Wednesday, March 6, 2013

by Melissa Westbrook

Director Patu, President Smith-Blum and I were sharing a laugh last Saturday over the last Board meeting where Vice-President Patu stepped in to lead the meeting because Smith-Blum was out of town. The joke was (and I had noted it here) that looking at the agenda, it would be a short meeting. Apparently it was and it ended at about 6:45 p.m.

The meeting may not run long tonight but the Speakers list is full (and overflowing) because of the issue of the race and social justice class at The Center School. I am on the list to speak.

Let's review.

Back in December 2010, there was an issue over the use of the novel, Brave New World. The parent who raised the issue was not seeking to ban the book but to get clarification about how the book would be used in SPS. In short, she was seeking assurances about teachers using context (who wrote the book, when and the use of satire) and that teachers would consider the background of students in the class and try to be culturally aware.

The Board held that the book could be use but did direct Teaching&Learning to work on professional

What it means for parents to support teachers | Parents Across America

What it means for parents to support teachers | Parents Across America:

What it means for parents to support teachers

by pagrundy

Philadelphia parents are currently engaged in an active struggle against a particularly extreme form of school district “transformation,” which includes many school closings. Their actions have included a March 5 sit-in at the Philadelphia mayor’s office. Here are the thoughts of PAA founding member Helen Gym, originally posted on the website of the Philadelphia parents’ organization “Parents United for Public Education.” Helen notes that: “Last week’s release of the District’s teacher proposal was a clear wake-up call: School closings aren’t an end in themselves. They are the tip of the iceberg in terms of a massive and rapid divesting of public education. Whether you’re in North Philadelphia, Center City or Southwest or a magnet school, this contract more than anything lays out the future beyond school closings and why we’re fighting them.” Let’s all voice our support for the Philadelphia parents’ actions, as well as heeding Helen’s warning.

Like many parents across the city, the preliminary release of some of the terms of the Philadelphia teachers contract made me heartsick. For months I had watched city and district leaders make promises about mass school closings – they were necessary for financial viability, they would concentrate resources in remaining schools, they would put more students in “high performing seats.” Of course, no such promises had ever been delivered upon by over a decade of studies of hundreds of school closings in cities all across the

Big data and schools: Education nirvana or privacy nightmare? | Digital

Big data and schools: Education nirvana or privacy nightmare? | Digital:

Big data and schools: Education nirvana or privacy nightmare?

by Anya Kamenetz

InBloom, a nonprofit startup founded with funding from the Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, is taking center stage and spreading around some significant funds as an official sponsor of the South by Southwest Education conference in Austin, Texas this week. They hosted the official opening night party on Tuesday, are sponsoring a "networking lounge" with free coffee and snacks at the Hilton next to the convention center, and are debuting the first live demonstrations of their technology with representatives from pilot districts and states. It's quite a splash for what is basically a highly technical, behind the scenes infrastructure company. InBloom promises to bring all the potential of "big data" to classrooms in a big way for the first time. Their stated mission: to "inform and involve each student and teacher with data and tools designed to personalize learning." "We want to make personalized learning available to every single kid in the US," says CEO Iwan Streichenberger. "The way you do this is by breaking the barriers--making data much more accessible." But to some educational activists, InBloom represents a danger, not an opportunity. InBloom began as the Shared Learning Collaborative in 2011. It gets a bit technical, but basically, ten districts in nine states agreed to build a shared technology infrastructure. Currently student data, from attendance to standardized test scores, is locked in dozens of different "student information systems" that don't talk to each other. "In one district we work with in

Ethics complaint targets philanthropy in public education; Newark schools a prime example - NorthJersey.com

Ethics complaint targets philanthropy in public education; Newark schools a prime example - NorthJersey.com:

Ethics complaint targets philanthropy in public education; Newark schools a prime example

WEDNESDAY MARCH 6, 2013, 12:26 PM

KATHY MATHESON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PAGES: 1 2 3 > DISPLAY ON ONE PAGE | PRINT | E-MAIL

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — School activists are using unusual tactics to fight a contested proposal to overhaul the nearly bankrupt Philadelphia school district: They've gone to the city ethics board.
Their ethics complaint says the two private groups that helped fund and develop the plan should have registered as lobbyists, which would have compelled public disclosure of donors and meetings with public officials.
And while nothing illegal is alleged, the complaint highlights an issue that has become increasingly relevant as cash-strapped schools nationwide seek money from nonpublic sources to offset budget cuts. Supporters say private money funds badly needed innovations, yet critics say there is not enough transparency.
"Is it fair for a small number of really rich people to take over educational policy-making?" said Kenneth Saltman, an education professor at DePaul University in Chicago. "Who are the lobbyists really working for? Who's funding them?"
Parents United for Public Education, the Philadelphia group that filed the complaint in December, contends that the powerful William Penn Foundation and Boston Consulting

