Education Nation: Which States Have Academic Performance Targets That Vary By Race?

Education Nation: Which States Have Academic Performance Targets That Vary By Race?:

Which States Have Academic Performance Targets That Vary By Race?

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To date, the Department of Education has approved waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for 34 states and the District of Columbia. These waivers allow states to set new academic performance targets for their students, as long as they make substantial gains in reducing the achievement gap in six years. Because of this, 23 states have now set targets that vary by race.

In the map below:

States that have academic performance targets that do not vary by race.

States that have academic performance targets that do vary by race.

States that do not currently have a waiver. They are still required by NCLB to have 100% of their students test proficient in reading and math by 2014.

Click on the states to see examples of the new performance targets for White, Hispanic and Black students.

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A parent’s perspective: Pricey L.A. school board election is wake-up call | Hechinger Report

A parent’s perspective: Pricey L.A. school board election is wake-up call | Hechinger Report:

A parent’s perspective: Pricey L.A. school board election is wake-up call

by Sara Roos

Like my neighbors, it wasn’t until millions of dollars began pouring into my little, local school district that I first paid any attention to the Los Angeles school board race. Most of us were too busy with common travesties in our schools, like sluggish fundraising and chronic understaffing, to notice. In short order, it became clear that this was an end-game for a massive national power struggle in the “dismantle-and-privatize-our-government” game. This has been a campaign of Herculean scale, including assaults on checks and balances, free thinking and the bulwark of labor unions. Where have I been? Without ever noticing it, I was moved into a constituency camp termed “parent” and consigned to a group I never knew was conscripted. I was ascribed a whole host of concerns and partisan viewpoints I did not know were mine. For those who haven’t followed the L.A. school board election closely, it attracted national attention and millions in outside money. The contributions—from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee, among others—flowed to school-board candidates who support charter schools, new teacher evaluations based on student test scores, and overhauling teacher tenure. It turns out that an incumbent aligned with Superintendent John Deasy and an incumbent 

The Dalai Lama’s education tweet:

The Dalai Lama’s education tweet

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 7, 2013 at 11:00 am

Jon Stewart ridicules preschool critics

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 hours ago

Take six minutes and 12 seconds to watch this. Jon Stewart continues to be the best critic of silly education thinking with this “Daily Show” piece about the stupidity of some of the criticism of the idea of government support … Continue reading →

Obama, Oprah, Colbert, Ripken etc: The 2013 commencement speakers

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 hours ago

Who is speaking where at 2013 commencement ceremonies? Here’s some of the big names and the places they will appear: * President Obama is speaking at three graduations: the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Ohio State University and Morehouse College, … Continue reading →

How social networking rules for teachers go too far

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 6 hours ago

Teachers are expected to do a lot of things in the classroom — but what about outside? Here’s a look at that issue, by Angie Miller, the 2011 New HampshireTeacher of the Year and a TED2012 speaker. She teaches middle … Continue reading →

U-Va.: Gov. McDonnell can’t say he wasn’t warned

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 18 hours ago

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) can’t say he wasn’t warned. Last summer Helen Dragas, the rector of the University of Virginia’s governing Board of Visitors, sparked an 18-day leadership crisis at the elite school when she pushed out the popular U-Va. … Continue reading →

Voters send mixed signals to school reformers in L.A.

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 19 hours ago

Voters keep sending signals that they have very mixed feelings about corporate-based school reform. The latest signs come from Los Angeles, where Tuesday’s races for three Board of Education seats resulted in one defeat, one win, and one runoff for … Continue reading →

How closing schools hurts neighborhoods

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

On Thursday, the Philadelphia school district’s governing board, the School Reform Commission, will be voting on the most massive one-time downsizing of the system ever proposed. The district’s recently revised plan, which has encountered widespread community and teacher opposition, calls … Continue reading →

Rotten to the Core | The Journal Gazette

Rotten to the Core | The Journal Gazette:

Rotten to the Core

Untested national school standards stifle local voices

Joy Pullmann

As soon as someone tells you something will save education, hide your children, hide your wife and check your back pocket.
Because education deals with children and the American dream, it’s a land of magical thinking. The latest unproven fad is called Common Core.
No one ever field-tested it, but 45 states, including Indiana, adopted it, believing its mental sugar pills will make all U.S. kids “college- and career-ready.”
The Core defines what K-12 children must know in math and English, and forms the basis of forthcoming national tests.
The people who wrote it are not teachers, nor are they from Indiana.
Indiana’s Senate just passed Senate Bill 193 in a bipartisan vote. Republicans sponsored the bill, and 

The brilliant John Dillon dissembles seven simple sentences. | Fred Klonsky

The brilliant John Dillon dissembles seven simple sentences. | Fred Klonsky:

The brilliant John Dillon dissembles seven simple sentences.

by Fred Klonsky

State Representative Michael Tryon.
From John Dillon’s blog:

Dissemble – verb intransitive – to conceal one’s true feelings, beliefs or motives.

