Education - The Denver Post

Education - The Denver Post

Daniels Scholarships delight student winners04/15/2010Denver philanthropist Bill Daniels thought his scholarship program would send maybe 1,000 kids to college.

Long-shot Senate candidate Buck hits bull's-eye in Colo.04/15/2010 - Ken Buck, once thought to be a dead-in-the-water Republican U.S. Senate candidate with laughable fundraising totals and little establishment GOP support, has surged to life in a matter of days thanks to a handful of prominent endorsements pulling in big cash and — more important — national distinction.

Colorado high schoolers going forth with a state-paid fifth year 2204/14/2010 - Almost 300 Colorado high school seniors are eligible for a state-paid year of college this fall — a policy garnering attention from the nation's capital as a model to push poor kids to higher education.

Norton plans petition path to get on GOP primary ballot04/13/2010 - GOP Senate front-runner Jane Norton said Tuesday that she will petition her way onto the ballot rather than go through the traditional vote-getting at the state assembly — a move she said was driven by her incumbent Democratic rival doing the same thing.

School in running for Obama commencement speech works on video showing its success04/13/2010 - Seventeen-year-old senior Dan Marks has the keen eye of a political strategist in weighing the odds of getting President Barack Obama to speak at his school's graduation ceremony.

COLORADO CLASSROOM EDUCATION BLOG Colorado’s Race to the Top interview Manual’s Rob Stein leaving Colorado’s Race to the Top scores examined New schools showing success COLORADO CSAP TEST SCORE LOOKUP Click here to look up Colorado's CSAP, ACT and SAR results by district, school, city, county or ZIP code.

MANUAL'S MISSING SERIES Reaching out to dropouts Brothers juggling, slipping out of school One girl's soap-opera "mess" Trying, failing to get teen to take wing

EDNEWSCOLORADO NEWS “Recess” bill in peril School finance bill changes OK’d Tackling reform’s final frontier – high schools AREA EDUCATION INFORMATION

Santa Ana schools will undergo drastic reform for federal funds | California Watch

Santa Ana schools will undergo drastic reform for federal funds | California Watch

Santa Ana schools will undergo drastic reform for federal funds

by Corey G. Johnson

Photo by Tiffany Szerpicki

Corey G. Johnson

Since March, Santa Ana Unified School District, the third largest district in California, has been faced with this dilemma: Do we apply for the federal School Improvement Grants and undergo drastic reform, or do we forgo the program and pass up much-needed federal dollars?
Last week, based upon the fine reporting by the Contra Costa Times, we wrote about a loophole that would allow districts like Santa Ana Unified to further avoid the reform measures, if they so desired.
Wednesday, Santa Ana announced they would take the money and the reform.
According to the Orange County Register, six schools – Century High, Santa Ana High, Saddleback High, Valley High, Willard Intermediate and Sierra Intermediate – will apply for SIG money and begin restructuring

University of California admits more nonresident students

by Erica Perez

Photo by Patrickniel

Erica Perez

Preliminary admissions data from the University of California shows some campuses in the state's premier public university system are admitting more nonresident students – a move that will bring more money to the campuses while also shifting the composition of the student body.
Overall, nonresidents account for 14 percent of admitted students this year, compared to 12 percent last year.
Nowhere is the increase sharper than at UC Berkeley, where nonresidents make up 27 percent of admitted students this year, up from 14 percent in 2009.
Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for the UC system, said that even though the proportion and number of international and out-of-state students are increasing, these nonresident students are not taking up spaces that could otherwise go to California residents.
She said that the university currently enrolls 15,000 more California resident students than are funded by the

Almanac : Bill would restrict kindergarten enrollment

Almanac : Bill would restrict kindergarten enrollment

Bill would restrict kindergarten enrollment

by Dave Boyce Almanac Staff A bill introduced in the state Legislature today by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, would restrict kindergarten enrollment to children who are 5 before Sept. 1, three months earlier than the current Dec. 2 cut-off date. Research shows that 4-1/2-year-olds in class with 5-year-olds are at a disadvantage that can stay with them, Mr. Simitian said in a statement. About a quarter of California children start kindergarten before they're 5, and most states have earlier cut-off dates, Mr. Simitian said. The change has the "outspoken" support of educators in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, Mr. Simitian said. Also supporting the bill: the Legislative Analyst's Office, the California Performance Review, and the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence, he said. "Almost every child who comes to me for reading support has a fall birthday," said Palo Alto reading specialist Natalie Bivas, who was quoted in the statement. "They don't catch up somehow down the line. Instead, they end up on everyone's radar. By third grade, teachers start asking me why we didn't hold these children back. By then, we're discussing a special education intervention." SB 1381, which would be phased in over three years starting in 2012, would save the state about $700 million annually and $9.1

