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Monday, July 22, 2013

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Education This Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Education This Week:

Seattle Education This Week



I was mistaken when I previously said there were no district meetings until August.

Wednesday
Audit and Finance Committee meeting of the Whole from 4-5 pm.  The only agenda item is to debate any last issues on the budget for 2013-2014 and presumably move it forward to the Board meeting.

Public Hearing on the 2013-2014 Budget
Your opportunity to weigh in on any topic in the budget.  If you have a real concern, it really is important to get it on the record.  You may sign in to speak starting a half-hour before the hearing. 

Special Meeting of the Board from 5:15-6:00 pm
Just one action item - voting on the new budget.  They will be taking public testimony so there are speaking opportunities for any topic.  

The City Council will be debating and voting this week on whether to create a separate fund for the money from the school speed zone tickets. 

So if these are about safety around schools and the City wants to help the district, here's a couple of things:

- fund crossing guards. The City used to do this and then cut it. The district funds 
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FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, July 22, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy ordered to submit a succession plan





Education Headlines

Monday, July 22, 2013

New 'Common Core' standards aim to help students think critically

Steven Oberlander asks his 35 fifth-graders to compute 20 percent of 80 and the students immediately begin tapping their answers into the wireless keyboards on their desks.

County superintendent's pact detailed

County Superintendent Randy Ward received a $25,000 contribution to his retirement package and eight additional days of vacation when his contract was extended two years by the county Board of Education last month.

San Diego educator is new superintendent

Alvord Unified School District has hired a new superintendent. Sid Salazar, assistant superintendent for Quality Neighborhood Schools in San Diego Unified School District, will start work July 29.

Palmdale school board approves furloughs, pay cuts for teachers, staff

At a time that schools statewide are starting to restore cuts made during the five-year recession, the Palmdale School District board has authorized unpaid furloughs, salary reductions and a cap on employee health benefits to deal with a budget crunch.

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy ordered to submit a succession plan

Los Angeles Unified board member Bennett Kayser, part of a majority that has been increasingly critical of Superintendent John Deasy, sent a letter Friday to the schools chief demanding a plan spelling out who is in charge when he's gone.

iPads on the way for education overhaul

School districts are going on computer buying sprees as they ramp up for the introduction of the Common Core curriculum in fall 2014 and the state's new online tests in 2015.

School districts moving quickly to meet national education standards

A year from now, school districts in California, 44 other states and Washington, D.C., will be preparing to launch the Common Core standards, a new set of English and math benchmarks designed to better prepare students for college and careers. With the deadline looming, education leaders across Southern California are scrambling to train teachers, create lessons and buy computers in time for the online assessments slated to begin in 2014-15.

Alternative education for troubled California students raises questions

Across America, alternative schools have become the proverbial safety net for troubled students when all else fails. Some education experts, however, say it's become too easy for educators to dump kids there who might benefit more from more nurturing and tutoring at home schools.

Vargo: Let districts choose from an effective marketplace of Common Core providers

After a long period of hesitation, California has finally gotten serious about the Common Core State Standards. The $1.25 billion recently allocated for implementation of the new standards has sent a clear message to district leaders that California is committed to the Common Core. This funding is a start, but providing the tools districts will need in the time available will be a major challenge for state leaders.

Fensterwald: Districts leave Washington without waiver but still confident one is coming

Representatives of nine California districts did not head home from Washington on Friday, after two and a half days of intense discussions with federal officials, with the waiver from the No Child Left Behind law that they had been hoping for.

Free lunches for youth in San Jose and elsewhere go uneaten

While child advocates worry about poor children going hungry in the summer, free lunch programs have meals going uneaten. By law, they are required to offer meals to the community and serve any youth who shows up. But not many kids do.
Friday, July 19, 2013

Oxnard School District moves closer on Seabridge school

The Oxnard School District board Wednesday approved a draft agreement with the city of Oxnard on a joint-use park next to an elementary school planned for 2021.

Evaluation: School board struggles with teamwork, respect

The Desert Sands Unified school board believes it works well — just not together. As a whole, the school board members are appropriately focused on student achievement and district progress, but individual members struggle to work as a team and show each other respect. This is the most interesting of the findings from the school board’s first self evaluation, which was discussed during a board meeting earlier this week.

School district may reconsider reimbursement vote

Public outcry regarding a Sweetwater school board decision not to reimburse a member of the bond oversight committee for travel has the school board president considering a do-over.
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7-22-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:






Dionne: After Trayvon, leading with love
“In the jewelry store, they lock the case when I walk in,” the young African American man wrote. “In the shoe store, they help the white man who walks in after me. In the shopping mall they follow me. . . . Black male: Guilty until proven innocent.” “I have lost control of my emotions,” he declared. “Rage, Frustration, Anguish, Despondency, Fatigue, Bitterness, Animosity, Exasperation, Sadness. Em
by rss@dailykos.com ... / 17min


YESTERDAY
Boys With Tender Hearts and Big Dreams in Their Hoodies
is the title of this powerful post at Reader Supported News by Eve Ensler. It is written in the form of an open letter to Trayvon Martin.  She begins by explaining that   It is unusual for me to write about boys or men unless I am calling them to end the violence against women and girls or asking them to join us in standing up for women's rights.   She acknowledges that is a failure on her part.  
by rss@dailykos.com ... / 22h 
Krugman: The Great Pension Scare
As a teacher I am a public employee. I am already drawing a public pension as a result of retiring in 2012.  When I go back into the classroom next month, even though I am teaching in a jurisdiction covered by the same pension plan, I am no longer required to contribute (but as a result I also receive less pay).  Given what Michigan is trying to do with pensions in Detroit, I pay close attention t
by rss@dailykos.com ... / 1d 

