Friday, May 14, 2010

Grim bookends: Schwarzenegger goes out battling deficits, much as he arrived - San Jose Mercury News

Grim bookends: Schwarzenegger goes out battling deficits, much as he arrived

By Denis C. Theriault

dtheriault@mercurynews.com

Posted: 05/13/2010 07:10:04 PM PDT

Updated: 05/13/2010 10:28:26 PM PDT

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FILE -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's final budget fight dawns today, when he releases what's...

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News, resources about the California budget

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's final budget fight dawns today, when he releases what's widely expected to be a dire update of the already-dire spending plan he released in January.

It will be the most agonizing battle yet for a former movie hero who vowed seven years ago to forever fix California's finances.

What had been worst-case proposals — such as the elimination of programs serving millions of needy Californians — will probably now be part of the plan's bedrock, administration sources say. Expected on the chopping block: health insurance for low-income children, in-home care for the elderly and disabled, and CalWORKs, the state welfare program.

Because of weak tax revenue, Schwarzenegger could announce that the state's deficit has climbed as high as $22 billion, even after higher-than-expected collections in the first part of the year and after the Legislature whittled away $1.3 billion in a special session this winter.

The governor's latest, and last, budget proposal will form a grim bookend to the first one he produced in 2004. Then, as now, the state was beset by partisanship, debate about cuts vs. risky accounting tricks and hand-wringing over the state's credit rating.

Another summer of rancor and missed budget deadlines loom. And when it's all said and done, Schwarzenegger will leave behind for his successor the one problem that propelled him into office above all others.

For

supporters of the governor, the blame lies with Sacramento itself and what they call its resistance to change. They also note that California, like the rest of the nation, is still suffering from the worst global downturn since the Great

Peter Dreier: In Pasadena, a Vote of Confidence for Public Schools

Peter Dreier

E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College

Posted: May 13, 2010 05:32 PM

In Pasadena, a Vote of Confidence for Public Schools

Tony Gordo, Ruth Strick, Cushon Bell, and George Brumder spent much of the last two months making phone calls several nights a week from a make-shift office on the second floor of the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, California.

Gordo was calling Spanish-speaking voters, urging them to vote "yes" on Measure CC, a $120 parcel tax for the Pasadena Unified School District. The 50-year old Gordo has worked for PUSD for 16 years, first as a teacher's aide and for the past 10 years as a painter with the district's maintenance division. He has two children at PUSD's John Muir High School and another at Pasadena Community College. His union, Teamsters Local 911, initially recruited Gordo to the CC phone bank, but he soon began showing up at the church on his own on a regular basis.

Strick, 78, is a career counselor and silversmith who has been active in Pasadena's arts community. She learned about the CC campaign from a local arts group and became one of its most effective volunteer phone-bankers. The 38-year old Bell is a teacher in the Los Angeles schools who has two children in Pasadena's public schools. She is a leader with Invest in PUSD Kids, a grassroots community group, which helped organize the CC campaign's volunteers. Brumder, 72, is a retired corporate lawyer and a well-connected and energetic philanthropist whose grown children attended private schools. He serves as president of the Pasadena Educational Foundation, which raises funds for the public schools, and chaired the CC campaign committee.

These four were among the more than 700 volunteers mobilized by the Measure CC campaign. They made phone calls, walked precincts, held house meetings, and spoke to neighborhood

A closer look at homeschooling in the state of California | CAIVN

A CLOSER LOOK AT HOMESCHOOLING IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

by Susannah Kopecky

Fri, May 14th 2010

What do most homeschooling instructors look like? Are they mothers, fathers, grandparents, or neighbors? And what is the state of homeschooling in California today?

In February 2008, the Second District California Court of Appealsruled that a homeschooling instructor must be properly credentialed in order to instruct school-age children at a home course of study. This ruling frightened many parents who had taught their children without needing to show proof of academic qualification.

Within two weeks, the California Department of Education rebuffed the ruling. In a March 11 statement from Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, O’Connell chose to “assure parents that choose to home school that California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still have the right to home school in our state.”

While encouraging all educators (at-home and in-school) to best prepare themselves to educate future leaders, O’Connell stayed firm on the idea that tighter home school regulation was off the table. “Some parents choose to send their children to private schools or to home school, and I respect that right.”

Two years later, little has changed. According to the CA

California Department of Education releases growth targets for schools - Imperial Valley Press Online - Local News

California Department of Education releases growth targets for schools

Schools have been put to the test and the bar is set for how they must achieve, according to the California Department of Education.

Schools statewide completed their California Standards Tests on Thursday, the same day the Department of Education released information that denotes the target growth number for the state’s Academic Performance Index.

Although the state target score for each school, 800, was met by only 11 out of 50 schools in Imperial County last year, the state puts slightly more emphasis on low-performing schools meeting their target growth, Pat McCabe, former manager of the state Academic Accountability Unit, has said.

“It lets you know that you’re better-performing,” Alejandra Limon, spokeswoman for the Calexico Unified School District said about the target growth rate. “You look at that and you say, ‘OK, when my students take the CST we want to make sure that they achieve that target,’” she said, noting that the target is based on the entire student population within second through sixth grades.

“If you meet that target it’s one part of the state testing that you have to comply with,” she said.

Limon said Calexico Unified is different than some districts in that it is a program improvement district because of recurring low test scores.

“Every year that we’re in program improvement we have to have plans of compliance and restructuring,” she said. “It’s a push toward the standards.”

New York Ranks 3rd in the Nation for Bullying - What Parents Can Do.

New York Ranks 3rd in the Nation for Bullying - What Parents Can Do.

