Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Lauren Hammond Democrat for Assembly
Lauren Hammond Democrat for Assembly
I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the California State Assembly from the 9th District. I want to bring independent thinking, fresh ideas, and a decade of experience with the Sacramento City Council to the Capitol, to deliver the kind of representation I think is sorely missing in the Legislature.
I would appreciate your support of my campaign for State Assembly. Together we can change old bad habits that too often have stood in the way of solutions and we can tap new leaders with fresh ideas who can break the cycle of impasse and failure that prevails in state government today.
Sincerely,
Cloning controversial city programs key to state RTTT bid | GothamSchools
Cloning controversial city programs key to state RTTT bid
Some of New York City’s signature educational programs — including its principal training academies and school-based teams that examine student data — could go statewide if New York wins nearly $700 million in Race to the Top funds.
The state is arguing in its Race to the Top application that it can accomplish Obama administration educational goals by replicating city programs around New York. That could be a smart strategy, as U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has called New York City a model for how the federal government should spend its education funds. But city programs the state wants to duplicate include some of its most controversial.
Here are some of the programs that could get cloned, along with the justification provided in the state’s Race to the Top application:
Leadership Academies:
The state is arguing in its Race to the Top application that it can accomplish Obama administration educational goals by replicating city programs around New York. That could be a smart strategy, as U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has called New York City a model for how the federal government should spend its education funds. But city programs the state wants to duplicate include some of its most controversial.
Here are some of the programs that could get cloned, along with the justification provided in the state’s Race to the Top application:
Leadership Academies:
New York will use $6 million in RTTT funds to replicate the successful Rochester and New York
Remainders: Schools spared in Gov’s emergency budget
- Gov. Paterson is not including education cuts in his emergency budget legislation next week.
- City Room ranks city charter schools by their admission rates, highlighting the five choosiest.
- InsideSchools looks at all the reasons a student could be banned from a graduation ceremony.
- David Bloomfield: allowing organizations to certify teachers will create more unmonitored diploma mills.
- In his first year, a teacher used to hear students whine, “I want to go home.” Now it’s not the norm.
- A troubled student-turned-journalist wonders if School of One could have helped him.
- Jay Mathews suggests an antidote to competition for celebrity graduation speakers: let teachers speak.
- A teacher says giving partial credit on a test is reasonable, the problem is when the test is politicized.
- Rick Hess says his fellow edu-reformers need to get over their fear of criticism and questioning.
- A Harvard professor says a recent conference about merit pay left him unconvinced about its power.
- New Jersey has jettisoned the idea of offering a teacher retirement incentive to save money.
- Formerly in charge of RttT, Joanne Weiss is moving up to become Duncan’s chief of staff.
- Detroit’s mayor has an uphill battle to win mayoral control partly because the city has already tried it.
- And P.S. 22’s famed chorus won a the Webby Artist of the Year award.
Sac City Unified is starting a Chinese immersion program - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee
Sac City Unified is starting a Chinese immersion program
The Sacramento City Unified School District is reaching out to parents who are interested in a Chinese immersion program that will open in the fall at Elder Creek Elementary School.
The Chinese immersion program will start with a kindergarten class, taught by an experienced teacher from Hong Kong, district spokesman Gabe Ross said. The district will add an additional class every year until there is one available from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The district is modeling their program after a Chinese immersion program in San Francisco, which gradually introduces English over the course of each school year. In the San Francisco program, students in kindergarten and first grade start out speaking 80 percent Chinese and 20 percent English. The programs aim to teac
The Chinese immersion program will start with a kindergarten class, taught by an experienced teacher from Hong Kong, district spokesman Gabe Ross said. The district will add an additional class every year until there is one available from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The district is modeling their program after a Chinese immersion program in San Francisco, which gradually introduces English over the course of each school year. In the San Francisco program, students in kindergarten and first grade start out speaking 80 percent Chinese and 20 percent English. The programs aim to teac
Chicago Amplified - Too Broken to Reform? How We Can Fix Public Education
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Alberto Torrico for California Attorney General
Alberto Torrico for California Attorney General
May 27, 2010
Education blog: Dallas ISD has more reserves than expected, but will still have to borrow $80 million | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News
Education blog: Dallas ISD has more reserves than expected, but will still have to borrow $80 million
05:59 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Dallas ISD will have more reserves than expected at the end of this month, but it still will have to borrow $80-million to make ends meet next school year, the district's chief finance officer said Thursday. Larry Throm also said that the district's tax rate is expected to go down slightly for 2010-11, saving the average property owner about $55. With the 2009-10 budget year ending June 30, Throm painted a mixed picture of school finances, showing that controls on spending have boosted the district's fund balance from about $37-million to $60-million. But that won't be enough cash on hand to end a cycle of borrowing that has kept the district afloat. In August 2008, the district borrowed $125-million to be able to meet payroll and other expenses; in August 2009, it borrowed $85-million in so-called "Tax Anticipation Notes." The money is paid back once tax collections start rolling in. The district is expected to borrow another $80-million in the next few months, Throm said. DISD's Board of Trustees is scheduled to discuss the $80-million borrowing plan at its meeting next week. As to the reserves, Throm said that a number of factors led to the increase, including additional revenues from the state and lower spending in some departments. However, the $60-million is still inadequate - slightly less
Musicans cancel performances Israel. � Fred Klonsky's blog
Musicans cancel performances Israel.
Reacting to recent events in which the Israeli Defense Force killed 9 humanitarian peace activists in international waters as they tried to deliver non-military supplies to Gaza, cultural artists are speaking out and refusing to perform in Israel.
In West non-vote, did the SRC violate the Sunshine Act? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
In West non-vote, did the SRC violate the Sunshine Act?
by Dale Mezzacappa on Jun 08 2010
At its meeting last Wednesday May 26, the School Reform Commission suddenly and without voting withdrew a prepared and printed resolutionon pairing West Philadelphia High School with Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now as a Renaissance School. Chairman Robert Archie said only that"certain facts" had come up that needed to be checked out.
It later became known -- but not through the SRC -- that the resolution was withdrawn over complaints that some members of West's advisory council were employed or paid stipends by the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is a local partner for Hopkins.
During the ensuing uproar from members of the West community -- especially the School Advisory Council that had approved the match with Hopkins and were eager to get on with the turnaround process -- Archie never explained exactly how the decision to withdraw the resolution was made.
In a press conference on Friday, June 4, Archie first said the commissioners had voted during the executive session. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman corrected him. Archie then said he had polled the commissioners in private during the public meeting, and that a majority said the resolution should be withdrawn.
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