Feds add parent engagement condition to new SIG money :: SI&A Cabinet

Feds add parent engagement condition to new SIG money :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Feds add parent engagement condition to new SIG money

by Tom Chorneau

(District of Columbia) Parent and family engagement requirements will become a central tenet of new rules governing the federal government’s largest program for turning around the nation’s lowest performing schools.

The School Improvement Grant program, which has provided more than $5 billion to struggling schools since 2009, has undergone a restructuring as a result of the budget agreement last December between Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama.

The key deal point agreed to by the administration was that states would be allowed to design their own intervention option to go with the four, aggressive and rigid improvement models that Obama had previously required.

The appropriation bill also gave the U.S. Department of Education an opening to introduce new conditions for schools receiving SIG money – including one over parent and family engagement.

As part of the rule-making process, the department issued proposed regulations published in the Federal Registry Monday, opening a 30 day public comment period.

Among the changes is that schools would be given five year grants instead of the three years they now receive. Also, rural schools would be given new flexibility over intervention options and all schools would be allowed to pursue an “evidence-based, whole-school reform strategy” with a partner experienced in school turnaround.

The new family engagement policy, which echoes school spending policies introduced in California last year, requires states to consider how a school district will “meaningfully engage families and the community in the implementation of the intervention on an ongoing basis” before approving a SIG application.

Under Gov. Jerry Brown, local educational agencies in California are now required to engage in “meaningful, two-way” consultation with parents over spending decisions that impact Feds add parent engagement condition to new SIG money :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

It’s time to do accountability right – and yes, we know how

Using standardized tests as the sole measure of educational performance is a bit like using a measuring tape to calculate weight. You’ll get a number, all right, but it will have limited meaning.

by Lee Funk / 9h 

Russ on Reading: Why Corporate Education Reform Will Fail (Eventually)

Russ on Reading: Why Corporate Education Reform Will Fail (Eventually):

Why Corporate Education Reform Will Fail (Eventually)

In my post on Monday I explored the work of historian and social theorist, Michael Katz, especially his 1968 book The Irony of Early Education Reform, which so uncannily presaged the current education reform movement. One line I read from Katz’s updated introduction to the 2003 edition of that book is staying with me. Katz said that the book “‘highlights how education has been used in America as a way out of public dilemmas—as a painless substitution for the redistribution of wealth—and how and why that gambit always fails.”

History will tell us if the reforms touted by the corporate education reformers will take firm root in the country. Perhaps the reformers will be successful in getting their laundry list of reforms in place. After all they are very well financed and they have powerful political support on the federal and state government level. Bill Gates and other plutocrats are spending millions to have their way with public education. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has used his office and power of the purse to bribe states into his favored reforms. Governors in Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and New Jersey have seized on the education reform mantras of “choice” and union bashing to extend the agenda in their states. The court in California has at least temporarily struck down tenure and highly publicized campaigns to do the same in New York and other states are well under way.

It may very well be that in some time in the future, we will see the installation of the Common Core nationwide, the reduction of teacher unions to toothless tigers, the extension of charter schools to the point where no urban district has a public school system, voucher programs proliferating and robbing school districts of funds, and teachers being reduced to “at will” employees at the mercy of evaluations based on student test scores.

This could well happen; we don’t know. There is one thing we do know, however. If every single reform cherished by the corporate education Russ on Reading: Why Corporate Education Reform Will Fail (Eventually):

Choosing Democracy: U.S. Teachers Work Really Hard

Choosing Democracy: U.S. Teachers Work Really Hard:

U.S. Teachers Work Really Hard

American teachers work hard. Like, really hard.

Rebecca Klein

This year's education report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development outlines the state of education in the world's most developed countries. It finds that American elementary school teachers spend more hours actually teaching students than peers in any other surveyed country.

The graph below details how much time elementary school teachers spend in front of the classroom:

American middle school and high school teachers spend more time educating students than peers in every OECD country except Chile, according to the report. In addition to classroom time, U.S. teachers are required to be at school for more hours than most of their international peers.

Despite the long hours, American teachers aren't well compensated, Andreas Schleicher, OECD director of education and skills, explained in a call with reporters Monday. While U.S. raw teacher salaries are high compared with the rest of the world, the pay lags behind that of similarly educated American workers.

“Teacher pay relative to other countries, in absolute terms, is quite competitive in the United States," said Schleicher. "But when you look at this relative to the earnings of other people with college degrees, actually the United States is pretty much at the end of the scale."

