Wednesday, June 6, 2012

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, June 6, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

One school bond appears to pass, another failing

Norris School District's $149 million bond measure to update and expand campuses for the next 20 years appeared Wednesday to have fallen just short of the 55 percent "yes" votes needed to pass.

Spanish immersion classes fantastico at Rorimer in Rowland Unified

Habla usted español? Paulo Ortega and Jasmine Melgar do. Muy bien, in fact. The sixth-graders are the first graduates of the dual immersion program at Rorimer Elementary in La Puente. Since kindergarten, the 12-year-olds have been taught in both Spanish and English.

Teachers protest proposed furloughs at Desert Sands Unified School District

Teachers showed up en masse Tuesday to the Desert Sands Unified school board meeting in La Quinta to demonstrate their opposition to proposed furloughs.

Parents demand answers for firing of Las Posas principal

Pleasant Valley School District officials would not discuss the reasons for the dismissal, citing privacy laws in personnel issues.

Defense wants Dumanis off Sweetwater case

An attorney defending Sweetwater school board member Arlie Ricasa against allegations of bribery and corruption requested Monday that San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis be removed from the case.

Four Santa Clara County school bond measures passing in early returns

With votes from all precincts counted early Wednesday morning, all four school bond measures on Santa Clara County ballots coasted easily to passage. The measures will renovate schools and update computers and technology in four school districts

Sex not consensual, LAUSD leasing manager says of claim by ex-Superintendent Ramon Cortines

The LAUSD employee who alleges he was sexually harassed by retired Superintendent Ramon Cortines has rebutted the claim that a 2010 sexual encounter was consensual and says he can't return to work because officials bungled the original settlement deal.

Dublin school bond measure victorious, district officials elated

A $99 million bond measure to renovate school facilities in Dublin passed by a comfortable margin Tuesday night.

LAUSD may postpone vote on $298-a-year parcel tax

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy said Tuesday he wants to postpone a vote on a $298-a-year parcel tax because there are too many competing measures on the November ballot.

Jurupa school bond falls short of victory

The Jurupa school bond measure failed to win the 55 percent support needed to pass, election results early Wednesday, June 6, show.

Fensterwald: Judge ready to rule on teacher evaluations

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has promised to finish up this weekend his decision on whether state law requires school districts to consider student test scores in evaluating teachers.

Suit challenging Prop. 98 allocation formally rejected

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has made final his ruling rejecting claims by a coalition of school groups that last summer’s state budget illegally diverted tax revenue from the General Fund, reducing by some $2 billion what districts were guaranteed under Proposition 98.

Lopez: A dirge for treasured arts programs that L.A. schools plan to cut

We're headed for a day when public education in Los Angeles is little more than constant drilling on the three Rs all morning, and nothing but testing after lunch.

California budget proposal would end a science requirement

A little-noticed proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown to eliminate the second year of science as a high school graduation requirement is sparking concern among educators who fear it could deepen the academic divide among students and further erode the state's scientific and technological leadership.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Defense wants Dumanis off Sweetwater case

Unusual partnership offers students birth control

The Los Angeles Unified School District and Planned Parenthood collaborate on a clinic at Roosevelt High, which is in an area with a disproportionately high number of teenage mothers.

Lodi Unified School District board to hire new principals

The Lodi Unified School District board of trustees will meet tonight for their first meeting of the summer break from school. On the agenda is appointing new elementary school principals.

Dormant school construction projects face closer scrutiny

Report Highlights Shifts in the High School Experience — Whole Child Education

Report Highlights Shifts in the High School Experience — Whole Child Education:

Report Highlights Shifts in the High School Experience

by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released its annual analysis of the significant developments and trends in U.S. education. As always, The Condition of Education report addresses all aspects and all levels of education, but this year's version includes a special focus on the changes in the nation's high schools over the past 20 years.

According to the NCES report, high school students today are less likely to be employed while attending school. The percentage of those age 16 and older holding jobs while in high school dropped from 32 percent in 1990 to 16 percent in 2010, and while the economic recession contributed to the decline, the data indicate a steady downward trend since 2000. At the same time, however, the percentage of 12th graders planning to graduate from a four-year college increased from 48 percent in 1990 to 60 percent in 2010. Other key findings include

More than 1.3 million students participating in distance education, such as online courses, during the 2009–10 school year—a dramatic increase of more than 1 million students over the 2002–03 total.
Increases in the number of students taking math and science in all subject areas (geometry, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) except for the number taking Algebra I, which likely decreased as a

Paul “The Standardized Testing Master” Vallas Does The Victory Dance! - Wait, What?

