Leading Education Associations Propose Comprehensive Approach to Measuring School... | Reuters

Leading Education Associations Propose Comprehensive Approach to Measuring School... Reuters:

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, a partnership of 17 major national education associations released principles for tracking efforts
to turn around the nation's lowest-performing schools. Principles for Measuring the Performance of Turnaround Schools outlines how education agencies and communities can determine whether turnaround efforts are leading to both swift improvement and sustained change in persistently struggling schools."

REGIONAL: Wyland pushes for teacher merit pay, more charter schools

REGIONAL: Wyland pushes for teacher merit pay, more charter schools:

"On Wednesday, Wyland and state Sen. Gloria Romero, who co-authored the bill, held a public meeting in San Diego to talk with educators about the measure. Wyland stressed the bipartisan roots of the bill, which also calls for removing the limit on the number of charter schools in the state and allowing students at low-performing schools to transfer more easily."

Support voiced for state to hold constitutional convention - Inside Bay Area

Support voiced for state to hold constitutional convention - Inside Bay Area:

"Wunderman said as public education, prisons, water infrastructure and other vital state services teeter on the edge of collapse, Sacramento remains 'a system that's virtually in paralysis,' making California 'a national or international laughingstock.'

'It's time for California to take a serious look at itself,' he said."

Texas activists: Chavez, Marshall must be taught - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Texas activists: Chavez, Marshall must be taught - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"AUSTIN, Texas -- Minority activists urged Texas education officials on Thursday to not minimize the importance of civil rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall in public schools.
The State Board of Education heard testimony in a plan to update the social studies requirements for the state's 4.6 million K-12 students. Two members of a board-appointed advisory panel had suggested removing Chavez and Marshall from some grades' curriculum, triggering a strong backlash from civil rights groups, teachers and parents statewide."

Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity.org

Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity.org:

"Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity.org
Thinkfinity.org is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation's literacy, education and technology initiatives. Our goal is to improve student achievement in traditional classroom settings and beyond by providing high-quality content and extensive professional development training.

This free, comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network.
http://thinkfinity.org/about.aspx"

K-12 High Speed Network and Verizon Announce Partnership to Provide Free Online Resources... | Reuters

K-12 High Speed Network and Verizon Announce Partnership to Provide Free Online Resources... Reuters:


"K-12 High Speed Network and Verizon Announce Partnership to Provide Free Online Resources Through Thinkfinity.org to Help California Educators

Verizon Foundation Grant of $125,000 to Fund Professional Development for Teachers and Trainers"

LOS ANGELES and SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 17/PRNewswire/ -- The CaliforniaK-12 High Speed Network (K12HSN), a state-funded education program, and theVerizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, unveiled Thursday (Sept.17) a new initiative that will provide free online resources for Californiateachers, parents and students, through Verizon's Thinkfinity.org.

Fired Inspector General Files Motion to Return to His Job - Political News - FOXNews.com

Fired Inspector General Files Motion to Return to His Job - Political News - FOXNews.com:

"Walpin insists the charge is baseless and believes his firing was the result of bad blood between him and the board over his investigation of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, for alleged misuse of federal funds.

Walpin's office found that Johnson and his academy, St. HOPE, which received $850,000 in AmeriCorps money, had misused the funds and AmeriCorps volunteers for personal purposes, including enlisting their help in political campaigns and washing his car."

Bossmayor.com is really boss

Bossmayor.com is really boss

Have you seen the new bossmayor.com site? It is high quality. In fact it is boasts 100x more content and professionalism than SAG even approached. Heck, even the acronym is better: SAVE= “Support Accountability, Voice, and Ethics in Sacramento.” I have to give props to whomever put this web site together. There is a clear message, a clear mission, and a very logical thought process that is very difficult to refute.

September 17, 2009 Meeting

September 17, 2009 Booard of Education Meeting:


"Agenda Items:
Item 9.1 Budget Update for 2009-10

Item 11.1a Approve Grants, Entitlements and Other Income Agreements, Ratification of Other Agreements, Approval of Bid Awards, Approval of Declared Surplus Materials & Equipment, Change Notices and Notices of Completion

Item 11.1B Business and Financial Report

Item 11.1c Field Trips

Item 11.2a District Personnel Transactions"

http://www.scusd.edu/Departments/BoardofEducation/Meetings/Pages/20090917.aspx

Teacher Beat: NEA to Spend $6 Million for Teachers in High-Needs Schools

Teacher Beat: NEA to Spend $6 Million for Teachers in High-Needs Schools:

"The National Education Association plans to put $6 million over six years into 'comprehensive strategies and policies to increase teacher effectiveness in high-needs schools.' The funds will be focused on four strategies outlined in this paper, authored by Barnett Berry, the president of the Hillsborough, N.C.-based Center for Teaching Quality.

Among Berry's major recommendations, states and districts should focus on comprehensive initiatives to lure teachers to hard-to-staff schools and ensure that they grow in effectiveness while there. In other words, don't just stick performance pay in alone and expect it to work."

Education Week: Expected Turnaround Aid Has Districts Eager, Wary

Education Week: Expected Turnaround Aid Has Districts Eager, Wary:

"Those choices don’t leave school leaders much room to scale up programs that seem to be working at the local level, said Carlos Garcia, the superintendent of the 55,270-student San Francisco district.