Lee Nave Jr. – Silence is Consent! A Call For People To Open Their Mouths More! Student Voice

Student Voice:

Lee Nave Jr. – Silence is Consent! A Call For People To Open Their Mouths More!

by admin

Silence is consent.

This is a popular term used in the speech and debate world when a person on the opposing team does not argue against one of your points (also known as arguments). The specific point usually has an impact that makes your case stronger than your opponents. When so many points are not argued against you have succeeded that point to the opposition. This pretty much means, you let them dictate to the judge that there point is correct and because you were “silent you gave your opposition your consent. This means you were just owned, pawned, humiliated, defeated, vanquished, thrown out like ten day old thanksgiving turkey.

Now leaving the debate world as well as the over dramatized feeling of defeat, public speaking activism is judged pretty much on the same merits of silence or battling a point. When you see an injustice done and you are silent, you are giving consent for it to continue to occur. Yet people are prone to NOT speak out for many reasons even if silence has a direct negative impact upon their lives. There are many valid reasons for this silence such as lack of knowledge to defend/make a point, your personal health may suffer (you get physically harmed by someone who disagrees with you), or you are arrested. One of the reasons for silence though, should never be because of lack of passion or pacifism. To allow dissonance to exist because of pacifism, is a completely disregard for your welfare and all others affected. Situations in the past, via the civil rights movement and movements in today’s world such as Occupy Wallstreet and the Tea Party movement, have been times Americans have actually used their voices; well some at least.

Voices of Civil Rights

Without the voices of people in the past and some even in the present, change in the world may not have occurred at the rate in which it did.

Are the Poor Too Free? On the Perils of Paternalism - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Are the Poor Too Free? On the Perils of Paternalism - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Are the Poor Too Free? On the Perils of Paternalism

by Anthony Cody

Paul Thomas asks a provocative question this week.
Are the poor too free? Are our schools providing students with tools and skills to foster their independence? Or teaching them to be compliant cogs in a machine whose levers of control they will never touch?
Thomas describes the paternalism that has become central to modern education, as well as efforts to "reform" it even further. He quotes David Whitman, a true believer in this approach:

These paternalistic schools go beyond just teaching values as abstractions: the schools tell students exactly how they are expected to behave, and their behavior is closely monitored, with real rewards for compliance and penalties for noncompliance....Paternalistic programs survive only because they typically enforce values that "clients already believe," Mead notes. But many paternalistic programs remain controversial because they seek to change the lifestyles of the poor, immigrants, and minorities, rather than the lifestyles of middle-class and upper-class families. The paternalistic presumption implicit in the schools is that the poor lack the family and community support, cultural capital, and personal follow-through to live according to the middle-class values

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:

Amethyst Hinton Sainz

March 5, 2013

Feds revise rules on LEAs seeking medical records SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Feds revise rules on LEAs seeking medical records
By Tom Chorneau
Wednesday, March 06, 2013

New federal regulations are set to take effect later this month easing requirements school districts and other public agencies must follow when accessing a child’s or parent’s public benefit or insurance information.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, schools are allowed to access medical insurance information for the purpose of billing for services that might be required under a student’s Individual Education Plan.

But existing rules require public agencies to obtain parental consent each time the benefit information is sought – a process that many districts find overly burdensome and complicated.

According to a memo from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, regulations published in the Federal Register last month and set to take effect on March 18 streamline the process.

The final regulations require public agencies to:

• Obtain a one-time written consent from the parent, after providing the written notification described below, before accessing the child’s or the parent’s public benefits or insurance for the first time. This consent must specify (a) the

Assembly budget panel fears funding outlook for special programs

Worried about the fate of adult, early childhood and career-technical education programs across the state, members of a legislative panel on education finance said Tuesday they will be taking a hard look over the coming weeks at the impact Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed school funding formula could have on those key offerings.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: School closings could do educational harm to thousands of students

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: School closings could do educational harm to thousands of students:

School closings could do educational harm to thousands of students

by Mike Klonsky

Stockton Elementary School on the North Side is one of 129 CPS grade schools still being considered for closing. (Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

Despite the claims by some Chicago education and political leaders that mass school closings will boost student learning outcomes, closing schools usually does little to raise so-called "student achievement" levels and in many cases actually cause great harm.