Paul “The Standardized Testing Master” Vallas Does The Victory Dance! - Wait, What?:

Paul “The Standardized Testing Master” Vallas Does The Victory Dance!

by jonpelto

This week, the children who attend Bridgeport’s Public School are having the opportunity to spend four days take a whole new round of standardized tests. Thanks to Paul Vallas, Bridgeport’s “interim” superintendent, who is collecting $229,000 plus benefits for a part-time commitment to the city’s schools, decided to diverted scarce resources away from instruction and to more testing, despite the fact that students took the same basic standardized tests just 90 days ago

Vallas, and his ever-growing cadre of out-of-state consultants, announced that there is a “lull” in teaching after standardized tests so in order to make sure that Bridgeport’s teachers are doing their job, and teach all the way till the end of the schools year, there would be a mandated round of tests for all Bridgeport children. (These would be in addition to the end-of-the-year finals.)

Yesterday, the tests arrived from Riverside Publishing, a subsidiary of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company. Riverside is conveniently located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, just

The Obama Campaign Wants to Know « Diane Ravitch's blog

The Obama Campaign Wants to Know « Diane Ravitch's blog:

The Obama Campaign Wants to Know

by dianerav

A reader told me that she received an email from the Obama campaign asking her how the administration’s education policies have affected her.
I received the same email, as have, I assume, thousands or millions of others.
So, yes, please tell the campaign how Race to the Top has affected you.
Let them know how their policies have pushed state legislatures to pass teacher-evaluation systems that are unproven, inaccurate, unstable, and punitive.
Let them know how teachers will be evaluated based on the test scores of students who are chronically absent.
Let them know how teachers will be evaluated based on the test scores of students they never taught.
Let them know that the rankings produced by these systems are

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray, 6/5/12 | The White House

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray, 6/5/12 | The White House:

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray, 6/5/12

by The White House

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:35 P.M. EDT
MR. CARNEY: We apologize for the delay, but we are glad that you’re here and welcome you as ever to the briefing room for your daily briefing.
As I think was advertised, I have with me Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on my right, and to my left, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rich Cordray. They're here to talk to you about student loans and college costs. They participated in a roundtable just earlier this afternoon that was led by the Vice President with a number of presidents of colleges and universities to discuss ways to provide students with more transparency about college costs to help them make very important financial decisions.
So what I’d like to do is first turn it over to Secretary Duncan and then Director Cordray. They’ll talk to you about these issues, this bucket of issues. If you could direct questions to them on their issues at the top, after which we’ll let them leave, and I’ll be here to take your questions on other subjects.
And with that I give you the Secretary of Education.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Thanks so much, Jay. And thanks, all of you guys, for giving us the opportunity.
As all of you know, post-secondary education is the ticket to economic success in America. But while it’s never been more important to have a degree or certificate, unfortunately it’s also never been more expensive. The Obama administration is working every single day to do our part to keep college affordable by helping students better manage their debt after graduation.
We’ve also proposed to extend and make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit and to create new incentives for states and institutions to keep college costs from escalating and to increase those completion rates.
And we’re also working to provide parents of students with the information they need to make smart educational

This Week In Education: Bruno: How Seniority Sends Teachers Into Charters

This Week In Education: Bruno: How Seniority Sends Teachers Into Charters:

Bruno: How Seniority Sends Teachers Into Charters

by Paul Bruno

This summer my family will be relocating from the Bay Area to Southern California. This means that a fair amount of my free time these days is occupied by looking for work in the Los Angeles area.
Since my preferred placement is middle school science in a public school with generally under-served demographics, I'm pretty confident that I'll eventually find a job for the 2012-2013 school year, but I haven't landed one yet.
It's not for lack of trying. I've contacted 20 or so schools over the last couple of months inquiring about potential openings. The only formal applications I've been able to submit, however, have been to charter schools.
Why charter schools? Read on for all the gory details.
Well, it's partly because they're the only ones hiring. The responses - when I get them - from traditional district schools are

FCAT “An Academic and Psychological Piece of Junk” | Scathing Purple Musings

FCAT “An Academic and Psychological Piece of Junk” | Scathing Purple Musings:

FCAT “An Academic and Psychological Piece of Junk”

by Bob Sikes

It’s useful to counter the narrative of test-based policy-makers with observations of folks who do this stuff for a living. Consider the following from Dr. Perry Miller writing in the Sun-Sentinel:

