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Latest News and Comment from Education
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The Charter Money Trail - Following public dollars through a traditional school district is, by comparison, straightforward. District budgets are public record. Board meetings are o...5 hours ago
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LITTLE HANDS, BIG STAKES: CHILD LABOR, IMMIGRATION, AND THE IRONY OF LABOR DAY 2026 - A unflinching look at who’s really doing America’s dirty work — and how young they are8 hours ago
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LITTLE HANDS, BIG STAKES: CHILD LABOR, IMMIGRATION, AND THE IRONY OF LABOR DAY 2026 - LITTLE HANDS, BIG STAKES: CHILD LABOR, IMMIGRATION, AND THE IRONY OF LABOR DAY 2026 *A unflinching look at who's really doing America's dirty work — and...8 hours ago
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The Tigers broke new ground pledging $4 million to a 12-year-old - Because this story is going to be misunderstood by 95 percent of people that read it, let’s get the basics out of the way: the Detroit Tigers reached a ...10 hours ago
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Waldorf Curriculum - Overview of the Waldorf Method
Waldorf Curriculum - Overview of the Waldorf Method
Schools Matter: Bloomberg and Klein's Penal Pedagogy Model
Bloomberg and Klein's Penal Pedagogy Model
Bob Herbert in the NYTimes:
If you don’t think the police in New York City need to be reined in, consider the way the cops and their agents are treating youngsters in the city’s schools.In March 2009, a girl and a boy in the sixth grade at the Hunts Point School in the Bronx were fooling around and each drew a line on the other’s desk with an erasable marker. The teacher told them to erase the lines, and the kids went to get tissues. This blew up into a major offense when school safety officers became involved.The safety officers, who have been accused in many instances of mistreating children, are peace officers assigned to the schools. They wear uniforms, work for the New York Police Department and have the power to detain, search, handcuff and arrest students. They do not carry guns.In this case, the officers seized the two pupils and handcuffed them. Before long, an armed police officer showed up to question the youngsters. The girl asked for her mother and began to cry. Tears were no defense in the minds of the brave New York City law enforcers surrounding this errant child. They were determined to keep the city safe from sixth graders armed with Magic Markers.The children were transported in handcuffs to the local precinct.
Duncan News: It's Not How Much You Know But Who You Know, and a Visit to Robt. E. Lee High
America's chief reform schooler this week plans a visit to a high school in Alabama that has a history of opposing the national holiday honoring Dr. King:
The Associated PressAnd Duncan tells Gotham Schools that, in the end, it is not what you know that will get you part of the $4.35 billion but, rather, who you know--or more specifically, who knows you:
Saturday, March 6, 2010; 9:48 PMMONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama's Legislative Black Caucus on Saturday called on U.S. Education SecretaryArne Duncan to cancel a planned appearance at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery.State Rep. Alvin Holmes said the school and its principal publicly opposed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma-Montgomery march in 1965. Holmes said it was "insulting" to King and civil rights protesters that PresidentBarack Obama's top education aide was scheduled to appear at the school Monday.. . .
School’s Shake-Up Is Embraced by the President - NYTimes.com
School’s Shake-Up Is Embraced by the President - NYTimes.com
A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a poorly performing school, and President Obama’s endorsement of the action, has stirred a storm of reaction nationwide, with teachers condemning it as an insult and conservatives hailing it as a watershed moment of school accountability.
Scholastic Magazine
Anthony J. Mullen, the national teacher of the year, said school accountability was important, but he suggested that it needed to be the right kind.
Related
The decision by school authorities inCentral Falls to fire the 93 teachers and staff members has assumed special significance because hundreds of other school districts across the nation could face similarly hard choices in coming weeks, as a $3.5 billion federal school turnaround program kicks into gear.
While there is fierce disagreement over whether the firings were good or bad, there is widespread agreement that the decision would have lasting ripples on the nation’s education debate — especially because Mr. Obama seized on the move to show his eagerness to take bold action to improve failing schools filled with poor students.
“This is the first example of tough love under the Obama regime, and that’s what makes it significant,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, an educational research and advocacy organization.
“I think it’s going to give some cover to other school boards and school superintendents around the country that want to do something similar,” Mr. Petrilli said. “They can say the president of the United States, Barack Obama, someone the teachers voted for, supports us here to take some radical actions to shake up our schools.”
In Boston on Thursday, another city moving to carry out the administration’s school-turnaround policy, officials announced that staff members at six underperforming schools
EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source
R.I. School Shake-Up Is Embraced by the President
3.7.10 - Anthony J. Mullen, the national teacher of the year, said school accountability was important, but he
10 Dallas ISD high schools fail to make the grade time and again
3.7.10 - Where is the black outrage? Is it only all about job entitlement and not teaching children.......
Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution
3.7.10 - AP - Home-school mom Susan Mule wishes she hadn't taken a friend's advice and tried a textbook from a popular
Julai Steiny: Fun career software is 'Way to go'3.7.10 - Today we meet the team of trainers implementing WaytogoRI's career-exploration software at Westerly Middle School. Anthony, Kyle, Taylor, Justin, Jana and other eighth graders join me in a...
