Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Controlling Choice � The Quick and the Ed

Controlling Choice � The Quick and the Ed

Controlling Choice

Two districts have come under fire this week for recent or upcoming changes to the way students are paired with schools, commonly called school assignment plans. In Wake County, NC, the school board is considering moving away from its diversity-based plan in favor of a policy called “controlled choice,” while Chicago has seen that its diversity plan has actually increased racial segregation. Rather than comment on these particular situations, I’ll offer up lessons from the development of mandatory school choice plans in New York City and Boston that allocate precious school seats fairly and efficiently.
Race, class, and the desire for good schools are common to all of these cities. The picture below, titled The

QUICK Hits

De Blasio: City fails to engage parents on school siting issues | GothamSchools

De Blasio: City fails to engage parents on school siting issues | GothamSchools

De Blasio: City fails to engage parents on school siting issues

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, speaking today on the steps of the Department of Education's headquarters at Tweed Courthouse
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, speaking today on the steps of the Department of Education
When two courts halted the city’s plans to close 19 public schools this year, judges ruled that the city didn’t follow state law that requires it to engage parents and report the impact that the changes will have on students’ educations.
Now Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is arguing that the city is making the same mistakes when it decides to place multiple schools in the same buildings.
In a report released today, de Blasio charges that the city did not give parents enough information about how changes to space usage would affect instructional programs or about public hearings on the changes.
“They’re just doing the minimum amount of parent outreach so they can say they did,” de Blasio said today.
De Blasio’s office and the Alliance for Quality Education surveyed nearly 875 parents at 34 schools, about half of those that the city proposed moving into new, shared space last year. (Roughly half of public schools citywide currently share building space with other schools.)
The survey included responses from parents at both district and charter schools. It also included several schools that were the sites of fierce battles over colocation last school year, including the Clinton School for Writers and Artists and the American Sign Language School; Girls Prep Charter School and P.S. 188; and PAVE Charter School and P.S. 15.
More than 40 percent of the parents who responded said that the city had not provided specific detail on how the

One More Post On HCZ | Engaging Parents In School...

One More Post On HCZ | Engaging Parents In School...

President Obama Announces Wynn Gottlieb More Key Administration Posts, 7/22/10 | The White House

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 7/22/10 | The White House

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 7/22/10

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts:
• Howard L. Gottlieb, Member, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
• Elaine Wynn, Member, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
President Obama said, “Both Howard and Elaine will bring sound judgment and tremendous dedication to these important roles, and I am grateful they have agreed to lend their talents to this administration. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts:
Howard L. Gottlieb, Appointee for Member, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
Howard Gottlieb is the General Partner of Glen Eagle Partners, Ltd., a family private investment firm. He was a founding partner of Glenwood Partners and Chairman of Glenwood Financial Group. Mr. Gottlieb is an accomplished violinist. He has played in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performed widely with orchestras and chamber music groups in the United States and Europe. He is a Life Trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Merit School of Music, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Ravinia Festival and the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a former trustee of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Mr. Gottlieb is a graduate of the University of Chicago and serves on the University’s Visiting Committee.
Elaine Wynn, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Elaine Wynn has served as Director of Wynn Resorts since 2000. Ms. Wynn is a past member of the Executive Board of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and has served since 1997 on the State of Nevada Council to Establish Academic Standards. Most recently, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons appointed Wynn co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force, created to ensure a successful state application for the federal Race to the Top competition. In addition, she was appointed in February 2010 to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board by Senator Harry Reid. She is the Founding Chairperson of Communities in Schools of Nevada and was appointed as Chairman of the National Board of Communities in Schools. Ms. Wynn was named the Nevada Governor’s Philanthropist of the Year in 2005, and in 2007, America’s Promise Alliance awarded her one of seven National Promise of America Founders Awards for her dedication to education and improving the lives of children. Ms. Wynn received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 1986.

Court Dismisses Teacher's Case Against Student Doodles - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Court Dismisses Teacher's Case Against Student Doodles - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Court Dismisses Teacher's Case Against Student Doodles

And now for something completely ridiculous (right)?

Teacher Marion V. at an earlier court proceeding in May. Photo: DPA

"A German court on Tuesday threw out the case of a schoolteacher against a pupil who allegedly tormented her by scrawling pictures of rabbits on the blackboard to aggravate her rabbit phobia."

