La Ca�ada Valley Sun: La Ca�ada Flintridge, California

La Ca�ada Valley Sun: La Ca�ada Flintridge, California

Feelers out on parcel tax

By Max Zimbert

La Cañada Flintridge residents living in the western section of the city may soon be asked to vote on a parcel tax for the Glendale Unified School District.

District officials have hired a survey firm, True North, to issue and analyze a poll to test support for the tax, which would be tied to specific educational programs and expenses. Residents west of Rosebank Drive are served by the Glendale district.

The firm would also determine where the parcel tax funds should be spent. A political consulting group, TBWB Strategies, is working pro-bono to ensure the survey is comprehensive.

“It’s determining the viability of doing a parcel tax,” said Glendale Unified Deputy Supt. Dick Sheehan, slated to become superintendent July 1. “We’ll be looking to put out a survey at some point, probably sooner rather than later.”

Parcel taxes — fees paid by all property owners, with certain exemptions for senior citizens — require a two-thirds majority.
Almost 60% of district revenue from the state has been cut to 2005-06 levels, with 6.2% of district spending coming from non-property-tax funds, such as community contributions, interest income and developer fees, according to a report by EdSource, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks education trends in California.

State leaders have since altered funding formulas, lowering the minimum funding guarantee to school districts.

U.S. Education Department puts Forest Grove High School in the spotlight | OregonLive.com

U.S. Education Department puts Forest Grove High School in the spotlight | OregonLive.com

U.S. Education Department puts Forest Grove High School in the spotlight

By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

April 15, 2010, 8:16PM

FOREST GROVE -- A couple of months from now, the calls will start.

School officials across the nation will want to visit Forest Grove High School and see how the rural school turned itself around over the last six years.

That's the price of fame. One minute you're a 1,900-student school with an agriculture program, 24 Advanced Placement courses, math and reading workshops, student mentors and teachers who dote on their students. The next minute, a U.S. Department of Education film crew is featuring you in a national video as one of America's "turnaround" schools.

During a visit to the school Thursday, Deputy Assistant Secretary John White of the U.S. Department of Education said Forest Grove will be the first rural high school filmed as part of the department's plan to highlight successful schools across the United States.

"It's a terrific day to be a Viking," said Forest Grove Principal John O'Neill.

The U.S. Department of Education already has filmed a handful of urban schools as part of a program called What's Possible: Turning Around American's Lowest-Achieving Schools.

White didn't know how many rural schools would be filmed, but the Forest

Florida Governor Splits With G.O.P. on Teacher Pay - NYTimes.com

Florida Governor Splits With G.O.P. on Teacher Pay - NYTimes.com

Florida Governor Splits With G.O.P. on Teacher Pay

By TRIP GABRIEL and DAMIEN CAVE

Published: April 15, 2010

Enlarge This ImageMIAMI — Gov. Charlie Crist has been jawboned and buttonholed as he has traveled around the state in recent days, and his office was deluged with 120,000 messages. Passions have not run so high in Florida, the governor said, since the controversy over ending the life of Terri Schiavo in 2005.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In Miami this week, Leinad Coya, a seventh-grade teacher, protested the controversial bill that Governor Crist vetoed Thursday.

Enlarge This Image

Steve Cannon/Associated Press

A teacher, Scott Whittle, left, discussed a sweeping education overhaul with Gov. Charlie Crist, right, on Tuesday in Tallahassee.

This time, the point of contention was eliminating tenure for Florida public school teachers and tying their pay and job security to how well their students were learning.

On Thursday, Mr. Crist picked a side, vetoing a bill passed last week by the Florida Legislature that would have introduced the most sweeping teacher pay changes in the nation.

The veto puts Mr. Crist, a moderate Republican, at odds with his party base in the Republican-controlled Legislature. His decision has also renewed speculation that he might drop out of the Republican primary for a United States Senate seat and run in the general election as an independent. For months, he has been trailing the more conservative Republican candidate, Marco Rubio, a Tea Party favorite, in polls.

Mr. Crist said Thursday that his decision was not political.