“There can’t be a cookie-cutter approach to this,” Mr. Garcia said, particularly since any interventions will need buy-in from school staff members, parents, and the community to be successful and sustainable. “Do they think we’re incapable of creating models for transformation?”

San Francisco has had success in offering principals and teachers in low-performing schools intensive professional development, he noted. He would like to be able to consider continuing that practice with the new resources."

Education Week: No Child Left Behind Act

Education Week: No Child Left Behind Act:

"The “Differentiated Accountability Pilot Program,” launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008, allows nine states to vary the intensity and type of intervention they use with struggling schools under NCLB and focus their resources on those with the greatest needs. The CEP’s study focuses on Georgia, Maryland, New York, and Ohio that took advantage of flexibility under the program to help low-performing schools."

Read Full report here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11442518/States-Use-Increased-Flexibility-Under-No-Child-Left-Behind-Law-To-Try-New-Approaches-to-Helping-Lowest-Performing-Schools

Education Week: Harkin's New Hat Boosts His Sway Over K-12

Education Week: Harkin's New Hat Boosts His Sway Over K-12:

"Now that U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has stepped into the chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, he will have broad authority over both policy and money for education issues in the Senate. That puts him in a powerful position as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act."

Building Successful Parent-Teacher Partnerships

Building Successful Parent-Teacher Partnerships:

"When I hear the phrase “parent-teacher partnerships,” I can’t help but think back on my first year as an educator. Fresh out of graduate school, I was very eager to meet my new students and their families. I had high hopes about the many relationships that would blossom as a result of my new position. I was fortunate enough to land a job in a large urban district in the very same city where I grew up. I knew that I would be teaching in a diverse neighborhood and that some of my students would be coming to me from low-income households. The school was not far from the building where I was raised and was directly across the street from a church I had spent a great deal of time in as a girl. I knew the area very well and wanted so much to become an integral part of my pupil’s lives."

Oakland Parents Together

Oakland Parents Together:

"GRAND OPENING: OAKLAND PARENT/FAMILY CENTER
Saturday, September 26 2009
12 Noon-3 PM
Oakland Parent/Family Center
440 Santa Clara Avenue
Oakland"

Are Blue Ribbon schools really the best? | schools, blue, percent, school, top - News - OCRegister.com

Are Blue Ribbon schools really the best? schools, blue, percent, school, top - News - OCRegister.com:

"National Blue Ribbon awards are often called the 'Oscars' for schools.

The selection process can be very competitive, somewhat subjective, and winners carry the title with them for the rest of eternity.

But for schools, other measurements – including tests scores, graduation rates, the quality of college and career preparation programs – also help identify the ones that do the best job of educating children."

Hundreds of D.C. Voucher Pupils Unaccounted For, Durbin Says at Funding Hearing - washingtonpost.com

Hundreds of D.C. Voucher Pupils Unaccounted For, Durbin Says at Funding Hearing - washingtonpost.com:

"D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who testified at the hearing, said she supports funding charter schools and the voucher program. But she said she wants students receiving vouchers to take the same standardized tests as public school students to assess their academic progress, which isn't the case now."

Stockton Unified cuts force teachers to scramble | Recordnet.com#STS=fzpnbumv.1n47#STS=fzpnbumv.1n47

Stockton Unified cuts force teachers to scramble Recordnet.com#STS=fzpnbumv.1n47#STS=fzpnbumv.1n47:

"Stockton Unified - San Joaquin County's largest school district with 38,000 students - opened this school year with about 1,900 permanent teachers. Last year, it had about 2,000. And after having laid off about 250 teachers, Stockton Unified could not simply rescind some of those layoffs to open school at the end of July with a sufficient force of permanent teachers.

There was a legally-mandated process to be followed."

NEA Member Benefits and TeachAde Partner to Provide Educators Access to a Free Online... | Reuters

NEA Member Benefits and TeachAde Partner to Provide Educators Access to a Free Online... Reuters:

"TeachAde will be integrated into the newly revamped NEA MB Web site to help
members connect with each other, share best practices, and access invaluable
resources with a click of the mouse. The collaboration is part of the Web
site's intentional focus on the most important subjects to members: Money,
Everyday Living, Health and Wellness, Professional Resources and Travel and
Leisure.

'Our goal is to partner with the best programs and services to engage and
support our members,' said Mark Stevens, vice president of Professional & Web
Solutions, NEA Member Benefits. 'Partnering with TeachAde will help educators
connect with one another on a personal and immediate level about important
topical issues such as National Board Certification, 21st-century skills and
curriculum and instruction. TeachAde provides our members with a means to
easily share their expertise, resources and tools with colleagues across the
county.'"

Critics' attacks of President Obama are scarier than bias

Critics' attacks of President Obama are scarier than bias:

"Every American President in a furious political fight is going to be criticized, and a black President does not get a pass. It is condescending to think that a man of Barack Obama's intellect and political skills needs to be coddled.

But Carter is right on one big and important point: The pattern of attacks on Obama suggests that there are people who don't accept the idea that this man, the first black man to win the highest office in the land, is really the President.

These critics seem less interested in arguing about health care proposals than in building the case that Obama is not legitimately our national leader."