That's true for three reasons. First, closing thousands of schools, as mandated under Race To The Top, increases mobility rates, causes even greater instability in children's lives, especially in the lives of the poorest

Illegal… as in not legal. The Bridgeport Board of Education’s 5 to 4 illegal vote - Wait, What?

Illegal… as in not legal. The Bridgeport Board of Education’s 5 to 4 illegal vote - Wait, What?:

Illegal… as in not legal. The Bridgeport Board of Education’s 5 to 4 illegal vote

by jonpelto

(Co-written by Jonathan Pelto and Retired Connecticut Judge and public education advocate Carmen Lopez)

“Yes officer, I know I was driving 65 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour school zone and yes I know it is “illegal” to drive that fast, but you don’t understand, that law doesn’t apply to me. I’ll be going now. Have a nice day.”

In July 2011, the loyal Democrats on the Bridgeport Board of Education illegally voted to disband the elected Bridgeport BOE.

At the time, Bridgeport’s City Attorney, Mark Anastasi, told them that their action was legal. He said that the Board had the authority to throw Bridgeport residents out of positions to which they had been elected and replace them with an appointed board,

PHILANTHROPY 2173: Charity, Pornography, and the Press

PHILANTHROPY 2173: Charity, Pornography, and the Press:

Charity, Pornography, and the Press

In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said of pornography, "I know it when I see it” (Jacobellis v. Ohio).

What does that have to do with charity? As it turns out, we have the same definition of charity. We seem to know it when we see it.

I spent the weekend in a scholarly workshop with political theorists, legal scholars, historians, and sociologists who specialize in charity, philanthropy, and civil society. Among many things I learned is that, in fact, charity is undefined in American law and practice.

When the American colonies revolted against King George III, they effectively threw out English law. Once the Revolutionary War ended, each of the colonies (now states) needed to wipe clean the old laws and start anew. Out went the English Statutes of Charitable

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Depressing Suspension Investigation of SPS

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Depressing Suspension Investigation of SPS:

Depressing Suspension Investigation of SPS

by Melissa Westbrook

The Times has a sad story this morning about a federal investigation by the US Department of Education against SPS over discipline rates of African Americans. The Times does point out that this information is really nothing new. The district (and parents) have know about this for years and yet it is still the case.

African-American students are suspended from school more than three times as often as white students from elementary schools to high schools.

More than one-fourth of black middle schoolers have received short-term suspensions every year since 1996. Native Americans are disciplined more often than Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The “compliance review” began in May but didn’t become public knowledge until it was reported Tuesday by KUOW radio.

District Superintendent José Banda acknowledged problems with student discipline — and said he intends to do

This Week In Education: Update: Stalemate In LA -- For Now

This Week In Education: Update: Stalemate In LA -- For Now:

Update: Stalemate In LA -- For Now

by Alexander Russo

How anticlimactic. In a showdown that's fast approaching 2007's $7 million campaign spending record, the teachers union and reform groups each succeeded in protecting one of their key supporters on the LAUSD School Board last night -- but failed to score any decisive victory against the other side.
Board member Steve Zimmer -- one of the main targets of the Coalition for School Reform -- led from the start despite being outspent at every step. The outside attacks on his performance on the Board didn't stick. His challenger was a competent candidate who failed to distinguish herself sufficiently from the reasonable-sounding if indecisive Zimmer (who was endorsed by Mayor Villaraigosa the last time around).
Board President Monica Garcia -- the main target of the teachers union -- jumped out to an early lead over her four challengers despite a scathing LA Times endorsement, and kept it throughout the long process as more votes came in. The union's strategy of endorsing three of her four challengers was intended to force a runoff but may have

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali "CASH" Education Headlines Wednesday, March 6, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Union-backed candidate wins W. Sac school board race

Education Headlines

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Kern HSD approves defibrillators for every campus

The Kern High School District voted Monday to put automated external defibrillators on each of its campuses.

