Districts must return to 180-day instructional year by 2015-16 | EdSource Today

Districts must return to 180-day instructional year by 2015-16 | EdSource Today:

Districts must return to 180-day instructional year by 2015-16

February 7th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

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Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature agree: The state should again require a minimum 180-day school year, starting in 2015-16.

Brown confirmed his view in a section of  the 154-page education “trailer bill,” the supplemental legislation accompanying the state budget, that the administration released last week.

The Legislature reduced the minimum number of instructional days to 175 in 2008, amid severe cuts in school funding, in order to allow school districts to shut down operations and use staff furloughs instead of additional layoffs. Lawmakers set an expiration date at the end of the 2014-15 school year. Brown is recommending the same timetable.

The LAO survey found that 20 percent of districts had cut one to four days off the school year and 20 percent of districts had eliminated five days, lowering the instructional calendar to 175 days, in 2010-11. Some districts have maintained the shorter year since then. (Click to enlarge)

Districts took up the offer. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which did a survey of districts, 39 percent of districts reduced the school year by 2010-11, with a fifth of districts dropping one to four days and a fifth of districts reducing the maximum five days. Most districts kept the shorter year in 2011-12, too.

A survey by EdSource of the state’s 30 largest 

Districts pocketing school lunch money for other expenses - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

A report commissioned by the state Senate has exposed a little-noticed problem that investigators suspect could be a prevalent scam: school districts improperly siphoning school meals revenue to cover other expenses. According to the report by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, some districts have cut corners on the federally subsidized school lunch and breakfast programs ­–...

Modern School: Corruption at CTC Placed Kids at Risk, Denied Teachers Credentials

Modern School: Corruption at CTC Placed Kids at Risk, Denied Teachers Credentials:

Corruption at CTC Placed Kids at Risk, Denied Teachers Credentials

by Michael Dunn

A recent lawsuit against the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), filed in November by former government lawyer and CTC whistleblower Kathleen Carroll, alleges that CTC lawyers and administrators engaged in numerous illegal acts that prevented qualified teachers from obtaining or maintaining their credentials. The charges against the attorneys include tampering with case outcomes, acting outside their legal jurisdictions, nepotism, cronyism, and conflict of interest.

According to Steve Zeltzer, writing for Daily Censored, the suit’s allegations imply that the CTC may have been used as a tool for preventing qualified teachers from receiving their credentials so they would be unable to get hired at traditional district schools and be forced to seek jobs at 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: CPS privatizes its training of principals as test pushers

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: CPS privatizes its training of principals as test pushers:

CPS privatizes its training of principals as test pushers

by Mike Klonsky

Yesterday, as local parent groups at 37 schools, gathered signatures on petitions calling for more limited assessment tests, CPS announced that new principals are going to trained by private companies, basically as test pushers.

The board has handed out lucrative contracts to politically-connected New Leaders for New Schools and Teach 

Shanker Blog » A New Twist On The Skills "Blame Game"

Shanker Blog » A New Twist On The Skills "Blame Game":

A New Twist On The Skills “Blame Game”

by Randall Garton

It is conventional wisdom that the United States is suffering from a severe skills shortage, for which low-performing public schools and inadequate teachers must shoulder part of the blame (see here and here, for example).  Employers complain that they cannot fill open slots because there are no Americans skilled enough to fill them, while pundits and policymakers – President Barack Obama and Bill Gates, among them – respond by pushing for unproven school reform proposals, in a desperate effort to rebuild American economic competitiveness.
But, what if these assumptions are all wrong?
What if the deficiencies of our educational system have little to do with our current competitiveness woes? A 

UPDATE: We should all be forced to look at Daily Kos: Hip-Hop Speaks to the Guns

Daily Kos: Hip-Hop Speaks to the Guns:

We should all be forced to look at

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

things like the smashed and brutalized body of Noah Pozner.
Newspapers and the media should have shown it
too many are detached from the reality of what guns do
they watch movies, tv shows, video games
it desensitizes
it is not real
I think back to when electeds on the Hill came out of seeing the Abu Ghraib photos sick to their stomachs
we should all have seen them, all of them
as Abu Ghraib was an almost inevitable byproduct of our idiotic decisions about Iraq, the violence of 12/14 in Newtown is an almost inevitable product of our idiotic policies on guns
if the NRA and gun advocates want to continue their blather, let us respond with the results

Hip-Hop Speaks to the Guns

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

is the title of this New York Times op ed by Ta- Nehisi Coates.  Coates focuses on an album by hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, "Good Kid," of which he says

it perhaps has the most to offer to those shocked into action by the senseless massacres we’ve endured over the past few years.

