Is an Adequacy Perfect Storm Brewing? The Quick and the Ed

The Quick and the Ed

Is an Adequacy Perfect Storm Brewing?

Last week, the Superior Court in my home state of Washington ruled that the state’s finance system was unconstitutional. The court concluded that the current finance system perennial underfunds a basic education, and that the current funding in not ample, stable, or dependable. It also has to rely too much on local supplemental funds to support basic education costs. Such rulings are not unusual for a state. It is unclear whether this ruling will be challenged to the state supreme court. The legislature will have to determine whether they want to start to address this issue in the remaining month of the legislative year (session ends March 11th) at the same time they are trying to work out many of the details of significant legislation that passed last year, and pass a package of bills that would position the state to be more competitive in Race to the Top round 2. Needless to say, it will be a busy month for the education policy community in Washington state.

This ruling made me think about whether a new round of adequacy lawsuits is brewing in the near future. It seems like the perfect adequacy storm may be coming in the very near future. First, most state budgets are in horrible shape, and it will difficult for states to close budget gaps without education playing a role in those reductions. Second, the federal stimulus funding is going to run out soon, and states are not in a position to backfill those funds. So, while the stimulus funds allowed schools to put off difficult cuts for a couple years, when the federal funds end at the same time that states are cutting state funding, it does not look good. And third, local property tax revenues are not looking strong any time in the near future. Now property tax policies differ by state, but at least in some states, when property values fall, so do the tax revenues (although there is a lag until the property tax bases are reassessed). So to sum up the fiscal outlook for schools in much of the country – federal funds down, state funds down, local funds down.

Add to the funding situation the policy push for higher standards. If the common 

Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Appointments for 2.10.10 : Thu, 11 Feb 2010 : California Newswire™

Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Appointments for 2.10.10 : Thu, 11 Feb 2010 : California Newswire™

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced the following appointments: First, Nicole Anderson, 20, of Redding, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. Since 2008, she has served as secretary of state affairs for Associated Students Incorporated at California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Anderson is a Democrat.

Brenda Victoria Castillo, 47, of Whittier, has been appointed to the California Teacher Credentialing Commission. Since 2007, she has served as director of western region government and public affairs for BP America. Previously, Castillo served as director of diversity and community outreach for the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles from 1999 to 2006. She was a teacher for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1994 to 1998 and executive director for the National Hispanic Media Coalition from 1992 to 1994. Castillo worked for KTLA, Channel 5 in Los Angeles as an associate producer and community affairs representative from 1985 to 1992. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $50 per diem. Castillo is a Republican.

Dan Chernow, Ed.D., 63, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Teacher Credentialing Commission. Since 1996, he has served as executive director of the school management program for the University of California, Los Angeles. Previously, Chernow was vice president of the Pacific Theaters Corporation from 1962 to 1995 and a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1968 to 1971. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $50 per diem. Chernow is a Democrat.

Holly Mann, 28, of West Sacramento, has been appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women. Since 2009, she has served as chief of staff to First Lady Maria Shriver, where she also served as deputy chief of staff in 2008, press deputy and communication assistant from 2005 to 2007 and special assistant to the First Lady from 2003 to 2005. Previously, Mann was scheduling assistant to First Lady Sharon Davis from 2000 to 2003 and a student assistant for the California Research Bureau from 1999 to 2000. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Mann is a Democrat.

Michele Minor, 48, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief of rehabilitative program planning and accountability for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). She has served as acting chief of rehabilitative program planning and accountability for CDCR since 2009 and major of youth authority in adult programs for the Rehabilitative Skills Training Unit since 2007. Previously, Minor served CDCR as acting program administrator at the Stockton Training Center from 2005 to 2007, lieutenant for youth authority at the Youth Authority Training Center from 2001 to 2005 and training officer at the Northern Reception Center and Clinic in 2000. She was sergeant for youth authority at the Northern Reception Center and Clinic from 1993 to 2001 and the Northern California Youth Correctional Facility from 1991 to 1993. Prior to that, Minor was a youth correctional officer at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility from 1985 to 1991. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $107,952. Minor is a Democrat.