UC puts 10,000 applicants on waiting list - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC puts 10,000 applicants on waiting list - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC puts 10,000 applicants on waiting list

Published: Thursday, Apr. 15, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1ABy Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

Last Modified: Thursday, Apr. 15, 2010 - 12:24 am

For the state's high school seniors, this was the toughest year ever to get into the University of California, with seven of the nine undergraduate campuses reporting the lowest admission rates on record and – for the first time – more than 10,000 applicants being offered a spot on a waiting list.

A-plus students are now the average – not the exception – at most UCs, data released Wednesday show. At all but three UC campuses, the mean grade-point-average of admitted students is above 4.0.

Students must work harder and score higher to get into UC because more high schoolers are seeking a college education at the same time the state has cut funding to public universities. UC cut freshman enrollment for this fall for the second year in a row – by 3,800 students compared with two years ago.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/15/2679904/uc-puts-10000-applicants-on-waiting.html#ixzz0lAcGSmUn

How to Get In: University of California—Davis School of Law - US News and World Report

How to Get In: University of California—Davis School of Law - US News and World Report

How to Get In: University of California—Davis School of Law

Posted April 15, 2010

We posed questions to admissions officials at the University of California—Davis School of Law regarding the application process, what they look for in applicants and what sets their school apart. These are their responses:

1. What can applicants do to set themselves apart from their peers?

Because we are striving to put together a talented, diverse, and well-rounded student body to join the law school community, ours is a holistic evaluation. We look for strong academic credentials, such as high grades and Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores. But we also seek applicants who can demonstrate that they are dedicated, ethical, intellectually curious, and ready to learn. We like students who are leaders, who are involved in professional or extracurricular activities. We try to base our admissions decision on the whole package.

The best law students are those who took every opportunity to obtain a very well-rounded education before law school. Sometimes that means taking classes outside of your major in order to stretch yoursel

UC Santa Cruz scales back size of freshmen class - San Jose Mercury News

UC Santa Cruz scales back size of freshmen class - San Jose Mercury News

UC Santa Cruz scales back size of freshmen class

By Shanna McCord --Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted: 04/14/2010 06:27:25 PM PDT

Updated: 04/14/2010 06:29:06 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ - UC Santa Cruz is continuing to be more picky about who gets in as it looks for ways to deal with reduced state funding.

The university announced Wednesday that it accepted 64.9 percent of freshman applicants for the fall, which is down from 83 percent in 2007 and 74.3 percent in 2008 and in line with the acceptance rate of 63.7 percent in 2009.

UCSC wants to establish a trend of slightly smaller and higher caliber freshmen classes. The goal is to begin the new school year with 3,200 freshmen, Admissions Director Michelle Whittingham said. By comparison, the 2008 fall class had 3,900 freshmen and 2009 had 3,214.

The decision to shrink the freshman class, Whittingham said, is largely due to reduced education funding from the cash-strapped state, which has grappled with a $20 billion budget crisis for the past three years.

"This is a very competitive cycle, and we're looking to decrease our numbers," Whittingham said. "There's been a

Battling for a Spot | City on a Hill Press

Battling for a Spot | City on a Hill Press

Battling for a Spot

By Dana Burd

City on a Hill Press Reporter

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

UC Office of the President (UCOP) recently said that an increase in selectivity across most campuses made admissions the most competitive in UC history this year.

UCOP released admittance information for the fall 2010 California resident freshman class on April 14.

A projected 18.5 percent of California public high school graduates applied to UCs, an amount up 5.5 percent since 2008. Systemwide, 71.6 percent of California resident students who applied for fall 2010 were admitted, down slightly from 72.5 percent in 2009.

Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for the UC, said that a lack of state funding for enrollment increases — along with a current over-enrollment of 15,000 — contributed to the necessity for enrollment cutbacks.

“The UC remains committed to enrolling as many California students as we are funded for,” Wilbur said.

Students have been encouraged to apply to as many UCs as possible.