In two separate articles of May 26, both of which included Commissioner of Education Gerard Robinson’s thoughts regarding the FCAT testing program, it became evident that the Commissioner has not the foggiest understanding or knowledge that the FCAT is an academic and psychological piece of junk . It costs Florida taxpayers thousands of dollars, and accomplishes nothing but creates confusion and misery for classroom teachers and the children involved plus their parents and ends up telling us nothing about the children’s progress or academic abilities.
I hold two different earned doctoral degrees with one in psychology and the other in education, plus

Strike memory. « Fred Klonsky

Strike memory. « Fred Klonsky:

Strike memory.

by Fred Klonsky

Today’s strike authorization vote by members of the Chicago Teachers Union brings back memories of the week that my local went out on strike.
It was a cold November week in 2003.
Our strike memory is still fresh for many. Two thirds of those presently teaching in Park Ridge, District 64 took part in that strike.
There had not been a strike in our district for a quarter of a century. Few teachers ever thought they would ever need to walk out. For many it was a decision they made with a certain degree of anxiety and fear of the

The in box. Bob Lyons on what’s next.

by Fred Klonsky

Bob Lyons is a member of the Teacher Retirement System Board of Trustees.

What will happen next on pension reduction in Illinois will depend in part on if the union representatives along with the IRTA are allowed to actually be part of the process of negotiation. Do you recall hearing from Tom Cross, minority leader in the Illinois House, and Christine Radogno, holding the same position in the Senate, that our people were not part of the process in the spring. Of course the reason they may have thought that was the case could be because Cross and Radogno weren’t even in the room. The unions were there, but the Republican leaders were not, and while our people were making proposals to Speaker Madigan and President of the Senate Cullerton, my impression was the two Democratic leaders were themselves talking more than listening. Certainly SB1673 was not the result of negotiation. The bond rating agencies are threatening to drop the rating of Illinois state bonds, already the worst in the nation, by two

The Adamowski Pension: A Story of one Education Reformers Sense of “Entitlement” - Wait, What?

The Adamowski Pension: A Story of one Education Reformers Sense of “Entitlement” - Wait, What?:

The Adamowski Pension: A Story of one Education Reformers Sense of “Entitlement”

Forty-five thousand teachers and nine thousand administrators have managed to follow Connecticut law and acquired Department of Education certification in order to participate in the Teachers Retirement System, but Steven Adamowski and the Malloy Administration continue to believe that one of Malloy’s “education reform experts” and “Special Master” for the Windham School System, deserves an exemption from that “burden.”

Readers will recall that earlier this year, despite a $9 billion short-fall in Connecticut’s Teacher Pension Fund, Governor Malloy slipped language into his “Education Reform” bill to retroactively enlarge Adamowski’s teacher retirement pension by giving him credit for the years he served as the Superintendent of Schools in Hartford, despite the fact that he was not certified to be the superintendent.

This “gift” could amount to an additional $27,000 when Adamowski retires.

In a display of courage, the Connecticut Legislature stripped that language out of the

After Wisconsin « Diane Ravitch's blog

After Wisconsin « Diane Ravitch's blog:

After Wisconsin

by dianerav

The question before the June 5 recall election in Wisconsin was whether big money would be enough to carry Governor Scott Walker to victory.
Now we know. Money was more than enough.
When I heard the results last night, I was disappointed but not surprised. The polls were discouraging, and they were right. People power was not sufficient to overcome the enormous advantage that Walker had as a result of the millions of dollars that poured in from out-of-state people. Walker had become the poster boy for the hard-right, having stripped collective bargaining rights from working people and demonized their unions.
What hope is there for the future? Plenty. We know from history that bad ideas may prevail for a time, but with enough work, even the worst of autocracies and regimes die. Bad things don’t last forever. They don’t die by themselves; they don’t collapse. They die because of determined, relentless opposition from those who understand what is at stake for their children and their society and who are willing to take personal risks to stand

Time to Reassess California’s API

Time to Reassess California’s API:

Time to Reassess California’s API

by Mandy Zatynski

As a reporter for a small-town paper in California, I dreaded August. It was the month that the state department of education released its annual Academic Performance Index (API) rankings. Teachers, administrators, parents, and realtors live and die by the API, a somewhat ambiguous figure based on a complicated math formula that considers students’ proficiency levels on state tests. As a reporter, I felt it never told us, or the public, very much about a school’s progress over time.
But as Richard Lee Colvin writes in his new report, California has the perfect opportunity to scrap this vague measure for a more thorough—and fairer—judgment of a school’s performance. And it’s an opportunity other states should watch and take note of.
Currently, the API tends to say more about a school’s socio-economic makeup than its student achievement. For example, a school with a high percentage of English-language learners will undoubtedly have a low

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core = Educational Equity, NOT Educational Excellence.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core = Educational Equity, NOT Educational Excellence.:

Common Core = Educational Equity, NOT Educational Excellence.

by stlgretchen

...two words NOT allowed in Common Core standards. "Uncommon" & "Creative"

Jamie Gass from Pioneer Institute writes about current DOEd education reform and common core standards in an article entitled "Leaves of Memory Going Dark":

Gov. Patrick, Secretary Reville, and other state officials must realize the damage the national standards are doing to the high school English curriculum and require yearlong courses in American and British literature, as well as classical literature in Grade 9 or 10. If they do not, their lasting legacy to the Bay State’s schoolchildren will be one of trading that which is beautiful and enduring for the jargon-filled dead language of educationists.

