Public workers highly paid? Not exactly

Public workers highly paid? Not exactly

Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

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(10-19) 04:00 PDT Sacramento - --

Public workers in California earn 7 percent less on average than private sector employees, but make about the same amount after benefits and other compensation are factored in, according to a study released Monday.

The study by economists at UC Berkeley and Rutgers University found that the similar wages and benefits exist despite the fact that 55 percent of public employees in the state have a college degree, compared with just 35 percent of California's private sector workers. Education levels are usually the most important factor in determining wages, but public employees do not get the same return for their education level as private

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/18/MNUJ1FUAOH.DTL#ixzz12o8wLoz5

Obama's day: More education - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

Obama's day: More education - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

Obama's day: More education

06:51 AM

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By Evan Vucci, AP

Good morning from The Oval. On this day in 1987, the stock market fell 508 points, which at that time was 22.6% of its value -- the second largest percentage drop in history.

After a series of morning briefings, President Obama this afternoon will sign an executive order for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. The project brings together "experts in education and Hispanic community leaders from around the country on issues ranging from early childhood learning to higher education," says the White House schedule.

President Obama also meets late this afternoo

Education should be election issue - The Daily Collegian Online

Education should be election issue - The Daily Collegian Online

Education should be election issue

By Michael Oplinger
Collegian Columnist

Rarely does the resignation of a school district leader make national news.

Yet last week when Michelle Rhee announced she was stepping down as chancellor of the Washington D.C public school system, the news appeared on multiple major news outlets.

While the departure of the controversial yet successful Rhee may have negative effects on the turnaround of D.C. schools, it has fueled an important national discussion about one of the country’s biggest yet ignored issues — the need for education reform.

In her three years as chancellor, Rhee tenaciously pursued reforms that led to increased test scores and the end of decades of declining enrollment. But Rhee, an alumna of Teach for America, employed

Police account of Pace student's death questioned - Boston.com

Police account of Pace student's death questioned - Boston.com

Police account of Pace student's death questioned

This handout photo from Pace University on Monday, Oct. 18, 2010, shows Danroy Henry, 20, a student and football player at Pace University's Pleasantville campus who was shot and killed by local police . (AP Photo/Pace University,Handout)

By Jim Fitzgerald

October 19, 2010

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THORNWOOD, N.Y.—Investigators are trying to unravel conflicting accounts of how a college football player driving away from the scene of a fight ended up dead hours after the team's homecoming game, struck in a burst of police gunfire that pierced his windshield.

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Authorities say Danroy "D.J." Henry, 20, had been parked in a fire lane outside a bar when he sped away from officers who were rapping on his car window, hitting one who clung to the hood as the sedan barreled toward a colleague.

But the father of a passenger in the car says the driver took off because he

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Problems with "Manifesto" thinking

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In yesterday's Weekend Quotables, Rich Rothstein and Pres. Obama get it mainly right re. the importance of having a good teacher in every classroom. Rothstein is quick to point out however that, "differences in the quality of schools can explain about one-third of the variation in student achievement. But the other two-thirds is attributable to non-school factors."

But even here, there are limits to how much we can claim when we draw on statistical social-science or education research. While Rothstein's scores a point against "Manifesto" thinkers like Rhee and Klein, who put the entire burden of closing the so-called "achievement gap" on the schoolhouse, those at the school level are often trapped by the data. Statistical analysis is useful in looking at the big picture and for policy analysts. But

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Natomas schools' choice: Cut, or see state takeover - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

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UC Davis named a new vice chancellor of research on Monday, marking the first major appointment since Chancellor Linda Katehi took the helm of the university last year and a significant step in her plans to restructure the campus.

UCD names new head of research

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On Why We Black / Latino Male Teachers Aren’t Effective … Yet — The Jose Vilson

On Why We Black / Latino Male Teachers Aren’t Effective … Yet — The Jose Vilson

On Why We Black / Latino Male Teachers Aren’t Effective … Yet

by Jose

On Huffington Post:

This year, I consider my math classroom an anomaly of sorts. We have not one but two black males teaching 25 or so students mathematics. While it’s true that it’s my only math class (I’m a hybrid math teacher/math coach/data analyst/web designer), it’s also productive because the kids seem to respond in kind. In a CTT (collaborative team teaching) class, we have more room to differentiate for students and plan our day accordingly. Plus, the students get to see two adult

Teaching for the 21st Century � InterACT

Teaching for the 21st Century � InterACT

Teaching for the 21st Century

by Kelly Kovacic

What is the most important 21^st century skill?

