Thursday, June 9, 2011

California school spending and test scores | California Watch

California school district spending and test scores

June 2, 2011

Despite years of efforts to equalize spending in California schools, some districts receive thousands of dollars more per student than others. And although some districts spent much more than the average, the bigger expenditure didn't assure higher scores on the state's Academic Performance Index, which is based on student test scores and other academic measures. Download a spreadsheet of spending per student and Academic Performance Index data for all school districts here.

10 highest-spending districts

Districts with 500 or more students average daily attendance

District	$ spent per student	Location
Taft Union High	$21,932	Kern County
Shoreline Unified	$17,791	Marin County
Saint Helena Unified	$17,671	Napa County
Carmel Unified	$17,451	Monterey County
Portola Valley Elementary	$16,981	San Mateo County
Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified	$15,244	Humboldt County
Tamalpais Union High	$15,100	Marin County
Rancho Santa Fe Elementary	$14,287	San Diego County
San Pasqual Valley Unified	$14,028	Imperial County
Coast Unified	$13,775	San Luis Obispo County

10 lowest-spending districts

Districts with 500 or more students average daily attendance

District	$ spent per student	Location
Norris Elementary	$6,112	Kern County
Lammersville Elementary	$6,170	San Joaquin County
Rosedale Union Elementary	$6,176	Kern County
Hickman Community Charter	$6,192	Stanislaus County
Solvang Elementary	$6,206	Santa Barbara County
Dixon Unified	$6,287	Solano County
Spreckels Union Elementary	$6,322	Monterey County
Mccabe Union Elementary	$6,330	Imperial County
Central Elementary	$6,388	San Bernardino County
Ripon Unified	$6,394	San Joaquin County

Find your child's school district

Choose from California's largest districts

Modern School: Let Them Eat Cake: San Diego County Board of Education Votes Itself a Raise

Let Them Eat Cake: San Diego County Board of Education Votes Itself a Raise

by Michael Dunn

What if teachers and other workers could vote themselves a raise? Alas, we actually have to get up early and work for our meager salaries. Only bosses get this privilege. And, when you get right down to it, school board members are nothing but bosses.

Some have argued that school board members generally do not make much. On the other hand, they do not do much either. And their membership on the board is often a stepping stone to higher office, which helps them to cultivate relationships with business leaders that can result in various lucrative future jobs. So, in a way, serving on a school board could be seen as an apprenticeship, like student teaching, except way more profitable in the long run.

Of course, we are not talking about real money here. The 5% raise will only increase their

Two speeches by Linda Darling-Hammond. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Two speeches by Linda Darling-Hammond.

by Fred Klonsky

For those of us struggling within our teacher unions, particularly here in Illinois, to try to get them to stand and fight to defend our hard-won bargaining rights and for good education policy, this has been a tough year.

Senate Bill 7, which essentially took away the right to strike in Chicago and our tenure and seniority rights throughout the state, was actually championed by our union leadership.

After a massive campaign in which tens of thousands of public service workers told their state political leaders to oppose any change in employee pensions, the state union leadership appears ready to cave on that as well.

From the outside, Republican governors and legislatures are making a frontal assault on teacher unions. From

California teachers union declares state of emergency.

School Tech Connect: In Which I Select A Principal

In Which I Select A Principal

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Community members at Sullivan High School

I dropped by Sullivan High School tonight--- I live across the street, and I'm a busybody. I'm the Glady Kravitz of Rogers Park. It's a small (800 data-generators) neighborhood high school in Rogers Park, and I have a generally good impression of it, and the kids seem like kids anywhere. I rarely hear anything negative about Sullivan,* and some of their sleuthier student detectives put Rahm Emanuel in his placeduring the recent mayoral fund-raising season, where Rahm earned the mandate of 23% of the city's eligible voters. Rahm has a crazy delusional charter jones, and he's been whispering in the President's ear for years. Arne Duncan's been whispering in the other ear.

Sullivan was having a forum for the three finalists for

In Ackerman’s Hands « City School Stories

Notes from the Field « City School Stories

In Ackerman’s Hands

Submitted by Frank Murphy, June 8, 2011

Last Thursday I published a post in which I requested that Arlene Ackerman listen to the voice of reason concerning her budget priorities for the upcoming school year. Specifically, I suggested that she redirect the Title One funds targeted to support an eighteen-day district wide summer program, to restore funding for a full day kindergarten program. Interestingly enough, the next day (to the surprise of Mayor Nutter and Ackerman’s other political supporters) she decided to use Title funds to do so.

Now that was an easy solution. It was so easy in fact that you have to wonder how many other of the radical cuts she has proposed could be restored by her merely reordering her spending priorities.

Many of the teaching positions that Ackerman has targeted for elimination could be saved if she would simply rethink how she intends to spend our limited tax dollars. In fact, Ackerman could restore more than a hundred million dollars to important budget items by cutting unproven programs and unnecessary contracts.

The elimination of the extra funding that Ackerman intends to direct towards her experimental Promise

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

NYC Public School Parents: We're not giving up on our kids' future!

We're not giving up on our kids' future!

by Leonie Haimson

1. Many important rallies and protests are happening starting tomorrow afternoon; please come and make your voice heard:

· Thursday, June 9, at 12:00 noon at City Hall: an emergency rally with advocates and parents to demand that arts education be properly funded. For more information emaildoug@caenyc.org

· Thursday, June 9, 6-9 pm, in Lower Manhattan: emergency meeting re the budget cuts: YMCA/University Settlement, 273 Bowery (@ SE Corner of Houston St.) Contact:LESAgainstTheCuts@gmail.com

· Friday, June 10 at 4 pm at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn: Rally featuring CMs Lander, Levin, James, parents and kids, followed by march up Prospect Park West to the bandshell entrance. Contact athompson@council.nyc.gov or janinesopp@gmail.com for more information.