7-21-13 teacherken at Daily Kos
teacherken at Daily Kos: Krugman: The Great Pension ScareAs a teacher I am a public employee. I am already drawing a public pension as a result of retiring in 2012.  When I go back into the classroom next month, even though I am teaching in a jurisdiction covered by the same pension plan, I am no longer required to contribute (but as a result I also receive less pay).  Given what Michigan is tryin
by mike simpson / 41min 

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Decision to pad school grades shows Bush-Scott split | Tampa Bay Times

Decision to pad school grades shows Bush-Scott split | Tampa Bay Times:

Decision to pad school grades shows Bush-Scott split

Sunday, July 21, 2013 8:05pm
TALLAHASSEE — The state Board of Education's decision last week to inflate school grades for a second year was widely praised by parents and educators, but it also exposed a hard-to-miss rift between the closest allies of former Gov. Jeb Bush and those who back Gov. Rick Scott.
The 4-3 decision to reduce the number of F schools in the state by nearly 60 percent was divided along Bush-Scott lines, with Bush allies against.
None of the seven board members nor Education Commissioner Tony Bennett would speak with theTimes/Herald about Tuesday's vote.

RELATED NEWS/ARCHIVE

Their silence, however, has fueled speculation about the motives on each side. Scott allies have been accused of padding grades to help Scott's re-election prospects.
Bush's closest allies — including former chiefs of staff Kathleen Shanahan and Sally Bradshaw, and John Padget, whom Bush 
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Teachers Don't Work Hard Enough? Think Again! [INFOGRAPHIC]

Teachers Don't Work Hard Enough? Think Again! [INFOGRAPHIC]:

Teachers Don't Work Hard Enough? Think Again! [INFOGRAPHIC]
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Mother Crusader: Another Christie Crony Gets A Charter (And !SURPRISE! It's Managed By a Guy At The Center Of The BIGGEST Charter Failure In US History!)

Mother Crusader: Another Christie Crony Gets A Charter (And !SURPRISE! It's Managed By a Guy At The Center Of The BIGGEST Charter Failure In US History!):

Another Christie Crony Gets A Charter (And !SURPRISE! It's Managed By a Guy At The Center Of The BIGGEST Charter Failure In US History!)

The announcement of the six charters receiving final approval to open in September was four days off schedule.  The press release is full of platitudes about how well vetted these schools were, and how confident Commissioner Cerf is that these schools will be stellar.
"We must hold a high bar for any school that serves New Jersey students, and we are confident that these schools have the academic and operational components in place to provide a high-quality choice on day one," said Commissioner Cerf.
It's going to take me a while to demonstrate how the approval of Jersey City Global Charter School (JCGCS) proves, without a shadow of doubt, that these words are absolutely meaningless.  I hope you'll stay with me until the end, cause it's a hell of a story.

And it starts in St. Louis, MO.  


Imagine Schools Closure In St. Louis Largest In US History


At the end of the 2011-2012 school year six Imagine Schools charters were shuttered in St. Louis. Those six schools enrolled 3,800 students, approximately 11% of the city's school children.
In fact, the decision this week by Missouri's Board of 
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7-22-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:










Newark's NEW Caucus on Chicago Layoffs
Some of them were union activists, trying to make their public schools and their union better.... NEW CaucusThe Chicago layoff story while hiring Teach For America scabs (Mark Naison: Teach for America-Our Modern Day Pinkertons) is a declaration of nuclear war. RBE did a good job the other day in branding Rahm Emanuel a murderer (Rahm Emanuel's School Closings Put Children's Live). In a fair socie
by ed notes online / 8min mark as read  //  save
Jeff Kaufman Covers Trayvon Martin Protest in Los Angelos
Jeff is spending the month in LA attending the National Academy on Constitutional and Political Theory. He was at the Trayvon Martin rally and send these videos and pics. He said, "The woman with the cut out paper is, of course, a teacher from East LA (middle school math). We met teachers from various schools in LA United included one who had been in the rubber room 3 times."
by ed notes online / 8min 
This Was The Week That Was: Norms Social Notes
It's been a busy week at the ole homestead. So, given my disappearing Mighty Max: 7 weeks oldmemory, I'm doing a day by day chronicle of the last week so I don't do the same things this upcoming week where the only thing on the agenda is going to see Dirty Wars Monday and the MORE summer series: UFT leadership, Friend or Foe on Thurs. (Come on down -- $3 happy hour beers -- I may have a few BEFORE
by ed notes online / 8min 


7-20-13 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Gotham Schools Funders: You Get What You Pay ForYesterday I posted hits from my fellow bloggers to Gotham Schools' increasingly pro ed deform agenda (NYC Teacher Bloggers on the Loose: Slam Gotham Schools Coverage) -- they don't even bother defending themselves against these charges. NYC Educator hit them hard:when an astroturf group like Students First NY holds a rally to announc
by mike simpson / 1d 
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