Saturday, March 6, 2010

San Diego Professor Marches 400 Miles For Education | KPBS.org

San Diego Professor Marches 400 Miles For Education| KPBS.org:

"SAN DIEGO — Thousands of people embark on a 400-mile protest march today. The “March for California's Future” is intended to bring attention to a crisis in public education. One San Diego professor plans to spend seven weeks walking from Bakersfield to Sacramento."

San Diego City College professor Jim Miller, far left, takes a class photos with his son Walt and his classmates at McKinley Elementary School in San Diego.

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Photo by Kelly Mayhew

Above: San Diego City College professor Jim Miller, far left, takes a class photos with his son Walt and his classmates at McKinley Elementary School in San Diego.

Kelly Mayhew is preparing the family dinner. Posters of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead are taped and tacked on the walls. Kelly's husband, Jim Miller is in the living room with his 5-year-old son.

Miller is an English and Labor Studies professor at San Diego City College. He's known as much for his long, blonde ponytail as he is for his commitment to the greater good. Miller says he's ready to take his activism on the road.

A map of the route of the 400-mile long "March for California's Future," intended to bring attention to the crisis in public education.

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Credit: Fight4CAFuture.com

Above: A map of the route of the 400-mile long "March for California's Future," intended to bring attention to the crisis in public education.

“We've been involved in lots of different activist groups, but this is the biggest single endeavor, a 48-day march,” Miller said.

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March for California's Future

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Miller laughs because he's 45 years old, has asthma and a bad back. That means the 400-mile long march will be harder for him than most of the other marchers.

The route begins in Bakersfield. It cuts north through agricultural towns like Delano, Chowchilla and Modesto. Miller says the farmland in the Central Valley was fertile ground for the teachings of Cesar Chavez.

“In particular, when we're marching through the Central Valley, where you go through these towns, and the average income is so low, what will be the future for the kids of those farm workers?” said Miller.

“Jim and I are privileged,” Mayhew said. “He went to a public elementary school. I went to a public junior high and high school. We were fortunate California public schools at the apex, at the absolute best time. And what we’ve seen over the 20 years of our teaching is such a decline in support of education.”

Their son Walt goes to McKinley Elementary, a school in the San Diego Unified School District. It’s facing an $80 million state budget shortfall. They see their son's classes getting bigger, school services vanishing, and now a school year cut short due to teacher furloughs.

Angry students protest cuts to schools, colleges - BusinessWeek

Anger over rising tuition and school budget cuts boiled over as students across the country staged rowdy demonstrations that led to clashes with police and the rush-hour shutdown of a major freeway in California.

Students, teachers, parents and school employees rallied and marched at college campuses, public parks and government buildings in several U.S. cities Thursday in what was called the March 4 Day of Action to Defend Public Education.

In Oakland, protesters evaded police and walked onto Interstate 880 near downtown Oakland just before 5 p.m., forcing the closure of the freeway in both directions for more than an hour and causing traffic to back up for miles.

Police arrested more than 150 people who blocked the freeway after breaking off from a peaceful rally at Oakland City Hall, said Officer Sam Morgan, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

One protester suffered serious injuries after jumping from the elevated freeway while officers were making arrests, authorities said.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police arrested at least 15 people protesting tuition hikes after demonstrators tried to enter an administrative building to deliver petitions to the chancellor. When police turned them away, some protesters threw punches and ice chunks, university spokesman Tom Luljak said.

Faced with plunging tax revenue and massive budget shortfalls

Friday, March 5, 2010

States’ education leaders could make all the difference in RttT | GothamSchools

States’ education leaders could make all the difference in RttT

by Maura Walz

As finalist states head into the home stretch of competition for coveted Race to the Top funds, who’s running the show could make all the difference, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said today.

Duncan appeared today at a panel with former Education Secretary Richard Riley at a professional development conference for teachers in Manhattan. Speaking with reporters afterward, Duncan reiterated what he has often said: Race to the Top applications will be judged on “the three C’s,” a state’s “courage, commitment and capacity” to put its plans into action.

When I asked him today how the contest’s reviewers will determine capacity, Duncan said judges’ appraisals of the people behind the plans will be the most important factor — more important, he said, than a state’s policy track record so far.

That stance is likely to comfort New York officials, who have banked in part on the strong reputations of the state education system’s leadership to drive the state’s Race to the Top application, even in the face of perceived setbacks such as the legislature’s failure to lift the statewide cap on charter schools.

State Education Commissioner David Steiner arrived at his job in October bringing with him promises of change in the state education department and a reputation as an innovator in the field of teacher training. And Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch has often emphasized that her reform priorities and those of Steiner — centered around raising academic standards, improving state tests, overhauling the state’s system for tracking student data and making teacher training more practical — align with Obama administration goals.