In Harlem, Epicenter for Charter Schools, a Senator Wars Against Them
When hundreds of parents went to Albany last month to rally for charter schools, they were greeted by a...
more articles....
Furlough proposal concerns teachers | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger
Furlough proposal concerns teachers | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger:
"School officials say furloughing teachers could help districts save money without cutting jobs.
But for teachers in a state that ranks near the bottom in pay, the proposal is disconcerting.
Richland teacher Bonnie Crapps called it a 'slippery slope.'
'Once you start furloughing, there's no telling where it will go,' Crapps said. 'This is people's livelihood. Some of these teachers have been teaching a long time.
'This is our career. Whether people believe it or not, a lot of money is tied up in our education.'
The state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow schools to furlough teachers up to five days over three years, including this fiscal year.
Teachers would be furloughed on days designated for training.
The bill moves back to the House, where it faces an uncertain fate. The House rejected a previous furlough proposal, but House Education Committee Chairman Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, says something has to give."
But for teachers in a state that ranks near the bottom in pay, the proposal is disconcerting.
Richland teacher Bonnie Crapps called it a 'slippery slope.'
'Once you start furloughing, there's no telling where it will go,' Crapps said. 'This is people's livelihood. Some of these teachers have been teaching a long time.
'This is our career. Whether people believe it or not, a lot of money is tied up in our education.'
The state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow schools to furlough teachers up to five days over three years, including this fiscal year.
Teachers would be furloughed on days designated for training.
The bill moves back to the House, where it faces an uncertain fate. The House rejected a previous furlough proposal, but House Education Committee Chairman Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, says something has to give."
Inspections Find More Than 25% Of School Buses In Connecticut Unfit To Use - Courant.com
Inspections Find More Than 25% Of School Buses In Connecticut Unfit To Use - Courant.com
When a state inspector spotted a full-size school bus on the road with no brake lights, he ordered the Specialty Transportation Inc. vehicle back to the company's yard for a full examination.
Inside the gates, bus drivers were eager to see him.
"While in yard, several drivers approached me and advised that the company was not fixing defects," Sgt. Garfield Green wrote in his notes of the April 2008 inspection, in which he found 16 violations. "After inspecting the bus that I stopped, I can see where the concern may be valid."
A Courant analysis of nearly 30,000 school bus inspections in Connecticut magnifies that concern. Among larger school bus operators, Specialty had by far the worst maintenance record in the state in 2009, with inspectors declaring its buses unfit to carry students nearly seven out of 10 times. Specialty's buses on average had five times as many serious violations as buses statewide, and nearly 75 percent more on average than the large bus company with the second-worst record, Autumn Transportation, whose buses were taken off the road in six out of 10 inspections in 2009.
>> Click here to search inspections and violations for school buses in Connecticut.
When a state inspector spotted a full-size school bus on the road with no brake lights, he ordered the Specialty Transportation Inc. vehicle back to the company's yard for a full examination.
Inside the gates, bus drivers were eager to see him.
"While in yard, several drivers approached me and advised that the company was not fixing defects," Sgt. Garfield Green wrote in his notes of the April 2008 inspection, in which he found 16 violations. "After inspecting the bus that I stopped, I can see where the concern may be valid."
A Courant analysis of nearly 30,000 school bus inspections in Connecticut magnifies that concern. Among larger school bus operators, Specialty had by far the worst maintenance record in the state in 2009, with inspectors declaring its buses unfit to carry students nearly seven out of 10 times. Specialty's buses on average had five times as many serious violations as buses statewide, and nearly 75 percent more on average than the large bus company with the second-worst record, Autumn Transportation, whose buses were taken off the road in six out of 10 inspections in 2009.
>> Click here to search inspections and violations for school buses in Connecticut.
The Associated Press: US ed secretary's visit to Ala. school draws ire
The Associated Press: US ed secretary's visit to Ala. school draws ire
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama's Legislative Black Caucus on Saturday called on U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to cancel a planned appearance at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery.
State Rep. Alvin Holmes said the school and its principal publicly opposed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma-Montgomery march in 1965. Holmes said it was "insulting" to King and civil rights protesters that President Barack Obama's top education aide was scheduled to appear at the school Monday.
"If he doesn't cancel, we're going to picket," Holmes told The Associated Press.
Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman for Duncan, said the agency was not aware of the caucus' request and had no immediate comment.
Duncan is scheduled to meet with teachers and students at the school and march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 45th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the violent clash between civil rights protesters and state troopers in Selma.
About 200 people marched to the Alabama Capitol on Saturday, in part to commemorate the anniversary. The marchers, joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, were also taking to the streets in support of electronic bingo jobs in Alabama, saying the debate was a voting rights issue and a matter of economic justice.
Republican Gov. Bob Riley contends electronic bingo machines are illegal
Teachers as reformers - latimes.com
Teachers as reformers - latimes.com:
"L.A. Unified teachers won the right to run several new or underperforming schools. Can they pull it off?"
