NYC Education Department central office hired 70% more employees since 2003 amid school budget cuts

NYC Education Department central office hired 70% more employees since 2003 amid school budget cuts

BY MEREDITH KOLODNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 8th 2010, 4:00 AM

Harbus for News, Richard

Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan is the site of a 70% increase in NYC Department of Education central office staff since 2003, agency records reveal.

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The head count at the Education Department's central office has ballooned nearly 70% since 2003, agency data show.

As the city moves to cut school budgets and shed teachers, the number of employees rose to 2,268 in 2010 from 1,332 in 2003, when the mayor took over the school system, the department's financial status reviews from those years show.

Salaries for central staffers have also jumped by 79% in the same period, to almost $189 million last year from $105.6 million, documents show.

"They say they're cutting central, but they're just putting more and more money into testing and managing data," said Lisa Donlan, president of lower Manhattan's parents council. "It's not instructional."

The Office of Accountability, which oversees testing, saw the largest spike, from just eight

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/07/08/2010-07-08_spike_in_bodies_at_ed_dept_head_count_up_70_at_central_office.html?r=ny_local/education#ixzz0t5qGZVCS

The Answer Sheet - A new look at Teach for America

The Answer Sheet - A new look at Teach for America

A new look at Teach for America

Around the country today thousands of young Teach for Americarecruits are getting a crash course in how to teach students in low-income urban and rural schools, a job they have promised to do for the next two years.

The recruits are recent graduates from elite colleges, most of whom do not have a background in education, and they have been the subject of a running debate about how well they can serve needy schoolchildren.

Teach for America began in 1990 with 500 teachers in six communities and has grown to more than 8,200 individuals teaching in 39 rural and urban areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, the Mississippi Delta, and the Washington D.C. region.

Following are highlights of a new review of independent researchvidence on the program, an analysis conducted by Assistant Professor Julian Vasquez Heilig of the University of Texas at Austin and Assistant Professor Su Jin Jez of California State University at Sacramento.

They conclude:
*More than 50 percent of Teach for America teachers leave after two years and more than 80 percent leave after three years. [About half of all teachers nationwide quit after five years, according to the National Education Association.]
-Teach for America proponents say that the program is aimed not only at supplying teachers to needy schools but also improving the teacher

Student fluency woes rising - The Boston Globe

Student fluency woes rising - The Boston Globe

Student fluency woes rising

New testing finds 28% in Hub need help in English

By James Vaznis

Globe Staff / July 8, 2010

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The number of Boston school students identified as lacking fluency in English surged dramatically over the past school year, presenting further challenges for a school district already under federal investigation for failing to provide adequate programs for students trying to learn the language.

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Growing language concerns

Such students now number nearly 16,000, about 28 percent of the district’s total enrollment, according to new data released by the district. Last fall, the group consisted of more than 11,000 students.

Much of the increase emerged after school officials complied with a federal directive to retest thousands of students who were improperly evaluated over the last seven years for English fluency, causing them not to be identified for services. Those students were tested only on how well they speak and listen in English, but not their ability to read and write in the language.

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Student fluency woes rising

The number of Boston school students identified as lacking fluency in English surged dramatically over the past school year, presenting further challenges for a school district already under federal investigation for failing to provide adequate programs for students trying to learn the language. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

Elise Boulding; sociologist studied peace, conflict; at 89

Dr. Elise Boulding, an international peace activist, saw life as an unpredictable adventure. “We never know what’s going to happen next,’’ Dr. Boulding said in a 1990 interview with Alan AtKisson called “Concentrating on Essence: An interview with Elise Boulding.’’ (By Jeffrey Fish, Globe Correspondent)

Strong start for UMass Law

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Applications and enrollment at the state’s first public law school have surged since the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth acquired the struggling Southern New England School of Law, an early sign that the controversial merger is off to an auspicious start. (By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff)

Sci-fi becomes the new reality

One wallet becomes more difficult to open as its owner’s bank account runs low on money; another wallet swells and shrinks, depending on the available cash; a third buzzes when there’s any kind of movement in the account. (By D.C. Denison, Globe Staff)

Northern Essex Community College president to retire

When David Hartleb was selected president of Northern Essex Community College in 1995, he was not the unanimous choice of the trustees. (By Wendy Killeen, Globe Correspondent)

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The Best Sites For Learning About The Summer | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best Sites For Learning About The Summer | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best Sites For Learning About The Summer As we enter July, I thought it would be a good time to create a “The Best…: list about the summer. I’ll be adding to it as the summer progresses. This is a companion list to: The Best Websites For Learning About The Fourth Of July The Best Sites For ...

Great Soccer Slideshow The New York Times has just published a great slideshow titled Grassroots Soccer. This is how they describe it: *Jessica Hilltout, a Belgian-born photographer, drove across Africa for seven months last year to capture the continent’s love of soccer ...