Here are some of the buzz words and jargon-filled dead language of educationists sprinkled in Arne Duncan's, Michelle Rhee's and David Coleman's statements about education and education reform:

DC Public Schools to replace 18 of Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's principals | Washington Examiner

DC Public Schools to replace 18 principals | Washington Examiner:

DC Public Schools to replace 18 principals

The District is quietly replacing 18 of its public school principals, most of whom were hired by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee to turn around the schools.

DC Public Schools spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz declined to say how many of the 18 principals were retiring, resigning or being fired.

But parents told The Washington Examiner that several principals, including Rhee appointees at Garrison Elementary School and Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson, were terminated. Shaw's principal, Kimberly Douglas, was selected by Rhee after the 2010 murder of popular Principal Brian Betts.

Are Teachers Too Easily Caught in Crossfire Over Student Achievement? | PBS NewsHour | June 5, 2012 | PBS

Are Teachers Too Easily Caught in Crossfire Over Student Achievement? | PBS NewsHour | June 5, 2012 | PBS:

Are Teachers Too Easily Caught in Crossfire Over Student Achievement?

Watch Are Teachers Too Accountable Over Student Achievement? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

SUMMARY

Part of the American Graduate project addressing the country's high school dropout crisis, Ray Suarez and former Deputy Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch discuss education reform and her approach to teacher accountability.

Transcript

JEFFREY BROWN: And next, the second part of our series about teachers, testing, and accountability in public schools.

Last night, we interviewed Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Gates Foundation, who's been an outspoken advocate for testing and tougher standards.

Tonight, we get a different view on how teachers are and should be evaluated.

Ray Suarez has our story.

CELESTE ADAMS, teacher, Riverview Gardens High School: Classical or traditional education is dead. It's failing our students.

RAY SUAREZ: Across America, teachers are talking, taking a rare opportunity to discuss their work lives, their joys and frustrations, and trade ideas on how to raise graduation rates and reduce the number of dropouts.

They're venting and sharing practical tips about what works in their classrooms at a series of teacher town halls hosted by a dozen local PBS stations. It's part of the American Graduate initiative, sponsored by the Corporation for Public

Vouchers and the future of public education - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Vouchers and the future of public education - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Vouchers and the future of public education

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch, a research professor at New York University and author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” This first appeared on her blog.

By Diane Ravitch

I debated whether to give this blog post the title you see or to call it “State Commissioner of Education John White Acknowledges That He Doesn’t Know How to Improve Schools.”

I felt a sense of outrage as I read the latest account of the Louisianavoucher program. Since Gov. Bobby Jindal is already doing what Mitt Romney promises to do, I keep a close watch on Louisiana. So should the national media. A Shreveport newspaper ran an article linking Jindal’s plan to the ALEC model of school reform.

The Reuters article skips the rhetoric about “the civil rights issue of our

Should Chesapeake Science Point have its charter extended?

by Valerie Strauss

The Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School in Anne Arundel County is an academic powerhouse. Most of its students get high scores on state standardized tests, and some of them successfully compete in state and international math competitions. But if you look at this assessment by the county’s school superintendent of how the school operates, you might give it a failing grade.
Read full article >>

Charter school proponents edging adversaries in Sacramento County school board races - Elections - The Sacramento Bee

Charter school proponents edging adversaries in Sacramento County school board races - Elections - The Sacramento Bee:

Charter school proponents edging adversaries in Sacramento County school board races

By Diana Lambert
dlambert@sacbee.com

Published: Tuesday, Jun. 5, 2012 - 10:18 pm

Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 6, 2012 - 1:34 am

Charter school proponents were edging out union candidates for control of the Sacramento County Office of Education board Tuesday night.

If charter supporters win a majority of the board's seven seats, they could secure the future of a chain of Fortune schools approved by the SCOE board last year.

The five-year charter, aimed at addressing the achievement gap of African American students, allows a new K-8 school to be opened in Sacramento County each year. The first school opened this school year.