Los Angeles schools did not undergo the transformation we had expected from the Public School Choice initiative, which in its first year opened more than 30 new or underperforming public schools to outside management. Top-notch charter operators applied for relatively few schools and then were removed from the running at the last minute. The school board once again mired itself in political maneuvers instead of putting students first.
What transformation there was came, more surprisingly, from the teachers. They agreed to allow and create more pilot schools, which are similar to charter schools but employ district personnel. They formed partnerships and, with the help of their union, United Teachers Los Angeles, drew up their own, often strong applications for revamping schools. It would be wrong to underestimate the effort and skills needed to pull this off. The time frame was short and the list of requirements long. Unlike charter operators, which submit such applications as a matter of course, the teachers had no particular background for this work. They met with parents who have long fumed that the schools discourage their participation. They listened. They responded.
This is a tremendous step in a school district where, too often, teachers and their union have not been the agents of change but impediments to it. In fact, had the process worked as it was supposed to, the reform initiative would have served as a much stronger application for federal Race to the Top funds than anything the Legislature came up with.
Pulling together the applications was an intense but short-term task for the teachers, born of a desperate attempt to preserve jobs in Los Angeles Unified, which this week sent out thousands more layoff notices. The harder task lies ahead: carrying out those plans for the next several years. The applications promise radically new efforts at the same time that the district lacks the money to support those efforts. And now, much of the pressure is off. The main competition came from charter operators, which aren't sure whether they want to be full participants in the future. And the board has shown a clear unwillingness to go against the wishes of union lobbyists.
If the district leaders want a worthwhile outcome from this initiative, there are several steps they must take in coming years: Do a better job of educating parents, many of whom didn't fully understand what the options were. Do away with the obnoxious "advisory" votes, which were riddled with misleading campaign tactics and ballot boxes weighted by groups on both sides that brought in their own supporters to vote. And most important, hold all of the new operators -- whether charters, teachers or Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools -- to their promises of meaningful progress for students.
Los Angeles schools did not undergo the transformation we had expected from the Public School Choice initiative, which in its first year opened more than 30 new or underperforming public schools to outside management. Top-notch charter operators applied for relatively few schools and then were removed from the running at the last minute. The school board once again mired itself in political maneuvers instead of putting students first.
What transformation there was came, more surprisingly, from the teachers. They agreed to allow and create more pilot schools, which are similar to charter schools but employ district personnel. They formed partnerships and, with the help of their union, United Teachers Los Angeles, drew up their own, often strong applications for revamping schools. It would be wrong to underestimate the effort and skills needed to pull this off. The time frame was short and the list of requirements long. Unlike charter operators, which submit such applications as a matter of course, the teachers had no particular background for this work. They met with parents who have long fumed that the schools discourage their participation. They listened. They responded.
This is a tremendous step in a school district where, too often, teachers and their union have not been the agents of change but impediments to it. In fact, had the process worked as it was supposed to, the reform initiative would have served as a much stronger application for federal Race to the Top funds than anything the Legislature came up with.
Pulling together the applications was an intense but short-term task for the teachers, born of a desperate attempt to preserve jobs in Los Angeles Unified, which this week sent out thousands more layoff notices. The harder task lies ahead: carrying out those plans for the next several years. The applications promise radically new efforts at the same time that the district lacks the money to support those efforts. And now, much of the pressure is off. The main competition came from charter operators, which aren't sure whether they want to be full participants in the future. And the board has shown a clear unwillingness to go against the wishes of union lobbyists.
If the district leaders want a worthwhile outcome from this initiative, there are several steps they must take in coming years: Do a better job of educating parents, many of whom didn't fully understand what the options were. Do away with the obnoxious "advisory" votes, which were riddled with misleading campaign tactics and ballot boxes weighted by groups on both sides that brought in their own supporters to vote. And most important, hold all of the new operators -- whether charters, teachers or Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools -- to their promises of meaningful progress for students.
Report: Too many students placed in special education
Report: Too many students placed in special education
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10065/1040714-298.stm#ixzz0hV84i8K2
City doing better reducing numbers
Saturday, March 06, 2010
While complimenting Pittsburgh Public Schools' progress and promise in special education, evaluators from the Council of the Great City Schools said the district needs to work on placing fewer students in special education.
"It was clear to the team ... that too many teachers and staff members were using special education as an escape hatch when they did not know what else to do with students who were experiencing learning or behavioral problems," the report stated.
"This is not an unusual situation in many public school systems across the country, but the Pittsburgh Public Schools has the potential to make a real dent in the problem because of its determined leadership, strong collaboration with its teachers union and its forward momentum."
One sign of progress, the report noted, is that Pittsburgh was one of the few urban districts that met its targets last year for adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, including those for special education students.
While the performance of special education students has improved in some grade levels, it still lags significantly behind that of other students.
In addition, the district has been developing tools -- including curriculum, interventions and professional development -- aimed at better meeting students' needs before a special education placement becomes necessary.
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, and others from his organization presented the report to the school board this week.
"It was clear to the team ... that too many teachers and staff members were using special education as an escape hatch when they did not know what else to do with students who were experiencing learning or behavioral problems," the report stated.
