Swiftspeech!: As California's Educational System Goes, So Goes the State

Swiftspeech!: As California's Educational System Goes, So Goes the State:

"'It is up to us to argue the case for a public university – for public education -- in a democracy in crisis."

Education Advisory Panel: What do you think about year-round schooling? | Postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent

Education Advisory Panel: What do you think about year-round schooling? Postcrescent.com Appleton Post-Crescent:

"More than 3,000 schools in at least 46 states, particularly California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and Georgia —and a handful in southern Wisconsin — use a year-round school calendar today.Once they get used to breaking up the long summer vacation with shorter, more frequent breaks during the year, many teachers, students and parents like it. Others don't and have returned to traditional calendars.Advocacy groups like the National Association for Year Round Education point to research indicating a modified calendar makes a difference in student achievement, minimizing 'summer learning loss' in such areas as math and reading."

When State Universities Lose State Support - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

When State Universities Lose State Support - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com:

"The budget of the public higher education system of California has been slashed by over 20 percent, on top of previous cuts. Faculty and student protests kicked into place the first week of classes, reflecting enormous contention over the best way to respond.

What’s happening in California is both a harbinger of things to come in other states and an amplification of a national trend.

The percentage of total spending at state universities provided by state tax revenue has been sinking for more than 20 years. As Jim Duderstadt, former president of the University of Michigan put it, “We used to be state-supported, then state-assisted, and now we are state-located.”"

Will California become America's first failed state?

Will California become America's first failed state?

The Failed State of California?

By Robert Cruickshank

The #1 article on the Guardian's site (the British newspaper, not the SF alt-weekly) is an article from their Sunday sister paper, the Observer, titled Will California become America's first failed state? As any of you who've read Calitics for the last few months or years know, our answer is likely to be "yes." But it's still worth examining why that's the case, and whether the Observer article really gets to the heart of the problem.

First, I think it is worth defining what the "California Dream" is. I think it is actually a broad and yet deeply fundamental concept. The dream is that anyone can come to California, enjoy its natural beauty, and reinvent/find/embrace themselves here, all enabled by the availability of basic economic security and prosperity. That's really what it's about, the notion that people can create, innovate, dream, and be themselves in this beautiful place, and do so without having to worry about how they'll make ends meet, because the state has backed policies that will ensure such fundamental prosperity.

That dream is now dead. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying, totally unfamiliar with California in 2009, or actively promoting and aiding the death of that dream.

Governor still hopes to get a water deal - Dan Walters - fresnobee.com

Governor still hopes to get a water deal - Dan Walters - fresnobee.com:

"Nobody will say that, of course, but neither is it a secret in the Capitol that Schwarzenegger wants the Legislature to return to Sacramento to deal not only with water but some education reform measures and perhaps an overhaul of the state's much-distorted tax system.

Water, however, is the biggie, as Schwarzenegger attempts to succeed where his predecessors dating back to Ronald Reagan failed, settling the decades-long war over water policy among powerful stakeholder groups."

Tension ripples through City Hall - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com

Tension ripples through City Hall - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com:

"Councilman Ray Tretheway said friction among council members has diverted attention from important issues, including the failure to find 'real-world solutions to the homeless problem.'
Tretheway, who is running for re-election against two challengers, said it's not too late for the council to start getting along.

'The focus of the City Council needs to be on important issues, such as jobs and public safety and flood control,' he said."

Stretching School Dollars: Galt needs to come together on schools - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Stretching School Dollars: Galt needs to come together on schools - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:

"California today has 550 elementary school districts, overlapping with 84 high school districts. The state has only 333 unified K-12 districts.

For years, Galt residents have talked about joining the elementary and high school districts. Led by a strong grassroots community effort in 2004, parents collected 1,200 signatures in favor of a K-12 merger. As one parent said at the time, 'There's no reason to have two districts; we're a small town.'"

Who's afraid of the swine flu? - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Who's afraid of the swine flu? - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Compared with survey results the Field Poll expects to soon release on the California state Legislature, DiCamillo said, favorable opinion of state health officials is 'off the charts.'

DiCamillo said he was struck that while 67 percent were confident about the public health system, more than a quarter of respondents � 27 percent � said they were not likely to get an H1N1 vaccine even if their doctors or officials advised it."

re: Garfield High School LAUSD board meeting Sept 8 2009

Maria Guadalupe Mena of Garfield High School:
"Community members stated they were offered monetary compensation [by Green Dot] in exchange for their signature on a petition."
"The day of the 'Public School Choice' vote, Parent Revolution and Parent Union representatives informed us they were court mandated to support the rally to work off their community service".
"We're unhappy that reform decisions have been dictated to our community by billionaire philanthropists [who]...are funding...Inner City Struggle, Parent Revolution, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles Learning Collaboratives to push their corporate agenda onto the schools."

Sacramento Nestle Waters bottling plant draws fire - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento Nestle Waters bottling plant draws fire - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"With California in its third year of drought and Sacramentans facing watering restrictions, Councilman Kevin McCarty thinks the plant needs a closer look.

'It comes at a bizarre time,' said McCarty, whose district includes the project site in the Florin Fruitridge Industrial Park. 'Extreme profits are going to be made with Sacramento water ... as we're trying to conserve' it."

Higher-value education - Press-Telegram

Higher-value education - Press-Telegram:

"Beleaguered taxpayers are inclined to feel like victims these days, but Daniel Weintraub, who expresses his views on today's Comment page, is a refreshing exception.

Weintraub, who writes for the Sacramento Bee, is the parent of a son enrolled at the University of California Santa Barbara. Thanks to the state's financial mess, tuition for his son will be $2,500 higher, and probably will be raised again in months to come.