A recent electronic message from Representative Michael Tryon displays the kind of half-truths and factual recklessness that might even make the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune blush.  On the other hand these kinds of false assertions have been so proselytized by opportunistic politicians and media, even Carol Marin on WTTW keeps a straight face while Representative Nekritz serves them up as reasons for HB 3411.

Here is part of Rep. Tryon’s plaintive email message.

“How Did We Get Here?

The pension liability is the single issue that places the most pressure on the budget. Simply put, the pension payment takes up so much of the available funds that there is not enough money left 

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, March 7, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Some teachers to get layoff notices despite rising revenue

Education Headlines

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Education roundup: Taft gets new superintendent

Blanca Cavazos, a former Arvin High School principal and current Kern County Superintendent of Schools office administrator, has been offered the job of superintendent of the Taft Union High School District.

S.J. office draws heat in migrant-education audit

A newly released state audit of California's migrant-education program criticizes the San Joaquin County Office of Education for handling conflict-of-interest charges against a since-departed official in 2011 as an "internal personnel issue."

Paso Robles school board cuts 15 positions

The equivalent of 15 classified staff positions will be downsized in the Paso Robles school district, the result of a unanimous school board vote Tuesday. Meanwhile, a letter issued by the board Wednesday suggests continued teacher pay cuts are necessary.

Fresno Unified expects $66.9 million reserve

The Fresno Unified school board got some good financial news on Wednesday night that will allow the district to keep all its teachers and hire new ones to handle a decrease in class sizes next year. The district will be able to meet its financial obligations this year and expects to end the fiscal year on June 30 with $66.9 million in its reserve.

Gilroy school district forced into spending freeze to avoid financial crisis

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has imposed a spending and hiring freeze on the Gilroy Unified School District, to avert a deepening a financial crisis and cash-flow crunch.

Some teachers to get layoff notices despite rising revenue

Teachers and counselors filling the equivalent of 20.2 fulltime jobs in the Riverside Unified School District will get preliminary layoff notices even though the district’s finances are improving.

Temecula Valley Unified board approves layoff notices

The governing board of the Temecula Valley Unified School District on Tuesday approved issuing layoff notices to nearly 40 teachers and eliminating 16 classified positions during an agenda filled with budgetary preparations for the 2013-14 school year and beyond.

San Lorenzo cuts preschool teacher and reduces art teacher hours

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday to issue a layoff notice to a preschool teacher and reduce the hours of a high school art teacher from full-time to part-time, a decision met with disbelief by the president of the teachers union.

Sonoma County educator tapped to head Kentfield schools

Kentfield native Liz Schott has been tapped to head the Kentfield School District after Superintendent Mary Jo Pettegrew retires this summer.

Layoff notices frustrate parents of Antioch home-schoolers

he Antioch school district will send out preliminary layoff notices to teachers by next week. Antioch Unified, East Contra Costa's largest school district, is the only one in the area issuing layoff notices

Frey: State’s first career-tech center faces potential demise

The superintendent of the state’s oldest regional occupational program is warning that an unintended consequence of the governor’s Local Control Funding Formula could lead to its demise. An official from the Department of Finance says his department will look into the problem.

Pomona Unified board opts to keep Montvue School open for another year

Montvue Elementary School will continue operating for at least one more school year while Pomona Unified School District administrators look for other ways to close a $5.4 million deficit.

Fensterwald: Victorious LAUSD incumbent vows to keep challenging Deasy

Having presented the Los Angeles School Board election races as a referendum on Superintendent John Deasy’s future, the club of six- and seven-figure donors in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Coalition for School Reform may have succeeded in making Deasy’s life more complicated.

Pleasant Valley High gym to get health-safety repairs

The district's Director of Facilities and Construction Mike Weissenborn and head of maintenance and operations Randy Salado came to the board to ask for an emergency repair project in the Varley Gym on the PVHS campus.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Kern HSD approves defibrillators for every campus

The Kern High School District voted Monday to put automated external defibrillators on each of its campuses.

Bear Creek's top two leaving

More than two dozen Bear Creek High School staff members and students filled the Lodi Unified boardroom Tuesday evening, supporting Principal Shirley McNichols and Vice Principal Tim Swartz, who had been asked to resign from their jobs.

Tokay Colony likely to close

Teachers and parents at one of Lodi Unified's smallest schools were told Tuesday night to use the next year to prepare for their campus to close.