Children's Budget 2012 | First Focus

Children's Budget 2012 | First Focus:

	David Brooks Keynotes Children's Budget Summit 2012 Best-selling author and New York Times columnist David Brooks delivered the keynote address at the release event for Children’s Budget 2012. Brooks has written extensively on the importance of investments in children, and his remarks to a crowd of more than 250 underscored those themes. First Focus President Bruce Lesley summarized the findings of Children’s Budget 2012: ► Less than 8% of the federal budget is invested in kids. ► That’s down more than 6% from 2011. ► For the first time since First Focus began tracking the federal budget, discretionary spending on children has declined 2 years in row. ► Total inflation-adjusted spending on children is up more than 17% since 2008, because of increased need for mandatory initiatives in kids, like Medicaid and SNAP. Lesley also recognized the event’s congressional host, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. As ranking member of the House committee with jurisdiction over dozens of initiatives designed to improve children’s health and well-being, DeLauro has worked consistently throughout her career to make children a priority on Capitol Hill. She was one of 50 Democratic and Republican congressional representatives selected by the First Focus Campaign for Children as 2011 Champions for Children. Children’s Budget 2012 is a comprehensive guide to all federal spending on children and an invaluable resource for all those seeking to improve the lives of America’s youth. Download a free copy of the analysis for detailed information about more than 180 distinct federal investments in America’s children. Affordable Care Act Ruling a Major Victory for Children The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling upholding in its entirety the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health reform law maintains the ACA’s critical protections for children. First Focus worked with policymakers to develop and advance several ACA provisions beneficial to children. The organization applaudedthe Court’s decision, which clears the way for state legislatures and governors to accelerate their implementation. July 19th Urban Institute Forum Releasing Kids' Share 2012 The Urban Institute's sixth annual Kids’ Share report, which will be release on July 19th, is a great companion to Children’s Budget 2012. Its broader analysis includes tax expenditures and state and local government investments in kids. It also looks back at a half-century of investments in kids and projects that the decade ahead will see a continued squeeze on federal spending for children. A panel will discuss these spending patterns, what must change, distinguishing between short- and long-term tradeoffs, and the future of investments in kids in a high-pressure budget environment. Growing Up Under a Foreboding Budget Cloud: The Forecast for Government Spending on Children Thursday, July 19, noon–1:30 p.m. ET At the Urban Institute, 2100 M Street N.W., Washington, D.C. Panelists: Dan Crippen, executive director, National Governors Association Olivia Golden, Institute fellow, Urban Institute (moderator) Marc Goldwein, senior policy director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Julia Isaacs, lead researcher, Kids’ Share project, Urban Institute Eugene Steuerle, Institute fellow, Urban Institute To attend: http://kidsshare2012.eventbrite.com. (Registration required.) To watch the video webcast: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/urban-institute-events. (No registration necessary.)
www.firstfocus.net •  •  • (202) 657-0670

This Week In Education: Thompson: Lessons that Videos of School Violence Can Teach

This Week In Education: Thompson: Lessons that Videos of School Violence Can Teach:

Thompson: Lessons that Videos of School Violence Can Teach

by john thompson

A first rule of teaching is that the best way to help students is to avoid unforced errors, especially those that provoke negative reactions by students or adults.  So, this risk-adverse teacher has been reluctant to address the controversial video in the Daily News of a teacher using excessive force.  Those of us who see videotapes as a powerful tool for improving instruction, however, should be willing to discuss the lessons that can be learned from videos of the unnecessary use of force.
It is unfair to make a judgment about the video's first fifteen seconds before the altercation, and it was early in the morning and late in the year but, for what its worth, I saw no smiles, laughter, or greetings of students.  Then, the aggressive teacher ignored another first principle of dealing with problems - educators should use their feet, not their hands, when addressing disciplinary issues.  Being in the proper position is crucial. When the teacher rushed up to the student who 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, July 2, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Santa Barbara Mission

Education Headlines

Monday, July 2, 2012

School districts get $52M to pay for controversial construction plan

Two Coachella Valley school districts have received about $52 million for school construction projects from the state allocation board.

