FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, October 15, 2012

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Education Headlines

Monday, October 15, 2012

Proposition to create school district left off some ballots

A proposition on the Nov. 6 ballot that would create a new Bonsall Unified School District was mistakenly left off the ballots of voters in two areas it would affect.

Oxford Prep's Orange County branch suspected of inflating test scores

The Orange County branch of a well-respected Chino charter school is being investigated by school officials there, who suspect the school's sky-high test scores may have been inflated.

How to best gauge teacher performance?

Research has shown that a teacher can make or break a child’s education. Yet assessments of educators locally and statewide do little to call out any problems.

Fundraisers help keep Galt district libraries open

Gabriela Duenas reached into her pocket last April at a school board meeting and pulled out $40. The Galt seventh-grader had just heard that all six school libraries were to be closed because of a lack of funds. She wanted to help. The heartfelt action of a 12-year-old started a community swell of support that will result in the reopening of all six Galt Joint Union Elementary School District libraries on Wednesday.

Boy in school flap over cystic fibrosis

By all accounts, Colman Chadam is a healthy, active 11-year-old boy who fit right in at Palo Alto's Jordan Middle School as a new kid in town. Except now, school officials believe his genetic makeup means he is a health risk to some of its other students and ordered that he be moved to another district middle school 3 miles away.

Adelanto parents can open charter campus, judge rules

Mojave Desert parents struggling to transform their failing school won a key legal victory Friday when a judge ruled they must be allowed to open an independent charter campus next fall.

California schools told to destroy peanut butter possibly tied to salmonella

California schools have been asked to destroy all peanut butter that is being recalled by its manufacturer, Sunland Inc., over concerns that it may contain Salmonella contamination.

Rosenblatt: Contrary to common wisdom, nothing is ‘away’ from the classroom

Readers of my posts know that I often challenge the conventional wisdom within public education circles – a public sector “mythbuster” if you will – whether it be the myth of furlough days or the hollow critique of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Another of my favorite examples is the all too often stated “truism” that if a school district needs to make budget cuts (as we all have had to do recently), it’s best to make cuts “away” from the classroom.

Frey: Student discipline laws, though weakened, still will have an impact

Advocates for changing punitive school discipline policies that are disproportionately affecting African American and Latino students can claim at least a partial victory at the end of this year’s legislative session, with five bills signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last month that raise awareness and pave the way for alternative approaches to out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.

School official targeted special education program to cut costs

A San Francisco Unified School District administrator urged teachers to re-evaluate whether to offer summer school to special education students as a way to cut costs, a move that special education teachers and attorneys say violates federal regulations.

Skelton: Education cuts at stake in tax battle

If Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 passes — and receives more votes than wealthy attorney Molly Munger's Prop. 38 — K-12 schools and community colleges will be spared $5.4 billion in budget cuts. Plus, the two university systems won't be dinged $250 million each. If, however, voters reject Prop. 30 on Nov. 6, those education cuts automatically will be triggered by the current state budget that was enacted in June by the governor and Legislature.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lincoln Unified OKs drug testing

Lincoln Unified's school board approved a mandatory random drug-testing policy for its athletes and cheerleaders late Wednesday.

District could face severe budget cuts

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District is facing a deficit of at least $11 million for next year, and that could rise to $21 million based on the results of the November election, said Stacy Coleman, assistant superintendent for finances.

Transitional kindergarten under way

Under a state law that changes the date when children can start school, local districts are offering transitional kindergarten classes for the first time.

Amendment would let religious groups get public funds | www.palmbeachpost.com

Amendment would let religious groups get public funds | www.palmbeachpost.com:

Amendment would let religious groups get public funds

Some say its passage may bring a revival of school vouchers.

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By John Kennedy

Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — 

Florida voters must weigh far-ranging claims from both sides in deciding a proposed constitutional amendment lifting a 127-year-old ban on public money going to religious institutions.

Opponents say Amendment 8 – if approved – will revive efforts by the Republican-ruled legislature to reinstate private school vouchers, a signature policy of former Gov. Jeb Bush ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.

But supporters of the proposed amendment say it is merely a defensive move, designed to allow organizations already providing critical state services to fend off possible legal challenges.