He could complain, like so many of us, but instead makes the broader point, which is that the UC system still is one of higher education's great values. Also, a third of the tuition increase will go to less privileged families, those with incomes of $60,000 or less, who will pay no tuition at all."

Cash-Strapped University of California Spending Millions on Consultants | NBC Bay Area

Cash-Strapped University of California Spending Millions on Consultants NBC Bay Area:

"The University of California at Berkeley's top boss says you have to spend money to save money.

That’s why Chancellor Robert Birgenau is paying Bain & Company, a consulting firm based out of state, $3 million to analyze the university budget and determine how and where to cut costs.

This move is coming at a time when many employees have been laid off, salaries cut, courses reduced and workers furloughed. Employees and students at University of California campuses across the state staged a walkout last month, leaving their classes and workplaces in protest of increasing tuition fees and decreasing paychecks."

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Parent Uproar Over Losing Teachers

voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled... Parent Uproar Over Losing Teachers:

"I've been flooded with e-mails and calls from parents across the school district who are panicked because their schools are losing teachers, weeks after class has already started:

Jerabek Elementary parents held a press conference last week to protest losing a 4th grade teacher, which forced the school to reassign her students to other classes. An Ocean Beach Elementary mom stood up at the school board meeting last week to argue against her school losing one teacher. 'Our students are not a formula,' Shelli Kurth said."

Report Cites Need To Restore Due Process - California Progress Report

Report Cites Need To Restore Due Process - California Progress Report

As the Board of Supervisors prepares to consider a proposal to restore due process rights to immigrant youth in the juvenile justice system on October 5th, legal experts from prominent civil rights organizations unveiled a key legal brief today responding to City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s August memo on the proposed reform. The legal brief analyzes existing law and finds that the proposal, backed by 8 Supervisors, is legally defensible, would save San Francisco from costly rights violations lawsuits, and models good public policy. The 9-page brief was prepared by the Asian Law Caucus, Legal Services for Children, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the ACLU of Northern California, and the San Francisco Immigration Legal and Education Network. To read the full text of the brief is available at

Read full report: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12640389/LEGAL-EXPERTS-SUPPORT-BOARD-OF-SUPERVISORS’-EFFORT-TO-RESTORE-DUE-PROCESS-TOSAN-FRANCISCO’S-IMMIGRANT-YOUTH

www.asianlawcaucus.org/programs/education-juvenile-justice.

Woman’s Shattered Life Shows Ground Beef Inspection Flaws - NYTimes.com

Woman’s Shattered Life Shows Ground Beef Inspection Flaws - NYTimes.com:

"Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states."

Candidate for state superintendent comes to Santa Paula : Santa Paula : Ventura County Star

Candidate for state superintendent comes to Santa Paula : Santa Paula : Ventura County Star:

"O’Connell will finish his second term next year and cannot seek re-election in 2010. Aceves’ chief rivals for the nonpartisan position are considered to be state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch.

Aceves is a past president of the Association of California School Administrators and the California Latino Superintendents Association. He said he retired three years ago after more than 30 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent in San Jose, San Diego and the Central Coast."

Learning to Think Outside the Box - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Learning to Think Outside the Box - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos:

"While parents and politicians worry about crumbling facilities and decimated budgets, students know that the heart of education beats inside the individual teacher. More than spacious playgrounds or sparkling cafeterias; more, even, than top-notch textbooks and state-of-the art computers, it’s the teacher who makes the difference. When NAM asked young people in our youth communications programs to write about the one teacher who’d really made a difference, they barely had to think before the keys were flying. This collection of pieces was underwritten by a project funded through the California Teachers Association.”)"

Right-wing media's relentless attacks supported by flagrant falsehoods | Media Matters for America

Right-wing media's relentless attacks supported by flagrant falsehoods Media Matters for America:

"Fox News, others ran with falsehood that Jennings 'cover[ed] up statutory rape.' In a September 28 editorial, The Washington Times accused Jennings, described in the editorial as 'safe school czar,' of 'encourag[ing]' a relationship that amounted to 'statutory rape' by suggesting that his only response to an underage student's revelation that he had sex with what the Times described as an 'older man' was to 'make sure 'to use a condom.' ' Fox News' website TheFoxNation.com linked to the Times editorial with the headline 'Did 'Safe School Czar' Encourage Statutory Rape?' Subsequently, on September 30, The Fox Nation posted the following headline:"

10.05.2009 - That's -30- for us

10.05.2009 - That's -30- for us:

"BERKELEY — This is the 230th issue of the Berkeleyan produced during my editorship. It is also the very last edition — not just for me, but for the paper itself.

It's my farewell because the position of Berkeleyan editor has been eliminated — one small part of Public Affairs' cost-reduction effort during these most difficult economic times. The print edition of the Berkeleyan is 'departing' too, because it requires the full attention of four writer/editors and a designer to produce a paper of appropriate heft and seriousness on a regular basis, and those resources are no longer available. Hence, this issue winds up nearly a quarter-century of continuous print publication on behalf of campus faculty and staff, as the transition to a less-resource-intensive online format gets under way."

California, Watch Us Leave!

California, Watch Us Leave!:


"A popular Al Jolson song when your grandparents were young began, “California here we come, right back where we started from.” For many of that generation, California was a land of golden opportunity, a destination for the “Okies” whose farms had succumbed to a long drought in the 1930s, and for all manner of people who saw it as a place to make a life and maybe even a fortune for themselves.

Now it’s a place that many are increasingly leaving. Between 2004 and 2008, more than a half million Californians left and for good reason."