Monday, January 27, 2014

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Urges Agencies to Apply to Become Summer Food Service Program Sponsors

SACRAMENTO—Helping students get enough nutritious food during the summer recess will help them succeed in school in the fall, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, who today urged eligible organizations to become sponsor meal sites under the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

"California's young people need healthy meals and intellectual stimulation as much when school is out of session as they do during the regular school year," Torlakson said. "That's why I'm urging leaders at school, in the community, and other agencies to sign up to become summer meal sites to help keep kids well-nourished and ready to learn when they return."

The SFSP helps provide nutritious meals to children in geographic areas where at least 50 percent of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals. The program works by reimbursing agencies that serve these meals to children 18 years and younger during school vacation. The SFSP operates when schools in a community are on vacation for at least 15 continuous school days or when year-round schools are off track. The program benefits all children in accordance with federal law and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, and is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

Eligible sponsors may include schools, camps, Indian tribal governments, private nonprofit agencies, and municipal, state, county, or local government offices. Sponsors may prepare meals or obtain meals from another SFSP sponsor, public or commercial food vendor, or a school food service department. All meals must meet the USDA minimum meal pattern requirements. Eligible sponsors often provide summer activities for children to promote their summer feeding sites. All families have to do is show up at any open meal site and their hungry children will be fed, no questions asked, and no income verification is necessary.

Agencies interested in becoming SFSP sponsors must obtain training by California Department of Education (CDE) staff before their applications can be approved. Applications are due 45 days before beginning meal service and no later than May 15, 2014. Training sessions are available from early February through April. All commercial food service vendors are also invited to participate in the training sessions. The training will benefit food service vendors by providing information for meeting SFSP meal pattern and contract requirements.

Agencies interested in becoming SFSP sponsors may contact Vincent Keene at 800-952-5609, 916-322-8319, orvkeene@cde.ca.gov. Applicants may also contact Augie Aguilar at 800-952-5609, 916-327-5865, or auaguilar@cde.ca.gov.

To receive training information, learn how to access the online application, or learn how to become an SFSP sponsor or SFSP food vendor, visit CDE's Summer Food Service Program Information - Summer Food Service Web page.

For more information on running a successful summer program, visit the California Summer Meal Coalition

Web site.

The CDE will update its interactive map of Summer Meal Service Sites - Food Programs in early summer to help families locate a summer meal site or summer sponsor close to their homes.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

2013-14 Sponsor Verification Report

Nutrition Services Division Management Bulletin
Purpose: Action Required
To: National School Lunch Program Sponsors, School Breakfast Program Sponsors	Number: USDA-SNP-28-2013
Attention: Food Service Director, Business Official	Date: December 2013
Subject: Annual Sponsor Verification Report for 2013–14 is Now Available
Reference: Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 245.6a(c), Verification Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements; Policy Memo SP 38-2013 (April 29, 2013) Release of the new School Food Authority Verification Collection Report (Form FNS-742)

This Management Bulletin (MB) provides School Food Authorities (SFA) (Local Educational Agencies participating in school meal programs) with information on annual Verification Reporting requirements. Please read this MB even if the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has never required your district/agency to complete the Verification Report in the past.

By February 10, 2014, National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) sponsors/SFAs mustsubmit their annual Verification Report to the California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division via the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS). The report requires NSLP and SBP participating districts/agencies to report the verification results of their annual free and reduced-price (F/RP) application process to the CDE. The CDE reports consolidated verification results for all SFAs on the NSLP and/or SBP to the USDA by March 14, 2013.

Revision Highlights

Effective School Year (SY) 2013–14, the USDA has made several changes to the Verification Report. The following list highlights the revisions made to the report:

All SFAs, including Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCI) without day students, that participate in the NSLP and/or SBP must submit the Verification Report via the CNIPS.

All SFAs that participate in the NSLP and/or SBP must annually file this report even if they were previously exempt from completing the report.

RCCIs must separately report the number of sites with and without day students.

SFAs must report the number of schools and the number of students attending schools on Provision 2/3 serving bothlunch and breakfast, and those serving lunch or breakfast.
SFAs must report the total number of verified applications, error-prone applications, and applications that have been verified for cause.