The measure, one of 11 proposed amendments placed by the Republican-controlled legislature 

C. M. Rubin: The Global Search for Education: The Education Debate 2012 -- Diane Ravitch

C. M. Rubin: The Global Search for Education: The Education Debate 2012 -- Diane Ravitch:

The Global Search for Education: The Education Debate 2012 -- Diane Ravitch

"I believe that it is a public duty to provide a good public school with adequate resources and a rich curriculum in every neighborhood." -- Diane Ravitch

Making education a focus during the 2012 election debates is our ongoing goal in The Global Search for Education series. Today I am honored to share the perspectives of Diane Ravitch as we continue the discussion of the issues that we believe will be a priority for the next President of the United States.

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a distinguished historian of American education. She is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. She served as Assistant Secretary of Education for Research and Improvement in the administration of President George H.W. Bush and was appointed to two terms on the National Assessment Governing Board by the Clinton administration. Ravitch is the author or editor of over 20 books on education, including the national bestseller, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (Basic Books).

"It is NOT the role of the Department of Education to foist its own unproven preferences -- like evaluating teachers by student test scores or charter schools or merit pay -- on states and 

Rating teachers: Ruining the profession and running off good people | Get Schooled

Rating teachers: Ruining the profession and running off good people | Get Schooled:

Rating teachers: Ruining the profession and running off good people

by Maureen Downey

With teacher ratings becoming a reality, many people are expressing concerns about the impact on the profession. I read two great pieces this weekend that I want to share here. (Also, please read the column I ran Friday from a charter school principal in Atlanta about his concerns over the low value-added score given his school.)
In an op-ed in The New York Times, Deborah Kenny, chief executive and founding principal of Harlem Village Academies and the author of “Born to Rise: A Story of Children and Teachers Reaching Their Highest Potential,” joins the chorus of concern, noting that her charter school once dismissed a teacher whose students posted 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What They Say vs What They Do

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What They Say vs What They Do:

What They Say vs What They Do

by Charlie Mas

Tell me that I'm not the only one troubled by the wide gap between what the District leadership says - mostly the Board, but senior staff as well - and what they do.

They say that they are committed to transparency, but they never offer any. We went through this long process for the BEX IV plan with all kinds of community meetings and you would think that every idea was aired and discussed, but then, at the 11th hour, they interject this weird Jane Addams to Pinehurst idea. It comes out of nowhere and there's no time left to discuss it. And what, exactly, is the process for program placement decisions? What is the rationale behind under-funding the "non-traditional" schools?

They say that they are committed to community engagement, but look at the motions that come before the Board. The vast majority of them have had no community engagement at all. The Board's primary community engagement, public testimony, has been squeezed and reduced and diminished.

They say that they support advanced learning, but they have made a mockery of ALOs, they have destroyed Spectrum, and they are actively ripping APP apart. When have they ever supported advanced learning in any

How the District Cheats Four Schools

by Charlie Mas

There are four schools which are cheated by the District every year. They are South Lake, The Center School, The NOVA Project, and The World School. These are high schools which are not funded in accordance with the Weighted Staffing Standard used to fund every other high school. Instead of getting the funding that they are supposed to get, these schools get much, much less.

High schools with enrollment under 800 are supposed to be funded with these staff positions:


High School Staffing Using AAFTE for 800 p="p" students:="students:" Principal 1.0
Asst. Principal 1.0
Admin. Secretary (260) 1.0
Data Registrar (220) 1.0
Attendance Spec. (201) 1.0
Fiscal Specialist (220) 1.0
Activity Coordinator 1.0
Nurse 0.8
Counselor* (per 400 students) 1.0
Librarian 1.0
Academic Intervention Specs 1.0

These schools, however, are not allotted these staff positions. These schools are singled out to be intentionally underfunded.