"This is not an unusual situation in many public school systems across the country, but the Pittsburgh Public Schools has the potential to make a real dent in the problem because of its determined leadership, strong collaboration with its teachers union and its forward momentum."
One sign of progress, the report noted, is that Pittsburgh was one of the few urban districts that met its targets last year for adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, including those for special education students.
While the performance of special education students has improved in some grade levels, it still lags significantly behind that of other students.
In addition, the district has been developing tools -- including curriculum, interventions and professional development -- aimed at better meeting students' needs before a special education placement becomes necessary.
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, and others from his organization presented the report to the school board this week.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10065/1040714-298.stm#ixzz0hV84i8K2
This Week In Education
Weekend Reading: The Problem With Peer Review
Fixing schools by firing teachers Salon: You can't bulldoze a system and call it fixed.
Japanese princess bullied at elementary school Salon: Japan's Princess Aiko, granddaughter of the emperor, has missed several days of classes because of bullying by boys at her elementary school, a spokesman for the royal family said Friday.
Police search for Oklahoma City principal’s attacker NewsOK.com: The man attacked principal Brian Staples about 3:30 p.m. in the school’s parking lot, Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman Tierney Cook said.
Warning: Your reality is out of date Boston Globe: The arc of our educational system is to be treated as little generalists when children, absorbing bits of knowledge about everything from biology to social studies to geology. This might have been useful in decades past, but in our increasingly fast-paced and interdisciplinary world, lacking an even approximate knowledge of our surroundings is unwise.
Turning peer review into modern-day holy scripture Spiked: Often, the colleagues they are reviewing and refereeing are their competitors and sometimes even their bitter rivals. The contradiction between working as a member of an expert community and one’s own personal interests cannot always be satisfactorily resolved.
A rare pact: Teens' double suicide rocks Pa. town Salon: As the high-speed Acela train came thundering down the rails, a teenage girl screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.
Japanese princess bullied at elementary school Salon: Japan's Princess Aiko, granddaughter of the emperor, has missed several days of classes because of bullying by boys at her elementary school, a spokesman for the royal family said Friday.
Police search for Oklahoma City principal’s attacker NewsOK.com: The man attacked principal Brian Staples about 3:30 p.m. in the school’s parking lot, Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman Tierney Cook said.
Warning: Your reality is out of date Boston Globe: The arc of our educational system is to be treated as little generalists when children, absorbing bits of knowledge about everything from biology to social studies to geology. This might have been useful in decades past, but in our increasingly fast-paced and interdisciplinary world, lacking an even approximate knowledge of our surroundings is unwise.
Turning peer review into modern-day holy scripture Spiked: Often, the colleagues they are reviewing and refereeing are their competitors and sometimes even their bitter rivals. The contradiction between working as a member of an expert community and one’s own personal interests cannot always be satisfactorily resolved.
A rare pact: Teens' double suicide rocks Pa. town Salon: As the high-speed Acela train came thundering down the rails, a teenage girl screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.
Two area colleges to offer three-year degrees | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/06/2010
Two area colleges to offer three-year degrees | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/06/2010
In response to concern about rising college costs, two local universities plan to allow students to earn degrees in three years, saving them up to a year in tuition and room and board, and getting them into the earning market sooner.
Arcadia University in Glenside said yesterday that it would offer three-year degrees in five of its 40 or so undergraduate programs, beginning in the fall. The programs are business administration, communications, international business and culture, international studies, and psychology.
Holy Family University, in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia, will start more slowly, with one three-year degree program in business administration this fall, officials said. There are eight possible majors within the program.
Arcadia and Holy Family are among a growing number of colleges around the country looking to gain a competitive edge with less costly options for students.
At Arcadia, tuition and room and board total almost $44,000 this year, while Holy Family charges about $33,000.
"There's a market out there, particularly since the cost of college has grown so much," said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington. "It's starting to get on the radar screen."
Popular in Europe, the three-year degree has been gaining in popularity in the United States in recent months.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), a former U.S. secretary of education and university president, touted three-year degrees in a Newsweek article last fall. Rhode Island in recent months mandated that two of its public universities offer three-year degree options.
In response to concern about rising college costs, two local universities plan to allow students to earn degrees in three years, saving them up to a year in tuition and room and board, and getting them into the earning market sooner.
Arcadia University in Glenside said yesterday that it would offer three-year degrees in five of its 40 or so undergraduate programs, beginning in the fall. The programs are business administration, communications, international business and culture, international studies, and psychology.
Holy Family University, in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia, will start more slowly, with one three-year degree program in business administration this fall, officials said. There are eight possible majors within the program.
Arcadia and Holy Family are among a growing number of colleges around the country looking to gain a competitive edge with less costly options for students.
At Arcadia, tuition and room and board total almost $44,000 this year, while Holy Family charges about $33,000.
"There's a market out there, particularly since the cost of college has grown so much," said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington. "It's starting to get on the radar screen."
