Common Core Debate Update: 100 State Bills Try to Slow, Stop, or Reverse the Federal Standards | TakePart

Common Core Debate Update: 100 State Bills Try to Slow, Stop, or Reverse the Federal Standards | TakePart:

Common Core Debate Update: 100 State Bills Try to Slow, Stop, or Reverse the Federal Standards

With an election around the corner, legislation is moving fast.

Anita Stapleton, an opponent of Common Core educational standards, holds up a sign in front of the Colorado Department of Education offices on Wednesday, February 12, 2014. (Photo: Denver Post by Cyrus McCrimmon)

 e Common Core State Standards, the controversial federal K-12 curricula, have become a hot-button issue across the country this mid-term election year. States are opting out of the standards while teacher and parent groups fight for and against them.

The reasons against the standards are varied. Critics say that the federal government has had too much influence because the Obama Administration gives Race To The Top money to states that adopt the Common Core. Others say that the related testing and data collection will give the government and schools too much information about students. Teachers also fear that they will lose control of the way they teach.

Like many education advocates and academics, Nicholas Tampio, an assistant professor of political science at Fordham University who has studied the Common Common has some strong opinions. He calls the Common Core a “fundamentally bad idea.”

“America is a diverse country and should have a diverse system of education, with science schools, arts schools, international baccalaureate programs, Jesuit schools, vocational programs, outdoor schools, foreign language immersion schools, private schools and public schools,” Tampio says. “Those who say that the Common Core imposes a one-size-fits-all model on students are correct, and that is a bad thing.”

Common Core: What It Means for American Education

The standards were created by a bipartisan group to improve education and weren't controversial in 2009 when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers first organized to discuss them. But five years later, the standards have a fair number of opponents.

In late March, Indiana abandoned the standards when Republican   Common Core Debate Update: 100 State Bills Try to Slow, Stop, or Reverse the Federal Standards | TakePart:

Common Core, DESE and Right Wing Activists: An Occupy Wallstreet Activist Responds | Missouri Education Watchdog

Common Core, DESE and Right Wing Activists: An Occupy Wallstreet Activist Responds | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Common Core, DESE and Right Wing Activists: An Occupy Wallstreet Activist Responds

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A lesson for Shaun Bates at DESE in Venn Diagrams. Not all anti-Common Corites are right wing activists.

Missouri taxpayers and citizens, take note.  This is how The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education classifies you if you are opposed to Common Core.  From American Spring:

Today, in a Senate hearing on Common Core legislation a leaked email from DESE became public. The email from DESE, talks about the Common Core battle being waged in Jefferson City. This email contains observations from the private lobby organization MASA, or Missouri Association of School Administrators.

This email labels opponents of Common Core as ‘right-wing activists’. It also offers a variety of empty talking points, the kind typically issued from supporters of Missourians surrendering the illusion of ‘local control’ over our districts. This slanderous, outrageous and blatantly false characterization of Common Core opponents seeks to create fertile ground for the false narrative that opponents of Common Core are ‘tea party extremists and obstructionists’ or conspiracy theorists in need of tin foil hats.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who stand in opposition to Common Core do so because it is another step in the advancement of a fascist takeover of our local school districts and an assault on our rights. It is about re-establishing local control, accountability   Common Core, DESE and Right Wing Activists: An Occupy Wallstreet Activist Responds | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Scandal of Ohio Charter School Governance Finally Gets Some Attention | janresseger

Scandal of Ohio Charter School Governance Finally Gets Some Attention | janresseger:

Scandal of Ohio Charter School Governance Finally Gets Some Attention

Posted on April 3, 2014 by janresseger

Nearly a billion dollars flowing out of the state’s public education budget every year.  Scandals brought to light years after a charter school closes, money not recoverable because it’s been so long, no news coverage in time to make a difference.  Blog postings here and there about outrageous profits for Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow czar, William Lager.  Charter czars and management companies buying the legislature.

Will it ever be possible to get the money back where it belongs in public schools in a state where—even in the richer suburbs—families now have to pay added fees for their sons to play on the football team?  This is Ohio today.

With the coming of spring this year, however, there are some sprouts of hope.

