Saturday, March 13, 2010

FT.com / US & Canada - Funding squeeze spurs student backlash

Funding squeeze spurs student backlash

By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles

Published: March 12 2010 22:17 | Last updated: March 12 2010 22:17

After a 40-year absence, revolution is again in the air in California, with university students taking to the streets to mount noisy and increasingly angry protests directed against steep rises in tuition fees.

The campuses of UCLA and Berkeley were once the setting for passionate demonstrations against the draft and the Vietnam war. The anger this time is directed at state legislators and university administrators who have imposed swingeing fee increases of as much as 30 per cent to plug a funding gap of $1.2bn (£790m, €872m).

EDITOR’S CHOICE

California learns to trim the cost of education - Oct-12

Merrill delivered bonuses before BofA deal - Jan-21

California’s fiscal woes and a projected deficit of $20bn are threatening one of the state’s jewels, the University of California system, which was given a public mandate in 1960 to provide world-class education to deserving students regardless of their ability to pay.

But the annual cost of tuition at some of the universities within the network has jumped to more than $10,000, and that is higher than some of America’s private universities. At the same time and in a bid to cut costs teaching staff have had their hours reduced and the number of classes and study modules available to students is shrinking, sparking a furious reaction.

“We’re paying much more and not getting the classes we want,” said Judy Lee, a 20-year-old psychology student, at a noisy UCLA demonstration where protesters shouted “Who’s got the power? We’ve got the power!” and “The future belongs to

Education symposium takes pragmatic look at state schools crisis - San Jose Mercury News

Education symposium takes pragmatic look at state schools crisis

By Katy Murphy
Oakland Tribune

Posted: 03/12/2010 07:41:47 PM PST

Updated: 03/13/2010 05:23:14 AM PST

OAKLAND — As of Friday morning, 21,397 pink slips had been issued to teachers throughout California, by the state Education Department's count — just one more symptom of the state's ever mounting, multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

But researchers who spoke at an all-day symposium Friday at UC Berkeley went beyond the startling figures as they assessed the state of California's public schools. They discussed whether taxpayers are willing to pay more for public education. They reviewed state laws that allow Californians to shape complex, far-reaching laws in the ballot box and explored the diminishing authority of government institutions after decades of public cynicism and scarce resources.

Graduate students from the Berkeley Review of Education organized the event in response to the funding cuts and political activism on campus. While some of the speakers bemoaned the crisis facing public schools, community colleges and universities, the tone of the event was more pragmatic than rhetorical.

"If you're going to come up during the question-and-answer session and make strident statements about how California needs to fund its higher education system," UC Berkeley professor Norton Grubb admonished the audience, "you also have to say where we're going to get that money from, because there's no loose pots of money out there anywhere."

Earlier in the day, state Superintendent Jack O'Connell had given an optimistic view of public

opinion on education funding. "When you look at polls, people want to invest," he said, pointing to the support of local tax measures in November 2008.

But Grubb and his colleague Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy, presented a different picture. "We have a population that's deeply skeptical of new taxes to even return to the level of public finance we had just a

Coastal Voices Guest Opinion: Don’t punish students, teachers | Crescent City California News, Sports, & Weather | The Triplicate

Don’t punish students, teachers

Written by Mike Mealue March 12, 2010 02:01 pm

Funding for education has been decimated by the current state leadership. At a time when lawmakers mouth the importance of improved test scores and quality education, they are firing young teachers and increasing class sizes!

Locally, school district leaders are choosing to “balance the budget” on the backs of students, teachers, and support staff by laying off school site employees. In our county, 10 percent of the Del Norte Unified School District teaching positions have been eliminated in the past three years. At the same time, administrative costs have increased with only a few reductions in days and no reductions in administrative positions.

The district will contend that many of the decreases in teaching positions are due to reduced enrollment, yet teacher cuts go far beyond the loss of revenue caused by changes in enrollment. Furthermore, if declining enrollment has caused teacher layoffs, why haven’t we seen a reduction in administration? Shouldn’t enrollment numbers be used to determine administrative staffing also?

We can think statewide, but we must act locally. It is time for our local educational leaders to demonstrate true leadership by cutting administrative costs and eliminating medical benefits for school board members.

Teacher layoffs mean larger classes. This should be evident in the increases already seen. Imagine teaching a class of 35 or more sixth-graders! What really happens? It’s simple. More time is spent disciplining students, administering tests, planning and grading; less time is devoted to individual instruction, enrichment activities, or important interpersonal interactions.