The OECD graphic below shows how teachers' salaries compare with other college-educated workers in each country. The report found that teachers are paid more than comparably educated workers in only seven countries.

U.S. teacher pay looks especially bleak when it's calculated over a working career. The OECD report shows American teacher salaries increase less than the average of OECD countries after 15 years of experience.

A study from the Center for American Progress in July found that slow teacher salary growth contributes to high turnover. Research shows that 13 percent of teachers each year move schools or leave the profession.

"The bottom line is that mid- and late-career teachers are not earning what they deserve, nor are they able to gain the salaries that support a middle-class existence," says the report.

It continues: "As a nation, we need to do far more to attract -- and keep -- mid- and late-career teachers. In the end, if we truly want to retain top talent in our classrooms, we need to offer top-talent salaries.”

HUFFPOST:Choosing Democracy: U.S. Teachers Work Really Hard:

My Contribution To #FergusonSyllabus [Edutopia] | The Jose Vilson

My Contribution To #FergusonSyllabus [Edutopia] | The Jose Vilson:

My Contribution To #FergusonSyllabus [Edutopia]

 SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 MR. VILSON LEAVE A COMMENT

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Hey everyone,

I wrote up a resource on how to teach about and beyond the events of Ferguson, and included examples of how some teachers are already doing it. Please read and let me know what you think.

3. Bring it back to the individual.

We don’t often get the chance to reflect about our misgivings or perceptions of each other. Especially in diverse communities (and I do mean diverse and not just communities of color), we often dodge racial conversations because we pretend that avoiding the subject means peace. Instead, confronting our own prejudices head-on would make us better people and leaders. Understanding the lens through which we see the world and how others see the world will combine to grow a sense of empathy within our communities, so that when conversations like Ferguson do come up, everyone understands how to approach it.

Read, share, and let me know what you think. Thank you!

About Jose Vilson

José Luis Vilson is a math educator, blogger, speaker, and activist. For more of my writing, buy my book This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, on sale now.

My Contribution To #FergusonSyllabus [Edutopia] | The Jose Vilson:

9-10-14 Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Former Bok principal surrenders credentials in cheating scandal

Sub Title:  Melton is the seventh principal punished in cheating probe. Arthur "Larry" Melton, the retired principal of the now-defunct Bok Technical High School, has become the seventh Philadelphia principal to face official punishment as a result of a probe into widespread PSSA test cheating in the Philadelphia School District.  Melton, who was at Bok for a decade, surrendered hi

5 by Dale Mezzacappa / 6h hide  //  save

Philly parents file suit against Pa. Department of Education

Overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of guidance counselors, a lack of proper coursework. These are among the reasons parents in the Philadelphia School District filed a lawsuit this week in Commonwealth Court against the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Parent Tim Allen sent his son to Bodine High based on its reputation as a high-achieving magnet school with an international focus. But budget

1 by thenotebook / 7h 

33 new computers come to Emlen just in time for the new school year

Balloons lined the hallways of Eleanor Emlen Elementary School on Friday. The school's new computer lab opened in a ceremony that included City Councilwoman Cindy Bass, State Rep. Cherelle Parker and community members. School dinosaurs The school's 26 computers — many older than the students themselves — were replaced during the summer by 33 new iMac desktops at the K-5 public school in Mount Airy

1 by thenotebook / 7h 

Coalitions can change the game for Philadelphia schools

As we begin a new school year and approach a gubernatorial election, let’s celebrate the work of teachers, students, parents, community members, labor unions, and faith communities in Philadelphia who are coming together to improve education in our city. Never before have people from so many sectors of the city joined together to pursue their common goal: high-quality education for all.read more

21 by thenotebook / 9h 

9-9-14 Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Philadelphia Public School Notebook: Pa. Republicans flog Corbett's Common Core call as politics, not policyWant to boil the blood of some Pennsylvania voters? Utter four words: "Common Core State Standards." For those leery of all things federal, all things Obama, the push to align academic expectations on a consistent, nationwide basis causes heart rates to rise exponentially. This wee

by mike simpson / 15h 

What every parent should know: Filing a complaint with the PA Dept. of Ed | Parents United for Public Education

What every parent should know: Filing a complaint with the PA Dept. of Ed | Parents United for Public Education:



What every parent should know: Filing a complaint with the PA Dept. of Ed

Posted on September 10, 2014 by PARENTSUNITEDPHILALeave a comment

Parents United’s Robin Roberts speaks at a press conference with Sen. Vincent Hughes (far right) to announce the re-opening of http://www.myphillyschools.com and to encourage parents to file complaints.

