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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Big News from NYC & DC? Meh. | Intercepts

Big News from NYC & DC? Meh. | Intercepts

Big News from NYC & DC? Meh.

by Mike Antonucci
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he will “freeze” salaries and avert 4,400 teacher layoffs. One unidentified union leader called the proposal a ”stunt.”
It’s a stunt, all right, and not just because Bloomberg can’t take unilateral action on a collective bargaining agreement. What kind of pay “freeze” results in an average salary increase of 3.3%?
The mayor’s move does not entirely freeze teachers’ pay. Teachers typically receive an annual raise and “step increases” for seniority and for earning advanced degrees or academic credits. Teachers will still receive step increases, which can range from around $400 at the beginning of a career to more than $8,000 for teachers who reach 20 years. Teacher salaries would still go up an
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Black Parallel School Board

About Us - Black Parallel School Board
The Black Parallel School Board (BPSB) is a community organization developed to work parallel to the Sacramento City Unified District Board of Education.
The Black Parallel School Board (BPSB) is a community organization developed to work parallel to the Sacramento City Unified District Board of Education. Its major responsibility is to support the educational growth and achievement of Black students. In order to do that we will monitor all educational activities and programs of the school district to ensure that they are compatible with the needs of African American students of the district. Additionally, the BPSB provides support services to parents regarding the education of their children. BPSB members will attend school meetings with parents to advocate for their children; BPSB members will also provide workshops for parents interested in learning techniques to make learning more successful.
Visit: http://www.blackparallelschoolboard.com/Aboutus.html
Black Parallel School Board Meeting
June 5, 2010
Saturday 10:00am
Oak Park United Methodist Church
3600 BroadwaySacramento, CA 95817
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Md., D.C. poised for common education standards, but not Va.

Md., D.C. poised for common education standards, but not Va.

Md., D.C. poised for common education standards, but not Va.

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McDonnell (Jacquelyn Martin - AP)
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Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 3, 2010

For the first time, schools in the District, Maryland and many other states would share a common vision for what students should learn every year in English and math under a proposal released Wednesday that marked a major step toward voluntary national standards.
But Virginia schools would stand apart.
The emergence of what advocates call "common core standards," in a proposal from the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, is rapidly splitting state education leaders. Many embrace the initiative as an improvement over homegrown standards that vary in rigor and quality from state to state. In their view, the nation cannot compete with other global economic powers unless schools can agree on how and when to teach such subjects as algebra.
But some -- probably a minority at this point -- say that their state standards are good enough and that replacing them would force a needless and costly overhaul of curriculum, instruction and testing. Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has voiced this argumentrepeatedly in recent days to explain why the state dropped out of a federal grant competition that had encouraged the common standards movement.
As a result, Virginia's 1.3 million students will probably stick with the state's Standards of Learning in coming years, while about 75,000 students in the District and 840,000 in Maryland will follow the common core.
The governors association and school officers council released the final of five drafts of the common standards Wednesday at a high school in Georgia, with statements of support from Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D). American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten drew a sports analogy in her argument for common standards: "Can you imagine in football if one team got to make a first down after seven yards," she asked, while other teams had to move the ball 10?
The document was developed by educators and academics, drawing on experts from
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D.C. contract ratified by three to one. Half the teachers didn’t vote. � Fred Klonsky's blog

D.C. contract ratified by three to one. Half the teachers didn’t vote. � Fred Klonsky's blog

D.C. contract ratified by three to one. Half the teachers didnt vote.

by preaprez
Local contracts are local business.
That is why I get pissed when state leadership gives away our local collective bargaining rights., That is what they did here in Illinois in order to please Arne Duncan and get some Race money.
Or when politicians want to legislate away at the federal level seniority rights that have been bargained locally.
That is not to say I don’t have an opinion about another local’s decision to accept or reject a contract. For example, the DC contract that was just ratified three to one by the WTU membership. It’s their contract. They have to live with it. But I think it is a lousy deal.
Since the chancellor of D.C. schools is Michelle Rhee, and since every time Michelle Rhee passes gas it threatens to become a part of Arne Duncan’s USDE agenda, the local contract has national implications.
The D.C. contract guts seniority rights and closely aligns compensation to test scores in exchange for potential
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States' Fiscal Condition Still Dismal, New Report Finds - Politics K-12 - Education Week

States' Fiscal Condition Still Dismal, New Report Finds - Politics K-12 - Education Week

States' Fiscal Condition Still Dismal, New Report Finds

by Alyson Klein
State finances remain as bad as they have been in decades, and the fiscal picture isn't likely to clear up anytime soon, according to a report released this morning by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officials.
"Fiscal 2010 presented the most difficult challenges for states' financial management since the Great Depression, and fiscal 2011 is expected to present states with similar challenges," the report says. "The severe national recession that most likely ended in the second half of calendar year 2009 has drastically reduced tax revenues from every revenue source."
And fiscal 2011 isn't looking much brighter, the groups say: A majority of states are contemplating cutting K-12 education next year as they brace for overall spending reductions for what could be the third year in a row.
State general fund spending declined an unprecedented two years in a row, in both fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the report found. It estimates that fiscal 2010 general fund expenditures will be $612.9 billion among all the states, down from $657.9 billion in the previous fiscal year—an 8 percent decline. And in their budget requests, 13 governors proposed spending less in fiscal 2011 than in fiscal 2010.
Overall, 44 states estimate that they will be spending less from their general funds in fiscal 2010 than they did in
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School District on Grand Jury: We’re On It Already voiceofsandiego.org.

