Detroit’s Struggle with Mayoral Control � The Quick and the Ed

Detroit’s Struggle with Mayoral Control � The Quick and the Ed

Detroit’s Struggle with Mayoral Control

by guest blogger

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced that he is ready to take control of Detroit’s failing schools. He endorsed petition efforts underway to put mayoral control on the November ballot, but evidence suggests that the effort might be an uphill electoral battle.
Detroit’s schools suffer a litany of challenges. Its students have the lowest NAEP scores of any urban district. There has been a precipitous decline in enrollment over the last decade and a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions prompted Governor Granholm to appoint “emergency financial manager” Robert Bobb in March 2009 to command control of the district’s cash.
Despite these pressing issues, only 4% of Detroit residents feel that the schools are the biggest problem facing the city, a statistic that, though disheartening, is fairly unsurprising considering that the city was named one of the ten most dangerous in the world by CNN this year and that unemployment hovers somewhere around 25%. Voters have other things on their minds, but getting their attention won’t be the biggest obstacle to mayoral control. History will.
The troubled story of DPS’s endeavor with mayoral control from 1999 to 2005 provides a counter-example to

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts | - NJ.com

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts | - NJ.com

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts

By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger

June 08, 2010, 3:25PM

AMANDA BROWN/THE STAR-LEDGERDavid Sciarra, of the Education Law Center, argues against the state's position during arguments about school aid funding in front of the State Supreme Court in Trenton in April 2009.

TRENTON -- A motion being filed in the N.J. Supreme Court today on behalf of school children seeks to force the state to fully fund the school aid formula upheld by the state's highest court last year.

If the action brought by Education Law Center is successful, it could force New Jersey to spend about $1 billion more on schools and impact Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget, which cut about that much next year.

Previous coverage:

• Gov. Chris Christie backs off plans to push N.J. teachers to retire early

• Thousands of N.J. teachers get layoff notices as school budget deadlines loom

• N.J. town, school officials vent about budget cuts, property tax hikes

• N.J. students wage mass walkouts in response to Gov. Chris Christie's school cuts

• N.J. education chief warns legislators of voter wrath after school budget defeats

• N.J. voters send message of discontent by shooting down school budgets

• Q&A: When school budgets fail

• Gov. Chris Christie says N.J. school budget defeats should serve as 'wake up call'

Christie's proposed a $1.08 billion cut in state formula aid to schools next year. Offset slightly by increases in spending for preschool and teacher pensions, the governor's budget includes an overall reduction of $820 million for schools.

A spokesman for Christie had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.

Since laying out the cuts in March, the governor has stressed that he had no choice but to take from school aid because it is the single largest chunk of the state's budget. No school district lost more than 5 percent of its budget in state aid, although that meant some wealthy suburban districts saw all of their formula aid disappear.

School districts across the state were sent reeling by the cuts, causing local districts to reduce budgets by laying off staff, cutting programs, reducing busing; increasing property taxes, and instituting new charges like student activity fees.

In its brief, the Education Law Center said Christie's cuts "deprive all New Jersey children, particularly vulnerable 'at risk' children, of a thorough and efficient education. The sheer magnitude of the aid cut has devastated all components of districts' educational programs."

The Education Law Center, which is based in Newark and advocates for students in urban districts, tried to reach out to the state Attorney General to request voluntary compliance with the court decision, but was unsuccessful, according to Executive Director David Sciarra.

On Capitol Hill, Addressing the State of the Child - Politics K-12 - Education Week

On Capitol Hill, Addressing the State of the Child - Politics K-12 - Education Week

On Capitol Hill, Addressing the State of the Child

by Alyson Klein

From Guest Blogger Lisa Fine
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill usually talk about children in a specific context, such as education or health policy, but a hearing today—the first of four—focused on "The State of the American Child" in a big-picture way.
The Senate education committee's subcommittee on children and families is receiving testimony from a variety of experts who will examine numerous aspects of children's lives: their health, education, and family and community life.
At today's hearing, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who is subcommittee chairman, said he was planning to craft and introduce legislation to create a national commission on children to regularly and closely examine the needs of American families and identify solutions.
"There's a reason our kids get report cards in school," said Dodd, who is retiring after this year. "They help us clearly identify how we're doing. Only by assessing honestly our progress—celebrating our successes and acknowledging our failures—can we improve it."
At the standing-room-only event, Dodd and the subcommittee heard from Alma Powell, chair of America's Promise Alliance, in Washington; Elaine Zimmerman, executive director of Connecticut Commission on Children, in Hamden, Conn.; Jack Lund, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater New York, in New York City, and Harry Holzer, an economist at Georgetown University.