Three contested seats were up for grabs Tuesday. Teachers unions have been vocally opposed to the charter network. They spent ten of thousands of dollars to support three candidates in an effort to

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/05/4541441/charter-school-proponents-edging.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

Failing Data in Education Reform | National Education Policy Center

Failing Data in Education Reform | National Education Policy Center:

Failing Data in Education Reform

Paul Thomas

June 5, 2012

Few phrases have been written or uttered more often than "data-driven instruction" or "evidence-based decision making"since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) codified "scientifically-based" practices in 2001.

The accountability era begun in the early 1980s intensified the near mania for data in the U.S. that can be traced back to the first few decades of the twentieth century and the promises associated with quantifying student learning and teacher quality through standardized testing. Although the past century and the more recent thirty-year cycle of accountability based on standards and standardized testing have not delivered on the promises (see Hout & Elliot, 2011), "No Excuses" Reformers, including the current Department of Education headed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, remain steadfast in pursuing better tests based on better standards.

The "No Excuses" Reform movement is driven by bully politics that ironically includes an unbending faith in data and

Jersey Jazzman: Eli Broad Buys New Jersey's Schools

Jersey Jazzman: Eli Broad Buys New Jersey's Schools:

Eli Broad Buys New Jersey's Schools

by Duke

Tomorrow, Eli Broad will buy New Jersey's schools... and at a bargain price!

The State Board of Education tomorrow will have two unusual resolutions before it to accept more than $600,000 in outside funds from two foundations:

$200,000 from StartUp:Education, the national foundation created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

$430,000 from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the California-based organization that has helped train and support three of the administration’s top education officials, including acting Commissioner Chris Cerf.

If approved as expected, the money will go to several distinct projects, officials said

Fumigating the Broad Infestation

by Duke

The Education Law Center sees the Broadies crawling like bedbugs all over the NJDOE, and wants to get out the can of Raid. Here's a letter they sent yesterday, in its entirety:

June 5, 2012

The Honorable Arcelio Aponte, President

New Jersey State Board of Education

River View Executive Plaza

Building 100, P.O. Box 500

Trenton, NJ 08625-0500

Re: Resolutions Approving Receipt of Funds from Broad and Start Up: Education Foundations

Dear Mr. Aponte and fellow members of the State Board:

I write to request that the State Board of Education defer consideration of Resolutions approving the Department of Education's receipt of "donated funds" of $430,000 from the Broad Foundation and $200,000 from the Start Up: Education Foundation. These resolutions are set forth as attachments to the State Board June 6 meeting agenda.

In presenting these resolutions to the State Board and the public, the

THE INSULAR CULTURE OF LAUSD IS ANTITHETICAL TO EXCELLENT PUBLIC EDUCATION - Perdaily.com

THE INSULAR CULTURE OF LAUSD IS ANTITHETICAL TO EXCELLENT PUBLIC EDUCATION - Perdaily.com:

THE INSULAR CULTURE OF LAUSD IS ANTITHETICAL TO EXCELLENT PUBLIC EDUCATION

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

Today I went to speak before the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Directors before they were scheduled to go into closed session to deal again with the Scot Graham - ex-Superintendent Ramon Cortines alleged sexual harassment issue that the LAUSD Board voted 4-3 in a previous session several weeks ago to pay Graham a $200,000 settlement and $250,000 worth of lifetime health benefits. This prior clandestine action of the Board unwound because it flew in the face of the public notice requirements of the Brown Act. In addition, the fact that the Board "outed" Mr. Graham caused his attorneys to balk at the proposed settlement offer.

So today the LAUSD Board tried again to get it right by revisiting the Graham-Cortines

Audits for 3 Georgia Charter Schools Tied to Gulen Movement - NYTimes.com

Audits for 3 Georgia Charter Schools Tied to Gulen Movement - NYTimes.com:

Audits for 3 Georgia Schools Tied to Turkish Movement

By STEPHANIE SAUL

A group of three publicly financed charter schools in Georgia run by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish imam, have come under scrutiny after they defaulted on bonds and an audit found that the schools improperly granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses and groups, many of them with ties to the Gulen movement.

The audit released Tuesday by the Fulton County Schools near Atlanta found the schools made purchases like T-shirts, teacher training and video production services from organizations with connections to school officials or Gulen followers. Those included more than $500,000 in contracts since January 2010 with the Grace Institute, a foundation whose board has included school leaders. In some cases the awards skirted bidding requirements, the audit said.

“I would just question how those vendors were selected when price in many instances wasn’t part of the decision making,” said the Fulton County superintendent, Robert