“With increased selectivity on many of the campuses students were encouraged to apply broadly to increase

Alisal parents tell state officials they want to keep bilingual education programs - MontereyHerald.com :

Alisal parents tell state officials they want to keep bilingual education programs - MontereyHerald.com :

Alisal parents tell state officials they want to keep bilingual education programs

Parents make push to stress bilingual education programs

By CLAUDIA MELÉNDEZ SALINAS
Herald Salinas Bureau

Posted: 04/15/2010 01:46:41 AM PDT

Updated: 04/15/2010 01:46:42 AM PDT

There were pleas to end harassment, to bring in an honest trustee, and not to let the principals of the Alisal Union School District go.

But perhaps the most common request from speakers during a visit from members of the California Department of Education board Wednesday was for support for bilingual education.

"You have to keep our bilingual programs; that's the best for our Latino children," said Maria Ramirez, mother of two students in the district. "We need to have bilingual programs and bilingual teachers."

About 300 people attended a community meeting at Jesse Sanchez Elementary School called by the Department of Education.

Board President Ted Mitchell wanted to receive comments from community members about the qualities they would like to see in a state trustee, how long a trustee should stay at the district, and what kind of powers he or she should have.

As part of sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the state Department of Education decided in

Federal student loan program expanding

Federal student loan program expanding

Esteem Brumfield's parents never sent their son to school. So in 2008, when the 21-year-old announced he would go to college rather than pursue the religious life his parents planned for him, Brumfield found himself on his own and penniless.

He got a job, enrolled in Berkeley City College and found a homeless shelter. Now he is hoping that changes to the federal student loan program will propel him to graduate school for a master's degree in teaching and - eventually - into law school.

"Going from homelessness to grad school is a far-reaching dream for me," Brumfield said this week.

Signed into federal law on March 30, the education portion of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act snagged fewer headlines than the

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/14/MN941CU6VQ.DTL#ixzz0lAb7rAmQ

Trashed document outlines alleged perks for Palin - CNN.com

Trashed document outlines alleged perks for Palin - CNN.com

Trashed document outlines alleged perks for Palin

By the CNN Wire Staff

April 15, 2010 -- Updated 0807 GMT (1607 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• California state college foundation allegedly considered perks to hire Sarah Palin as speaker
  
• Attorney General Jerry Brown has opened an investigation into the foundation's finances
  
• Document detailing contractual details allegedly found in trash by 2 students
  

RELATED TOPICS

• Sarah Palin
• Jerry Brown
• Michael Moore

(CNN) -- First-class commercial air travel for two or a private jet -- "must be a Lear 60 or larger" -- from Alaska to California and back. A deluxe hotel suite "registered under an alias." And two unopened bottles of still water with "bendable straws."

That's what former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin wanted from a California state college foundation as part of her speaking agreement, according to a draft of a confidential contract allegedly lifted from a Dumpster by two students.

That a publicly funded college would consider spending money in this fashion sparked controversy. But that the speaker was none other than Palin has taken the flap to a whole new level.

Attorney General Jerry Brown opened an investigation Tuesday into the finances of the California State University Stanislaus Foundation, which raises money for the university and booked Palinto headline its June event.

"We are taking this action to make sure that the money raised goes toward the intended educational purposes and not a dollar is wasted or misspent," said Brown, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

State Sen. Leland Yee, also a Democrat, has demanded to see the speaking contract, citing the public records Act. At a Tuesday new

Adventures in Academia: The Long Battle to Defend Education | Stanford Daily

Adventures in Academia: The Long Battle to Defend Education | Stanford Daily

Adventures in Academia: The Long Battle to Defend Education

Thursday, April 15th, 2010 | By Danny Crichton

Higher education, the very source of American prosperity over the last 50 years, is now very much at risk in the United States. All one has to do is look at California, which offers perhaps one of the best vantage points to see this destruction of education in action. The state was once the shining beacon of higher education, building the vast University of California system that would make the state one of the most dynamic economies in the world.

The state, once merely mired in perennial budget wars, has now waged an aggressive war against higher education, furloughing professor and cutting large swaths of students out of the system.

I wish it were only the budget cuts that were harming the system. An upturn in the economy and more flush revenues could easily lead to a reversal of the higher education downturn. Alas, budget cuts are only the most recent attack on America’s economic crown jewels.

As the number of laws regulating universities increase with each successive year, the administration of the modern university grows ever more complex. Universities in the 1960s had significantly smaller staffs compared to our universities today, where the typical research university now requires thousands of personnel to handle dense regulations while also providing an ever-expanding

Lawmakers propose caps on college fees

Lawmakers propose caps on college fees

Lawmakers in Sacramento are proposing limits on skyrocketing student fees for higher education in California as campuses across the state have seen unrest and even violent protests over increased student costs.