Race to Top Guru Weiss Moving On Up

by Michele McNeil

Joanne Weiss will become U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's chief of staff at the end of the month, a department spokesperson confirmed today.
Weiss, the department's Race to the Top director, who has earned high marks for how she's handled this high-profile competition, will replace Margot Rogers, who came to the department alongside Duncan at the beginning of the administration. No word yet on where Rogers, who previously worked for the Gates Foundation, is landing.
The department spokesperson said: "Margot has been an amazing leader, a trusted confidant, and an invaluable 

Relatives of missing Oregon boy urge optimism - Boston.com

Relatives of missing Oregon boy urge optimism - Boston.com

Relatives of missing Oregon boy urge optimism

In this undated photo provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Kyron Horman is seen. The FBI has joined an expanding search for Horman, a 7-year-old Oregon boy who vanished after his stepmother left him at his Portland elementary school on Friday morning. (AP Photo/Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)

By Nigel Duara

Associated Press Writer / June 8, 2010

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PORTLAND, Ore.—Relatives of a 7-year-old Portland boy missing from his elementary school for five days have urged those working to find him to carry on the search with optimism.

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Twenty-two state, local and federal agencies have been following up on more than 1,200 tips in the search for Kyron Horman, who disappeared from Skyline Elementary School on Friday.

"There has been nothing of significance in terms of results to report," Multnomah County sheriff's Capt. Jason Gates said Tuesday at a brief news conference.

He said investigators have interviewed the families of about 90 percent of the school's students, and he asked those who haven't been questioned to call a tip line.

Many parents were at a science fair Friday morning before the boy vanished. Gates said investigators planned to interview everyone who was at the school.

Kelly Ramirez, the sister of Kyron's mother, issued a statement Monday evening thanking everyone who has "worked tirelessly on Kyron's behalf" and asked people to print and distribute fliers with the boy's photo.

"Above all do not give up hope, as we certainly never will," she said. "He is out there and we are going to find him and bring him home safe where he belongs."

Sheriff's deputies and FBI agents posted about 40 yards from the school stopped

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LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

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Public Education's Forgotten Excellence - Perdaily.com

Public Education's Forgotten Excellence - Perdaily.com

Public Education's Forgotten Excellence

by Leonard

As I get older, often I find myself mentioning a great movie or actor, a book, or an important event from the past, while getting a quizzical look on the young face that I am trying to share my passionate memories with. While I am old enough to realize that nothing lasts, I also realize that in the relay race that is life, education must function as the bridge between the past and the future where what one generation has valued can be presented to the next generation for their scrutiny, possible approval, and as a point of reference in determining where they want to go.

In the Professor Stanley Fish's New York Times blog today entitled A Classic Education: Back to the Future, Professor Fish reminisces about Classical High School in Providence, Rhode Island where he went over 55 years ago. The academic rigor he describes from that time seems much further removed than its actual 55 years, when juxtaposed with an LAUSD of today which doesn't see this level of academic excellence as even a possible goal in anything but rhetoric. Much like LAUSD of today, Classical High was "A student body made up of the children of immigrants or first generation Americans; many, like [Professor Fish], the first in their families to finish high

Sunshine on College Credit Card Contracts � The Quick and the Ed

Sunshine on College Credit Card Contracts � The Quick and the Ed

QUICK Hits

by Forrest Hinton

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading and viewing each day.

• Is it lying in some cases to give students partial credit for partial understanding on state assessments? (Core Knowledge Blog)
• Does the education reform movement need more debate and careful scrutiny? (Rick Hess Straight Up)
• Is the “energetic, decentralized but forceful reform approach” used by the Obama administration in education worth exporting to other policy issues? (The New York Times)
• A better way to borrow? (Inside Higher Ed)
• The never-ending debate: National/Common education standards—good or bad? (Cato)