1. Collaboration
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4. Problem Solving
5. Multi-Tasking
6. Technical know-how

We hear a lot these days about preparing our students for the 21^st century. Policy makers, business owners, parents, community members, and educators all seem to agree that students need to leave school ready to participate actively in and contribute to a rapidly changing world. However, what does preparing a child for the

A new coalition to bring back adult education The Education Report

The Education Report

A new coalition to bring back adult education

By Katy Murphy
Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 3:44 pm in adult education
6 Comments »

If you read this blog regularly, you probably know that adult education in California has been decimated in recent years. You might also know that the Oakland school board voted in June to shift millions of dollars of adult ed funds to the district’s child care programs, which the governor in May had threatened to cut.

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In Oakland, school produce stands are becoming a weekly fixture

By Katy Murphy
Thursday, October 14th, 2010 at 2:19 pm in West Oakland, community, elementary schools, health, initiatives
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West Oakland may not have a full-service grocery store (that’s another story), but it does have another produce stand. Here are some photos we took on Tuesday at Hoover Elementary School’s new weekly market.

The Oakland school district and the East Bay Asian Youth Center opened two more stands this week — at Hoover in West Oakland and Global Family and Learning Without Limits in East Oakland — bringing the total to 12. They plan to expand the number to 25 by September. Glenview Elementary has one too, run by parent and community volunteers.

These mini farmer’s markets are open to the public, as well. Here’s the schedule: Read the rest of this entry »

Why do so many new Oakland teachers leave? Some have no choice.

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 at 4:18 pm in teachers
33 Comments »

A new report to be presented at tonight’s school board meeting (agenda here) shows that 73 percent of teachers hired by the Oakland school district in 2004 were no longer in the classroom, five years later.

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Read the rest of this entry »

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More charges and blame over CALPADS - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell escalated his attack Monday on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s veto of money budgeted for completing the statewide student data system known as CALPADS. O’Connell and Keric Ashley, the Department of Education ...

Unions fighting a phony ‘war on teachers’ - by Eric Hanushek No longer is education reform an issue of liberals vs. conservatives. In Washington, the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program rewarded states for making significant policy changes such as supporting charter schools. In Los Angeles, the Times ...

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Ethnic imbalances persist in gifted programs | EdNewsColorado

Ethnic imbalances persist in gifted programs

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Second-graders at Polaris at Ebert practice drawing bones in an art lesson inspired by Georgia O'Keefe.

Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings of animal skulls flash on an overhead projector at Polaris at Ebert, the only stand-alone magnet school for gifted students in the Denver Public Schools.

Second-graders study the pictures and the curved antlers on tables in front of them and sketch their own O’Keefe-inspired masterpieces as sunlight pours through windows with views to downtown skyscrapers.

3:13 AM (1 hour ago)

Applications surge for DPS’ highly gifted program

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In 2008-09 and 2009-10, DPS officials received between 1,600 and 1,700 applications for the program that enables qualified students to attend schools with special programs for gifted students.

In the years prior to 2008, DPS received about 800 applicants each year.

The Answer Sheet - How billionaire donors harm public education

The Answer Sheet - How billionaire donors harm public education

How billionaire donors harm public education

Today the foundation set up by billionaires Eli and Edythe Broad is giving away $2 million to an urban school district that has pursued education reform that they like. On Friday a Florida teacher is running 50 miles to raise money so that he and his fellow teachers don’t have to spend their own money to buy paper and pencils, binders (1- and 2-inch), spiral notebooks, composition books and printer ink. Together the two events show the perverted way schools are funded in 2010. Very wealthy people are donating big private money to their own pet projects: charter schools, charter school management companies, teacher assessment systems. (The latest example is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to the Newark public schools, given with the provision that Zuckerberg, apparently an education reform expert, play a big role in determining success.) What this means is that these philanthropists -- and not