O.C.'s public face of education retires

For the past decade, Bill Habermehl has served as the unofficial Ed McMahon of the Orange County education scene, bursting into classrooms with balloons and cameras and an entourage to deliver trophies and $15,000 checks to Orange County's Teachers of the Year. Habermehl, 69, an unabashed cheerleader and champion of Orange County schools, retired Friday after 11 years as county schools superintendent.

Outgoing Twin Rivers trustee finds vindication in grand jury report

After years of being dismissed as an ill-informed troublemaker, Twin Rivers Unified School District outgoing trustee Alecia Eugene-Chasten is feeling more than vindicated in the wake of Thursday's release of a critical grand

Clock is ticking on pay for Sweetwater boss

Sweetwater schools Superintendent Ed Brand — just approved to stay on through December at $20,000 a month — might not do so.

Citizen protests $11 million no-bid contract

An El Cajon woman has demanded the Grossmont Union High School District rescind its award of an $11 million no-bid construction management contract - even though a renegotiation saved 12 percent in management costs.

Some felony charges dropped against Ivy Academia Charter School founders

Six felony charges were dropped Friday against the husband-and-wife team who founded Ivy Academia Charter School, although the couple still faces three dozen counts in the alleged theft of up to $120,000 in public funds, officials said.

L.A. district weighing graduation of students who failed class

After three seniors failed a class, made it up in a few days and graduated, teachers criticized the turnaround. But officials say they worked within the system.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Rio approves budget, delays vote on fact-finding report

The Rio School District board approved a budget on Thursday that would result in a negative ending balance in 2013 while putting off a vote on a fact-finding report that calls for a pay cut across the district.

Ventura Unified puts parcel tax on November ballot

Voters in the Ventura Unified School District will be asked in November to back a parcel tax to maintain academic programs in the 29-school district.

Defeat of Calif. teacher bill shows union power

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa slammed it as "cynical political manipulation," Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy termed it shameful, but for the California Teachers Association, it was a victory.

Pajaro Valley USD approves budget for 2012-13 school year

Leaders of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District on Wednesday passed a $173 million budget for next school year that they described as stable, preventing layoffs and program cuts.

Mill Valley's student bulge could push out Ring Mountain Day School

The Mill Valley School District's bulging enrollment is putting pressure on the district to look for ways to expand, and now that pressure is being felt by the private Ring Mountain Day School, which learned this week that it may have to begin looking for a new campus.

Daily Kos: Turning the tide on Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee and corporate education

Daily Kos: Turning the tide on corporate education:

Turning the tide on corporate education

byDante AtkinsFollowforDaily Kos

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Michelle Rhee (Hyungwon Kang/Reuters)

If there's a dollar to be made by taking a public service provided by the government, privatizing it and inserting an unnecessary middleman to suck up profits at taxpayer expense, there will always be a corporation for that. The fact that these corporations who seek to profit at taxpayer expense have armies of lobbyists and politicians in Congress ready and waiting to do their bidding is bad enough, even when there is a progressive movement there to fight against it. But when this conservative shift toward private profit in any service is viewed by the public and the media as the progressive alternative to the status quo, that service may not be long for this world.

That is exactly the concern with the fate of public education. It goes without saying that the conservative movement seeks to eviscerate funding for public education, for the sake of both profit and theocracy. But the bigger danger is the fact that the trend toward corporate, for-profit education is frequently seen as the 

Report: Emails reveal damage-control effort by John White, Jindal officials over voucher program | NOLA.com

Report: Emails reveal damage-control effort by John White, Jindal officials over voucher program | NOLA.com:

Report: Emails reveal damage-control effort by John White, Jindal officials over voucher program

The Monroe News-Star has turned up a batch of emails between the state's top education official, John White, and officials in the Jindal administration as they scrambled to limit the fallout from a newspaper story about a dodgy-looking private school accepting hundreds of students as part of the state's new voucher program. In one email to Kyle Plotkin, the governor's spokesman, and Stafford Palmieri, a policy advisor, White wrote of an effort to "muddy up a narrative" and to "take some air out of the room" before a state Senate hearing in May, according to the News-Star.

Rusty Costanza, The Times-PicayuneState Superintendent of Education John White speaks to a group of St. Charles Parish teachers during a Teacher Town Hall at the Professional Learning Center in Luling, Louisiana, Wednesday, May 2, 2012.