The USDA requires SFAs to report CalFresh and California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Direct Certification (DC) student eligibility separately. The CDE Data Management Division (DMD) is working with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to implement this new USDA requirement and report CalFresh and CalWORKs DC student eligibility separately in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). However, at this time the DMD is unable to report the CalFresh and CalWORKs DC student eligibility separately in CALPADS for SY 2013−14; therefore, SFAs must report both CalFresh and CalWORKs students as only CalFresh. If the SFA obtains its list of DC students from the county Department of Social Services, the county may be able to provide the district/agency with the CalFresh and CalWORKs data separately for reporting.

If a student receives both CalFresh and CalWORKs benefits, the SFA must report all students in the same household as recipients of CalFresh only.

The new Verification Report includes fields for agencies participating in the Community Eligibility Option (CEO), which is an alternative to collecting household applications for F/RP meals. Leave this field blank in the Verification Report, as the CEO will not be implemented until SY 2014–15.

How to Access the Verification Report

SFAs are now able to access the Verification Report via the CNIPS. The steps to access the report are detailed below:

Access the CNIPS Web site at https://www.cnips.ca.gov
In the boxes provided, enter your User ID and Password and select Log On
Select Applications from the blue tool bar at the top of your screen
Select Verification Report
Follow the Verification Report Instructions below and complete the report
Select Save—NOTE: you will not receive a confirmation message

If the message Saved with Errors is displayed:

Select Edit, make the corrections
Select Save
Select Finish—you will not receive a confirmation message

Verification Report Instructions

The USDA has provided detailed instructions for completing the revised Verification Report. The instructions are in SFA Verification Collection Report (Form FNS-742), the attachment to USDA Policy Memo SP 38-2013, which can be downloaded from the USDA School Meals Policy Memos Web page at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/policy.htm. Please read all of the instructions before completing the Verification Report.

For more information about verification of eligibility in the NSLP, refer to the CDE School Nutrition Program (SNP) Verification Materials Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/verification.asp#reporting.

Verification Reporting Dates

The required dates for SFAs to determine the number of applications on file for verification and to report the number of F/RP eligibles to the CDE are different. SFAs must select their verification samples based on the number of applications on file as of October 1 and report that count, while the count of F/RP eligibles will be reported as of the last operating day in October.

Please remember, sponsors must complete and submit their verification report to the CDE through their CNIPS account by February 10, 2014.

Questions and Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this MB, please contact your SNP County Specialist. The SNP County Specialist list is available in the CNIPS Download Forms section, titled as “Caseload SNP.” You may also contact an SNP Office Technician by phone at 916-322-1450, 916-322-3005, or 800-952-5609.

EduCon, Addressing Privilege, and Developing Learners Through Race - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

EduCon, Addressing Privilege, and Developing Learners Through Race - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:

EduCon, Addressing Privilege, and Developing Learners Through Race

by JOSE VILSON on JANUARY 27, 2014

in JOSE

When friend Audrey Watters invited me to create an EduCon session, one that would eventually run concurrently with my Sunday panel on openness and transparency in education, my first reaction was “Ugh. Do we really have to?” Then she basically says, “Well, if we don’t, then we’re chickenshit.”

Dayum.

Before I could finish shaking my fist at her, I had a list of things that, up to that point, pissed me the hell off. The lists of educators that were bereft of K-12 educators of color, the times when some educational progressives tried to tell Asian educators to fall in line with a racial epitaph just because it happened at an anti-testing rally, the temptation of Kanye West, the nonsense with the Badass Teachers Association calling for educators at the Teacher Town Hall / Education Nation 2014 when Jesse Hagopian (a Black teacher who helped lead the Seattle MAP Boycott) was speaking to his experiences in and out of the classroom, the ensuing discussions comparing

- See more at: http://thejosevilson.com/educon-addressing-privilege-developing-learners-race/#sthash.yO4pLC9V.dpuf

What’s the Difference Between Wealth and Money? | Gatsby In L.A.

What’s the Difference Between Wealth and Money? | Gatsby In L.A.:

What’s the Difference Between Wealth and Money?

“We’ve been saying that Myrtle’s having an affair with Tom for the money, but that has a different connotation than saying she’s having an affair with him because of his wealth,” says a blond guy in the front who’s been relatively quiet during class so far.

By “relatively quiet” I mean he’s only contributed to the class discussion of The Great Gatsby three or four times so far in the first twenty minutes of class, in addition to joining in every time the entire class offers up an answer to a question in unison. Other kids, by contrast, have contributed answers to every single question. Almost all are leaning forward in their seats eagerly.