>  Before exploring the contents of the album he continues by writing:

This particular moment has shined a light on a gun lobby that argues for maximum firepower and minimum responsibility. If history is any judge the moment will pass, and most of us will find ourselves again lost in our daily and particular business. When that time comes, there will be others of us who live in places where senseless shootings remain a corrosive constant.

If you are going to read the op ed, you do not need to continue below the cheese-doodle to my additional words, including the final two paragraphs of the op ed.  If I have not yet convinced you, please keep reading.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

What Happens When TFA Takes Over Vegas and Nevada

by dianerav

EduShyster tells a fascinating story about Nevada’s love affair with TFA.
It is humorous but not funny.
Nevada has large numbers of non-English speaking students but does not want to pay what t csts to help them learn.
Nevada has the lowest graduation rate in the nation, worse even than Michele Rhee’s D.C. Schools.
Las Vegas has some of the most overcrowded classrooms in the nation–as many as 50 in some classes.
Two TFA alumnae have been elected to the Nevada state board of education.

Milwaukee: Charter Schools No Better than Public Schools

by dianerav

The Forward Institute sent me their latest study of charter school performance compared to public schools in Milwaukee. Here is the takeaway: There is no significant difference between the performance of public schools and charter schools. However, public schools in Milwaukee are more successful with the poorest students than are charter schools. None of this matters to Governor Scott Walker and the Republican-dominated legislature, which is intent of privatizing more schools, regardless of evidence.

Here is a link and a synopsis:

A Compleat Guide to the Corporate Reform Movement

by dianerav

Leonie Haimson, who leads Class Size Matters in New York City and was a co-founder of Parents Across America, has worked with other parents and with educators to compile a comprehensive list of corporate reform organizations and to identify the lingo of the reformers. She asks your help in reviewing the list and letting her know about errors and omissions.
Review the list of organizations and definitions. You can let her know your thoughts at the email she provides or in your comments here.
;
;
Many parents, teachers and concerned citizens are confused by the superabundance of well-funded advocacy 

Diane in the Evening 2-6-13Diane Ravitch's blog

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-6-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Charter Schools and the New Segregation by dianerav A reader offers his observations: Charter Schools, a failure that cannot be measured. January 12, 2013 by Joe Hernandez As I drive happily and optimistically through our South Florida roads, I can’t fail to notice the familiar signs we are all accustomed to viewing, the burger chains, gas stations and the strip malls. As an educator and more specifically, a school psychologist, something catches my eye in a decrepit, run down strip mall, a charter school. ... more »

Truths About Education That Parents Need to Know | toteachornototeach

Truths About Education That Parents Need to Know | toteachornototeach:

Truths About Education That Parents Need to Know

by aristotlethewise

Truths About Education That Parents Need to Know 

by Dr. Rhonda Joy Edwards Vansant
A six-year-old girl is excited about going to her neighborhood school. She was home schooled in kindergarten and now has her new backpack and lunchbox ready for first grade. She can’t wait to make new friends, share her love of art, and write stories. After the first day, her only news for her parents is that the teacher gave her handfuls of candy for being good and that she can get candy every day if she obeys. Her excitement slowly disappears and is replaced with anxiety and stomach aches. When she speaks of school, she relates how certain students always have their names on the “red light” because they are bad, how no one at her lunch table could talk that day because one person was too loud. She says she is writing a story, but the teacher tells everyone how they must write and what they must write about. Her parents rarely see a feeling of gladness about 

Why Is Obama’s Agriculture Department blocking school integration?:

Why Is Obama’s Agriculture Department blocking school integration?

Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 7, 2013 at 5:00 am

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The previous post looked school desegregation history, and this one looks at current events. It was written by Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research organization, writes about education, equal opportunity and civil rights. This appeared on thefoundation’s blog.

By Richard Kahlenberg

This week, Iowa City, Iowa joined a growing number of school districts in trying to promote student academic achievement by giving all pupils a chance to attend good, economically diverse schools. The policy is a big step forward, as it is backed by a half-century of research suggesting that students do much better when they attend schools with a mix of middle-class and low-income students as opposed to schools with high concentrations of poverty.

But the good news was tempered by a potential legal cloud imposed by the Obama 

Why some black families led the charge against school desegregation

by Valerie Strauss

In 2007, a court case filed in Louisville, Ky., was argued before the Supreme Court. The decision changed how American schools handle race and undermined the most important civil rights cases of the last century. In “Divided We Fail: The … Continue reading →

N.C. governor attacks higher ed, proposes funding colleges by graduates’ jobs

by Valerie Strauss

There’s a new voice in the continued and rather tired trashing of higher education and the liberal arts by conservatives: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. Just a few weeks after he took office, more than 12,000 people have already signed … Continue reading →

Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento city district's worst practices on school closures - Bites - Opinions - February 7, 2013

Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento city district's worst practices on school closures - Bites - Opinions - February 7, 2013:

Sacramento city district's worst practices on school closures
Sacramento News & Review

By Cosmo Garvin 
cosmog@newsreview.com

This article was published on 02.07.13.

Related stories: Downsizing the district Sacramento neighborhood schools to be shuttered, and the superintendent's “priority schools” will be spared. SN&R, 01.24.13. Superintendent man and the meddling mayor Michell Rhee and Mayor Kevin Johnson screw with other people's school systems, and Superintendent Jonathan Raymond sets The New York Times straight on Race to the Top. SN&R, 11.08.12. High-school shuffle Is it time for a new high school in East Sac? And what about Sac High? SN&R, 06.02.11.

The more you peel back the layers of the Sacramento City Unified School District’s brutal “rightsizing” plan, the weirder it gets.
The administration wants to shutter 11 elementary schools—one out of every five run by the district. It’s a drastic solution, suited for a drastic problem. Unfortunately, it’s not clear what problem the school board and SuperintendentJonathan Raymond are trying to solve.
Is it the district’s short-term budget deficit? We won’t know the size of the shortfall until the state budget becomes clearer, but we do know school closures—estimated to save only $2.5 million a year—likely won’t close the gap. Where will the rest of the money come from? What alternative cost-saving measures have been considered, and then rejected, before escalating to the nuclear option of closing schools?
Or is the district trying to solve a long-term problem of declining enrollment and structural deficit? That’s not a new problem. Why ram the solution down the public’s throat at the last minute? (District officials are allowing just five weeks between announcing the closures and the final vote by the district board of trustees, scheduled on Thursday, February 21.)
Maybe some school closures make sense. The California Department of Education suggests a number of “best practices” to help the public decide. It starts with formation of something called a District Advisory Committee “before decisions are made about school closure.”
The CDE says: “Gathering the facts must be as credible, transparent and non-political as possible. So, at the very least, the DAC … 

A look at the MAP test and Value Added Measures (VAM) « Seattle Education

A look at the MAP test and Value Added Measures (VAM) « Seattle Education:

A look at the MAP test and Value Added Measures (VAM)

by seattleducation2011

Students and teachers at Ballard High School in Seattle

Beginning this fall, teachers who have been on this system for two school years prior to 2012-2013, and who teach tested subjects and grades, will receive a student growth rating based upon two assessments and a two year rolling average of student assessment data.”

- José Banda, Superintendent Seattle Public Schools

There has been a push underway to judge a teacher’s performance, or that of a principal, a school, a district or a superintendent based on student test scores.