(File a complaint here!)

As Philadelphia schools open under a second year of Doomsday budget proportions, Parents United for Public Education, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Media Mobilizing Project, and State Sen. Vincent Hughes announced the re-launching of the website www.myphillyschools.com and encouraged parents to file formal complaints with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education if schools lack necessary resources.

Last year, Philadelphia parents filed 825 complaints from more than 90 different schools with the State Dept. of Education. It remains the largest filing in state history.

We believe the complaints helped shake loose more than $45 million in federal money the state was holding in return for teacher union concessions. Much of the $45 million last fall went toward special education services and restoration of some guidance counselors and other school-based personnel. (Let’s also not forget a significant chunk of money also went to pay charter school enrollment increases.) In a handful of cases involving special needs children (who have more specific legal protections), the State ordered the District to provide full-time school nurses.

The complaints also helped us target our advocacy to eliminate some of the worst offenses – like getting a commitment to immediately reduce classroom sizes of greater than 40 students and to nearly eliminate the 100 split grade classrooms which opened last year.

But it’s not enough.

This year schools are short hundreds of staff in special education assistants and noon-time aides. Most personnel – like counselors, nurses, librarians and aides – have not been fully restored to manageable levels. Your voice still matters.

Pennsylvania state law allows for any individual to file a complaint with PDE for curriculum deficiencies and obligates the state to conduct an investigation of that complaint. That was our intention when we launched our campaign last year to hold the state accountable for the consequences of enforcing a Doomsday budget.

This week, Parents United and PILCOP also filed a lawsuit against the state department of education for the failure to adequately investigate most of the complaints filed last year. Among the complaints:

• A child dealing with the death of a parent with no counselor available during a time of extreme distress.
• A high school student who started each period searching for desks and chairs because her classes were so overcrowded.
• A 7-year-old with emotional and learning needs who began regressing into scratching himself bloody during class because a classroom aide and full-time counselor were no longer available like they were the year What every parent should know: Filing a complaint with the PA Dept. of Ed | Parents United for Public Education:

9-10-14 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):

Reps for LAUSD, teachers union talk about computers, not salaries

Reps for LAUSD, teachers union talk about computers, not salaries Another bargaining session came and went today and still no contract agreement between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA. The district said in a press release, “union leaders weren’t ready to talk about raises at the table,”  leaving the sides to focus, instead, on issues with the student-tracking system known as MiSiS, for My

4 1h 

Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race

Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race Mayor Garcetti Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today endorsed state Superintendent Tom Torlakson in his bid for reelection against Marshall Tuck, a former charter school executive. Citing his leadership in improving school safety and creating the largest network of after-school programs in the nation, Garcetti said in a statement, “Tom Torla

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LAUSD outlines backup plans as MiSiS work continues

LAUSD outlines backup plans as MiSiS work continues LA Unified is still scrambling to troubleshoot technical issues as the deadline for staffing schools approaches, the school board learned at its latest meeting yesterday. “Norm” day,” as it’s called, is set for Friday but problems with the new student data management system, MiSiS, have forced the district to devise a new plan: “The process will

6 by Vanessa Romo / 7h hide  //  save

Caputo-Pearl Q&A: Running LAUSD like a business?

Caputo-Pearl Q&A: Running LAUSD like a business? Via the Los Angeles Times | By Patt Morrison It’s a funny world, and a small one. Alex Caputo-Pearl, the new head of United Teachers Los Angeles, went to school in the same Maryland school district where John Deasy, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, was once superintendent. They missed each other there, but now they’re i

3 7h 

Morning Read: LAUSD eyed Pearson software early on

Morning Read: LAUSD eyed Pearson software early on Early technology plans called for training on Pearson software The Los Angeles Unified School District’s early technology expansion plan called for all teachers to be trained on textbook publisher Pearson’s iPad educational software, according to a document obtained by KPCC. KPCC MiSiS computer mess could impact college applications Concerned tha

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9-9-14 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): Teachers union ups pressure on Deasy over technology, contractTeachers union ups pressure on Deasy over technology, contract President of UTLA, Alex Caputo-Pearl With a new contract on the line, the LA Unified teachers union, UTLA, is stepping up its attack on Superintendent John Deasy, blaming him for pr

1 by mike simpson / 14h