Data Center: School District Grades - Low-Income Students - ContraCostaTimes.com

Data Center: School District Grades - Low-Income Students - ContraCostaTimes.com:

Data Center: School District Grades - Low-Income Students

By Daniel Willis
Bay Area News Group

Posted:   03/22/2012 05:06:18 PM PDT

Updated:   03/22/2012 06:24:44 PM PDT

County: AllAlamedaButteContra CostaFresnoImperialLos AngelesMaderaMarinMercedMontereyNapaOrangePlacerRiversideSacramentoSan BernardinoSan DiegoSan FranciscoSan JoaquinSan Luis ObispoSan MateoSanta BarbaraSanta ClaraSanta CruzSolanoSonomaStanislausSutterTulareVenturaYoloYuba District: AllABC UnifiedAlameda City UnifiedAlhambra UnifiedAlvord UnifiedAntioch UnifiedApple Valley UnifiedArcadia UnifiedAzusa UnifiedBaldwin Park UnifiedBeaumont UnifiedBellflower UnifiedBerkeley UnifiedBonita UnifiedBurbank UnifiedCalexico UnifiedCapistrano UnifiedCarlsbad UnifiedCastro Valley UnifiedCentral UnifiedCeres UnifiedChico UnifiedChino Valley UnifiedClaremont UnifiedClovis UnifiedCoachella Valley UnifiedColton Joint UnifiedCompton UnifiedConejo Valley UnifiedCorona-Norco UnifiedCovina-Valley UnifiedCulver City UnifiedDavis Joint UnifiedDesert Sands UnifiedDowney UnifiedEl Rancho UnifiedElk Grove UnifiedFairfield-Suisun UnifiedFolsom-Cordova UnifiedFontana UnifiedFremont UnifiedFresno UnifiedGarden Grove UnifiedGilroy UnifiedGlendale UnifiedGlendora UnifiedHacienda La Puente UnifiedHayward UnifiedHemet UnifiedHesperia UnifiedInglewood UnifiedIrvine UnifiedJurupa UnifiedKings Canyon Joint UnifiedLake Elsinore UnifiedLas Virgenes UnifiedLincoln UnifiedLivermore Valley Joint UnifiedLodi UnifiedLompoc UnifiedLong Beach UnifiedLos Alamitos UnifiedLos Angeles UnifiedLos Banos UnifiedLucia Mar UnifiedLynwood UnifiedMadera UnifiedManhattan Beach UnifiedManteca UnifiedMarysville Joint UnifiedMilpitas UnifiedMontebello UnifiedMonterey Peninsula UnifiedMoorpark UnifiedMoreno Valley UnifiedMorgan Hill UnifiedMorongo UnifiedMt. Diablo UnifiedMurrieta Valley UnifiedNapa Valley UnifiedNatomas UnifiedNew Haven UnifiedNewport-Mesa UnifiedNorwalk-La Mirada UnifiedNovato UnifiedOakland UnifiedOceanside UnifiedOrange UnifiedPajaro Valley UnifiedPalm Springs UnifiedPalo Alto UnifiedPalos Verdes Peninsula UnifiedParamount UnifiedPasadena UnifiedPetaluma City SchoolsPlacentia-Yorba Linda UnifiedPleasanton UnifiedPorterville UnifiedPoway UnifiedRedlands UnifiedRedondo Beach UnifiedRialto UnifiedRiverside UnifiedRocklin UnifiedRowland UnifiedSacramento City UnifiedSaddleback Valley UnifiedSan Bernardino City UnifiedSan Diego UnifiedSan Francisco UnifiedSan Jacinto UnifiedSan Jose UnifiedSan Juan UnifiedSan Leandro UnifiedSan Lorenzo UnifiedSan Luis Coastal UnifiedSan Marcos UnifiedSan Ramon Valley UnifiedSanger UnifiedSanta Ana UnifiedSanta Clara UnifiedSanta Monica-Malibu UnifiedSanta Rosa City SchoolsSimi Valley UnifiedSnowline Joint UnifiedSouth San Francisco UnifiedStockton UnifiedTemecula Valley UnifiedTorrance UnifiedTracy Joint UnifiedTurlock UnifiedTustin UnifiedTwin Rivers UnifiedUpland UnifiedVacaville UnifiedVal Verde UnifiedVallejo City UnifiedVentura UnifiedVisalia UnifiedVista UnifiedWalnut Valley UnifiedWashington UnifiedWest Contra Costa UnifiedWest Covina UnifiedWoodland Joint UnifiedYuba City UnifiedYucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified   Created with Caspio