You might think it is because they are small schools, but Rainier Beach High School has an October 1 

My Letter for the Campaign for Our Public Schools « Cooperative Catalyst

My Letter for the Campaign for Our Public Schools « Cooperative Catalyst:

My Letter for the Campaign for Our Public Schools

by Kristan Morrison

Dear President Obama and Senators Webb and Warner,
I am a professor of education who helps prepare individuals to be licensed VA school teachers, and who also provides professional development to in-service teachers.  I myself have 5 years of public school (and one year of private) middle school teaching experience in NC schools starting in 1996.  I write to you today as part of a letter writing campaign (Campaign for Our Public Schools) to urge you all to reconsider the direction that the current presidential administration and Congress seem to be continuing along regarding education.
Four years ago, when President Obama was elected, I was overjoyed for I was certain that we would now see the end of the disastrous NCLB-mandated focus on standardized tests as a way to hold schools accountable.  I have always believed that such tests are of low-quality (in that they frequently lack reliability and validity, have cultural and class biases within them, and are, essentially, the lazy/cheapskate approach to finding out what skills, knowledge, and dispositions students have developed).   My joy at Mr. Obama’s election, along with a

My letter for the Campaign for Our Public Schools

by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu

Dear President Obama and Senators Webb and Warner,

I am a professor of education who helps prepare individuals to be licensed VA school teachers, and who also provides professional development to in-service teachers. I myself have 5 years of public school (and one year of private) middle school teaching experience in NC schools starting in 1996. I write to you today as part of a letter writing campaign (Campaign for Our Public Schools ) to urge you all to reconsider the direction that the current presidential administration and Congress seem to be continuing along regarding education.

Four years ago, when President Obama was elected, I was overjoyed for I was certain that we would now see the end of the disastrous NCLB-mandated focus on standardized tests as a way to hold schools accountable. I have always believed that such tests are of low-quality (in that they frequently lack reliability and validity, have cultural and class biases within them, and are, essentially, the lazy/cheapskate approach to finding out what 

Modern School: Doctor Visits Drop 20%—Life Expectancy for the Poor Drops 5%

Modern School: Doctor Visits Drop 20%—Life Expectancy for the Poor Drops 5%:

Doctor Visits Drop 20%—Life Expectancy for the Poor Drops 5%

by Michael Dunn

Image from Flickr, by Metro Centric

Pretty much everyone I talk to at work or in my neighborhood has been raving about how wonderful Obamacare is going to be. Granted, most of these people are liberals (I do live in San Francisco, after all). And they are correct that Obamacare will offer some advantages over the status quo, particularly for women’s reproductive health, as I described in a recent post. It will also no doubt provide coverage for many who currently lack it.

Overall, however, it is primarily just a huge giveaway to the big insurance companies. By 

Fisher v Texas, The Oral Argument « Student Activism

Fisher v Texas, The Oral Argument « Student Activism:

Fisher v Texas, The Oral Argument

by Angus Johnston

The typical Supreme Court oral argument lasts an hour, with the lawyer for the petitioner (whoever brought the suit) taking the first thirty minutes, and the lawyer for the respondent (the other party) taking the second. Each attorney stands at a podium when it’s his or her turn, and gives a presentation on their case to the nine justices. Or tries to.
That half hour isn’t just their time for making arguments, it’s also the justices’ time for questioning, and they can — and do — interrupt at any moment, for any reason. As an attorney arguing in front of the Supremes, you’re trying your best to get through the material you want to get through while also responding to any idea that pops into any justice’s mind. It’s a bit like batting in the World Series, but with every player on the opposite team hurling balls at your head.
It’s kind of awesome.
I’ve attended SCOTUS oral arguments only once, for a zero-profile case that a friend of a friend was arguing. (I 

Teachers United, and Apart, in Washington State - State EdWatch - Education Week

Teachers United, and Apart, in Washington State - State EdWatch - Education Week:

Teachers United, and Apart, in Washington State

by Andrew Ujifusa

When I visited the offices of the Kent Education Association south of Seattle, where teachers were manning a phone bank to support Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee, there was a white board on one of the walls with a schedule of campaign events for the next few days. But there was also something more lively: a collection of their favorite quotations from Washington residents in response to the teachers' political pitches. Which one stood out the most? "My husband tells me how to vote."
During the visit, one teacher I overheard on the phone said she hoped the woman on the other end would reconsider, and then hung up. I asked her if she has been speaking with a supporter of state Attorney General Rob McKenna, the Republican gubernatorial candidate. No, she had not. The response she got was: "I'm not happy with the system. It's always two white men." That remark promptly went up on the white board.
Responding to the teachers' talking points on why Inslee would be best for schools, one resident had asked a 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-15-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

A Model Letter for October 17

by dianerav

The deadline to send emails to the President to support the Campaign for Our Public Schools is October 17. Here are instructions about where to send them.
Send them either to this blog or to Anthony Cody at Anthony_Cody@hotmail.com.
Below is a model letter for teachers. It can be revised to make it appropriate for parents or anyone else.
Write your own letter, in your own words.