It’s the most engaged high school class I’ve ever seen. Anywhere.

I’m at Harvard-Westlake, generally considered to be the most elite private school in Los Angeles, occupying something like 22 acres of gently rolling hills in Sherman Oaks, including two gyms, a tennis court, and a putting green and a performing arts center so complete that in addition to having two theaters and a dance studio, it also houses a roomful of electric pianos. Notable alums include Sally Ride, Eric Garcetti, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Shirley Temple, Jason Segal and both Gyllenhaals. There is no information on the website about diversity, but admissions information is offered in Spanish, Chinese and Korean; 17% of students get some kind of financial aid toward the $34,000 annual

The White Choice | EduShyster

The White Choice | EduShyster:

The White Choice

A growing number of choosy choosers are choosing the white choice for their children

It’s hard to believe but National School Choice Week is here again. This year’s choicetacular celebration started off with a bang—make that a bell—as students fromNewark Prep Charter School, operated by K12 (NYSE: LRN), rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, signaling the dawning of a new era of investing in student futures. But hark! Could those be dark clouds threatening our bright yellow choice-filled future???

White Turn

First: a brief encounter with our auld friend history. Back in the day the civil rights issue of our time was civil rights and the scourge of segregation lay heavy upon the land. But that was then and then is so not now. Today’s civil rights issue of our time is *choice*—the opportunity to choose one’s choice of educational choices. There’s just one wee problem, reader. In communities in which the symbolic yellow scarf doth now wave, a growing number of choosy choosers

NYC Public School Parents: Call the Governor; tomorrow is Data Privacy Day!

NYC Public School Parents: Call the Governor; tomorrow is Data Privacy Day!:

Call the Governor; tomorrow is Data Privacy Day!

Tomorrow is National Data Privacy Day. Please take a moment to sign this petition and call Governor Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 with the following message:

The Governor needs to publicly oppose the state’s plan to share student data with inBloom Inc. and other vendors. NY is now the worst state in the country when it comes to student privacy.

At the same time, let him know that his proposal to add only $603M in state education aid is too low – especially as the NY Education Conference Board says we need at least $1.6 billion just to maintain current class sizes and services. More than 60% of school districts get less aid now than in 2008!

How you can help ensure we get new and better Regents members now!

Commissioner King and most of the members of the Board of Regents have been totally unresponsive to parents and the elected leaders of both parties. They have refused to pull back from inBloom, data-sharing and the high-stakes testing linked to the Common Core, despite huge opposition. Commissioner King is appointed by the Regents, who are appointed by Speaker Silver and the members of the NYS

by Leonie Haimson / 13min

My Summary and Thoughts of the Progressive Social Media Summit + (my original speech) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

My Summary and Thoughts of the Progressive Social Media Summit + (my original speech) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

My Summary and Thoughts of the Progressive Social Media Summit + (my original speech)

Posted on January 27, 2014

This is by no means meant to be a complete summary of this awesome experience put on by Louisiana Progress, but I thought I would share a few thoughts of mine that came out of this get together. The livestream for this summit was www.louisianaprogress.org/live I was told Louisiana Progress will post a link to the video in a few days. When they do so I will update this post.

Before I start with my summary I wanted to thank all the folks that put this together and especially all of my fans who came out for this event just to see me. I was truly touched and amazed by this, that people from other cities around the state would drive through what for us, in Louisiana, were treacherous and dismal conditions, sometimes stuck in traffic for hours, just to come out and see me. I’m not sure I made my appreciation known at the time, but I was really blown away by your interest in me and your passion for improving our state. Your gestures made my work that much more rewarding and a simple thank you from me seems inadequate. I will promise to continue with my work and I hope to include those of you with the interest and time as well in the future. As was discussed at the summit and I discussed with some of you, I am very interested in hosting guest blogger posts or opinions. As was the case for Bob Mann, one of my most popular posts was a speech I heard and reposted, that someone else wrote. Our words have power.

It was also great to see many of my personal heroes up close and in person. Hopefully I didn’t talk too much (I know I did talk too much, but hopefully not so much as to have been super annoying) as I tend to do when I’m excited. . . If someone had told me 2 years ago I would be sharing a stage