District Pct. Low Income Performance Improvement Overall Rank Lake Elsinore Unified 55% A A B+ 1 San Marcos Unified 43% B A B 2 Clovis Unified 34% A B B 3 Los Alamitos Unified 10% A C B- 4 Arcadia Unified 18% A C B- 5 Corona-Norco Unified 44% B B B- 6 Covina-Valley Unified 56% B B B- 7 Temecula Valley Unified 17% B C B- 8 Baldwin Park Unified 85% C B C+ 9 Rocklin Unified 17% A C C+ 10 ABC Unified 48% B B C+ 11 Alvord Unified 72% B B C+ 12 Bonita Unified 30% B B C+ 13 Downey Unified 67% B B C+ 14 Hacienda La Puente Unified 73% B B C+ 15 Paramount Unified 91% C B C+ 16 San Ramon Valley Unified 3% A C C+ 17 Sanger Unified 71% B B C+ 18 Beaumont Unified 61% B B C+ 19 Capistrano Unified 21% B B C+ 20 Claremont Unified 32% B C C+ 21 Glendale Unified 45% B C C+ 22 Manhattan Beach Unified 3% A C C+ 23 Redondo Beach Unified 21% A C C+ 24 Val Verde Unified 79% B B C+ 25 Show per page  102550100250      1  2 3 4 5 6   Records 1-25 of 146 Created with Caspio

Database by Daniel Willis

California state report makes recommendations on teacher layoff process | 89.3 KPCC

California state report makes recommendations on teacher layoff process | 89.3 KPCC:

California state report makes recommendations on teacher layoff process

March 22, 2012 | By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

 0  

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Teachers, parents and supporters rally as the Los Angeles Unified School District board meets to consider budget cuts and layoffs.

 Download

A new report says California school districts need to change the way they lay off teachers.

The state’s Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) says the system now in place carries a high cost — in dollars, morale and teacher talent.

In the last four years, budget cuts have forced California school districts to lay off 32,000 teachers.

The Legislative Analyst says the process has significant flaws. Districts send out too many notices, 

California Community Colleges chancellor to ask AG's office to look at college's pricing plan

California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott said today he will be asking the state Attorney General's Office for an opinion on the legality of a Santa Monica College program that will allow students to enroll in a selection of higher-cost classes starting this summer.

"The Chancellor's Office has previously indicated to colleges that we believe that step would be illegal," said Scott, speaking to a group of students at Pasadena City College today. "There was an attempt to change the law which failed last year, and now Santa Monica College has chosen to go alone and do it anyway. Frankly, we

California Community Colleges head: 'Go in and make your case'

At a Pasadena City College town hall meeting today the head of the California Community Colleges spoke to about 250 students about the state's budget crisis and the "desperate situations" it has created for schools in the nation's largest higher education system.

The hour-long meeting with Chancellor Jack Scott covered a wide range of issues and seemed rather intimate despite its setting in the campus' Sexson Auditorium. With his warm Texan drawl and anecdotes, Scott tried to illustrate to students the importance of passing the tax initiative in November; how they should lobby to improve their education system; and the impact funding cuts have had on public education throughout the state.

A former legislator for 12 years,  Scott urged students to to talk to their legislators and tell them what's going on in their schools. "Go to your legislators, and by the way, when a legislator says to you 'Oh, I love the community 

Losing experience in teacher layoffs | Thoughts on Public Education

Losing experience in teacher layoffs | Thoughts on Public Education:

Losing experience in teacher layoffs - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

California school districts should not be bound by seniority when budget cuts force them to lay off teachers, according to far-reaching report released yesterday by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office. A Review of the Teacher Layoff Process in California also recommends changing the deadline for notifying teachers they may be laid off from March 15 to [...]