Popular in Europe, the three-year degree has been gaining in popularity in the United States in recent months.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), a former U.S. secretary of education and university president, touted three-year degrees in a Newsweek article last fall. Rhode Island in recent months mandated that two of its public universities offer three-year degree options.
For-profit schools look to buy accredited colleges
For-profit schools look to buy accredited colleges
BOSTON — ITT Educational Services Inc. paid $20.8 million for debt-ridden Daniel Webster College in June. In return, the company obtained an academic credential that might generate a taxpayer-funded bonanza worth as much as $1 billion.
ITT Educational — operator of 105 ITT Technical Institutes — is the third-biggest higher education company in the United States. Its $3.8 billion market value may increase it by 26 percent, or $1 billion, within five years because of the purchase of 1,200-student Daniel Webster in Nashua, N.H., according to Michael Clifford, an investor in Del Mar, Calif., who has participated in the acquisitions of four nonprofit colleges.
At least 75 percent of new revenue would come from access to the more than $100 billion a year in financial aid the U.S. hands out to college students, he said.
Key to tapping that money is Webster's regional accreditation, which is the same gold standard of academic quality enjoyed by Harvard University and helps students transfer course credits from one college to another.
Protesters March to Sacramento - KPSP Local 2 - News for the Coachella Valley and the Southern California Desert - Palm Springs - Cathedral City - Rancho Mirage - Palm Desert - Indian Wells - La Quinta - Indio - Coachella
Protesters from around California are marching 400 miles to Sacramento, in an effort to chang what they call the "grid-locked political system."
The march began Saturday in Bakersfield. It will take 48 days to complete.
The group wants to raise taxes on corporations and the rich and increase education spending.
Thousands of people of all ages will join in at various stops along the way, but only seven will march the entire length.
It's being organized by the California Federation of Teachers and aided by various unions.
Rules for Student Radicals - Zaid Jilani - Youthful Populism - True/Slant
Rules for Student Radicals - Zaid Jilani - Youthful Populism - True/Slant
I’ve always loved a good protest, and the March 4th demonstrations by students and faculty was no different. Hundreds of thousands of Americans got together and protested — with signs and banners, the good old-fashioned American way — the deep cuts in education being experienced all over the country.
Rules for Student Radicals
Teachers, Students Take To Streets To Protest CutsLOS ANGELES (CBS) — Millions of students, teachers and parents are expected to rally in cities and college campuses in California and many other states to protest deep spending cuts to schools and universities.Demonstrations, marches, teach-ins and walkouts are planned nationwide Thursday in what is being called the “March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.”Events are being held on most of California's public colleges and universities to protest budget cuts that have led to canceled classes, faculty furloughs and steep fee hikes.Students, teachers and school employees are converging in Sacramento to convince lawmakers to restore funding to public schools.
I’ve always loved a good protest, and the March 4th demonstrations by students and faculty was no different. Hundreds of thousands of Americans got together and protested — with signs and banners, the good old-fashioned American way — the deep cuts in education being experienced all over the country.Over at Think Progress, I documented many of these cuts in states’ public education systems, not only at the college level but also K-12. Our team put out a great Progress Report on the issue of how progressive and conservative state legislators are tackling their budget gaps, and I encourage you to read it — it’s really telling who’s deciding to balance their budgets in a reasonable way that includes raising taxes on those who can afford it and who’s simply decided to balance their budgets on the backs of the poor, the elderly, and students.
NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE! : Indybay
NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE! : Indybay
" No Cuts, No Freeze, Education Must be Free!"
Chanting this slogan, thousands of students, teachers and members of different communities all over California and 31 other states turned out for massive protests in different schools and colleges against education cuts, the most recent attack of the ruling class against the people of the United States.
AJLPP UPDATE
March 6, 2010
NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE!
Los Angeles-" No Cuts, No Freeze, Education Must be Free!"
Chanting this slogan, thousands of students, teachers and members of different communities all over California and 31 other states turned out for massive protests in different schools and colleges against education cuts, the most recent attack of the ruling class against the people of the United States.
In Los Angeles, more than 3,000 protestors led by the UTLA and supported by different community organizations like ANSWER-LA and Not In Our Name Coalition marched from Pershing Square/Hill St. to the Federal Reagan building down 3rd and Spring and showed their disgust against the state government.
In UC Riverside, hundred of students marched around the campus condemning the cuts. In UCLA,the KPFK reported that 2,000 students massed at the Bruins Plaza and later 600 of them occupied Murphy Hall- the chancellors office. Also in CSULB, hundreds of students and community members walked out
In Northern California
Students and faculty from Berkeley also walked out and UC Sta Cruz did the same. Buses filled with hundreds of demonstrators went to Sacramento to bring the protest to the state capitol. But as usual,the governor and the state legislator played deaf and dumb to people's demand.
In San Francisco, The San Francisco Labor Council and other groups area led the protest at the San Francisco Civic Center.More than 10,000 people filled the Civic Center. The crowd most high school and college turned out and showed their disgust to the system
In Oakland, more than 150 protestors were arrested by the police for shutting the freeway. The same thing happened in UC Davis when police fired pellet balls at hundreds of students who blocked the 880 freeway. One student was arrested.
