Conditions of Education in California | Conditions of Education in California

Conditions of Education in California | Conditions of Education in California

THE DOUBLE DISAPPOINTMENT OF QEIA

By David N. Plank | 09:16 AM | Categories: Finance

The California Teachers Association has released preliminary findings from their ongoing evaluation of the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA). The initial findings are generally positive, but their release is an occasion for disappointment rather than celebration, for two reasons.

The first is that the implementation of QEIA coincided with the unprecedented fiscal calamity that has engulfed...

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DEC 3RD, 2010

CA EDUCATION POLICY UPDATE

By Mona Vakilifathi | 05:27 PM | Categories:

The initial results for the Quality Education Investment Act QEIA was heavily discussed this week, namely for its positive effects for low-performing schools. According to theSI&A Cabinet Report, 488 California schools in this study achieved an average 63 point increase on their...

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DEC 1ST, 2010

THE PITFALLS OF SITE-BASED BUDGETING

By David N. Plank | 11:39 AM | Categories: School & District Reform

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle over the weekend makes it clear just how hard it will be to make the distribution of resources in California’s education system more equitable. The article describes a controversy in the Albany USD, where the three elementary schools are raising money from...

Schools Matter: Poverty has a huge impact on American PISA scores

Schools Matter: Poverty has a huge impact on American PISA scores

Poverty has a huge impact on American PISA scores

by skrashen

Poverty has a huge impact on American PISA scores

“Two countries with similar levels of prosperity can produce very different results,” Ángel Gurría, the O.E.C.D. secretary general, said in a statement on Tuesday. “This shows that an image of a world divided neatly into rich and well-educated countries and poor and badly educated countries is now out of date.” (New York Times,

solidaridad: DFER Reactionary Gloria Romero Jumps on the Hostile Takeover Bandwagon in Compton

solidaridad: DFER Reactionary Gloria Romero Jumps on the Hostile Takeover Bandwagon in Compton

DFER Reactionary Gloria Romero Jumps on the Hostile Takeover Bandwagon in Compton

Barr's parent organization gave... a grass-roots visual... And his paid staffers hit the right rhetorical notes... while identifying themselves to reporters and officials only as parents. — Howard Blume (Los Angeles Times)


Here's my comments on Howard Blume and Teresa Watanabe's latest glowing, gushing piece on everyone's favorite corporate school privatizers.

Good to see the reactionary pro-corporate Gloria Romero side with of parents that signed the petition and utterly ignore the wishes of parents and community members that opposed it. Why did you want to "prevent opposition" Senator? Is it because giving the parents all the facts and multiple choices instead of a hand picked single choice would have prevented the well heeled Vielka McFarlane from increasing her market share? Or is it that you and your fellow wealthy elitist Ben Austin felt those parents weren't capable of making informed decisions outside of those you already made for them?

Can't wait to see the DFER 990 filing to see how well Romero is

Remainders: Public advocate says he’s “disappointed” in Black | GothamSchools

Remainders: Public advocate says he’s “disappointed” in Black | GothamSchools

Remainders: Public advocate says he’s “disappointed” in Black

by Maura Walz

• A second lawsuit is challenging Cathie Black’s appointment. (GS, City Room, State of Politics)
• Bill de Blasio is “disappointed” that Black hedged on where she’d send her kids to school. (Daily Politics)
• Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emmanuel also wouldn’t say where he’d send his children. (WBEZ)
• Is Cathie Black the Mr. Wensleydale of public education? (Accountable Talk)
• A school turnaround specialist argues states should rethink how they spend federal grants. (Mass Insight)
• A Jamaica H.S. teacher argues the city and union are both responsible for the ATR crisis. (Answer Sheet)
• Michelle Rhee wants her new organization to act as a political counterbalance to unions. (WBEZ)
• A documentary on pressures on students is gaining a grassroots following. (Times)
• InsideSchools has posted new reviews to help parents select a middle school. (InsideSchools)

SEIU Chapter Denounces Raids on Activists | Criminal Justice | Change.org

SEIU Chapter Denounces Raids on Activists | Criminal Justice | Change.org

SEIU Chapter Denounces Raids on Activists

by Charles DavisDecember 08, 2010 11:11 AM (PT)Topics: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Grassroots Activism, War on Terror

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A 5,000-member strong chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Minnesota is formally denouncing the FBI's raids on anti-war activists -- many of them "union members in good standing" -- and calling on President Obama "to order an immediate investigation into the circumstances, motivation and propriety of the judicial and police intimidation of our members and others."

The move comes after the FBI in late September raided a half-dozen homes and offices of prominent antiwar activists in Minneapolis and Chicago, ostensibly as part of an investigation into whether the activists provided "material support" for terrorism, which is defined so broadly as to include counseling State Department-designated terrorist groups to embrace non-violence and, well, stop being terrorists.

Just last week the FBI issued three additional subpoenasto Chicago activists who had recently travelled to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, prompting a call to protest from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, which has labeled the bureau's investigation a "fishing expedition"

The Educated Reporter: What was the best education journalism this year?

The Educated Reporter: What was the best education journalism this year?