On Wednesday, a state Senate committee heard four proposals to cap the annual growth of student fees and to ensure a delay between a fee's approval and its application. The proposals, which come from members of both parties and include a state constitutional amendment, are likely to be merged into a single bill in the coming weeks.

"Increases in fees may be inevitable, but they should be gradual and predictable," said Sen. Carol Liu, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), the author of one of the four bills.

The four proposals are:

-- Capping fee increases at a maximum 10 percent per year, with a 180-day waiting period before they are implemented for CSU students, with a recommendation that UC Regents do the same. It was proposed by Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced.

-- Amending the state Constitution to mandate UC Regents adopt those changes. The

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/14/MNG51CUP7Q.DTL#ixzz0lAa5oPi6

Ramon Cortines: California's Bad News Budget Threatens Education Reform

Ramon Cortines: California's Bad News Budget Threatens Education Reform

California's Bad News Budget Threatens Education Reform

Ramon Cortines

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent

I gave this testimony today before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

Chairman Harkin and subcommittee members, thank you for this invitation to testify on behalf of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation's second largest. I am Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. Our enrollment of 618,000 students is larger than the total number of students who attend public school in 25 states. I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Harkin for his strong leadership and advocacy for education issues in the Congress. We stand together in the march toward an educated America, where all students are prepared and encouraged to read, write, think and speak as 21st Century learners who will become the next generation of leaders, teachers, doctors, engineers, writers, electricians, contractors, and business owners. That will not happen if our district and school districts across the nation in big cities, small towns and rural areas continue to hemorrhage teachers and other essential employees.

California's Bad News Budget

In California, public education is suffering one of the greatest threats in decades as funding

Hitting the road with Bill Gates | Beyond Binary - CNET News

Hitting the road with Bill Gates | Beyond Binary - CNET News

Hitting the road with Bill Gates

Bill Gates is going back to college, and Beyond Binary is going along for the ride.

Next week, the Microsoft chairman and philanthropist is doing a three-state college tour, meeting with students and faculty to encourage more people to join efforts to solve society's biggest global challenges.

Bill Gates is headed on a three-day college tour next week and Beyond Binary will be following along with coverage of the speeches, behind-the-scenes notes, and an interview with Gates.

(Credit: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

In a blog post this week, Gates noted that he's done similar tours during his time at Microsoft, but that this is the first time he's done it in his capacity as head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"I'm most looking forward to my conversation with students about how we can get more of the world's brightest people to focus on the world's biggest challenges, like poverty, global health, education, energy and climate change," Gates wrote.

Gates will be in the San Francisco Bay Area at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University, and then travel to the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I'll also be spending time at each school meeting with students and faculty to learn about innovative work they're doing in their various programs," Gates wrote.

As for me, I'll be tagging along for the California and Massachusetts legs of the trip and will be covering Gates' speeches and sharing some of the behind-the-scenes action. I'll also be talking with Gates as the tour wraps up to get his thoughts on the endeavor.

Several of the lectures will be broadcast live via Ustream on The Gates Notes and other Web sites.

"Unlike my past college tours, you'll be able to watch and participate in the tour even if you can't be there in

BeyondChron: San Francisco's Alternative Online Daily News � School Beat: An Impasse in Union-District Negotiations

BeyondChron: San Francisco's Alternative Online Daily News � School Beat: An Impasse in Union-District Negotiations

School Beat: An Impasse in Union-District Negotiations
by Lisa Schiff‚ Apr. 15‚ 2010

The current protracted economic crisis may feel old and far too familiar, but it never seems to stop bringing bad news, especially for public education. With a looming projected budget gap of at least $113 billion over the next two years, the Board of Education (BOE) of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) voted back in late February to deliver about 900 pink slips to teachers in order to meet the legally required deadline for notification of potential layoffs. While it is typical that not all those receiving that first notification will be laid off, the number is higher than it’s been in a long time. Because of the magnitude of the number of positions potentially affected and the impact on students and schools, the teachers’ union (United Editors of San Francisco, or UESF) and the SFUSD began negotiations recently to see what kinds of accommodations and strategies could bring that unbelievably high number down.

One of the most discussed options mentioned over the past few months is the use of furloughs, meaning the elimination of school days, which would reduce costs by reducing staff paychecks, but which would also reduce learning time for students. This option, along with others in an action plan put forth by Superintendent Carols Garcia and staff, was discussed at a series of budget community meetings organized by the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to the BOE and Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and attended by SFUSD staff who provided information about the situation and answered questions.

In these sessions, community sentiment about furloughs was explored, surfacing