The Latest Charter Scam

by dianerav

An earlier post described how Chinese investors can get green cards by funding charter schools. The article linked there said that wealthy Chinese had poured $30 million into charters in Florida.
A reader comments:
A Chinese investor gets a green card for investing $1 million in a project that will “create” ten jobs. The publicly funded charter fraud industry, however, doesn’t create new jobs. It converts well paying public sector jobs, with reasonable benefits, into low paying jobs without benefits. Let’s follow the money through this profit-generating 

Who Needs Public Libraries?

by dianerav

What a quaint idea Andrew Carnegie had when he subsidized 2,500 free public libraries a century ago. He wanted knowledge to be free to the public.
Today, our reformers don’t believe in subsidizing anything other than for those at the very bottom (but not much). If you want a book, buy it. If you aren’t willing to pay for it, they assume, you don’t really need it. They have all the books they want, so why do we need public libraries?
A reader, David Eckstrom, writes about the library in his community:
I am on the board of trustees for my local public library. Our usage continues to grow every year at about 10%, but our funding (which comes from the county) has been flat for at least the 3 years I have been on the board.

Why Schools Fail

by dianerav

A retired principal, Pat Buoncristiani, writes to describe what she learned in many years of experience..
She writes:
When I was the principal of a struggling Title 1 school I grappled for the reasons behind my children’s difficulties. Others would make suggestions – it’s because their parents don’t care, it’s something about their race, it’s because they have bad role models and so on. It seemed apparent to me that the underlying cause of 

A Great Letter from a Teacher to President Obama

by dianerav

This teacher wrote a great letter. Please write your own, to help the President see what he needs to change:
Dear President Obama, I am a teacher, and I’m concerned about what’s happening in American education today. I’m not sure what I can say that will help you listen to me, but please do. Does it help that we share the same birthday? Does it help that I’m a supporter? Does it help that I qualify for Mensa? Does it help that I’ve been teaching Japanese for 21 years in public high school? Does it help that I am for the most part not directly affected by the majority of the testing craze that has engulfed us? Do you not understand that the testing madness that started with NCLB has now morphed into a full-fledged attack on public education? Now the fight 

New Jersey Civil Rights Groups Appeal to Secretary Duncan

by dianerav

Some 45 organizations in New Jersey, from parent groups to civil rights groups have appealed to Secretary Duncan to halt the damage that will be imposed on poor children and children of color as a result of the NCLB waiver to the state.
Because of the waiver, state officials will inflict even more high-stakes testing on the neediest children and their schools will be targeted not for help but for privatization.
The statement says:
To replace the NCLB framework, the State has adopted a new classification system that will reinforce racial and economic segregation and inequity in New Jersey’s public schools. The classification system uses state 

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Endorses Glenda Ritz!

by dianerav

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette published a powerful editorial endorsing educator Glenda Ritz for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana.
Tony Bennett, the current superintendent, is a foe of public education. He removed the word “public” from his title. He has done whatever he could to promote privatization of the state’s public schools. He opened the state to for-profit corporations to make money while supplying mediocre education.
Bennett is a willing hand-maiden of ALEC and the far-right. He is a member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change.

Daniel Willingham Explains Why Merit Pay and VAM Are Unfair

by dianerav

Daniel Willingham is a very smart and sensible psychologist at the University of Virginia. He has a talent for explaining complex issues in simple language.
In this video, he gives six reasons why value added assessment and merit pay are unfair–all in three minutes.

The Movie Nobody Wants to See

by dianerav

That anti-union, anti-public education movie is a historic flop.
Will Hollywood get the message?
Or will the billionaires keep saying that they “won’t back down” no matter how small the audience. A $19 million movie is chump change for them.