Someone had the idea to determine how well a teacher or a school was faring based on how a student was doing on a standardized test over a certain period of time. That length of time has been decided upon from what I’ve seen in a rather haphazard manner from 

Are Teachers Interested in the Opportunity To Call the Shots? (Kim Farris-Berg) Part 2 | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Are Teachers Interested in the Opportunity To Call the Shots? (Kim Farris-Berg) Part 2 | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Are Teachers Interested in the Opportunity To Call the Shots? (Kim Farris-Berg) Part 2

by larrycuban

Farris-Berg is lead author of Trusting Teachers with School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots. She is a Senior Associate with Education Evolving, a policy design shop based in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an independent education policy strategist. Her Twitter handle is @farrisberg.
If we made it loud and clear, in both policy and practice, that teachers can have autonomy to collectively make the decisions influencing whole school success, would any teachers take advantage?
Collective teacher autonomy isn’t for everyone. It is a working arrangement that some teachers long for, but others never imagine for themselves. Teachers who are now calling the shots in more than 50 district and chartered schools around the country describe themselves as pioneers both in the professionalization of 

“Reckless” Bill Creates Charter School Land Grab | Scathing Purple Musings

“Reckless” Bill Creates Charter School Land Grab | Scathing Purple Musings:

“Reckless” Bill Creates Charter School Land Grab

by Bob Sikes

From Palm Beach Post reporter John Kennedy:

An effort backed by Gov. Rick Scott to expand charter school education in Florida cleared a state House committee Wednesday on a strict, party-line vote.
The legislation offers a host of incentives to the lucrative charter school industry – a move defended by Republicans on the House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee, which called charters an important alternative for parents and students unhappy with traditional public schools.
Democrats and school district officials urged lawmakers to recast the legislation – with Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin saying the sweeteners went way too far.

UPDATE: Joy Resmovits: Duncan Defends No Child Left Behind Waivers + No Child Left Behind Review, Fountainhead In Idaho: Ed Today + No Child Left Behind Hearing Features Waiver Attack By Obama Ally

No Child Left Behind Hearing Features Waiver Attack By Obama Ally:

Arne Duncan Defends No Child Left Behind Waivers In Senate Committee Hearing

by Joy Resmovits

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan faced an angsty Senate education committee Thursday as he was forced to defend his administration's workaround of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) held an oversight hearing on the administration's waiver plan, which give states the choice of opting out of No Child Left Behind's strictures in exchange for adopting components of the Obama education agenda. So far, the Education Department has approved the waiver plans for more than 30 states and Washington, D.C.

The No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2002 by George W. Bush, expired in 2007. However, since the law hasn't been revised, schools are still subject to its regulations -- which require ideals like 100 percent proficiency 

No Child Left Behind Review, Fountainhead In Idaho: Ed Today

by Joy Resmovits

Happy Waiver Day! Today, the Senate's Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the No Child Left Behind waivers, featuring none other than U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the big cheese himself. Catch our preview here.

Mandatory Reading? In Idaho, a lawmaker has proposed a bill that requires all students to read Tea Party favorite Atlas Shrugged before they can graduate.

Kind Cops? In the wake of the horrific Newtown, Conn. school shooting, cops in Castle Rock, Colorado are changing up their routines, according to the Associated Press. The police there are doing their paperwork in school parking lots, rather than in their offices. "The kids get to see us in a new light. We're not showing up after something bad has happened," said Sgt. Chris O'Neal of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department south of Denver.

Teachers Favorites? According to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley's proposed budget, no public workers should get raises -- except for educators, reports the Associated Press. His budget would also expand the state's pre-

No Child Left Behind Hearing Features Waiver Attack By Obama Ally

by Joy Resmovits

The Obama administration has been under fire for watering down the No Child Left Behind Act by granting waivers that exempt states from its stringent test-based annual goals. Now, the critique is coming from close quarters.

Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust -- an influential lobbying and advocacy group that has long backed President Barack Obama -- is coming out against the direction of the waivers, saying some allow states to shortchange underprivileged students, according to the text of remarks she was to make at a congressional hearing on Thursday.

Academic "progress may be reported -- somewhere -- but it doesn’t count as a core part of the accountability system," Haycock will tell a Senate hearing. "This means that, in a state like New Mexico, a school can get an