Charter ‘authorizers’ come under greater scrutiny in California | EdSource

Charter ‘authorizers’ come under greater scrutiny in California | EdSource

Charter ‘authorizers’ come under greater scrutiny in California

As charter school conflicts intensify in California, increasing attention is being focused not only on the schools themselves but on the school boards and other entities that grant them permission to operate in the first place.

They’re called charter authorizers, and unlike many states, California has hundreds of them: 294 local school districts, 41 county offices of education, along with the State Board of Education.

In fact, California, with over 1300 charters schools, has more authorizers than any other state. That’s not only because of California’s size but because it has decentralized the way charter schools get approved to an extent unmatched by any other state.

Someone wishing to start a charter school, or to renew a charter, must apply to a local school district to get the green light to do so. If a petition is turned down by the district, applicants can appeal to county boards of education, and if they are denied there, they can go to the State Board of Education as a last resort.

An emerging question is whether California’s authorizers have the skills, capacity and guidance to adequately oversee the charter schools under their jurisdiction.

That question figured prominently in the deliberations of the California Charter School Policy Task Force convened by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond at the request of that Gov. Gavin Newsom. The task force issued its recommendations earlier this month.

The 11-member task force representing all sides of the charter debate was able to CONTINUE READING: Charter ‘authorizers’ come under greater scrutiny in California | EdSource

Big Education Ape: Court ruling limits charter schools' expansions with satellite campuses outside their territory | Northern California Record -https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/11/court-ruling-limits-charter-schools.html

How Goldilocks Opened a Charter School That Nobody Wanted

Big Education Ape: Satellite charter schools under fire - The San Diego Union-Tribune - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/satellite-charter-schools-under-fire.html

Big Education Ape: Charter challenges appellate ruling to state Supreme Court - The San Diego Union-Tribune - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/11/charter-challenges-appellate-ruling-to.html

International Survey: U.S. Teachers Are Overworked, Feel Underappreciated | Education News | US News

International Survey: U.S. Teachers Are Overworked, Feel Underappreciated | Education News | US News

International Survey: U.S. Teachers Are Overworked, Feel Underappreciated
The problems are far worse in the U.S. than among educators in other countries.

TEACHERS IN THE U.S. work longer hours and spend more time during the school day teaching than teachers in other parts of the world. And while the majority are satisfied with their jobs, only a fraction believes American society values their profession.

The topline findings of the Teaching and Learning International Survey, an international study published Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, showcase the grievances at the heart of the wave of educator unrest that's prompted strikes, protests and walkouts in nearly a dozen states and school districts across the U.S.

[

READ: 

Teacher Salaries Fell 4.5% Over the Last Decade ]

"They are working a lot of hours, relatively speaking," Peggy Carr, associate commissioner for assessment at NCES, the Department of Education's data arm, said. "They do spend a lot of hours teaching. I think we need to think about that and what that means. Teachers love their jobs all across the globe, but our teachers, not unlike teachers elsewhere, feel as though we don't value their profession. There's a message there I think we need to think about."

No other education system had teachers who reported teaching for more hours than U.S. teachers, who taught for an average of 28 hours each week. American teachers reported working for an average of 46 hours total each week, which was higher than or comparable to educators in all but two other countries.

According to the survey, 90 percent of U.S.teachers are satisfied with their jobs, but only 36 percent believe that American society values the teaching profession – a sentiment that's fueled the discontent among teachers that's been on public display since 2018.

While the rate of job satisfaction among U.S. teachers was mirrored in other countries, the perception of value varied more widely, with the percentage of teachers who "agreed" or "agreed a lot" that their society valued the teaching profession ranged from 5% in the Slovak Republic to 92% in Vietnam.

