SCUSD Observer: Town hall meetings at SCUSD schools this week

SCUSD Observer: Town hall meetings at SCUSD schools this week

Town hall meetings at SCUSD schools this week
The Sacramento Charter Review Committee is inviting the public to share comments about recommended changes to the city's charter. This week, the meetings will take place in local schools.The schedule is as follows:

Curriculum Matters: New Chair, Board Members Named to Top NAEP Panel

Curriculum Matters: New Chair, Board Members Named to Top NAEP Panel:

"David Driscoll, a former Massachusetts commissioner of education, has been named the new chair of the National Assessment Governing Board, the independent panel that sets policy for the test known as the 'nation's report card.' Driscoll was named to the position by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who also appointed five members to the board, which oversees much of the crucial behind-the-scenes work on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP."

The School Law Blog: Justices Decline Review of Pledge, Other School Cases

The School Law Blog: Justices Decline Review of Pledge, Other School Cases:

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied review of several appeals involving public education, including cases about the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, T-shirts bearing Confederate symbols, peer sexual harassment, and special education.

The cases were among several hundred denied by the justices in orders issued on the first formal day of the 2009-10 term of the court. Several of the denials came in cases dealing with hot-button social issues, which I previewed here last month."

World Teachers’ Day 2009: “Build the future: invest in teachers now!” - | UNESCO.ORG

World Teachers’ Day 2009: “Build the future: invest in teachers now!” - UNESCO.ORG:

"Globally, 10.3 million teachers − 1.3 million teachers each year − need to be recruited over eight years (2007-2015) just to provide universal primary education by 2015, according to new figures released by UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics on World Teachers’ Day, celebrated on 5 October.

This year, World Teachers’ Day puts the spotlight on the global teacher shortage and the challenge of increasing the teaching force and its capacity to provide quality education, at a time when the financial and economic crisis is placing increasing strain on education budgets."

Education Week: The Charter School Express

Education Week: The Charter School Express:

"The latest policy train gathering steam in education focuses on lifting caps, or limits, to charter school expansion. Currently, 24 states and the District of Columbia have some type of limit on charter school growth. These limits, some charter school supporters say, interfere with the goal of a thriving school marketplace.

The latest institution to jump on the expansion express is the U.S. Department of Education. In its July guidelines for the $4 billion Race to the Top program, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that funding priority would be given to those states that lifted or removed caps on charter expansion. In reaction, legislatures around the country began doing just that."

D.C. School Layoffs Are Instructive Step Toward Improving Classrooms

D.C. School Layoffs Are Instructive Step Toward Improving Classrooms:

"Of course, these examples are not the norm for D.C. teachers. Every day, smart, caring teachers do unimaginably hard work; they, too, are helped when teachers who don't belong in a classroom are made to leave. We wish that Ms. Rhee could have timed the layoffs to lessen the disruption for students and made it easier for dismissed workers to make other plans. And we hope she provides as much information as personnel rules allow to show who exactly lost their jobs and why."

Memphis City Schools plans to hire teachers early : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis City Schools plans to hire teachers early : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal:

"For years, Memphis City Schools has filled the majority of its teacher vacancies a month before school starts, essentially forcing it to hire many applicants others didn't want."

More than half of MCS teacher applicants have GPAs of less than 3.0 and as a whole, score in the bottom quartile on the state teacher licensure test.

Beginning this spring, Supt. Kriner Cash intends to offer new teachers contracts by early April, putting the district in position to hire the strongest teachers before applicants are hired by other districts.

"We're scheduling briefing sessions with MEA (the teachers' union) reps," Cash told the board of education in September. "There has got to be a clarity about what we are doing. There can be no misunderstanding about this initiative."

While Cash has declined further comment, the district's proposal for $100 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation outlines particulars, including that it intends to pay $6,000 in retention bonuses to keep first-rate new teachers for at least four years.

School reform splits : Editorials : Memphis Commercial Appeal

School reform splits : Editorials : Memphis Commercial Appeal:

"Reforming public education in Memphis is a work in progress. Students, teachers, board members, superintendents, even partners, come and go.

One partner that has worked particularly hard over the past 15 years is the collection of individuals known as Partners in Public Education (PIPE), who have raised $23 million for the schools."

Thomas Elias: No new taxes for California residents? Not exactly | thecalifornian.com | The Salinas Californian

Thomas Elias: No new taxes for California residents? Not exactly thecalifornian.com The Salinas Californian:

"Few state lawmakers felt they had accomplished more in the Legislature's last regular session than the Republicans who make up just over one-third of both the Senate and Assembly.

They went home proud of the fact they had kept their pledge and assessed no new taxes, as Democrats and a very few of their GOP cohorts did last winter.They felt happy that no more of them would be subjected to the perils of possible recall campaigns and serious 2010 primary election challenges like those that either now afflict or will soon hit most of the dissidents among them who voted for February's budget compromise, with its temporary increases in income, sales and vehicle taxes."

Autism Figures Rising: 1 In 100 | Latest Newspaper Headlines | Current Events

Autism Figures Rising: 1 In 100 Latest Newspaper Headlines Current Events:

"Two new government studies suggest autism spectrum disorders are becoming increasingly more common in children in the USA, an increase from 1 in 150 as previously estimated to the current figures of 1 in 100-children with the condition. However, it is not clear how much of the increase can be put down to more frequent and earlier diagnoses and how much due to a real rise in the conditions.

The study results, of which one stems from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, released Monday have been published in the October issue of Paediatrics.