Bear Creek's top two leaving

More than two dozen Bear Creek High School staff members and students filled the Lodi Unified boardroom Tuesday evening, supporting Principal Shirley McNichols and Vice Principal Tim Swartz, who had been asked to resign from their jobs.

Tokay Colony likely to close

Teachers and parents at one of Lodi Unified's smallest schools were told Tuesday night to use the next year to prepare for their campus to close.

Bret Harte High staff urges job savings

Bret Harte High School staff members asked the school’s Board of Trustees on Monday to consider cost-saving measures other than layoffs.

Database: Capital appreciation bonds

Capital appreciation bonds have become an expensive strategy used by school districts and government agencies that want to build now but pay later. This database allows for a search of bond issuers throughout the state.

Desert Sands Unified mulling staff layoffs

The Desert Sands Unified School District board Tuesday night could approve more than two dozen possible layoffs during its meeting, but budget developments that occur between now and June could erase such layoffs.

Twin Rivers school board might remove president

Cortez Quinn may not be the president of the Twin Rivers Unified School District for long. After contentious debate Tuesday night, the school board voted unanimously to put an item on a future agenda to consider removing Quinn as president.

School threats met with swift reaction

Reactions to school threats, however vague, have become increasingly swift by law enforcement and education officials.

Schools add labor post amid freeze

Fresh from the passage of California’s Proposition 30 tax increase to fund schools, the San Diego Unified School District earlier this year added an administrative position that pays $131,000 a year.

Board picks schools chief, again

The San Diego school board emerged from its closed-session meeting tonight and announced it unanimously settled on a new superintendent -- Central Elementary School Principal Cindy Marten. Wait, didn't they do that last week? In a word, yes. San Diego Unified School District officials wouldn't explain the revote after tonight's closed session actions were announced.

School board approves preliminary layoff notices

The Temecula Valley Unified school board agreed to eliminate 38.6 teaching positions and 16 classified, or nonteaching, positions at a meeting Tuesday, March 5.

Record settlement for mentally disabled girl sexually abused on Lodi school bus

Lawyers on behalf of a 10-year-old special needs child sexually assaulted on a school bus by her driver reached a record $4.75 million settlement Tuesday with Lodi Unified School District.

Berkeley looks for a schools superintendent -- again

After two misses -- the first when the school board rejected the finalists, and the second, when the top contender withdrew after blistering public criticism over his perceived homophobia and top-down management style -- the community is looking for a superintendent that's a good fit for the diverse and demanding community.

McRae: State Board poised to lower standards for middle school math

At its meeting next week, the California State Board of Education will consider eliminating the incentive for schools to offer a full Algebra 1 course to students ready to take Algebra by 8th grade. But removing this incentive would result in a de facto lowering of expectations for mathematics programs in middle schools, and lead to a significant reduction in the number of middle school students becoming proficient in Algebra.

County schools chopped by federal budget axe, superintendent says

"I remain hopeful that the tables have turned and we are seeing the beginning of reinvestment in education in California," Thomas said. But, "after years of statewide cuts, families and districts are now faced with (federal sequestration cut) concerns."

Gilroy school district forced into spending freeze to avoid financial crisis

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has imposed a spending and hiring freeze on the Gilroy Unified School District, to avert a deepening a financial crisis and cash-flow crunch.

Fensterwald: Brown’s former adviser - Aim for balance behind shift to local control

Sue Burr has seen and done a lot in 40-plus years of playing key roles in California education. Kathy Baron and I caught up with her in Sacramento and asked her to reflect back on her years in education and to look forward to the challenges ahead for her as a member of the State Board.

Union-backed candidate wins W. Sac school board race

In a closely watched West Sacramento school board race, a union-backed teacher beat out a candidate endorsed by the mayor and bankrolled by groups challenging labor power.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Contra Costa County superintendent frustrated by snub related to charter report

Tensions between the Contra Costa County Office of Education and the Mt. Diablo school district have intensified after the county superintendent was snubbed when a recent report was created for the district.

Facebook threat at El Camino High taken seriously; youth arrested

The swift arrest Sunday of a local teenager who threatened a campus shooting on Facebook underscored how seriously communities take online comments in the wake of violent school incidents.

SD schools in contract talks with new superintendent

A week after San Diego schools chief Bill Kowba announced his retirement, the board of education will meet in closed session Tuesday to enter into contract negotiations with surprise superintendent candidate: Central Elementary School Principal Cindy Marten.

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