Weighted student formula is already working well in Twin Rivers Unified - by Cristin Quealy

by Cristin Quealy

Last Tuesday morning, I sat in the superintendent’s conference room at Twin Rivers Unified School District and listened to four principals tell their stories about how a need-based approach to budgeting – through a weighted student formula – has provided them flexibility to make better decisions for their schools, and has dramatically improved the way [...]

THE MEDIA AND EMBARRASSED AUTHORITY FIGURES « Teachers Fight Back

THE MEDIA AND EMBARRASSED AUTHORITY FIGURES « Teachers Fight Back:

THE MEDIA AND EMBARRASSED AUTHORITY FIGURES

by alkleen

Watch out if you do something wrong and your actions are picked up by the news media and or the social media. If your actions caused your superiors to become embarrassed because millions of people saw the wrongdoing, your punishment is likely to be way more severe than it normally would be.
Take the case of the five members of the Southern Mississippi pep band who chanted the wrong thing during a basketball game. When a player from the opposing team was shooting a free throw, the band members chanted, “where’s your green card?”. The free throw shooter was a  guard with a Puerto Rican heritage.
The incident became a social media event and was then picked up by most news media outlets. Since it became a media sensation, the administrators at S. Miss. probably became greatly embarrassed. The band members were insensitive and should have been disciplined by the university. They were given a harsh punishment. They were removed from the band and lost their band scholarships, they also were required to attend a couple of classes on “cultural insensitivity”.  I could see an apology and the sensitivity classes, not to mention some much-needed social studies where they would learn that people from Puerto Rico don’t need 

California State University Leaders Modeling The “People’s University” After The “For-Profit Education Sector” | California Progress Report

California State University Leaders Modeling The “People’s University” After The “For-Profit Education Sector” | California Progress Report:

California State University Leaders Modeling The “People’s University” After The “For-Profit Education Sector”

by megan

By Lillian Taiz
California Faculty Association
Without a public mandate and without open discussion within democratic processes, the administration of the California State University is transforming California’s great public university—“The People’s University”—into the image of a For-Profit higher education enterprise.
This is the overall assessment of “For-Profit Higher Education and the California State University: A Cautionary Tale,” a white paper the California Faculty Association released Tuesday at a meeting of the CSU’s Board of Trustees.
For years, the faculty on campuses up and down this state have tried, in vain, to get CSU administrators and its Trustees to rethink the path they are on. Some of them, having decided that the era of public funding for higher education is over, have set a course for our state university system that threatens to nail the coffin shut on public higher education.
read more

People, Not Super PACs, Should Decide Our Elections

by megan

By Luis Lopez
Democratic candidate for Assembly in the 51st District
Maybe it's our winter sunshine while snow falls elsewhere-or how we embrace innovation and welcome eccentrics rejected in other places. Some Californians presume our state a haven from the nastiest aspects of American life. But we are not.
Now the fallout from a dangerous U.S. Supreme Court ruling is hitting our political landscape. Stopping the corrupting effects of the 2010 Citizens United decision is a serious and important challenge. The ruling has already prompted the rollback of some hard-won checks on special interests' domination of elections in California. It further tilts the playing field against the election of community-based leaders and in favor of candidates bankrolled by special interests and beholden to their big-money marketing blitzes.
read more

Two Years Later: What the Affordable Care Act Has Done for California's Children

by megan

By Mike Odeh, Children Now, and Michele Stillwell-Parvensky, Children’s Defense Fund-California
As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) turns two this week, we should say happy birthday by celebrating the big wins the law has already delivered for California's children and families and the bright future ahead for children's health care.
read more

Who Pays The Bill For Wall Street's Mess?

by megan

By Robert Borosage
On Wednesday, House Republicans rolled out their budget plan in the Washington version of a Hollywood movie opening. There was a star turn for Budget Chair Paul Ryan at a conservative think tank. Gaseous rhetoric -- "liberties endangered, time to choose" -- fouled the air. There were dueling videos, and furious salvos of partisan messaging. And a backup document -- the "Path to Prosperity" -- festooned with tables for wonks to wallow in.
On Thursday, with fewer trumpets and less fanfare, the Congressional Progressive Caucus releases its budget plan -- A Budget for All.
read more