For Harris, More Than 'One Small Step For Man' : NPR

For Harris, More Than 'One Small Step For Man' : NPR:

"Forty years ago, the astronauts on board Apollo 11 made history when they landed on the moon. Dr. Bernard Harris watched the moon landing on television as a teenager and was inspired to pursue a career as an astronaut. In 1995, he became the first African-American to walk in space. The trailblazer talks about being in orbit and his work to persuade young minorities to reach for the stars — literally."

MICHEL MARTIN, host:

And now it's time for our Wisdom Watch. That's the part of the program where we seek out those with wisdom to impart from a lifetime of accomplishment. Today, a man who reached for the stars, and is now helping others to do the same. Forty years ago today, America was captivated as Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

Mr. NEIL ARMSTRONG (Astronaut): That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

MARTIN: Bernard Harris was only 13 years old when he watched those small steps, but at that moment he knew he wanted to become an astronaut. Dr. Harris went on to become a flight surgeon. And in 1995, he also became the first African-American to walk in space. Today, he heads the Harris Foundation. That's a nonprofit organization that supports science education and other programs for youth. And he joins us now in our studios in Washington. Dr. Harris, thank you so much for stopping by.

Dr. BERNARD HARRIS (Founder, Harris Foundation): Glad to be here.

MARTIN: So, what was it about that moon walk that made such an impression on you, the moon landing? I mean, obviously, we all watched it. Those of us who were around back then, like, wow. But most of us didn't take the next step to thinking, okay, I'm going to do that, too. What do you think made such a big impression?

Dr. HARRIS: Well, you know, my love for space started before because I got the chance to watch, you know, the early programs, the Gemini program, Mercury program, leading up to the Apollo program. So I was kind of already, you know, into science and into space science in particular. I also like to say, I was also into science fiction too, an original Trekkie. So, as you said, 1969, when the guys landed on the moon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and I saw that, something changed inside of me that said, you know what, that looks like something fun and exciting and I want to do it. I want to be just like them.

MARTIN: But there are those who would say, you can't be what you can't see. And for you, if that had been true, you wouldn't be where you are now. So, what do you think it is that allowed you to make the leap from those three men to you and to say, I can do that?

Dr. HARRIS: Now, you know, I'm African-American. When I looked at those guys going into space they were nobody, at least visibly, that looked like me. I subsequent found out that there were certainly African-Americans, Hispanics, all races that are involved, including women who were working in the program but just behind the scenes.

MARTIN: Eventually.

HISD Connect - Transforming HISD: Driving student achievement by placing a highly effective teacher in every classroom

HISD Connect - Transforming HISD: Driving student achievement by placing a highly effective teacher in every classroom

Transforming HISD: Driving student achievement by placing a highly effective teacher in every classroom

February 10, 2010

RESOURCES

What is value-added analysis?  Value-Added Analysis FAQ  ASPIRE Awards  The New Teacher Project  The Widget Effect  Team HISD

One of the best parts of my job is getting to spend time in our schools. The talent and dedication of the teachers I meet and the amazing work they do with their students never fail to inspire me. It's a good reminder that teachers truly are our most precious resource, because more than anything or anyone else, they have the power to put students on track for academic success.

And let's face it: too many of our students have fallen off that track. Despite HISD's accomplishments in recent years, many students—especially poor and minority students—are leaving school without the skills they need to become successful adults.

I'm convinced we can change that by focusing all our energy on giving every single student great teachers. We need to do everything we can to put a great teacher in every classroom and give our teachers the feedback and support they need to do their best work.

That's exactly what we're going to do over the coming months and years.