Sunshine on College Credit Card Contracts

by Ben Miller

Though computers and e-mail were widespread by the time I entered college in the fall of 2003, the major throwback to increasingly outdated technology was a landline phone number that my school provided to everyone who lived on campus. Because cell reception in my freshman dorm was pretty spotty, my roommate and I decided it made sense to get a cordless phone to use from time to time.
The phone mostly went unused through the first few months of the semester, but we suddenly started getting a constant barrage of phone calls, starting at the inconvenient for college student hour of 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. What was strange was the person on the other end always knew to ask for either my roommate or myself–something I found curious since the numbers are randomly assigned to new people

Election Day in California: Teachers' Unions v. EdVoice - State EdWatch - Education Week

Election Day in California: Teachers' Unions v. EdVoice - State EdWatch - Education Week

Election Day in California: Teachers' Unions v. EdVoice

By Lesli Maxwell on June 8, 2010 7:38 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

While the GOP primary for governor gobbles up most of the major media attention today in California, education policy geeks will be more interested in what goes down in the three-person contest for state schools chief. (Yes, there are a total of 12 candidates, but only three that are viable.)

This race, and it actually is a race, is viewed widely as a referendum on the influence of the California Teachers Association, the 325,000-member teachers' union that has, for decades, been one of the state's most formidable special interest groups. The CTA, along with the other statewide teachers' union, the California Federation of Teachers, has sunk close to $1.5 million into the campaign of Tom Torlakson, a former teacher and coach who is an assembly member from the San Francisco Bay Area. Interestingly, the union money has not been used to produce and buy television time for Torlakson. CTA invested in radio spots, which are cheaper than TV.

But the contest's outcome could just as easily be seen as a measure of the influence of wealthy philanthropists with very specific ideas about improving public schooling, folks by the name of Broad (as in Eli), Hastings (as in Reed of NetFlix fame), and Fisher (as in the family of the late Don Fisher, founder of The Gap and major benefactor of KIPP). Those heavy hitters, individually and through their reform organization, EdVoice, have poured about the same amount of dough into the campaign of Gloria Romero, a state senator from Los Angeles. Romero, who is pro-charter school, has also become one of the loudest state voices for the Obama administration's school-reform strategies, particularly its $4 billion Race to the Top sweepstakes. The EdVoice money bought Romerotelevision exposure.

Then there's Larry Aceves, a retired district superintendent who was recruited to run by the Association of California School Administrators. Aceves' candidacy,

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts | - NJ.com

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts | - NJ.com

Education Law Center asks N.J. Supreme Court to reverse $1B in school spending cuts

By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger

June 08, 2010, 3:25PM

AMANDA BROWN/THE STAR-LEDGERDavid Sciarra, of the Education Law Center, argues against the state's position during arguments about school aid funding in front of the State Supreme Court in Trenton in April 2009.

TRENTON -- A motion being filed in the N.J. Supreme Court today on behalf of school children seeks to force the state to fully fund the school aid formula upheld by the state's highest court last year.

If the action brought by Education Law Center is successful, it could force New Jersey to spend about $1 billion more on schools and impact Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget, which cut about that much next year.

Previous coverage:

• Gov. Chris Christie backs off plans to push N.J. teachers to retire early

• Thousands of N.J. teachers get layoff notices as school budget deadlines loom

• N.J. town, school officials vent about budget cuts, property tax hikes

• N.J. students wage mass walkouts in response to Gov. Chris Christie's school cuts

• N.J. education chief warns legislators of voter wrath after school budget defeats

• N.J. voters send message of discontent by shooting down school budgets

• Q&A: When school budgets fail

• Gov. Chris Christie says N.J. school budget defeats should serve as 'wake up call'

Christie's proposed a $1.08 billion cut in state formula aid to schools next year. Offset slightly by increases in spending for preschool and teacher pensions, the governor's budget includes an overall reduction of $820 million for schools.

A spokesman for Christie had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.

Since laying out the cuts in March, the governor has stressed that he had no choice but to take from school aid because it is the single largest chunk of the state's budget. No school district lost more than 5 percent of its budget in state aid, although that meant some wealthy suburban districts saw all of their formula aid disappear.

School districts across the state were sent reeling by the cuts, causing local districts to reduce budgets by laying off staff, cutting programs, reducing busing; increasing property taxes, and instituting new charges like student activity fees.

In its brief, the Education Law Center said Christie's cuts "deprive all New Jersey children, particularly vulnerable 'at risk' children, of a thorough and efficient education. The sheer magnitude of the aid cut has devastated all components of districts' educational programs."

The Education Law Center, which is based in Newark and advocates for