Ohio’s state auditor, William Yost, has begun looking into big and small scandals alike.  Yesterday the Plain Dealer reported that Yost fined two officials of the Elite Academy of the Arts, $45,000 they had misspent on lavish meals and airfare before the school was closed in 2012 for academic failure.  Elite Academy of the Arts was located on East 93rd street in a very poor neighborhood, but according to Yost, “It turns out the ‘Elite’ in their name refers to their personal tastes when spending public money intended for education.”  Yost has taken to naming bluntly the corruption in Ohio’s unregulated charter sector: “theft from children.”

State auditor Yost is to be commended for using the power of his office to investigate the operation and supposed regulation of Ohio’s charter schools.  In February, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Yost is undertaking the investigation of three not-for-profit long-  Scandal of Ohio Charter School Governance Finally Gets Some Attention | janresseger:

4-3-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Battle lines forming in LA Unified for ‘Local Control’ spending

The battle over the new money coming into LA Unified from the state’s new Local Control Funding Formula starts in earnest tomorrow when Superintendent John Deasy lays out his plan for the 2014-15 budget. Deasy is meeting with reporters to unveil his spending priorities plan for an estimated $390 million the district will receive in extra resources, before he presents it to the school board on Tues

1 by Vanessa Romo / 17min 

Torlakson celebrates rise in AP participation at LA magnet school

Tom Torlakson at LACES State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson was in town today visiting the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) as part of his week-long “AP Excellence Tour.” Torlakson said the visits to high schools with innovative Advanced Placement courses are a “celebration” of a 10-year report from The College Board, showing impressive growth in enrollment statewide, especially among

1 by Vanessa Romo / 38min 

Commentary: An extraordinary effort for extraordinary need

Ben Austin LAUSD School Board Member Steve Zimmer’s recent commentary “Standing with Beatriz” hit the nail on the head on one key issue: for our children, the stakes are high. Let me acknowledge first that Mr. Zimmer is a good person who is doing what he feels is best for the children of LAUSD. On this issue, however, we have a principled disagreement about what that is. Mr. Zimmer portrays himsel

2 by Ben Austin / 10min hide  //  save

Morning Read: Tracking $13 billion (so far) from Prop 30

How California schools spent $13 billion generated by Prop 30 The California State Controller’s Office launched a website Wednesday tracking how money from Prop 30 is being spent by charter schools, school districts and community colleges. The measure was approved in November of 2012 and has since pulled in $13.1 billion for teachers, textbooks and general operations, according to the site. But th

2 1h 

4-2-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Rachel Johnson has experience, if not cash, for school board raceRachel Johnson In keeping with the start of the baseball season this week, let’s use a baseball analogy: Rachel Johnson has a Hall of Fame batting average in running for office. Since 2001 when she was first elected as the City Clerk of Gard

by mike simpson / 21h 

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

“Principal Connection / Tips for Better Parent-Teacher Conferences”

Principal Connection / Tips for Better Parent-Teacher Conferences is a nice article by Thomas R. Hoerr in ASCD Educational Leadership. Here’s an excerpt: Too often, parent-teacher conferences are seen as one-way reports from teacher to parent, but a parent-teacher conference should be a collaboration. Teachers have information to share, but they also need to allocate time for questions and discuss

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  save

“Teachers make house calls to improve performance”

Teachers make house calls to improve performance is a nice article in Cabinet Report that give an overview of making home visits (plus, it describes what’s happening at our school!). I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits.

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

4-1-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": “Parents have few, if any venues to express their concerns”The headline quotation is from Jose Luis Vilson, who contributed to the New York Times “Room For Debate” forum on Should Parents Opt Out of Testing? Check out his full contribution and comments from others. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On Parents “Opting-Out” Of

by mike simpson / 48min 

The Credibility Gap | EduShyster

The Credibility Gap | EduShyster:

The Credibility Gap

 What if the *solution* turns out to be a big part of the problem?

By Sarah Lahm
Friends, we have a problem on our hands. It turns out that experienced teachers—otherwise known as LIFO lifers—may not be causing the chasm of the achievement gap all by their lazy little selves. Now you’re probably thinking to yourself at this point: *color me confused.* After all, everyone who is anyone has been telling us for about as long as we can remember now that there is a money-back guaranteed way to boost all children up, no matter their zip code or lack thereof: de-tenurize teachers and take their golden *seniority* tickets while we’re at it. 

