample of the nation's students, to cover a broad range of subjects — not only math and reading — to counteract the narrowing of the curriculum spurred in recent years by NCLB. And the report further recommends that ESEA permit states flexibility in designing their accountability systems, provided these systems include qualitative evaluation of school quality and do not rely primarily on standardized test scores to judge the success of schools.

Read the full report

Read press release

See video of committee members describing BBA accountability principles

See videos of candidate and President Obama expressing agreement with BBA accountability principles

See July 2009 follow-up memorandum to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, describing how American Reinvestment and Recovery Funds (stimulus money) could be used to support states in their development of qualitative evaluation systems (inspectorates) for schools and districts.

See June 2009 follow-up memorandum to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, proposing a gradual implementation of the BBA Accountability Statement's recommendation to expand the sampling and coverage of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

See September 2009 follow-up report on estimating the cost of an accountability system that employed inspectors to make qualitative judgmentsand did not rely exclusively on test scores to judge schools. (Seeaccompanying spreadsheet.)

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