What was the best education journalism this year? I'm compiling my second annual list of my favorite education journalism of the year. This has nothing to do with the EWA awards, which I have no role in judging, and which you should enter. If there's something you want to call to my attention, by you ...

If you ever dreamed of firing your kid's teachers and principal... ... move to California, because you can! In general, I am of the belief that we elect people to make decisions for us, and that is democracy enough. So I find California’s reliance on referenda pretty maddening (Hey! Which class of citizens do we feel ...

This Week In Education: Quote: The War On Teaches, Continued

This Week In Education: Quote: The War On Teaches, Continued

Quote: The War On Teaches, Continued * [image: Quote-mark] Blaming us, the teachers, absolves all others of their complicity in the failure to educate our students and relieves them of all responsibility for solving the problem.* - Junia Yearwood, retired Boston public school teacher, ...

Politics: Angry, Ideal-Less Progressives [image: Tumblr_lc34d1O7C61qcokc4o1_500]Wow, there are some mightily peeved progressives out there right now, chewing on the White House for going along with hundreds of billions in tax cut extensions for a measly unemployment insurance extension. ...

Thompson: Digital Learning As A Trojan Horse [image: Trojanhorse] I wish I had tried harder to integrate technology into my teacher-centered lessons. Our schools need more "techno-centrists" who seek to integrate digital learning into their student-centric classrooms. But as Larry Cuban ...

Artifacts: School Dance Guidelines From South Carolina Prom Memories via The Hairpin

TV: More Think Tankers On Game Shows [image: image from farm5.static.flickr.com] Apparently education wonks like to get themselves on game shows. Sandy at Achieve wrote in responding to a previous post about a wonky Jeopardy! participant to say that Program Associate *Morgan Saxb*y has ...

Parent group files lawsuit against NY state for granting Cathie Black schools chancellor waiver

Parent group files lawsuit against NY state for granting Cathie Black schools chancellor waiver

BY RACHEL MONAHAN AND MEREDITH KOLODNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, December 8th 2010, 2:07 PM

Wenig/AP

Cathie Black speaks to the media at City Hall in New York.

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• Waiver clears Cathie Black to become schools chancellor

A group of parents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state for granting Cathie Black a waiver to become schools chancellor.

In an effort to block her appointment, the parents, assisted by civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, filed the petition in New York State Supreme Court and claim that state Education Commissioner David Steiner abused his authority and "acted unlawfully."

Mayor Bloomberg's pick for chancellor needed the waiver because she had no education experience.

Steiner wrongly granted the waiver by

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/08/2010-12-08_parent_group_files_lawsuit_against_ny_state_for_granting_cathie_black_schools_ch.html#ixzz17ZAEZWgJ

NEA Prez slams value added. “Look at the work in the classroom.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

NEA Prez slams value added. “Look at the work in the classroom.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

NEA Prez slams value added. “Look at the work in the classroom.”

by Fred Klonsky

As a NY court begins hearing testimony as to whether student growth scores should be released to the press, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel spoke out against the use of so-called value added scores to evaluate the complexity of teacher quality.

Van Roekel was responding to the challenge issued by former NY schools Chancellor Joel Klein. “If you don’t like using test scores to evaluate teachers, come up with something better.”

Van Roekel has done that.

A good teacher evaluation system should begin by examining evidence of a teacher’s preparation, including lesson plans, class assignments and scoring protocols. Teachers might be asked to assemble a portfolio – including videos of classroom discussion and notes or messages from parents.

There should be frequent, independent and thorough observations to determine whether the teacher is meeting high standards for teaching the subject. Finally,

The Answer Sheet - Absent teachers reserve 'crisis' created by Klein, Bloomberg, union

The Answer Sheet - Absent teachers reserve 'crisis' created by Klein, Bloomberg, union

Absent teachers reserve 'crisis' created by Klein, Bloomberg, union

This was written by Marc Epstein, a history teacher at Jamaica High School in New York. It first appeared on Huffington Post. By Marc Epstein When there is evidence of bad public policy, you can safely assume that it took two parties working collaboratively to create the swamp. New York's Department of Education and the teachers' union have found themselves mired down in a dispute over the fates of more than a thousand teachers, many of whom have no assigned teaching position, but continue to collect full-time salaries. This group of teachers is collectively referred to as ATR's, or the absent teacher reserve. Large numbers of ATR's are not instructing students in their licensed areas. Instead they often find themselves working as substitute teachers.

Reclamations Issue III out « occupy california

Reclamations Issue III out « occupy california

Reclamations Issue III out

By *

The Reclamations journal, born in the fall of 2009, has released its third issue. Read it here.

What “Lenon” Trending Tells Us About Wikileaks and Twitter « Student Activism

What “Lenon” Trending Tells Us About Wikileaks and Twitter « Student Activism

What “Lenon” Trending Tells Us About Wikileaks and Twitter

by Angus Johnston

Today is the 30th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. As I write this, “Yoko Ono” is sixth on Twitter’s global trending topics list, and “Lenon” is fifth.

Neither “Lennon” nor “John Lennon” appears.

Why is this? Is it because more people are misspelling John Lennon’s name than spelling it correctly? No. Far more people are spelling it right than wrong — and a big chunk of those who are spelling it wrong are doing so to