May 14, 7:05 AM

Utica Parenting & Education Examiner

Lenny Giardino

How to Stop Bullying

How to Stop Bullying Website

If you like this ...

Cell Phones Negatively Impact Our School Communities

Part II - Cell Phones Negatively Impact Our School Community

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The following statistic may confirm what parents already know:

"School bullying statistics and cyber bullying statistics in 2007 the five top worst states to live in to avoid bullies in K – 12 were: 1. California, 2. New York, 3. Illinois, 4. Pennsylvania, 5, Washington."

Bullying is a complicated issue for parents. It can be a hidden problem. The bully today has many tools that never existed when we were kids. Mostly through technology, a bully can harass a child to the breaking point. Bullying is not limited to boys fighting in the school yard. Quite the contrary, girls are leading the charge with bullying. The harassment has long-term damaging effects.

What can a parent do about bullying? Communication with your school is the first step. Many schools have disciplinary policies to deal with bullying. Another resource to check for is a school resource officer. Many schools have a law enforcement representative to help parents deal with issues of harassment. Sometimes, a neutral party such as law enforcement is a better resource because their authority is more comprehensive. The bully can no longer use the excuse that bullying happens

Schwarzenegger to unveil grim budget revision today | 89.3 KPCC

Schwarzenegger to unveil grim budget revision today| 89.3 KPCC

Schwarzenegger to unveil grim budget revision today

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses his proposed 2010-11 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Jan. 8, 2010.

5:00 a.m. | Julie Small | KPCC

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In May, the governor revises the state government’s budget to factor in tax revenue collected in April. The so-called “May revise” that Governor Schwarzenegger unveils today will also have to explain how he plans to fill in a budget hole that could be $20 billion deep.

Back in January, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a plan to close the $20 billion deficit. It included a threat to slash health care and social service spending if Uncle Sam didn’t come up with $7 billion.

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Teacher bill will be key to reforming education - The Denver Post

Teacher bill will be key to reforming education

The emotional measure passed by lawmakers this week will hold teachers accountable for whether students are learning.

By The Denver Post

POSTED: 05/14/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

There was so much emotion and political warfare surrounding the teacher tenure bill that legislators approved Wednesday, you might have thought the measure was going to end public education as we know it.

For better or worse, that's unlikely. But it will, for the first time, hold Colorado teachers accountable in a fair and objective way for the learning that happens in their classrooms.

The measure also puts Colorado at the vanguard of education reform nationwide. It is designed to refocus the educational mission, making great teaching and student achievement a no-excuses proposition.

Beyond policy, the tenure bill tested traditional alliances at the Capitol, as Democrats who believed in the reform found themselves at odds with a longtime ally, the powerful Colorado Education Association teachers union.

The passage of the bill, hard fought through the final hours of the session, makes the evaluations of teachers and principals dependent, in part, on the educational advancement of their students. Those who repeatedly fail to move their students academically risk losing their tenure and perhaps even their jobs.

The Educated Guess Landmark ruling on teacher layoffs

The Educated Guess

Landmark ruling on teacher layoffs

Posted in Advocacy organizations, Tenure

A Superior Court judge has served notice to school districts statewide that the seniority rights of teachers do not trump the fundamental right of students to an equal opportunity for a good education.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday preventing any teacher layoffs for budgetary reasons at three Los Angeles Unified middle schools where large numbers of teachers have been given pink slips.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on May 14th, 2010

Nonstop work on Race to the Top

Posted in Race to the Top

California’s forthcoming second-round application for Race to the Top may be a long-shot, but the half-dozen districts behind the effort sure aren’t treating it as such.
Staffers in the districts and consultants writing the application are working round the clock in shifts to get the document ready for submission in late May, Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson told a legislative hearing on Wednesday. And he expressed confidence that additional districts will sign a memorandum of understanding, committing them to the plan that is now in the works.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on May 13th, 2010

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A major court victory in L.A.

A major court victory in L.A.

by Mike Klonsky

Tim Sullivan, principal of Markham Middle School in Watts

How many other inner-city schools will follow suit?

Calling it a "major victory," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hailed a judge's decision to issue an injunction blocking district-mandated layoffs at three Los Angeles Unified middle schools where civil rights groups said job cuts would deprive inner-city children of their right to an education. (AP Wire)

“'Today's landmark decision carries on the ideals of Brown v. Board of Education that no child may be deprived of the right to learn,” said Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the ACLU of Southern California. “

The class action suit was filed in February 2010 by students at three Los Angeles middle schools who alleged that one round of layoffs had already stripped their schools of many teachers, and that another planned round

Schools Matter: Mission: Build Economic Fence Around Arizona Teachers, Parents, Students Revolt in Duncan's Backyard

Schools Matter: Mission: Build Economic Fence Around Arizona

Mission: Build Economic Fence Around Arizona

by Jim Horn

Yesterday the freight train of fascism rolled on in Arizona, where Chicano and Mexican-American studies were banned. The only way to get Arizona's racist legislation killed is by withholding any and all commercial exchange with any enterprise in or associated with Arizona. A clip from the LA Times:

. . . . HB 2281 bans schools from teaching classes that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment or advocate ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals. The bill also bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.
The bill was written to target the Chicano, or Mexican American, studies program in the Tucson school system, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Horne.
School districts that don't comply with the new law could have as much as 10% of their state funds

Teachers, Parents, Students Revolt in Duncan's Backyard

by Jim Horn

From CORE:

Download this flyer and distribute to teachers, parents, and other community members.

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Friday, May 14, 2010