The KPFK has described the latest attacks on education "unprecedented because it seeks to gut the UC system. The UC system is said to be the jewel of US public education but the ruling class wanted to turn it to a privatized for profit pool.".
The KPFK also described the California mass action as the " first of its kind in being massive nationwide since the Immigrant Upsurge in 2006 where more than 2 million people marched to the
March 6, 2010
NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE!
Los Angeles-" No Cuts, No Freeze, Education Must be Free!"
Chanting this slogan, thousands of students, teachers and members of different communities all over California and 31 other states turned out for massive protests in different schools and colleges against education cuts, the most recent attack of the ruling class against the people of the United States.
In Los Angeles, more than 3,000 protestors led by the UTLA and supported by different community organizations like ANSWER-LA and Not In Our Name Coalition marched from Pershing Square/Hill St. to the Federal Reagan building down 3rd and Spring and showed their disgust against the state government.
In UC Riverside, hundred of students marched around the campus condemning the cuts. In UCLA,the KPFK reported that 2,000 students massed at the Bruins Plaza and later 600 of them occupied Murphy Hall- the chancellors office. Also in CSULB, hundreds of students and community members walked out
In Northern California
Students and faculty from Berkeley also walked out and UC Sta Cruz did the same. Buses filled with hundreds of demonstrators went to Sacramento to bring the protest to the state capitol. But as usual,the governor and the state legislator played deaf and dumb to people's demand.
In San Francisco, The San Francisco Labor Council and other groups area led the protest at the San Francisco Civic Center.More than 10,000 people filled the Civic Center. The crowd most high school and college turned out and showed their disgust to the system
In Oakland, more than 150 protestors were arrested by the police for shutting the freeway. The same thing happened in UC Davis when police fired pellet balls at hundreds of students who blocked the 880 freeway. One student was arrested.
The KPFK has described the latest attacks on education "unprecedented because it seeks to gut the UC system. The UC system is said to be the jewel of US public education but the ruling class wanted to turn it to a privatized for profit pool.".
The KPFK also described the California mass action as the " first of its kind in being massive nationwide since the Immigrant Upsurge in 2006 where more than 2 million people marched to the
University World News - GLOBAL: Higher education budgets and the recession
"In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments around the world viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues?
This essay, part of Research and Occasional Papers series published by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley, provides a moment-in-time review of the fate of higher education among a number of OECD nations and other countries, with a particular focus on the United States and on California - the largest state in terms of population and in the size of its economy.
Preliminary indicators show that most nations are not resorting to uncoordinated and reactionary cutting of funding and reductions in access, such as we see in the US. Their political leaders see higher education as a key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term competitiveness."
This essay, part of Research and Occasional Papers series published by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley, provides a moment-in-time review of the fate of higher education among a number of OECD nations and other countries, with a particular focus on the United States and on California - the largest state in terms of population and in the size of its economy.
Preliminary indicators show that most nations are not resorting to uncoordinated and reactionary cutting of funding and reductions in access, such as we see in the US. Their political leaders see higher education as a key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term competitiveness."
Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento
Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento:
"California voters are a surly bunch. They don't think an overhaul of state government is needed. They don't want to make it easier for the Legislature to approve a budget. And new taxes to patch a $20 billion shortfall? You can pretty much forget about it."
This angry outlook comes from a disturbing Field Poll released this week. Disturbing because voters are dismissive and furious over the state's political and budgetary gridlock, and they're in no mood to help Sacramento solve the crisis. The results are also a failing report card for government reformers, who are going nowhere in their bid to rewrite the state's decision-making rules.
A string of prior Field polls on the state's direction and political leaders have found much the same sour mood. Voters don't like elected officialdom and don't want dysfunction handed back to them with ballot-box fixes. In this latest poll, respondents show the same fed-up defiance: Sacramento needs to solve its monumental problems on its own with the rules and requirements it already has. Stop the whining, get together and don't ask for help, respondents say.
But the poll - with its blunt choices and five-question format - takes the argument only part way. Half of the respondents want to solve the $20 billion budget shortfall either completely or largely via budget cuts, the poll finds. But do these voters realize what will have to go? With a state's general fund kitty totaling $100 billion, are these voters willing to lop $20 million off the top?
It would mean more cuts for schools and higher education, less spending on road repairs and a heavy hit to social programs in a state with a 12 percent jobless rate. A whack this big goes well beyond any reasonable savings that can be expected from popular war cries about waste, fraud and abuse.
A hard core of 31 percent want cuts and no tax increases, a fair reflection of the minority Republican makeup in the Legislature. About 19 percent wants mostly spending cuts along with limited new taxes, a grouping that produces the 50 percent total aligned against significant tax increases. But 29 percent favor a mix of cuts and new revenues with the balance favoring more taxes or holding no opinion. There may be some room for moderation - that is, cuts plus taxes - but it's ever-so faint.
More than anything, the results display a shredded civic culture. Voters, who doze off at the mention of high-minded governmental reform, want action, no matter the cost. When cuts are announced - such as teacher layoffs or state park closures - they become even more angry, as the Field Poll shows. Solutions to ease this crisis atmosphere go up in smoke.