Charter Extension Denied to Low-Scoring Stanford School

by By CAROL POGASH

Responding to low test scores, the Ravenswood school board denied a charter extension to a K-through-12 school created and overseen by Stanford University.

Despite Budget Woes, University Still Has Money for Bottled Water

by By SCOTT JAMES

The University of California may be in horrible budget straits, but it still has spent about $2 million in recent years on brand-name bottled water.

National Briefing | Rockies: Wyoming: Ex-Radical Sues Over College Speech

by By DAN FROSCH

William Ayers filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against the University of Wyoming over its decision to bar him from speaking there.

Study Skills | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Study Skills | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Study Skills

“15 Infographics About Taxes”

by Larry Ferlazzo

I haven’t gotten around to making a “The Best…” list about taxes (maybe by next April 15th!), but here’s the next best thing….

Educational Social Networks

by Larry Ferlazzo

Ning announced today that they would no longer off hosted networks for free. Quite a few schools and education groups use Ning, so I thought I’d remind readers that I have a list of alternatives titled

“Water Economics”

“Timeline Of Environmental Milestones”

The Best Sites For Learning About The Volcano In Iceland

Parent voices concern over school changes | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/15/2010

Parent voices concern over school changes | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/15/2010

Parent voices concern over school changes

By Kristen A. Graham

Inquirer Staff Writer

Some parents whose children's schools will be radically restructured in September have a message for the Philadelphia School District:
Don't turn us into a charter school.
That was the message one mother carried to the School Reform Commission Wednesday.
Stetson Middle School mother Vilma Cartegena said she spoke on behalf of a group of concerned parents whose children attend the school, on B Street in Kensington.
"They are not very happy when they hear the rumors that the school is going to be turned into a charter school," Cartegena told the commission through a translator.
The district's Renaissance schools initiative will dramatically restructure 14 of the district's lowest-performing schools in September. The schools will open with longer school days and years and Saturday instruction. Teachers will have to reapply for their jobs, and no more than half can be rehired.
Five schools will be under the direct supervision of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Nine, including Stetson, will be run by outside managers.
All but one of the outside managers eligible to run the schools plan to turn them into charters, though they will have to accept all students currently eligible to attend the schools.
The prospect of a charter upsets Cartegena, who said parents were confused and unclear on what the model

Judge questions need for equal L. Merion schools

The federal judge hearing the case of nine South Ardmore students who say race was used in a redistricting plan for the Lower Merion School District called into question Wednesday the central premise of the plan.

N.J. education chief set to work with Camden

State Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said Wednesday that he would explore working with Camden officials in turning around the city's troubled public schools, an effort he said could become a model for reform.

Education - San Jose Mercury News

Education - San Jose Mercury News

News > Education

San Jose State to lay off 76 staff and eliminate 49 positions in budget crunch Faced with an $18 million shortfall, San Jose State University announced Thursday that it will lay off 76 staff, eliminate 49 vacant positions, reduce part-time faculty and cut operating expenses. SJSU is midway through a two-year effort to shrink its base budget to $263 million, due to reductions in state funding. To cut costs, SJSU to lay off 76 staff and eliminate 49 positions UC Berkeley acceptances from outside California hit record high Herhold: Teen's death-by-bullying warns us about our own children UCSC to suspend community studies program Fisher: Giving children a gift of the stars Stanford stress ranked #1 by those who don't know Seven South Bay and Peninsula school districts hold mail-only tax elections Santa Clara County schools superintendent gets mixed marks San Jose Great Bunny Rescue was a success Protest over 'Mount Pleasant' book: Poizner declines to apologize Fisher: Hip-hop stars find kids' letters persuasive

Education - latimes.com About 16% of students at La Crescenta high school agree to drug tests

Education - latimes.com

EDUCATION
Headlines from L.A. Now

• About 16% of students at La Crescenta high school agree to drug tests04/15/2010, 8:04 a.m.
• Cal State Stanislaus president says documents stolen, welcomes attorney general inquiry04/14/2010, 6:59 p.m.
• Two fires break out at Birmingham High School04/14/2010, 7:01 a.m.
• L.A. school officials approve job-saving pact that shortens school year04/13/2010, 6:09 p.m.
• Students say they found documents relating to Sarah Palin fundraiser at Cal State Stanislaus04/13/2010, 2:38 p.m.