The emails followed an earlier News-Star article that raised questions about the New Living Word School in Ruston, a private school hoping to take more than 300 students on publicly funded vouchers without having the teachers or facilities in 

Fixing the Dropout Crisis, Part II | Mr. Teachbad

Fixing the Dropout Crisis, Part II | Mr. Teachbad:

Fixing the Dropout Crisis, Part II

by teachbad

About a month ago, Howard Uni­ver­sity and our local NPR sta­tion, WAMU, held a teacher town hall on the dropout cri­sis in the DC area. This was one of many sim­i­lar events around the coun­try. My first take on the event can be found here.

After lis­ten­ing to the whole thing again, my first thought was to retract much of what I said ini­tially about the event being fairly unin­spir­ing and under­whelm­ing. After lis­ten­ing to most of it a third time, I’m a lit­tle less sure.

Let’s talk…

Four Things struck me as I lis­tened again.

1) The entire sys­tem is being held hostage by the bot­tom, say, 10 per­cent. Many teach­ers in effect ended up turn­ing on other teach­ers for send­ing kids up to the next grade when they should have been held back. Social pro­mo­tion. A kid who was not ready for fifth grade in the first place is moved on to sixth. The sixth grade teacher then has to deal with the same prob­lem, only now it is larger and less manageable.

Why do this? Why would a teacher send some­body up who clearly has not met even the min­i­mum stan­dards of the 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This Week (Reflecting on What Banda Should Do in July)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This Week (Reflecting on What Banda Should Do in July):

Seattle Schools This Week (Reflecting on What Banda Should Do in July)

by Melissa Westbrook

This is last week of any public meeting for SPS until August.

There are two events this week, both on Tuesday.  

First there is a required public hearing from 4-4:30 p.m. to hear testimony from the public about raising the amount the district will pay for the Associated Student Body fund.  This was previously discussed at Board meetings.  I still have not heard the explanation as to why this occurred and where.  I may go review the Board meeting tapes to see if I missed something.  The Action Report gives all kinds of policies and legal reasons why they can raise the amount but not why.  It says this:

Expenditures are now at a higher percentage of the total annual expenditures than in any previous year, and may exceed the original estimate (adopted budget).   (bold mine)

They exceeded the budget by more than $200k.  How did that happen and when it started and it was apparent they were going over, did anyone do anything? 

After that, there is the Board meeting at 4:15 p.m.  The speakers list is not up yet so I don't know if it is full (I 

Teachers' Union Calls For More Responsibility, Obama Support As Its Membership Declines

Teachers' Union Calls For More Responsibility, Obama Support As Its Membership Declines:

Teachers' Union Calls For More Responsibility, Obama Support As Its Membership Declines

by Joy Resmovits

Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, criticizes policymakers whom he calls "self-proclaimed 'reformers'" while promoting some of their policies.

After a few years of tremendous membership loss, the nation's largest teachers' union is reinventing itself.

"Instead of waiting for someone to tell us what to teach or how to do our jobs, let us be the change we are waiting for," Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, said in his Monday afternoon address to the group's national convention in Washington, D.C., according to prepared remarks provided to The Huffington Post. The convention includes a gathering of the NEA's state and local affiliates and votes on union policy.

"We are part of … a system that has not successfully addressed the dropout crisis and allows kids who are poor to be stuck in schools that do not meet their needs -- placed into classrooms year after year with the least qualified, least experienced teachers," Van Roekel said. "If there is even one classroom with a teacher who isn�t prepared or qualified, we can�t accept that."

John Thompson: Can Education Reformers Learn the Art of Compromise? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

John Thompson: Can Education Reformers Learn the Art of Compromise? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

John Thompson: Can Education Reformers Learn the Art of Compromise?

by Anthony Cody

Guest post by John Thompson.
My attempt to describe Common Core as an example of the old-fashioned "status quo," which contemporary "reformers" have sought to destroy, seems to have hit a nerve. In the past, educators of different stripes would battle, negotiate, and compromise. Corporate powers were well represented, but there was no effort to assert complete dominance over the field. I argued that the search for "transformative" change and "disruptive innovation" was a historical dead end. I speculated that Common Core and other standards-based reforms would have had a better potential for helping kids had we not just endured more than a generation of scorch and burn politics.
Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse, but I would like to try again, and to pose a thought experiment. What would have happened if accountability hawks had sought to work within the system, and not wipe the slate clean so they could impose their own preferences? What would have happened if the Gates Foundation had built upon 