Reform groups, who've stepped in with suggested changes, aren't getting the job done. Repair California, which wanted a voter-approved constitutional convention to rewrite
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/06/ED6O1C9OS5.DTL#ixzz0hV2XP6EH
This angry outlook comes from a disturbing Field Poll released this week. Disturbing because voters are dismissive and furious over the state's political and budgetary gridlock, and they're in no mood to help Sacramento solve the crisis. The results are also a failing report card for government reformers, who are going nowhere in their bid to rewrite the state's decision-making rules.
A string of prior Field polls on the state's direction and political leaders have found much the same sour mood. Voters don't like elected officialdom and don't want dysfunction handed back to them with ballot-box fixes. In this latest poll, respondents show the same fed-up defiance: Sacramento needs to solve its monumental problems on its own with the rules and requirements it already has. Stop the whining, get together and don't ask for help, respondents say.
But the poll - with its blunt choices and five-question format - takes the argument only part way. Half of the respondents want to solve the $20 billion budget shortfall either completely or largely via budget cuts, the poll finds. But do these voters realize what will have to go? With a state's general fund kitty totaling $100 billion, are these voters willing to lop $20 million off the top?
It would mean more cuts for schools and higher education, less spending on road repairs and a heavy hit to social programs in a state with a 12 percent jobless rate. A whack this big goes well beyond any reasonable savings that can be expected from popular war cries about waste, fraud and abuse.
A hard core of 31 percent want cuts and no tax increases, a fair reflection of the minority Republican makeup in the Legislature. About 19 percent wants mostly spending cuts along with limited new taxes, a grouping that produces the 50 percent total aligned against significant tax increases. But 29 percent favor a mix of cuts and new revenues with the balance favoring more taxes or holding no opinion. There may be some room for moderation - that is, cuts plus taxes - but it's ever-so faint.
More than anything, the results display a shredded civic culture. Voters, who doze off at the mention of high-minded governmental reform, want action, no matter the cost. When cuts are announced - such as teacher layoffs or state park closures - they become even more angry, as the Field Poll shows. Solutions to ease this crisis atmosphere go up in smoke.
Reform groups, who've stepped in with suggested changes, aren't getting the job done. Repair California, which wanted a voter-approved constitutional convention to rewrite
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/06/ED6O1C9OS5.DTL#ixzz0hV2XP6EH
Editorial: Dysfunctional thinking on how to balance California's budget - ContraCostaTimes.com
Editorial: Dysfunctional thinking on how to balance California's budget - ContraCostaTimes.com
DYSFUNCTIONAL thinking concerning how to solve California's $20 billion budget deficit is not limited to the Legislature and governor's office. Contradictory positions and misinformed assumptions also dominate the views of the Golden State's electorate.
A recent Field Poll revealed that half of the state's voters want the state to eliminate the $20 billion shortfall without any tax increases. Only 29 percent said the state should use an equal mix of spending cuts and higher taxes, and a mere 13 percent preferred balancing the budget mostly or completely with tax increases.
Certainly, opposition to any tax increases is understandable, given last year's $12 billion in tax hikes. Voters also have good cause to be upset with a governor and Legislature that went on a multiyear spending spree when revenues were freely flowing into the state treasury during the housing boom.
But the reality facing Californians today is that there simply is not nearly enough revenue coming in to balance even a diminished state budget.
There have been steep spending cuts, not just reductions in budgets. While more spending cuts can and must be made, there is a limit to just how much California can cut back without undermining basic services such as education, public safety and a minimum of social services.
The Field Poll also revealed that voters are opposed to dropping the two-thirds vote requirement in the
Legislature to pass a state budget.However, when it comes to specific major budget cuts, there does not seem to be any consensus on where to cut or by how much.
A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 82 percent, including a majority of Republicans
University World News - US: Students march against funding cuts and fee hikes
| US: Students march against funding cuts and fee hikes | |
In an unprecedented day of national protest across all sectors of education, the epicentre proved to be Berkeley - where the seeds of student activism were sown more than 40 years ago, writes Jack Stripling for Inside Higher Ed. With the smell of burning sage and the occasional hint of weed in the air, an impassioned throng of students from the University of California's Berkeley campus marched to protest budget cuts and tuition hikes they say are crippling one of the nation's premier public institutions. While the five-mile trek to Oakland proved largely peaceful, police arrested as many as 200 protesters once they reached freeways and tried to block them. The arrests mark the continuation of a what many describe as a troubling trend at the University of California, which has seen recent allegations of police brutality, racially motivated discord and an activist movement that at times appears intent on provoking law enforcement. Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site Student activists in California and elsewhere took to the streets on 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, write Jenna Johnson and Daniel de Vise for The Washington Post. Organisers said they seek to dramatise mounting frustration as the recession forces deep cuts in higher education budgets, especially in California, whose higher education system is both the largest in the nation and facing the deepest cuts. Colleges across the nation have raised tuition, cut positions and absorbed funding cuts, but not to the extent as in California. Full report on The Washington Post site Printable version Email to a friend Comment on this article |
Arrested student protester in California don't get it
Arrested student protester in California don't get it
An Oakland police officer escorts a protester after he and a large group attempted to block Interstate 880 following a rally for the national Day of Action against school funding cuts and tuition increases March 4, 2010 in Oakland. (Getty)
An Oakland police officer escorts a protester after he and a large group attempted to block Interstate 880 following a rally for the national Day of Action against school funding cuts and tuition increases March 4, 2010 in Oakland. (Getty)
It's too bad that a day of passionate but largely peaceful demonstrations in protest of budget cuts to California's struggling public school system will be remembered for the uglier moments.