Report: Pink-slipping costs $706 per teacher | teachers, report, districts - News - The Orange County Register

Report: Pink-slipping costs $706 per teacher | teachers, report, districts - News - The Orange County Register:

Report: Pink-slipping costs $706 per teacher

Three in four California teachers who get an initial layoff warning are rehired, the Legislative Analyst’s Office says

 Too many teachers in California receive preliminary layoff notices each spring as school districts plan for worst-case budget-cutting scenarios, a time-intensive process that carries a hefty $706 price tag per notified educator, according to an independent review from the state's Legislative Analyst's Office.

An estimated 75 percent of teachers who are pink-slipped by the state's mandated March 15 deadline are rehired by summer, according to the nonpartisan state report, released Thursday.

April Stone, a laid-off second-grade teacher from Vista del Mar Elementary School, receives a hug from a friend in this 2010 file photo. She was part of a group of six teachers from the San Clemente school who were getting together regularly for dinner to support one another, after all six were laid off in 2009.

TEXT BY SCOTT MARTINDALE, FILE PHOTO: MIKE GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

But between March and June, districts spend an estimated $706 per teacher to prepare paperwork, formally notify the educator and hold appeals hearings. With more than 20,000 pink-slips issued to California educators last year, that translated to a cost of about $14 million statewide, the report concluded.

"It's what every superintendent and school board member have been saying for years," said Orange County schools Superintendent William 

The Educated Reporter: 'Hunger Games' Field Trip Gives Parents Indigestion

The Educated Reporter: 'Hunger Games' Field Trip Gives Parents Indigestion:

'Hunger Games' Field Trip Gives Parents Indigestion

by Emily Richmond

“The Hunger Games” might be the most widely anticipated film based on a young-adult novel series since “Harry Potter,” but does that make it an appropriate field trip for sixth graders?

The bestselling trilogy explores life in a futuristic totalitarian regime, where children – armed with arrows, swords, knives and mutant killer bees -- are forced to fight to the death in public spectacles.

Students at Hamilton International Middle School in Wallingford, Wash. read author Suzanne Collins' book in class, and had been planning to see the film. That’s until parents called administrators to complain, according to the Seattle Times.

Principal Christopher Carter told the reporter the film was appropriate because it related to content areas the students were studying, but he decided to cancel the outing after hearing from concerned families. Carter said the trip that “has become a distraction in our school community.” 

Tomorrow: a showcase for displaced teachers - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

Tomorrow: a showcase for displaced teachers - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Tomorrow: a showcase for displaced teachers

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 at 6:34 pm in No Comments

After school tomorrow, the Oakland school district is holding an event for the dozens of Oakland teachers who find themselves in the so-called “talent pool” because of school closures, a leave of absence or other reasons. The informational interview fair, which is voluntary, will give displaced teachers a chance to meet someone from each school that has posted vacancies for the upcoming school year.
Teachers will then be given two days to visit schools that catch their interest. Then, starting from the most senior teacher, they choose their placements from the list of openings. (Despite the administration’s efforts to give principals more of a say in that decision, mutual matching fell by the wayside.)
The Advisory School Matching Showcase is something new for Oakland Unified. Before, teachers just picked from a list of vacancies, often knowing little about the school besides its reputation and location. (Some might 

Daily Kos: Eugene Robinson is a must read

Daily Kos: Eugene Robinson is a must read:

Eugene Robinson is a must read

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

For every black man in America, from the millionaire in the corner office to the mechanic in the local garage, the Trayvon Martin tragedy is personal. It could have been me or one of my sons. It could have been any of us.