• At its meeting in January 2010, the Board of Education voted unanimously to take an important first step by approving a plan to improve teacher evaluations starting next year. We want to make sure evaluations give teachers an honest assessment of how much they're helping their students learn—the kind of feedback that will actually help them improve. Standardized test scores are one important indicator of how much students are learning, so they will be one of many different components in the evaluation.
• Giving teachers better feedback is just the beginning. We need to build on our current efforts to reward and learn from our best teachers, such as the ASPIRE performance pay program. We need to give teachers access to mentoring and professional development customized to meet their individual needs.
• And as difficult as it may be, we need to stop turning a blind eye to the ineffective teaching that happens in a relatively small number of our classrooms. The number of ineffective teachers is relatively small, but the impact of these teachers on our children is large. That's why I'm asking the Board of Education to approve a policy during its meeting February that would require principals to use all the information available to them—includingvalue-added test scores—when making decisions about renewing a teacher's contract. A teacher might impact hundreds or even thousands of students' lives over the course of a contract, so we need to treat these decisions with the seriousness they demand.

As I've said before, we will never remove a teacher from the classroom solely on the basis of test scores. But if those scores show that a teacher is actually dragging students backwards academically year after year, I expect principals to take this information very seriously. We simply can't allow teachers who consistently struggle—despite our best efforts to support them—to continue teaching. And we can't afford to wait to use all the information that is available to us. The stakes are too high for our students.

I'll be relying on feedback and ideas from every member of Team HISD in the coming months as we take a fresh look at how we can put a great teacher in every classroom. Please take the time to give me your feedback on these issues now by using the comments tool below

You will be hearing more from me over the coming weeks and months about these issues. Working together, we can help HISD achieve the transformation that our students deserve, and help make our schools a model for other cities across the country.

– Terry B. Grier, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

Please note, questions included in comments will not be responded to individually. All comments are welcome and are taken into consideration by those working closely with the issues. Also, comments that are off topic or that contain offensive language or are considered offensive, will be removed.

Title I Academic Achievement Awards for 2010 - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

Title I Academic Achievement Awards for 2010 - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Announces
2010 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced that 238 California schools have been selected for the 2009-10 Title I Academic Achievement Award. The list of recipients is attached.

"These award recipients prove that with hard work and high expectations, students can overcome challenges and achieve academic success," said O'Connell. "By working together, administrators, teachers, staff, students, and parents have raised student achievement and narrowed the achievement gap. I congratulate these schools and everyone who worked hard to make them deserving of this significant award."

The Title I Academic Achievement Award is given only to schools receiving federal Title1 funds as authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Title I is the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education. Title 1 funds assist schools in meeting the educational needs of students living near or at the poverty level. Of the more than 9,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.

The criteria to qualify for the Title 1 Academic Achievement Award have become more rigorous in recent years. To meet the criteria for this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years. For more information about the Title I Academic Achievement Awards please visit the CDE Web page at: Academic Achievement Awards - School/Teacher Recognition.

O'Connell called the principal at each of the schools selected to receive the Title I Academic Achievement Award to convey the good news and express his own congratulations and gratitude.

"It is definitely worthwhile to personally give credit where credit is due," said O'Connell. "I wanted to let these school leaders know that their hard work has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated."

The 2009-10 awardees will be honored at a reception and banquet at the Disneyland Hotel on April 21, 2010. For more information about the California Title I Academic Achievement Award reception and banquet, please visit the California Department of Education Web site at Academic Achievement Awards - School/Teacher Recognition.

Johnson Picked as Minneapolis Superintendent - District Dossier - Education Week

Johnson Picked as Minneapolis Superintendent - District Dossier - Education Week

The Minneapolis school board has picked Bernadeia Johnson, the district's deputy superintendent, as the next leader of Minnesota's largest school district.

The board unanimously chose Johnson as its sole finalist on Jan. 19 and then had her go through a process of meeting with communities throughout the city in public forums, along with a formal interview, before voting Tuesday night to place her as the permanent superintendent.

Two board members abstained from Tuesday's vote, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, to express their objection to the board not conducting a wider search.

I asked Johnson yesterday what her first steps were in the new job, and she's springing into action.

The first priority she listed was to "reduce the number of initiatives—that will assist with addressing workload for teachers, while allowing them to focus on teaching and learning."

In addition, Johnson wants to ensure all district employees have an accountability system, as principals and teachers do now. A "Connecting For Results" agenda is designed to get everyone from parents to corporate partners involved and focused on raising student achievement.

Also chief among goals is improving the academic outcomes of students of color in Minneapolis. The district signed a "covenant" in late 2008 with local African-American leaders, pledging to improve achievement gaps.