--A face-off at UC Davis where police used pellet guns and pepper spray to stop about 100 students from blocking freeway traffic.
--Over two dozen protesters at UC Santa Cruz smashed the rear and side windows of a car while the driver was still in it. (He was unhurt).
--And worst of all, because it received the most coverage of all, the more than 150 protesters arrested on Interstate 880 in Oakland who used an exit ramp to walk onto the freeway and shut down rush hour traffic for nearly an hour. Many wore black, identified themselves as anarchists and carried a banner that read, "Occupy everything," according to the San Francisco Chronicle .
One student told local TV, "They'll get on the news. That was the point of today, so they achieved some kind of success, I guess."
Bad guess, kid, which makes me wonder if the fundamental lesson to be gleaned from this intemperate behavior will be lost upon those who need it the most --the students.
The act of protest is in the highest traditions of our nation and it's in the highest traditions of American history, which I hope these students are learning.
Costly pensions under fire - The Daily Breeze
Costly pensions under fire - The Daily Breeze
As state and local governments fight potential bankruptcy, some officials are taking a new look at scaling back billions of dollars in pension benefits for public employees.
The effort could trigger a massive fight with the state's powerful public unions, who have managed to quash previous pension reform efforts.
"Pensions ... are going to be the next 800-pound gorilla that local governments will be facing along with the state," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who is pushing for the county to rein in pension costs.
Last week, Antonovich directed county Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka to prepare a report on how to address rising pension costs. Even as the county faces a massive budget shortfall, its contribution to its pension system is expected to increase from $804 million now to $1.27billion by 2012-13.
Similarly, Los Angeles city's contribution to its pension system is expected to double from $653 million now to $1.3 billion in four years. The city makes that contribution from its general fund, which already faces a deficit of almost $700 million over the next 16 months.
"The current system is not sustainable," Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said. "It's our pension costs that are in particular contributing to the deficit that we're facing.
"If our objective is to rein in our deficits, pension reforms have to be part of the long-term plan."
As state and local governments fight potential bankruptcy, some officials are taking a new look at scaling back billions of dollars in pension benefits for public employees.
The effort could trigger a massive fight with the state's powerful public unions, who have managed to quash previous pension reform efforts.
"Pensions ... are going to be the next 800-pound gorilla that local governments will be facing along with the state," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who is pushing for the county to rein in pension costs.
Last week, Antonovich directed county Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka to prepare a report on how to address rising pension costs. Even as the county faces a massive budget shortfall, its contribution to its pension system is expected to increase from $804 million now to $1.27billion by 2012-13.
Similarly, Los Angeles city's contribution to its pension system is expected to double from $653 million now to $1.3 billion in four years. The city makes that contribution from its general fund, which already faces a deficit of almost $700 million over the next 16 months.
"The current system is not sustainable," Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said. "It's our pension costs that are in particular contributing to the deficit that we're facing.
"If our objective is to rein in our deficits, pension reforms have to be part of the long-term plan."
It's not just the Capitol: Billions in red ink drowning California's cities, schools and counties, too - San Jose Mercury News
It's not just the Capitol: Billions in red ink drowning California's cities, schools and counties, too - San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO — With even well-managed counties, cities and schools finding themselves in the same budget hole that has swallowed state government, California now confronts a financial crisis that may be unrivaled — though it is also maddeningly difficult to quantify.
In fact, the problem is so expansive that several experts contacted by the Mercury News wouldn't even hazard a guess. So just how broke is California?
A quick, unscientific look around the Golden State suggests that California's collective deficit may be double the state government's $20 billion budget gap. San Francisco must trim $522 million from its budget. San Jose's upcoming balance sheet is $116.2 million in the red. The Los Angeles Unified School District is staring at a $640 million shortfall. Even tiny Dorris, a few miles from the Oregon border (and home to the tallest flagpole this side of the Mississippi!) is contemplating cuts.
Now consider that California has 58 counties, 480 or so cities and nearly 1,000 school districts — plus dozens more special districts, like transit agencies and water boards. Amid California's harshest slump since the Great Depression, officials from one end of the state to another are preparing to close parks, fire teachers and police officers, and heave Hail Mary plans for tax hikes.
"2010-11 will be the worst year we've seen," warns Terry Anderson of the education policy advocate School Services of California. "That
part is clear."So why, exactly, have budgets gone so sour in so many places?
The simple answer is that local governments have been just as susceptible as state government to the ravages of the recession.
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