That is the opening paragraph of Robinson's Friday column for the Washington Post, titled Trayvon Martin and dangerous times for black men."It could have been any of us" - even Robinson himself, a Puliter Prize winning columnist, a noted political commentator on cable tv.
It is the kind of experience that I, a white man in his mid 60s, could never have experienced, except through the

Mitt Romney is a Liar

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

so said Rachel Maddow bluntly last night on her show, backing it up with examples, and then noting Karl Rove also lied on Romney's behalf in his Wall Street Journal column.
If you did not see it, take the time to watch the video of that segment of TRMS show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
You will have to sit through a 30 second ad first, but you will find it worthwhile to watch the entire segment, 

Parents, teachers: LAUSD's homework policy gets low marks - LA Daily News

Parents, teachers: LAUSD's homework policy gets low marks - LA Daily News:

Parents, teachers: LAUSD's homework policy gets low marks

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer

Posted:   03/22/2012 11:33:11 PM PDT

Updated:   03/22/2012 11:34:32 PM PDT

CHATSWORTH - About two dozen parents and teachers complained Thursday about a proposed Los Angeles Unified policy to limit homework to 20 percent of a student's grade and set guidelines on how much time should be spent on outside assignments.
The hour-long forum at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth was one of eight held by LAUSD officials in an effort to include parents in the decision-making process. A previous policy allowing homework to count for just 10 percent of a grade was quietly implemented last summer and almost immediately suspended after parents and teachers complained that they hadn't been consulted.
The district also has included questions about the homework plan in a survey at www.lausd.net.
Several said their children had been given assignments on lessons they hadn't yet learned or that had nothing to do with what was being taught in the classroom. Others complained that they didn't have time after getting home from work to review homework or didn't know enough about the subject to know if the assignment is right or 

Louisiana Educator: Charter/Voucher Legislation Passes House

Louisiana Educator: Charter/Voucher Legislation Passes House:

Charter/Voucher Legislation Passes House

by Michael Deshotels

The following are the votes of your representatives on HB 976 that will allow public school students to attend private schools at taxpayer expense. To add insult to injury, these voucher schools do not have to meet accountability standards, do not get graded the way public schools do, and students can be promoted beyond the 4th and 8th grade levels even if they do not pass the LEAP! The bill will also add new charter organizations that can cherry pick students from any public schools and a "parent trigger" that can allow a charter organization to run petitions to fast track the takeover of schools. (See the data at the end of this post on the success of takeovers)

Voting FOR HB 976. (61): , Mr. Speaker, and Reps. Abramson, Adams, Arnold, Badon, Barras, Berthelot, Billiot, Bishop, S., Broadwater, Burford, H. Burns, T. Burns, Carmody, Carter, Champagne, Connick, Cromer, Dove, Fannin, Foil, Garofalo, Greene, Guinn, Harris, Havard, Hazel, Henry, Hensgens, Hodges, Hoffmann, Hollis, Honore, Howard, Huval, G. Jackson, Jefferson, N. Landry, Leger, Leopold, Ligi, Lorusso, Moreno, Morris, Jay, 

Schools Matter: A lousy way to rate teachers

Schools Matter: A lousy way to rate teachers:

A lousy way to rate teachers

by skrashen

Sent to USA Today

USA Today argues that gains made by students on standardized tests should be used as part of teacher evaluation (“Teacher evaluations, once a joke, hold a key to better schools,” March 22).
Everything is wrong with this idea.
A number of studies have shown that rating teachers using test score gains does not give consistent results. Different tests produce different ratings, and the same teacher’s ratings can vary from year to year, sometimes quite a bit.
In addition, using test score gains for evaluation encourages gaming the system, trying to produce increases in scores by teaching test-taking strategies, not by encouraging real learning. This is like putting a match under the 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: New manifesto for corporate school reformers

Schooling in the Ownership Society: New manifesto for corporate school reformers:

New manifesto for corporate school reformers

by Mike Klonsky

Klein and Rice offer their manifesto the Council on Foreign Relations

Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice are the authors of the latest in a long string of Ownership Society Manifestos dating back to A Nation At Risk. They presented their report,  U.S. Education Reform and National Security to, of all people, the Council on Foreign Relations. It portrays public schools as a threat to our national security and sonds the national security alarm as a scare tactic to push their school privatization agenda.

The report supposedly  represents the findings of a task force of "prominent education experts, national security