Superintendent John Kuhn’s Call to Action | Seattle Education

Superintendent John Kuhn’s Call to Action | Seattle Education:

Superintendent John Kuhn’s Call to Action

by seattleducation2011

An appropriate way to start off the summer, with an uplifting call to action by the Superintendent of Perrin-Whitt School District in Texas at the SOS March and National Call To Action last July.
With Bill Gates now spending $1M for a charter school initiative in the state of Washington, there is much to do this summer. Gates of course will disseminate this funding through the League of Education Voters and Stand for Children, making it appear that this is a grassroots effort when it is the exact opposite.
For now, a call for common sense and reason:
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Funding Results: Charter School Revolving Loan Fund 2011-12 (CA Dept of Education)

Funding Results: Charter School Revolving Loan Fund 2011-12 (CA Dept of Education)

Charter School Revolving Loan Fund 2011-12

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Note: Recipients and funding amounts are subject to budget and administrative adjustments.

Charter School Revolving Loan Fund apportionment letters, schedules, and other fiscal details regarding funding information for fiscal year 2011-12.

Program Questions: Julie Briggs, e-mail: jbriggs@cde.ca.gov, tel. 916-322-1646

Fiscal Questions: Julie Briggs, e-mail: jbriggs@cde.ca.gov, tel. 916-322-1646

Apportionments

First Apportionment

• Letter of the First Apportionment 19-Jun-2012
• Schedule of the First Apportionment (XLS)

More about Charter School Revolving Loan Fund 2011-12

Van Roekel on Romney: Out of Touch and Turning Back the Clock | NEA Today

Van Roekel on Romney: Out of Touch and Turning Back the Clock | NEA Today:

Van Roekel on Romney: Out of Touch and Turning Back the Clock

July 2, 2012 by twalker  
Filed under Must Reads

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“It’s clear that Romney is out of touch with the concerns of middle-class families — his education plan ignores what they want and need for their children, and demonstrates total disdain for public schools and educators,” NEA President Dennis Van Roekel writes in Education Week. “When he made a speech about education, Romney blamed teachers but said nothing about any meaningful plan for building student success, engaging parents, guaranteeing equity, or addressing the special needs of students living in poverty.”

Related posts:

1. Van Roekel: Romney Shows Complete Disdain for Public Schools and Educators
2. Van Roekel Responds to Daniels Echoing Romney’s Attack on Teachers
3. Romney Campaign Chair: ‘Taxpayers Really Do Want To Hear There Will Be Fewer Teachers’
4. Romney Admits Education Policy is Intended to Kill Teacher Unions
5. Romney Education Panel a Throwback to Bush Era

“Democracy” in Chicago? « Diane Ravitch's blog

“Democracy” in Chicago? « Diane Ravitch's blog:

“Democracy” in Chicago?

by dianerav

A parent in Chicago wrote to explain how difficult it is for parents or anyone else to speak at a “public” hearing.

A true grassroots parent group in Chicago, 19th Ward Parents, attend every monthly meeting of the Board of Ed at CPS.

One of our parents was ejected by security because she dared to ask when public participation would be permitted.

It was already difficult to speak at a BoE meeting. But it has become more difficult since Emanuel has been mayor, and the Board pushed the public participation to the very end of the meeting.

For example, individuals can speak to the Board only every other month. 

Speakers have only 2 minutes.

You must get up very early to sign in.

CPS works closely with Stand for Children, who recruited speakers in support of the longer day. CPS staff got up early to stand in line for the Stand speakers, who arrived at a more reasonable 

Louisiana’s Vouchergate Scandal Erupts | Scathing Purple Musings

Louisiana’s Vouchergate Scandal Erupts | Scathing Purple Musings:

Louisiana’s Vouchergate Scandal Erupts

by Bob Sikes

Did Governor Bobby Jindal’s staff and Louisiana’s state education superintendent conspire to suppress a news story that the state had ”not performed site visits or extensive review of voucher applications?” It looks like it. From reporter Barbara Leader in the Monroe News-Star:

Emails between Louisiana Education Superintendent John White, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s spokesman Kyle Plotkin and Jindal’s policy adviser Stafford Palmieri show White devising a scheme to “muddy up a narrative” and to “take some air out of the room” after a news report about the new voucher program that was published before his Senate confirmation hearing in May.
In the email exchange, White proposes creating a news story about the “due diligence” process for school voucher approvals to counter the impact of a News-Star article that revealed the state Department of Education had not performed site visits or extensive review of voucher applications.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee was to consider recommending White’s position be 

Shanker Blog » When Push Comes To Pull In The Parent Trigger Debate

Shanker Blog » When Push Comes To Pull In The Parent Trigger Debate:

When Push Comes To Pull In The Parent Trigger Debate

by Matthew Di Carlo

The so-called “parent trigger,” the policy by which a majority of a school’s parents can decide to convert it to a charter school, seems to be getting a lot of attention lately.
Advocates describe the trigger as “parent empowerment,” a means by which parents of students stuck in “failing schools” can take direct action to improve the lives of their kids. Opponents, on the other hand, see it as antithetical to the principle of schools as a public good – parents don’t own schools, the public does. And important decisions such as charter conversion, which will have a lasting impact on the community as a whole (including parents of future students), should not be made by a subgroup of voters.
These are both potentially appealing arguments. In many cases, however, attitudes toward the parent trigger seem more than a little dependent upon attitudes toward charter schools in general. If you strongly support charters, you’ll tend to be pro-trigger, since there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you oppose charter schools, on the other hand, the opposite is likely to be the case. There’s a degree to which it’s not the trigger itself but rather what’s being triggered – opening more charter schools – that’s driving the debate.

Jersey Jazzman: The New "Bargaining": Take This and Shut Up!

Jersey Jazzman: The New "Bargaining": Take This and Shut Up!:

The New "Bargaining": Take This and Shut Up!

by Duke

Roy Roberts invents a new definition for the term "collective bargaining":

DETROIT — The state-appointed emergency manager running the Detroit Public Schools imposed a contract Sunday on the district's teachers, the district has announced.

Roy Roberts is empowered by Michigan's emergency manager law to impose work terms on employees.

"This new collective bargaining agreement with our teachers provides the flexibility needed for our schools to be successful and to meet the educational needs of the children and families who come to us," Roberts said in a statement. "It also 

Louisiana Educator: Jindal Choice Law: An Invitation to Fraud and Abuse

Louisiana Educator: Jindal Choice Law: An Invitation to Fraud and Abuse:

Jindal Choice Law: An Invitation to Fraud and Abuse

by Michael Deshotels

Note to readers: Soon this blog will carry a report on the voting records of all legislators relative to the Jindal school reform package. At that time I will include suggestions for approaching our legislators about possible repeals or other modifications needed in the laws. Again I am encouraging all readers to submit an email to louisianaeducator@gmail.com so you can be added to my DEFENDERS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION data base. Please include your name and preferred email address and home address so that I can classify all participants according to thier own legislative districts. We have much work to do to save our public education system from destruction. Please be part of this effort!

Key portions of the recently passed Jindal Education legislation are being challenged in court by the LFT, the LAE,  and by the Louisiana School Boards Association. The student scholarship (voucher) program is being challenged on the basis that the state is not authorized by the Louisiana Constitution to fund student enrollment in private schools. These groups are attempting to prevent the implementation of this law before the beginning of the 2012 school year. At this point, the court challenges may be our best hope to prevent the new laws from doing serious damage to our educational system.

In addition to the questionable legality of paying for children to attend private and religious schools, in my opinion, the law is an open invitation to unscrupulous individuals to use our taxes for personal enrichment of a 

What Is an ATR? « Diane Ravitch's blog

What Is an ATR? « Diane Ravitch's blog:

What Is an ATR?

by dianerav

New York City teachers who read this blog include a number of ATRs.
Readers from outside the city ask what an ATR is.
I have explained that it is a teacher who used to work in a school that was “phased out” and replaced by new schools. This is the Bloomberg administration’s central strategy of school reform: close and replace, close and replace, repeat and repeat.
The teachers who lose their jobs have not been evaluated. They may be great teachers. They just happened to have the bad luck to teach in a closing school. If they are experienced teachers, other principals may reject them because their salaries are too high. So they become wanderers in the school system. They become members of the Absent Teacher Reserve, floating from school to school, a week at a time in each. They are lost