The future will be measured by today. It is time our School Board members, school superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent, director of human resources

What State’s 188 Low-Performing Schools Can Expect: Challenges, $$s and Longer School Days – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events

What State’s 188 Low-Performing Schools Can Expect: Challenges, $$s and Longer School Days

By: Lydia ChávezMarch 13, 2010 – 5:43 am

In what appears to be the most dramatic set of challenges in decades, five of the 10 San Francisco schools eligible for millions of dollars in new funding must close, replace half their staffs or convert to charter schools by late August, according to U.S. Department of Education guidelines.

California officials this week announced the three options and an initial list of 188 state schools eligible for the intervention grants. A fourth and less disruptive option is the so-called transformation model. It requires reforming instruction and replacing a principal that has been on the job for more than two years.

While a school’s fate will be determined at the district level, Washington’s rules prevent districts from taking the easiest route.

Districts such as San Francisco with nine or more Tier I or Tier II schools may opt for the milder transformation model in no more “than 50 percent of those schools. “ (Tier I, II and III are designations that refer to poverty, funding and performance levels. If you want tier details, click here. )

“We’re trying to respond to the new information and the new requirements in the most meaningful way,” said Dee Dee Desmond, the executive director for Reform & Accountability for the San Francisco Unified School District.

Desmond said that in the past, San Francisco has developed a reform strategy that encouraged stability. “In helping these schools to be the best that they can be” the changes needed “are not the things that are most draconian,” she said. A shift in principals, and teacher turnover already happens frequently at struggling schools and creates instability that is part of the problem, she

2nd Banana FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

LAUSD plans to stop most inter-district student transfers next year - The Daily Breeze

LAUSD plans to stop most inter-district student transfers next year

By Melissa Pamer and Douglas Morino Staff Writers

Posted: 03/12/2010 08:35:31 PM PST

Jaren Rhodes, 8, attends second grade at Anza Elementary School in Hawthorne with a permit. Mom Susie Rhodes is worried that LAUSD in Westchester where they live will begin eliminating permits for kids to attend schools outside district boundaries. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)

Thousands of children attending South Bay schools on special permits face the prospect of returning to their neighborhood campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District under a policy change quietly approved by board members.

The financially beleaguered Los Angeles district says it plans to stop offering about 80 percent of its inter-district transfers next year, a move expected to affect nearly 10,000 students, more than a third of whom attend South Bay schools.

The Board of Education approved the policy change at a meeting last month, but the action drew no public comment and generated only a brief discussion among members, who were largely enthusiastic about welcoming students back to LAUSD.

In an internal memo sent last month, Superintendent Ramon Cortines estimated the resulting enrollment boost could bring the district $51 million in new funds next year. The 618,000-student district, already reeling from funding cuts over the last two years, is facing a $640 million shortfall.

The new revenue for LAUSD will mean lost income for nearby school districts, which are likewise struggling with massive state budget cuts and declining enrollment.

On average, about two-thirds of school districts' budgets come from enrollment-based state funds, which are based on average daily attendance or ADA.

Sacramento Press / Uncertain Times for Beloved Effie Yeaw Nature Center

The Effie Yeaw Nature Center, a 77-acre natural habitat preserve and learning center in Carmichael, faces possible closure.

The preserve is making the transition from being run by Sacramento County to being run by nonprofit organization, the American River Natural History Association (ARNHA), which currently is the center's second largest contributor, behind the county. However, the state budget may not cover expenses for the transition period, which could take years, park employees say. If the center does not get the funding it needs while the ARNHA prepares to take total responsibility, it may have to close its doors indefinitely.

Effie Yeaw was a kindergarten teacher who led exploratory trips for students in the early 1960's. The nature center named for her is well loved by patrons all over Northern California.

It is one of the largest natural habitats along the American River Parkway and offers hundreds of programs year-round to people of all ages.

Effie Yeaw offers schoolchildren in a five-county area field trips, hikes, wild animal encounters and education on environmental sciences and Native American culture. The center has programs dedicated to the subject matter of each grade.

Its main building houses dozens of live animals unable to survive in the wild and a 2004 addition provides a community meeting place and indoor classroom.

Effie Yeaw prides itself on being the most accessible natural habitat preserve in the Sacramento area, with guaranteed wildlife sightings, easy trails and a paved area that extends into the preserve for disabled people.

Director Marilee Flannery has been at Effie Yeaw for 16 years.

She called it "a huge economic draw to the Carmichael area. It also naturally filters the American River and the air in our area."

Local support has kept the nature center afloat. Community volunteers provide daily maintenance, program support and fund-raising activities. This help has been crucial; 10 employees have been laid off, either entirely or

Latest News and Comment from Education