Phil Pluckebaum on his support for Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council District 5

Phil highlight's some of Patrick Kennedy's key qualities.

Sacramento Press / Sacramento Hispanic Chamber 38th Annual Business Awards & Recognition Gala

Sacramento Press / Sacramento Hispanic Chamber 38th Annual Business Awards & Recognition Gala:

"Over 700 business, community, and political leaders gathered at the Sacramento Convention Center to celebrate 38 years of service of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The 2010 Business Award winners were also honored that evening as well as Astronaut Jose Hernandez who is the first recipient of the Unity Award.

Astronaut Jose Hernandez, keynote speaker, honored the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with a photo collage of his first mission to the International Space Station autographed by the crew patch aboard the United Space Shuttle Discovery. His message was inspirational and moved over 700 guests who attended this memorable event."

City debuts its new common application for charter schools | GothamSchools

City debuts its new common application for charter schools

by Anna Phillips

Every spring, the city’s charter schools hold admissions lotteries and every year, parents applying to multiple charters must fill out a different application for each school. But this year, parents will have a new option: a common application.

The application, which can be sent or turned in to any of the city’s 99 charter schools, is one page long and is available in eight different languages.

It’s not a complete replacement for schools’ individual applications. This year, schools have to accept both the common application and their individualized forms, a change that Department of Education officials hope will make the process simpler and increase the number of applicants. Officials are considering making the common application mandatory in coming years.

DOE officials have been developing the application for months, and in January officials from the State University of New York and Board of Regents charter authorizers agreed to have their charter schools join city-authorized schools in using the application.

A side effect of the common application is that it could quiet criticism that the difficulty of filling out dozens of different applications is narrowing the field of applicants to those with motivated, supportive parents.

“The intention is to make the process accessible to those who might but get deterred by the six page applications or something like that,” said DOE spokesman Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld. “It’s not as if this is meant to pull people away from district schools. It’s to make the process for those already interested a much more accessible and easily understand process.”

Cuts Hurt ~Angry Tired Teachers~ Cuts Hurt Our Schools

Closed out the March 4 Rally in Oakland last night

In Sacramento, Democrats support protesters – Oakland North -- North Oakland News, Food, Art and Events.

Democrats Support Rally in Sacramento from Will Jason on Vimeo.

Thousands rally on campuses, streets for schools

(03-04) 17:58 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Gathering for a series of feisty rallies on college campuses, in civic plazas and in the streets, thousands of protesters lashed out Thursday against the budget cuts and neglect that they say are breaking down the state's public education system.
The historic day of demonstrations in the Bay Area and beyond was largely peaceful, with students and others carrying signs like "Chop from the top," a reference to what they see as puffed-up executive salaries. They chanted, recited poetry and shared personal stories.
But amid an often festive atmosphere, there were also efforts to make more forceful statements during the protests, called the Day of Action to Defend Public Education.
More than 150 protesters were arrested on Interstate 880 in Oakland after using an exit ramp to walk onto the freeway and shut it down for nearly an hour. Many wore black, identified themselves as anarchists and carried a banner that read, "Occupy everything."
The action just before 5 p.m., which backed up rush-hour traffic for miles, came after a peaceful rally at

Video: http://cbs5.com/video/?id=62653@kpix.dayport.com
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/04/MNC41CAAM1.DTL#ixzz0hJrbqxfY

Sacramento Press / Maria Shriver | Honoring Women's History Month

California's First Lady, Maria Shriver and The Women’s Conferencepartnered with The California Museum to celebrate National Women’s History Month with an extraordinary all-day free event – Day at The Museum yesterday in Sacramento.

Over 10,000 people came through the doors after it kicked off with A Breakfast Meet-and- Greet with Women Elected Officials, the day was packed with information and activity;

A tour of the State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Minerva Award Exhibit and Minerva Quilt Project Recognition, “If I Can Do It, So Can You,” panel on the rewards of being a compassionate citizen hero, Chef demonstrations and book signings, “Only in California: A Celebration of California Creativity”, Honoring Our Women in the Military and “I Did It My Way,” a Once in a Lifetime Conversation with Astronaut and educatorDr. Sally K. Ride, Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, award-winning journalist Lisa Ling and award-winning actress, singer and entertainerRita Moreno.

Tax Oil Companies, Not Students | California Progress Report

By Robert Cruickshank
As protests unfold across the state and the nation today against cuts to education and fee increases, more attention is finally being drawn to the massive crisis facing our students, our schools, and our future.

20 years ago a year at UC Berkeley cost just over $1,000 in fees. Even that was much higher than the $0 cost that the 1960 Master Plan pledged. The early 1990s saw a big rise in fees, and by the time I started at UCB in 1997 the cost had risen to over $4,000 a year. Now the cost is slated to rise to a whopping $10,000 per year, something many students and their families cannot afford to pay. And even as those costs rise, including at CSU and community colleges, classes are being cut as educational quality declines.