Education



School District on Grand Jury: We’re On It Already
San Diego Unified just issued a statement in response to a new county grand jury report that highlights misuse of student government funds, illegal fees for student activities and other problems, many of which were already uncovered by school district internal auditors.
The school district has until the end of August to write a detailed response to the concerns and recommendations. Its statement says, in part:
Prior to the release of the report, the district had already taken numerous actions related to the Grand Jury's findings. The district Fraud Hotline, established in 2006, continues to provide an invaluable service for the district in combating waste, abuse and corruption. Investigations stemming from the Hotline have resulted in corrective action, including the discipline and termination of district employees as well as saving the district millions of dollars. ...
Similarly, the Board of Education has been very proactive by having staff issue guidelines about the proper use of student fees, charges, deposits, donations and fundraising related to courses and activities were developed and distributed to all school sites in December 2009.
-- EMILY ALPERT
Posted in Schooled, This just in on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 3:56 pm. icon Comments (2)


County Grand Jury: Schools Misuse Student Money, Charge Illegal Fees
A county grand jury report released today criticizes San Diego Unified schools for misusing more than $100,000 meant for student government, instead spending it on school supplies, equipment and things that benefit faculty, such as a Christmas party for employees. The problems were originally uncovered in internal school district audits.
Such money is meant for extra activities, not the basics that schools are supposed to supply. The report states that the problem is widespread: Roughly 75 percent of schools audited by school district investigators had misused the funds, including the School for Creative and Performing Arts, Hoover High, Longfellow Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Mission Bay High and Washington Elementary.
The grand jury, a volunteer citizen group that investigates local governments, recommended San Diego Unified require more training for principals, vice principals, financial clerks and student government advisors to ensure they have checks and balances to track and control how money is spent. It also advised the school district to increase its auditing staff.
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This Week In Education Reform: What RTTT & The Spelling Bee Have In Common

This Week In Education

Reform: What RTTT & The Spelling Bee Have In Common [image: ScreenHunter_20 Jun. 02 22.34] "Shared elements of RTTT and the national spelling bee: narrow criteria, few winners, limited, effects, public fascination." Via my own Twitter feed. (Shameless and duplicative, I know.)
Think Tanks: US News Journalist Joins EdSector [image: Female] EdSector had to do something to replace co-founders Tom Toch and Andy Rotherham and try and get its mojo back but I'm not sure that hiring another former US News and World Report alum was the thing they needed to do. Like a lot of ...
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Zoho Challenge | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Zoho Challenge | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Zoho Challenge I don’t know how new Zoho Challenge is, but it’s definitely new to me. It seems like a very good way to create online tests (and include multimedia in them). I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Create Online Tests.
I Like Twextra Twextra is a new web application that lets people create a simple webpage with an automatically shortened link for sharing in something like Twitter. That purpose is fine, but it works great for another reason — and that’s why I like it. Some ...
New Oil Spill Resources Here are today’s additions to The Best Sites To Learn About The Gulf Oil Spill: Spill Reaches Alabama Shore is a Wall Street Journal slideshow. ‘If Exxon Valdez was a heart attack, Deepwater is a cancer’ is an audio slideshow from The Guardian. ...

More Neat World Cup Resources

My Best Posts About Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control

by Larry Ferlazzo
Helping students developing a greater capacity for self-control is an on-going effort (and challenge) in some of my classes.
I’ve written quite a bit about how I have attempted to apply recent research on the subject to my classroom practice. I’ll be including a piece on this in my upcoming third book, which is on classroom management and

Seventeenth Edition of The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Is Up!

by Larry Ferlazzo
Mary Ann Zehr at Learning The Language has just posted the Seventeenth Edition of the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival. It’s a great collection of blog posts from teachers all around the world.
Mary Ann has arranged it as a Question/Answer post, with each post answering a question she lists. It’s a pretty neat idea.
The August 1st edition of the Carnival will be hosted by
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RI charter school appeals probation recommendation - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

RI charter school appeals probation recommendation


June 3, 2010
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Lawyers for a Providence charter school the state's education commissioner has recommended be put on probation because of poor student performance have filed an appeal.
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Education Commissioner Deborah Gist (GIHST) has recommended that the 10-year-old Highlander Charter School be placed on probation for a year, and possibly closed in 2011, if student performance does not approve.
The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education is scheduled to vote on the matter on Thursday.
Stephen Adams, a lawyer for the school and some parents, say Highlander has been denied due process and is being held to standards that Gist has not properly defined.
Highlander has about 300 students in grades K through
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How to Write a News Story about School Reform | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

How to Write a News Story about School Reform | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

How to Write a News Story about School Reform

vonzastrowc's picture
By Claus von Zastrow on June 2, 2010
Do you want to write a news story about school reform? Here's how you do it.
Choose two neighboring schools: a successful charter school and a struggling traditional public school. Then choose one student from each school. Profile both students' humble or even tragic beginnings, but then compare the charter school student's great efflorescence with the continued struggles of the other student.
Use the two students to contrast the promise of charters in general with the problems many urban public schools face. Toss in a sentence somewhere about the uneven quality of charter schools, but don't belabor that point.
That has become a tried-and-true formula for quite a few national journalists lately. The Wall Street Journal ran the most recent variation on the theme last Sunday. It's not a bad article on its own merits. The two students' stories are gripping, and the piece drives home the vital message that a school can change the odds for low-income students.
But can you imagine a national news outlet carrying the reverse story? Can you imagine a tale of two schools in which the traditional public school outshines the charter school down the street? Such stories surely exist, but there is apparently no need to write them in the current political climate. The media are, by and large, turning a blind eye to non-charter public schools that are succeeding against all
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