Based on a telephone survey of over 78,000 parents with children aged 3 to 17, parents participating in the study reported about 1 in 91-children had autism, including milder forms like Asperger's syndrome. The survey dealing with many health issues, included two questions on autism i. e. parents were questioned whether any doctor or other health care provider had told them that their child had autism, Asperger's syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder or other autism spectrum disorder, and whether their child currently had autism or an autism spectrum disorder. If, the answer was yes to both questions, the child was considered to be autistic."

2theadvocate.com | News | Lomotey edits book on education — Baton Rouge, LA

2theadvocate.com News Lomotey edits book on education — Baton Rouge, LA:

"From illegal teaching lessons during slavery to Brown v. Board of Education to modern classrooms, Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey’s new “encyclopedia” is intended to touch everything about African-American education.

Lomotey’s new two-volume, 1,152-page “Encyclopedia of African American Education” will appear on some bookshelves beginning Oct. 20.
“A lot of success and challenges and failures in African-American education parallel our history and overall experiences,” Lomotey said."

Suit looming against California over school funding - San Jose Mercury News

Suit looming against California over school funding - San Jose Mercury News:

"Top California school leaders said they soon will sue the state over chronically underfunded schools—a move that in other states has infused billions of dollars into school systems.

California spends $35.7 billion, or about 30 percent of its budget, on its 1,000 public K-12 schools. Like other state programs, education has suffered waves of cuts in two years as state revenues have shrunk. In per-pupil spending, California ranks anywhere from 30th to 47th among states, depending on how cost of living is adjusted.

The California Constitution requires the Legislature 'to provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported.' The suit will allege that the state violates that provision by not ensuring adequate support."

Stretching School Dollars: Create a bridge for Delta schools - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Stretching School Dollars: Create a bridge for Delta schools - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee: "The Rockefeller Institute of Government projects that pre-recession revenues for states won't recover until 2014. And California is among the states with the highest per-capita state revenue declines since 2007. Recovery may be longer in coming here.
To be sure, a generous federal stimulus package softened the blow of cuts to education, health care and more. But it is one-time money. And the governor and Legislature have pushed billions of dollars of spending into the future � deepening the budget hole."

Critic says Sacramento strong-mayor initiative would 'create a king' - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Critic says Sacramento strong-mayor initiative would 'create a king' - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"'It creates way too much power for one individual,' said initiative opponent Kevin McCarty, a member of the Sacramento City Council and a candidate for the state Assembly seat being vacated by Dave Jones in 2010. 'It will essentially create a king here in Sacramento.'"

Bill Maher Slams GOP Climate Change Skeptics: They're "So Stupid They Make Me Question Evolution" (VIDEO)

Bill Maher Slams GOP Climate Change Skeptics: They're "So Stupid They Make Me Question Evolution" (VIDEO):

"Maher directed his criticism at Republicans such as Sen. James Inhofe, who has previously referred to global warming as the 'greatest hoax,' despite having no science background. He also called out Republicans who, while no longer insisting that the issue of global warming 'needed more study,' now insist that it's probably too late anyhow and so need to change our ways. Maher cited the example of GOP Rep. Joe Barton, who has claimed that we will simply 'adapt' to massive climate change.

'These people are so stupid they make me question evolution,' Maher said."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/03/bill-maher-slams-gop-clim_n_308501.html

About Joe Sacramento | Joe Sacramento

About Joe Sacramento Joe Sacramento:

"In closing, I would like to address early concerns about this site being a store front for an ulterior political agenda. Note true. I have never been affiliated with or directly influenced by Kevin Johnson or any other political or commercial entity whatsoever. From day one this site was one man and one opinion, and it will persist in that tradition for the foreseeable future."

Julia Steiny: Report: Good luck trying to succeed as a kid in America | Julia Steiny | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Julia Steiny: Report: Good luck trying to succeed as a kid in America Julia Steiny projo.com The Providence Journal:

"However, the U.S. has a sky-high rate of childhood poverty, topped only by Poland, Mexico and Turkey. Roughly 21 percent of America’s kids are born and raised under the poverty level set by the federal government, a ridiculously low threshold of $22,000 for a family of four. Do the math. You can’t live on that here. A more realistic measure would greatly raise the percentage of children in poverty. The average childhood-poverty rate among the ODEC countries was 12 percent. Unlikely countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic beat the pants off us."

http://www.oecd.org/document/12/0,3343,en_2649_34819_43545036_1_1_1_1,00.html

Good educators all differ - JSOnline

Good educators all differ - JSOnline:

"Some of the most valuable skills of an education professional are never learned in a class or seminar. Some of the most effective actions have nothing to do with academic skills, grades or anything that can be measured. They're just things you do because you understand what works, how kids think, what can turn a mess into something good. Because you've got the knack for running a classroom or a school well. Because you really can be a role model.

I've seen some really good principals in the last decade or so as I've visited a lot of schools in the Milwaukee area. I'm struck by how much they didn't have in common."

We newspaper columnists in Texas are smart

We newspaper columnists in Texas are smart:

"It’s like the wacko right-wing nutjobs don’t understand that your children are our future; they are human resources of the State. The State needs our public schools to produce store clerks and janitors; it doesn’t need kids versed in Shakespeare, who can actually balance a checkbook and know a little bit about our history and culture.

Our kids will fill that latter role, thankyouverymuch. They’re in private school.

Like we said, we’re smarter than you are."

Is Milk that bad for students?

Daily Pilot - Serving Newport Beach & Costa Mesa, California:

"SB 572, which recently passed the Legislature, would establish a day of “special significance” in schools to honor Milk, along with other days honoring teachers, the California poppy and environmentalist John Muir. When the board voted last month, its members said the celebrations would detract from instructional time and force districts to pay expenses.

We know educational time is precious, but when Coronado voiced her feelings about sexual orientation, we were appalled."