Portland schools announce where staffing cuts will be made | OregonLive.com

Portland schools announce where staffing cuts will be made | OregonLive.com

Learning is intense, fast and fun in Portland's amped-up summer school

Jerry.jpg

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian

July 15, 2010, 7:36PM
Officials hope to see a big payoff -- better grades, stronger reading skills and higher test scores -- among students from high-poverty schools taking part in a large, intensive summer learning program for students in the early grades, on the cusp of middle school or headed into freshman year Full story »

Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps performs in Tigard

By Special to The Oregonian

July 22, 2010, 1:26PM
The corps will perform "Dance of the Flames." Oh, and there's dessert, too. Full story »

Portland schools announce where staffing cuts will be made

By Molly Hottle, The Oregonian

July 22, 2010, 11:28AM
Principals have until July 27 to determine where to cut, and layoff notices will most likely be given in mid-August. Full story »

Aloha High 1970-71 Reunion: Share your stories on My Aloha

By Kjerstin Gabrielson, The Oregonian

July 22, 2010, 9:53AM
The founding classes of the 40-year-old high school take a walk down memory lane as they gather for their reunion this weekend. So, 1970-71 grads, what's your story? Full story »

Beta Beta rummage sale supports scholarships for teachers and good deeds within the community

By Special to The Oregonian

July 22, 2010, 6:00AM
The organization for women teachers is Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood's chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. Full story »

The diversification of Texas' suburban schools | THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | dallasnews.com

The diversification of Texas' suburban schools | THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | dallasnews.com

The diversification of Texas' suburban schools

I want to call to your attention Katherine Leal Unmuth's' article in Sunday's Morning News about Irving facing the same kind of school challenges that Dallas and other urban districts encounter. This is the type of trend story that's worth reading because the diversification of Texas' suburbs is getting ready to be one of the state's major new realities.
If it hasn't already become one. Author Joel Kotkin, whose book "The Next Hundred Million: America 2050" is the focus of the DMN's Summer Book Club, reports how in once whitebread places like Fort Bend County you find mosques and ethnic restaurants. His contention is that suburbs will become increasingly diverse as America becomes more diverse.
That's the conclusion of a recent Brookings Institution look at Dallas-Fort Worth. According to Unmuth, Brookings "found that in 2008 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, about 47 percent of the population living below the

Today's Big Education Ape Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools #education #news

Parents 4 democratic Schools

Today's Big Education Ape Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

NEA Signs On to Fiscal-Equity Bill - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Signs On to Fiscal-Equity Bill - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Signs On to Fiscal-Equity Bill

My apologies for the long absence from blogging. I took a few days off after the conventions and then had to turn my attention to a few stories on the common-standards adoptions. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
According to this document on the National Education Association's website, the union now supports the ESEA Fiscal Fairness Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Pennsylvania.
The bill would essentially require districts to certify that more- and less-affluent schools receive comparable state and local funding—including dollars spent on teacher salaries—before they get their share of federal Title I dollars

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Gym Rats?

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Gym Rats?

Gym Rats?

Even if you only follow the issue casually, you shouldn’t miss the Fordham Foundation analysis of state standards and common core standards. But, before

Education Research Report: The Harlem Children’s Zone, Promise Neighborhoods, and the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education

Education Research Report: The Harlem Children’s Zone, Promise Neighborhoods, and the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education

The Harlem Children’s Zone, Promise Neighborhoods, and the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education

The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is a non-profit organization that funds and operates a neighborhood-based system of education and social services for the children of low-income families in a 100 block area in Harlem, New York.

The HCZ education components include early childhood programs with parenting classes; public charter schools; academic advisors and afterschool programs for students attending regular public schools; and a support system for former HCZ students who have enrolled in college. Health components include a fitness program; asthma management; and a nutrition program. Neighborhood services include organizing tenant associations, one-on-one counseling to families; foster care prevention programs; community centers; and an

As budget crisis crippled schools, $71 million stimulus sat unused | California Watch

As budget crisis crippled schools, $71 million stimulus sat unused | California Watch

As budget crisis crippled schools, $71 million stimulus sat unused

For nearly a year, California schools have missed out on the opportunity to spend tens of millions of dollars in federal stimulus dollars as lawmakers and state officials debate how to spend it.
The debate over education technology funds has kept the money in state bank accounts, unable to help thousands of K-to-12 schools it was intended for. California Watch learned of the delays yesterday through interviews and documents.
About half of the funds – $34 million – were set aside for 1,063 local education agencies. But that decision was announced on July 16, nearly a year after the money was delivered to the state. It is unclear when the remaining $37 million of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology money (EETT for short) will be released.
While a debate about expenditures is nothing new, the stall over these stimulus funds is

State officials ask feds for leniency as standards are raised | GothamSchools

State officials ask feds for leniency as standards are raised | GothamSchools

State officials ask feds for leniency as standards are raised

As New York State grapples with improving its standardized tests, officials are asking the federal government for more time to make changes before schools are labeled as struggling.
In an interview on WNYC this morning, host Brian Lehrer asked State Education Commissioner David Steiner whether more difficult tests would mean more failing students and thus an increasing number of schools on the “In Need of Improvement” list. Schools land on the list if students’ test scores don’t increase by a certain amount for two years running. If the list grows, more schools could be closed or restructured.
Acknowledging that harder tests will be a new burden for schools, Steiner said the state was asking the federal