More ...

The Education Report Oakland parents strike, demand teacher’s removal

The Education Report

Oakland parents strike, demand teacher’s removal

By Katy Murphy
Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 8:18 pm in OUSD central office, elementary schools,families, parents, teachers
5 Comments »

Parents at Lazear Elementary went on strike today, which meant they kept their kids out of school. Only 60 of about 300 children showed up in the morning.

The protesting parents said they’ve filed complaints about a problematic third-grade teacher for more than a year, and nothing has happened. They said they were tired of hearing about “the process.”

On the other end of the teacher firing spectrum, parents and teachers at Claremont Middle School last night expressed shock and horror that one of their star, go-getter teachers — a newbie, without job protections — received a dismissal notice. As is often the case with these first- and second-year teachers, she was apparently released without even knowing why. (Lillian Mongeau from Oakland North wrote about it in more detail.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Education Research Report: US needs better-trained math teachers to compete globally

Education Research Report: US needs better-trained math teachers to compete globally

US needs better-trained math teachers to compete globally

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Math teachers in the United States need better training if the nation's K-12 students are going to compete globally, according to international research released today by a Michigan State University scholar.

William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor of education, found that prospective U.S. elementary and middle-school math teachers are not as prepared as those from other countries. And this, combined with a weak U.S. math curriculum, produces similarly weak student achievement, he said.

The Teacher Education Study in Mathematics, or TEDS-M, is by far the largest of its kind, surveying more than 3,300 future teachers in the United States and 23,244 future teachers across 16 countries. Schmidt led the U.S. portion of the project.

"We must break the cycle in which we find ourselves," said Schmidt, who presented his findings at a

Budget crisis threatens to kick more San Diego children off the bus | California Watch

Budget crisis threatens to kick more San Diego children off the bus | California Watch

Budget crisis threatens to kick more San Diego children off the bus

April 16, 2010 | Corey G. Johnson

For years, along the coast of Northern San Diego County, parents of middle school students have paid about $500 a year so that their children can ride the school bus to classes throughout the San Dieguito Union High School District.

Photo by Charles Thompson

But the budget crisis has come a' knocking. And those buses, like so many others, may soon be going, going, gone.

District Superintendent Ken Noah met with parents and officials late yesterday to discuss the pending changes to the school bus program. According to the North County Times, state officials have told Noah that the matching funds usually provided to districts for transportation may soon be no more. So the district must either come up with the $483,000 that the state usually paid, either by doubling the fees charged to parents or by dipping deeper into existing operating funds.

It costs roughly $1 million for school transportation in San Dieguito. Busing is already slim, as only middle schoolers get to ride from home to school. Neither high schoolers nor the elementary school students that feed into San Dieguito get bus services. The district has slightly more than 12,500 total students.

Steve Ma, associate superintendent for business services, told the Times that using

Dan Walters: Tax debate heats up on Tax Day - Opinion - SanLuisObispo.com

Dan Walters: Tax debate heats up on Tax Day - Opinion - SanLuisObispo.com

Dan Walters: Tax debate heats up on Tax Day

By Dan Walters | dwalters@sacbee.com

Comments (1) | Recommend (0)

April 15 used to be simply the day that federal and state income tax returns were due.

However, with political angst running amok, it's been transformed into Tax Day with capital letters, pitting those who believe they're taxed too much by wasteful governments against those who contend that taxes are too low and vital services are dying.

Thus, hundreds of tea party tax protesters gathered at the Capitol on Thursday while union leaders and liberal politicians ramped up their pro-tax rhetoric.

Call The Bee's Dan Walters, (916) 321-1195. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/walters

The California Teachers Association touted its pending ballot measure that would repeal some big corporate tax loopholes that the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger enacted last year as they temporarily hiked personal income, sales and car taxes.

Meanwhile, the union-backed March for California's Future, which entered Sacramento County on Thursday and will arrive at the Capitol next week, trumpeted a $40 billion

Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/04/16/1105042/dan-walters-tax-debate-heats-up.html#ixzz0lGRwatZZ