· Saturday, June 11, 2-4 pm, Brooklyn: emergency meeting re the budget cuts at Bedford Library, 496 Franklin Avenue. Contact: nocutsny@gmail.com

· Tuesday, June 14 at 4:30 at City Hall: Rally against budget cuts a endorsed by DC 37, UFT, TWU 100 and more; followed by Bloombergville: Sleep Out, Speak Up and Fight Back against Budget Cuts at Centre Street between Chambers St. and Spruce St. (east side of City Hall) after rally. For more information, email bloombergville@gmail.com or check out onmay12.org andfacebook.com/BeyondMay12

· Tuesday, June 14, 7-9 pm on Staten Island: Bernikow/Mid-Island JCC, 1466 Manor Road
Sponsored by Staten Islanders for Real Budget Solutions & Against Budget Cuts, contact:nobudgetcutssi@gmail.com

OUSD budget trends and another central reorg | The Education Report

OUSD budget trends and another central reorg

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 at 4:42 pm in OUSD central office, School board news,budget.

The first reading of the Oakland school district’s 2011-12 budget proposal happens at tonight’s 5 p.m. board meeting (Catch it live here). So I did some number crunching, building on an analysis from earlier in the year that compared 2009-10 spending and 2010-11* budget estimates.

You’ll find the combined totals toward the bottom of the spreadsheet, with the changes over time highlighted in blue. If you notice any errors, please let me know so I can fix them.

*Note: The district’s estimates for 2010-11 have changed since the February budget presentation. I’ve included both sets of numbers for the current fiscal year.

OUSD budget trends

You might have noticed that the budget for professional development and curriculum would be half the size that it is this year. It can’t be a coincidence that the district is overhauling its Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction department —

NYC Public School Parents: The mayor's unconscionable cuts and where the money could be found

The mayor's unconscionable cuts and where the money could be found

by Leonie Haimson

Check our NYC Council testimony about the unconscionable budget cuts that the mayor has proposed that would led to the elimination of 6,000 teaching positions and the sharpest increases in class size in over thirty years.

Also see our proposals below where more than $1 billion in funds could be found to prevent these devastating cuts, assembled from suggestions from the Independent Budget Office, the City Council, parents and other advocacy groups, as well as my own. Here they are as a handy pdf.

Options for reducing DoE’s budget without touching the classroom

· $23 million: cancel (or do not renew) contracts w/ McGraw Hill and Scantron for Acuity, or interim assessments. These contracts end in Aug. 2011 and most parents, teachers and even principals think they are worthless.

· $4 million: cut contracts with TFA and New Teacher Project and instead retrain current teachers for

PAA in the news: questions about charter schools & Broad Foundation « Parents Across America

PAA in the news: questions about charter schools & Broad Foundation

by leoniehaimson

Two major stories today feature the work of Parents Across America and, in particular, one of our brilliant Oakland members, Sharon Higgins. Sharon writes and researches three blogs, The Perimeter Primate, Charter School Scandals, and The Broad Report. Sharon provides cutting edge information and exposes scandals in the corporate education reform movement including charter schools [...]

The Perimeter Primate, Charter School Scandals, and The Broad Report

Critics target growing army of Broad Academy leadersCATALYST CHICAGO :: News

CATALYST CHICAGO :: News

Ed Week: Critics target growing army of Broad Academy leaders

Jean-Claude Brizard

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The nation’s three biggest districts have Broad-trained executives in top leadership positions.by Christina A. Samuels, Education WeekJune 8, 2011

Billionaire businessman Eli Broad, one of the country’s most active philanthropists, founded the Broad Superintendents Academy in 2002 with an extraordinarily optimistic goal: Find leaders from both inside and outside education, train them, and have them occupying the superintendencies in a third of the 75 largest school districts—all in just two years.

Now hosting its 10th class, the Los Angeles-based program hasn’t quite reached that goal, but it’s close. The nation’s three biggest districts have Broad-trained executives in top leadership positions: Shael Polakow-Suransky, the chief academic officer in New York City; John E. Deasy, the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified; and Jean-Claude Brizard, who became the chief executive officer of the Chicago schools last month.

In all, 21 of the nation’s 75 largest districts now have superintendents or other highly

An Urban Teacher's Education: Goodbye Reflective Educator

Goodbye Reflective Educator

by The Reflective Educator

I think it's time. I've quasi worn the pseudonym on this blog for over two years, and its utility seems to have run its course. As much as I cherish The Reflective Educator as an identity, it's become something of a barrier in advancing my purpose.

I can't just leave it at that, though. There's a story to be told, a discussion to be had. What's the purpose of pseudonymous blogging for teachers, and what are the consequences? What are the dilemmas associated with speaking out as a public educator, and what do they say about our system at large? If you'd indulge me, I'd like to puzzle this out.

Inspired by a colleague, I began this blog as an outlet for my thoughts and, occasionally, a means of documenting my experiences as a public school teacher. Attaching my name and face seemed a bad idea initially. I didn't want to draw attention to myself or my school, and I wanted the opportunity to blog as openly and honestly as possible about my thoughts and experiences. I thought a pseudonym was appropriate.

I think the pseudonym served me well until a little over a year ago. That's when I began developing strong negative opinions about the school I was working at in DC and the course of public education. The school's administration discovered the blog and branded me an ineffective teacher my last day on the job after two overwhelmingly positive reviews. It became clear that many in the DCPS central office were aware of my identity,

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