Thursday, April 15, 2010

NAACP Branch is Seeking Answers to Low Performing Schools

Who Is Under the Big Tent of the Republican Party?

NAACP Branch is Seeking Answers to Low Performing Schools

A couple of weeks ago the California Department of Education released a report that landed 11 schools in theSan Bernardino City Unified School District at the bottom of the pile in the state. The first report showed other neighboring districts had the same problem but for some reason they were removed the next day. A week later members of West Side Action Group (WAG) decided tocall a press conference in front of the district office tohighlight its concerns because the kids at the bottom are African Americans. The same is true in the surroundingdistricts as well as in county operated schools.

School Board President Danny Tillman, rebutted at the conference that some of the actions by the Department of education and WAG are politically motivated because Arturo Delgado, Superintendent of San Bernardino CitySchools is running for the County Superintendent of Schools against appointed incumbent Gary Thomas. Some people are supporting Thomas and others Delgado. ents has anything to brag about when it comes to educating Black students, which is my greatest concern.

The NAACP San Bernardino Branch is holding a meeting to try and uncover the facts and focus on educating our children.

I hope they will be able to shed light on the crisis wehave in our educational system locally and in Sacramento.

The Educated Guess Community college first: a parcel tax

The Educated Guess

Community college first: a parcel tax

The San Mateo County Community College District will make history in June if district voters pass a $34 parcel tax. It will be the first time, as far as anyone can tell, that one of the state’s 72 districts will have approved such a measure. Other districts will be waiting and watching.
It’s a sign of desperate times that the board of trustees decided to venture into what has been the province of K-12 districts. But, on a positive note, it’s an indication of the public’s growing recognition of the importance of community colleges – and their plight – that trustees are confident the ballot measure will pass. District spokeswoman Barbara Christensen said that polling indicates about 73 percent of likely voters favor the tax. But with a 3-4 percent margin of error, there’s also no room for confidence.
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By John Fensterwald on April 15th, 2010

Special ed option for laid-off teachers

Posted in Teacher Development

A one-year-old nonprofit is serving as a matchmaker between an abundant supply of soon to be laid-off teachers and a critical shortage of special education instructors. As a result, at least several thousand vacant special ed positions likely will be filled this fall by teachers who would otherwise be looking at unemployment or substitute teaching.
The California Teacher Corps announced this week that it is expediting efforts at retraining teachers who are interested in becoming certified to teach special education. The Corps represents alternative certification programs, which are particularly suited for individuals seeking second careers as teachers and, in this case, for teachers interested in working with handicapped children.
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By John Fensterwald on April 14th, 2010

No longer highest paid teachers

Posted in Taxes, pay

Teachers in California no longer earn, on average, the most of any state in the nation. New York has taken over that distinction.
California has the second highest student to teacher ratio in the nation (20.9:1), next to Utah’s 21.4. And its spending per student has fallen two notches to 43^rd in the nation.
These are some of the statistics from the National Education Association’s annual report Rankings and Estimates for 2010. There aren’t many surprises, given the state’s fiscal mess. And since most of the data comes form the 2008-’09 year, figures on school spending will likely deteriorate, relative to the rest of the nation, over the next two years.
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By John Fensterwald on April 13th, 2010

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Third grader hacks into Fairfax school computers

9-year-old targets, among others, Fairfax Superintendent Jack Dale

MORE ON EDUCATION

Fairfax Superintendent Jack Dale (TWP).

VALERIE STRAUSS

The Answer Sheet

A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

Posted at 6:30 AM ET, 04/15/2010

When school reform made teachers sick -- literally

There is a story in Diane Ravitch’s new book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” that policymakers should be forced to read whenever they are imposing yet another school reform plan on a beleaguered school district. It is about school reform implemented so forefully that teachers got sick. Not sick and tired of being told what to do by people who had never been in front of a classroom, but physically ill.

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JAY MATHEWS

Class Struggle

What's Right and Wrong With Our Schools

Posted at 10:00 PM ET, 04/14/2010

Washington area's top education bloggers

Several weeks ago, my blogging colleague Valerie Strauss (The Answer Sheet) and I announced our picks for best education blogs of this year. Our favorites were a diverse bunch, with many witty teachers, incisive journalists and droll experts of other kinds providing unusual perspectives. But Washington area education bloggers were severely underrepresented. I found only two, one in Fairfax County and one in the District, who had the acidity and depth I craved.

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The $34 million question

So does the $34 million surplus Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee described to the D.C. Council Tuesday actually exist?

This is the money she said was now available in the FY 2010 budget, three months after laying off 266 teachers, to underwrite part of the five-year, 20 percent pay package in the proposed labor contract. It's ultimately up to Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi to make that call.

Rhee said again Wednesday night that she has been assured by a staff analysis that the cash was there. But e-mails obtained by D.C. Schools Insider show that as recently as March 31, one week before the tentative agreement was announced, Rhee was raising significant doubts about the existence of the windfall.

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Ed Buzz: The Nation

Illinois school fighting cyber-bullying(Chicago Tribune)
Boston teachers asked to work more hours for same pay (Boston Globe)
Advocates weigh Obama's commitment to early ed. (Education Week)
N.Y. bill would allow layoffs of teachers with seniority (New York Times)
Bilingual ed., immersion work equally well (Education Week)
Schools tackle teacher-on-teacher bullying (USA Today)
English-language learners making gains (Education Week)
Researchers argue over Head Start study (Education Week)

Ed Buzz: The Region

Loudoun looking to slash positions, up fees (WTOP)
Kids at Md. school get tainted milk (Fox 5)
McDonnell signs college lab school legislation (Richmond Times Dispatch)
Schools reduce police presence (The Examiner)
Montgomery College, schools brace for cuts (The Gazette)
P.G. County PTA reinstated (The Gazette)
Md. GOP: Don't raise dropout age (The Gazette)
Birth-control center finds home at T.C. Williams (Alexandria Gazette Packet)
Fairfax teacher quits over embezzlement charges (Examiner)
MoCo teachers say they are overwhelmed (Gazette)
Alex. considers new school boundaries(Examiner)
PG parents fear impact of school cuts(WJLA)
Md. lawmakers favor ed cuts (Baltimore Sun)

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

Rise & Shine: State won’t enter a weak Race to the Top bid again

by Philissa Cramer

The principal at Brooklyn’s PS 38 was taped berating teachers over how they rated her. (Daily News)
The student who aired conditions at Paul Robeson HS says the school told her not to come back. (Post)
The Post says Robeson’s response to the “whistle-blowing” is another reason that it should be closed.
State officials say NY won’t enter Race to the Top’s next round without a strong application. (Post, NY1)
Assemblyman Jonathan Bing explains why he support a bill to end seniority-based layoffs. (Daily News)
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has proposed a $23 billion bailout to stop teacher layoffs. (Washington Post)
The Manhattan Institute’s Marcus Winters says despite the research, cash incentives work. (Daily News)
Richard Slatkin, who founded the city’s autism charter school, shares his experience. (Fortune Magazine)
American math teachers have weaker math skills than their counterparts in some other countries. (Times)

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNewsToday

Senate effectively kills dropout age bill

FRANKFORT — The Senate dealt a fatal blow Wednesday night to a bill strongly backed by Gov. Steve Beshear and first lady Jane Beshear that would increase the state's dropout age from 16 to 18.