Meet the *edu-perts*
The argument goes something like this: once teachers are freed from workplace constraints, just like temps or Walmart clerks, students will at last begin to achieve,meaning that the greatest achievement of all has been achieved—the magic vanishing of the achievement gap. Case study: Minneapolis. For years now, a chorus of *edu-perts* (moneyed sources with vested interests whose vast knowledge of education can be traced back to their own student days) has been telling us that Minneapolis’ gigantic test score gaps are caused 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, April 3, 2014

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools

Education Headlines

Thursday, April 3, 2014

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Districts report few kinks with new testing method

Some local schools resolved what were minor communication hiccups and computer glitches in early rounds of the testing they administered last week. Others will begin the testing in assessment windows that start Monday and later this month.

Sweetwater-inspired reform bill advances

A bill that seeks to ban school and community college administrators from soliciting or accepting campaign donations for their elected officials cleared its first hurdle Tuesday, passing the state Assembly’s Elections and Redistricting Committee.

Tracking Prop. 30 school money

Californians can now see where their Proposition 30 education tax dollars are going and how the money is being spent thanks to a new online tool launched by the state Controller’s Office Wednesday.

Salinas-area charter schools grind through Common Core testing

Not everyone in the public schools is in a rush to use the technology of the new millennium. Monterey Bay Charter School, for example, does not introduce students to computerized learning until sixth grade. As a result, the first- through eighth-grade school in Pacific Grove has encountered a philosophical clash at the computer as field testing for the Common Core State Standards begins next week.

EpiPen legislation for California schools advances

Senate Bill 1266, by Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, would require school districts to give EpiPens to trained personnel to provide emergency medical aid to anyone suffering from a severe allergic reaction.

Twin Rivers unveils plan to put heaters, air conditioners in classrooms

Twin Rivers Unified unfurled a five-month plan Wednesday to correct heating and air-conditioning problems at Grant Union High School and Harmon Johnson Elementary School.

Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools

Federal rules require students to take at least three items each day, but an L.A. Unified manager wants to change the policy to reduce the $100,000 in food thrown away daily.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

EdSource: How budget cuts and PTA fundraising undermined equity in San Francisco public schools

In an era of shrinking public investment in schools, parents have struggled to hold the line one school at a time. Since the pre-recession year 2007, elementary school PTAs in San Francisco collectively managed to more than quadruple their spending on schools. But school district finance data, PTA tax records and demographic profiles reveal an unintended byproduct.

District oversight group discusses bond status

A citizens committee that oversees bond money for the Sweetwater Union High School District said Tuesday during a special meeting that the school board has some improvements to make with regard to funding priorities.

Carlsbad school aids Vista students in service learning project

What started last year with an affluent elementary school in Carlsbad helping a Vista school in a poorer neighborhood has grown into series of projects in which students from both campuses learn from each other and grow.

Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools

Federal rules require students to take at least three items each day, but a Los Angeles Unified School District manager wants to change the policy to reduce the $100,000 in food thrown away daily.

LAUSD investigates as Sunny Brae Elementary principal Jeff Hum is removed in Winnetka amid misconduct allegation

A principal at a Winnetka elementary school has been removed and an investigation launched, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman said Tuesday.

San Jose Unified backs down on placing charter middle school on elementary campus

Despite interest and compromises by San Jose Unified School District, the charter school and residents, the effort fell victim to volatile charter-school politics. The agreement to create Downtown College Prep Middle was cemented in September, but the school remains homeless for 2014-15.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-3-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

Report: FOUNDATION FUNDING WIDENS THE GAP BETWEEN CALIFORNIA’S ‘RICH’ AND ‘POOR’ SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/QIkpd5 Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC April 3rd, 2014, 5:30am  ::  The Irvine Public Schools Foundation raises money to pay for all K-3 music classes, and covers some of the costs of music classes for 4tn, 5th, and 6th graders in Irvine Unified schools. Southern California researchers are finding that foundations, set up to raise money

by smf / 47min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-2-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Nutritious but uneaten: SOLUTIONS SOUGHT TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE IN SCHOOLSFederal rules require students to take at least three items each day, but an L.A. Unified manager wants to change the policy to reduce the $100,000 in food thrown away daily. By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/PirlMW ●●smf: With the line that long, why is the service wind

by mike simpson / 35min