Federal concern preceded California's $416 million school reform award | California Watch

Federal concern preceded California's $416 million school reform award | California Watch

Federal concern preceded California's $416 million school reform award

July 8, 2010 | Corey G. Johnson

Flickr photo by Woodley Wonderworks

It appears that the quest to get $416 million in federal aid for California schools wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

As first reported by Education Week, state education officials had to revise their application for School Improvement Grant money four times after turning it into the U.S. Department of Education on March 26. The state's last revision came on June 16, eight days before receiving approval for the grant.

According to documents filed with the state board of education, federal officials raised multiple concerns with the state's grant application. In one instance, the state had to

Community colleges not rushing to sign deals with Kaplan University

by Erica Perez

Erica Perez

It's been about six months since California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott signed a controversial deal with Kaplan University that would allow students to take classes from the for-profit company for credit at a community college.
Under the terms of a December 2009 memorandum of understanding, it's up to the individual colleges to sign agreements with the for-profit company to decide which Kaplan courses would be eligible for community-college credits. But so far, not a single college has signed up, a Kaplan spokeswoman said.
When the Kaplan deal was announced, some faculty groups and student advocates questioned it for a number of

Blog U.: Motherhood After Tenure: death of a matriarch - Mama PhD - Inside Higher Ed

Blog U.: Motherhood After Tenure: death of a matriarch - Mama PhD - Inside Higher Ed

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  Motherhood After Tenure: death of a matriarch

  By Aeron Haynie July 8, 2010 7:59 am
  
  This past month, I have been trying to follow fellow blogger Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s adviceon how to eliminate summer regret by breaking up my writing goals into small tasks and plotting them onto a calendar of available days. I scheduled weekly dates with my writing “coach”/colleague. I made progress by forcing myself to write drafts even before I felt quite ready, instead of circling around and around a project. Perhaps, I thought happily, by summer’s end I would have made substantial progress on my book, prepared for my new administrative duties, and organized my courses! I was on a roll.
  
  And then my Grandmother died. She was 98, so her death was an event we’d been expecting for so long that we’d started to believe it would never happen. Death disrupts our schedules, our plans, or lives. And so it should.
  
  My grandmother was the matriarch of our family and an important figure in my life, but our relationship was also fraught with criticism, disappointment, and occasionally anger. She criticized me more than any other person in my family. My hippy upbringing upset her notions of proper decorum, and I often thought her life as a wife and mother limited. But her attitude changed markedly when I began achieving in school. When I graduated from college with honors, she surprised me by breaking into tears. Later, she helped support me through graduate school, and she became the first person to whom I sent news of my awards,

San Juan school offices shift to closed campus - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

San Juan school offices shift to closed campus - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

San Juan school offices shift to closed campus

Published: 12:00 am

San Juan Central has moved into Garfield Elementary School, which was closed at the end of the school year.

Keeping students in school helps the economy

By Melody Gutierrez - Updated: 2:13 pm

Lowering the dropout rates of minority students in Sacramento would drive $223 million into the local economy through increased spending and home and car purchases, a study released Wednesday found.

Sacramento teen earns $36,000 grant for creating lounge

By Niesha Lofing - Published: 12:11 pm

A Sacramento teen is being honored with a $36,000 award for creating a youth-owned and operated urban lounge.

Roseville City School District grows as others in region decline

By Diana Lambert - Published: Wednesday, July 7 2010 - 12:00 am

Roseville City School District is different from most other districts in the region. It's growing.

New Jersey hopes to keep college students in-state | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/07/2010

New Jersey hopes to keep college students in-state | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/07/2010

New Jersey hopes to keep college students in-state

By Chelsea Conaboy

Inquirer Staff Writer

Admissions strategist Steve Goodman helped two New Jersey students with their college applications this year.
Both were accepted at Rutgers, the state's largest university. Neither will attend.
Instead, Goodman said, they chose prestigious out-of-state research institutions: the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan.
The decisions by his clients fit a long-term trend, say Goodman and New Jersey higher-education authorities.
New Jersey exports more college students than any other state, and its colleges and universities attract relatively few students from elsewhere. Some higher-education advocates say they hope those facts will get attention from a task force appointed by Gov. Christie to make changes in a system he says has not kept pace with other states'.
Several factors influence New Jersey's student migration, experts say. The state is surrounded by cities - New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington - with high-caliber universities. Garden State public institutions have neither the prestige to attract the state's top students nor money to develop it.
What's more, experts say, New Jersey has an identity issue.
"There is a reverse-snobbery," said Cigus Vanni, a counselor at Cherry Hill High School West who is active in the

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100707_New_Jersey_hopes_to_keep_college_students_in-state.html#ixzz0t5lJr5TK
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New Jersey hopes to keep college students in-state

Admissions strategist Steve Goodman helped two New Jersey students with their college applications this year. Both were accepted at Rutgers, the state's largest university. Neither will attend.

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