El Paso Cheating Scandal: Who Is Next?

by dianerav

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/education/el-paso-rattled-by-scandal-of-disappeared-students.html?hpw
THIS is what Bush/Spellings/Obama/Duncan/Bloomberg/Klein hath wrought. Hardly a surprise, and it’s most likely going on all over the country, including NYC. Just a question of scale and who gets caught. In El Paso’s case, the lack of action by the Texas Education Agency — which actually cleared Superintendent Garcia for lack of evidence (!!!) — was little short of child abuse.
This type of fraud and educational neglect is never going to stop until NCLB, RTTP, and their ilk are abandoned 

UPDATE: Daily Kos: my totally useless sense of what will happen in the election

Daily Kos: my totally useless sense of what will happen in the election:

my totally useless sense of what will happen in the election

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Let's start with the presidential.   I am not yet ready to lock down percentages or electoral votes, but I have not swayed from this -  Obama will win by at least 4% in the popular vote and at least 303 electoral votes.
On EV calculation -  the states he won last time now have 359 EV, from which I subtract IN and 2nd CD of NE for a starting baseline of 347.
He will at worst lose FL and NC, which is how I get to 303.
I will return below the fold to my reasoning on this and the other items.
The Dems hold the Senate.  Of the seats they currently hold they will lose NE unless Obama gets up to +9 in the popular vote which is unlikely.  They may lose MT.  They will hold all other current seats giving them 51.

Paul Krugman: Death by Ideology

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

begins like this:

Mitt Romney doesn’t see dead people. But that’s only because he doesn’t want to see them; if he did, he’d have to acknowledge the ugly reality of what will happen if he and Paul Ryan get their way on health care.

Krugman's Monday column uses Romney's words against him, quoting first the statement to the Columbus Dispatch that no one dies because of being uninsured and then referring to Romney's previous statement about people being able to get their essential health care in hospital emergency rooms.  He then says bluntly

These are remarkable statements. They clearly demonstrate that Mr. Romney has no idea what life (and death) are like for those less fortunate than himself.

There is so much more in this column . . .

Obama running an effective ad on Medicaid

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

that's right, Medicaid, not Medicare
framed in terms of how it used by middle class families for nursing care home
hitting Romney on his record in MA and his plans were he to become President
it ran at least twice during the Redskins game here in DC
and remember these percentages of older voters according to the 2010 census:
1. Florida - 17.3%
2. West Virginia - 16.0%
3. Maine - 15.9%
4. Pennsylvania - 15.4%
5. Iowa - 14.9%
6. Montana - 14.8%
7. Vermont - 14.6%
8. North Dakota - 14.5%
Of these, while Obama will not win ND, running this ad could help Heidi in her Senate race and similarly in MT with Tester.  Obama will NOT win WV.  But this could lock down FL and IA, and would probably also help in OH as well.
Here's the ad:
Popout
One more thought -  it is not just seniors to whom this ad will play.  It is to those with elderly parents who worry about them, and it is to those who are approaching their senior years without a defined benefit pension who wonder how they will survive.

Phila Inquirer endorsement - Obama will do a better job

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in this editorial from yesterday the paper of record for the Philadelphia area, including South Jersey and Delaware, lays out its rationale for again supporting Obama for the presidency over a Republican opponent.
Several snips from the editorial, which I urge you to read, are worth noting.
Here's the beginning:

Like a carnival barker cajoling a mark into spending the last bills in his wallet, the Republican Party is counting on Americans' not remembering that they've seen this trick before.GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wants voters to forget their familiarity with the prize he's 

Peatsy

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Rita Hollings, commonly known as Peatsy, passed last night.  She had suffered from Alzheimer's for a number of years.  She was of course the (2nd) wife of former Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of SC.
She was a character, as this story from The State back in 2004 reminded people:

Those who appreciate U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings' quick wit ought to meet his wife.
There was that time in 1984, for example, when the senator was running for president and Peatsy Hollings, campaigning with him in New Hampshire, was awakened in the wee hours for the umpteenth time by an overly eager aide.She picked up the phone.
"May I speak with Senator Hollings?" the aide asked.
Mrs. Hollings paused a second, looked at her husband, and decided to have a little fun.