It's no way to run a state. California's current prosperity is owed largely to the investments Pat Brown made in the 1960s, building a public higher education system that was the world's envy - and that fueled our innovation and economic creativity. But instead of renewing those investments for a new century, Arnold Schwarzenegger is destroying them. The fee increases are a massive tax increase on the young and on the working- and middle-classes. They must be reversed.

The only way they will be reversed is to generate new revenue. That's why the Courage Campaign, where I work as Public Policy Director, is joining the California Faculty Association and the University of California Students Association in launching our pledge to support AB 656, the oil severance tax for California.

AB 656, authored by Assemblymember Alberto Torrico, would generate $2 billion a year for higher education by levying a 12% tax on the extraction of oil and gas in California. Texas uses this tax to fund higher education there, and Sarah Palin increased Alaska's oil severance tax in 2007 in order to buy the love of her constituents. Every major oil producing state in the union has an oil severance tax - except California.

UC San Diego and Black Student Union Sign Agreement, Announce Common Goals

The University of California, San Diego reports success in defining common goals at today’s meeting between senior administrators, faculty and students, led by Black Student Union co-chairs David Ritcherson and Fnann Keflezighi to address diversity issues to improve the campus climate. The adopted recommendations aim to move the university past hurtful incidents and improve the campus climate by enhancing diversity on the campus, in the curriculum and throughout the UC San Diego community.

“We’re pleased to see such a great exchange of ideas today. We now have a signed agreement to move forward,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “We applaud our student leaders, the campus and the San Diego community for their engagement, passion and leadership on finding solutions to these issues. Although there is much work ahead of us, our ongoing partnership will build a healthier campus climate that supports everyone in a meaningful way.”

A joint statement noted: “The UC San Diego administration and students have engaged in a productive wide-ranging conversation about how our common goals can be reached. The conversations of this week show that there is a commitment from all participants to work together for the benefit of the entire campus.”

The administration and students collectively determined measurable steps and concrete milestones to ensure that UC San Diego moves forward in working with students, faculty and staff on complex and vital issues. Suggestions that resulted from meetings during the past week include enhancing programs the campus already has in place to target first-generation and low-income students, attract and retain qualified and diverse faculty, and ensure that the university provides a curriculum that reflects the cultural richness of the state and region.

Notes from the news, Mar. 5 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Mar. 5

by Erika Owens on Mar 05 2010 Posted in Notes from the news

Pa. clears a hurdle in race for school grantThe Inquirer
Pennsylvania made the first cut for the competitive Race to the Top Funds, which could bring in about $400 million for the state. Sec. Duncan cited collaboration as a key feature of apps. that made the first round.

See also: Pa is RttT finalist The Notebook blog
Philly schools could get $8M from U.S. education program Daily News
PA and DE in line to receive education grants WHYY

S. Philly High violence: Time to clear the record about Dec. 2 The Notebook blog
The report could not verify the claim that Asian students beat a disabled African American student on Dec. 2. Superintendent Ackerman had cited that alleged incident as part of her explanation of the events on Dec. 3.

Editorial: Hard lesson The Inquirer
The Obama administration's supportive response to the wholesale firing of teachers in a district in Rhode Island shows its determination in turning around schools.

Auditor General Jack Wagner calls for General Assembly to ban municipal use of interest-rate swaps The Examiner
The risky swaps have also been used by school districts--a practice Wagner would also like to see stopped.

All You Need is Love Philly Teacher blog

Who Are "THESE" Kids?? A Good Day Teaching blog

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Notes from the news

Education Research Report: Students' Physical Fitness- Higher Academic Achievement

Students' Physical Fitness- Higher Academic Achievement

Physical fitness is associated with academic performance in young people, according to a report presented at the American Heart Association's 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

"As children's health continues to be a concern -- especially when it comes to obesity -- some have suggested that children's physical fitness is associated with their academic performance," said Lesley A. Cottrell, Ph.D., study presenting author and associate professor of pediatrics at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va. "The research, however, had not developed enough to define the nature of that relationship."

To study the association between children's physical fitness and academic performance, Cottrell and colleagues analyzed the body mass index percentiles, fitness levels and standardized academic test scores of 725 fifth grade students in Wood County, W.Va. The researchers focused more on the children's fitness level than their weight. They then compared that data to students' fitness and academic performance two years later, in the seventh grade.

They separated the participants into four groups of students who were:

* in high physical fitness levels in fifth grade and remained so in seventh grade;
* fit in fifth grade but had lost their fitness by seventh grade;
* not fit in fifth grade but were physically fit by seventh grade;
* not physically fit at the beginning of the study, in fifth grade, nor at the end of the study, in seventh grade.

Children who had the best average scores in standardized tests in reading, math, science and social studies were fit at the start and end of the