The survey also bolstered long-standing criticisms about gender stratification in leadership positions in K-12 schools, namely that the majority of teachers are women, while the majority CONTINUE READING: International Survey: U.S. Teachers Are Overworked, Feel Underappreciated | Education News | US News

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A BUSY DAY | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A BUSY DAY

Most Popular Posts Of The Week

22by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

I’m making a change in the content of the regular feature. In addition to sharing the top five posts that have received the most “hits” in the preceding seven days (though they may have originally been published on an earlier date), I will also include the top five posts that have actually appeared in the past week. Often, these are different posts. You might also be interested in IT’S THE TWELFT

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in THE BEST ARTICLES, VIDEOS & POSTS ON EDUCATION POLICY IN 2018 – PART TWO ):’ 6 Steps to Equitable Data Analysis is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven” Student Outcomes: Does More Money Really Matter? is from Ed We

The Number Of Refugees In World Grows & The U.S. Welcomes Fewer & Fewer

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

On the eve of World Refugee Day ( see The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day ), the United Nations has announced the number of refugees in the world is the highest in UN history (see NPR’s story, Nearly 71 Million People Forcibly Displaced Worldwide In 2018, U.N. Report Says and the NY Times article, Number of People Fleeing Conflict Is Highest Since World War II, U.N. Says ). Accord

Statistic Of The Day: Teachers Tend To Get Better With Time

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think is new, very long, and somewhat rambling article in The Atlantic. Nevertheless, it contains some interesting data (and non-data) suggesting that unlike most professions, those who are teachers ten to improve as we age. I’ve previously shared similar research in The Best Articles For Helping To Understand Both Why Teacher Tenure Is I

“Administrators Shouldn’t Try ‘Too Many Initiatives’:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

Administrators Shouldn’t Try ‘Too Many Initiatives’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. A five-part series on mistakes made by school administrators is wrapped-up with commentaries from Dr. Lynell Powell, Stuart Ablon, Alisha Pollastri, Diane Mora and many comments from readers. Here are some excerpts:

YESTERDAY

Video: “50 People Show Us Their States’ Accents”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 15h

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from Conde Nast to The Best “Language Maps” :

The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of Teacher Expectations

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

A big new study was released today examining the role of teacher expectations on student educational achievement. It’s titled Teacher Expectations Matter , and was authored by Nicholas W. Papageorge, Seth Gershenson and Kyung Min Kang. Unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall. I was able to read the entire study, though, and thought this was a key paragraph: In summary, our findings show that expecta

Pres. Trump Announces Mass Deportation Of Families Next Week – Here Are Ways We Can Support Our School Communities

by Larry Ferlazzo / 20h

President Trump announced that mass deportations of families would begin next week (see Trump vows mass immigration arrests, removals of ‘millions of illegal aliens’ starting next week ). When will this insanity stop? You might find these resources helpful: The Best Practical Resources For Helping Teachers, Students & Families Respond To Immigration Challenges “Give me your tired, your poor, your

Google Releases Third Carmen Sandiego Game

30by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Google has released their third online Carmen Sandiego game. This one is called The Keys To The Kremlin Caper . A video preview is embedded below. Here are posts about the previous two games: “WHERE ON GOOGLE EARTH IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?” IS A NEAT NEW GEOGRAPHY GAME GOOGLE SHARES A SECOND ONLINE CARMEN SANDIEGO GAME

“Administrators Can’t Lead From ‘the Confines of Their Office'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Administrators Can’t Lead From ‘the Confines of Their Office’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, Julie Hasson, Ryan Huels, David Bosso, Cindy Terebush and Kelly Wickham Hurst contribute their thoughts on administrators and the mistakes they make. Here are some excerpts:

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

2019 Medley #10 | Live Long and Prosper

2019 Medley #10 | Live Long and Prosper

2019 Medley #10 

IT COSTS A LOT TO POISON OUR CHILDREN

American children are regularly exposed to lead at higher than safe levels, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control is ZERO [emphasis added]!

…There are approximately half a million U.S. children ages 1-5 with blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), the reference level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified.

In some places, the exposure is long term due to governmental neglect.

7 years later, new study shows East Chicago kids exposed to more lead because of flawed government report

Kids living in two of the contaminated neighborhoods actually were nearly three times more likely to suffer lead poisoning during the past decade than if they lived in other parts of the heavily industrialized northwest Indiana city, according to a report unveiled last week by an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Written in dry, bureaucratic language, CONTINUE READING: 2019 Medley #10 | Live Long and Prosper