Illustrating the Sweet Spot Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Illustrating the Sweet Spot Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Illustrating the Sweet Spot

I’ve probably used the term social learning more than just about anyone I know in the past 3 years. Many believe that all learning is social. While I don’t if I completely buy that theory, I do believe that our schools in general have downplayed the value of learning with one another both in physical classrooms and in “third places“.

As schools begin to recognize the potential of social media or networking as potential learning spaces it might be important to distinguish and identify things a bit more succinctly. I know David Jakes has stated he does not like the term social networking as it suggests social, but doesn’t speak specifically to learning. I agree. The term gets tossed around and means something quite different depending on individual interpretation.

I’ve build a mockup of a diagram I’d like to use to illustrate the merging and blending of social networking and individual interaction with content. This can be either online or offline but primarily I’m thinking about online spaces. Here’s my first draft.

Momentum building for "Strike and National Day of Action to Defend Public Ed" 3/4/10 - Democratic Underground

Momentum building for "Strike and National Day of Action to Defend Public Ed" 3/4/10 - Democratic Underground

National Call for March 4 Strike and Day of Action To Defend Public Education
California has recently seen a massive movement erupt in defense of public education — but layoffs, fee hikes, cuts, and the re-segregation of public education are attacks taking place throughout the country. A nationwide resistance movement is needed.

We call on all students, workers, teachers, parents, and their organizations and communities across the country to massively mobilize for a Strike and Day of Action in Defense of Public Education on March 4, 2010. Education cuts are attacks against all of us, particularly in working-class communities and communities of color.

The politicians and administrators say there is no money for education and social services. They say that “there is no alternative” to the cuts. But if there’s money for wars, bank bailouts, and prisons, why is there no money for public education?

We can beat back the cuts if we unite students, workers, and teachers across all sectors of public education — Pre K-12, adult education, community colleges, and state-funded universities. We appeal to the leaders of the trade union movement to support and organize strikes and/or mass actions on March 4. The weight of workers and students united in strikes and mobilizations would shift the balance of forces entirely against the current agenda of cuts and make victory possible.

Building a powerful movement to defend public education will, in turn, advance the struggle in defense of all public-sector workers and services and will be an inspiration to all those fighting against the wars, for immigrants rights, in defense of jobs, for single-payer health care, and other progressive causes.

Why March 4? On October 24, 2009 more than 800 students, workers, and teachers converged at UC Berkeley at the Mobilizing Conference to Save Public Education. This massive meeting brought together representatives from over 100 different schools, unions, and organizations from all across California and from all sectors of public education. After hours of open collective discussion, the participants voted democratically, as their main decision, to call for a Strike and Day of Action on March 4, 2010. All schools, unions and organizations are free to choose their specific demands and tactics — such as strikes, rallies, walkouts, occupations, sit-ins, teach-ins, etc. — as well as the duration of such actions.

Let’s make March 4 an historic turning point in the struggle against the cuts, layoffs, fee hikes, and the re-segregation of public education.

- The California Coordinating Committee
California Contacts (also refer to the contacts list in development):

http://defendcapubliceducation.wordpress.com /
march4strikeanddayofaction@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184333923808&ref=... 

Parent-Teacher Conferences SAC City DAC Education News & Comment

Education News & Comment

Keys to Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences

“Two people working together who have the best interest of the child in mind

lead to better outcomes for students.”

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

February 12, 2010 – March 4-2010

ELEMENTARY SHORTENED DAYS

Check with your school

The purpose of the parent-teacher conference is to form a partnership between the home and the school so your child can be a successful learner. It’s a time for you to ask questions about learning expectations for your child and how your child is progressing. It’s a time for you and the teacher to work together to find ways you both can help your son or daughter. Here are some suggestions as to how to make the most of parent-teacher conferences.

Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms

Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms:

"Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms

Encouraged by the Obama administration, efforts to expand the number of charter schools are being organized around the country. But concerns are being raised about the system. We speak to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project co-director Gary Orfield about a new study that suggests charter school growth is increasing classroom segregation."

Efforts to expand the number of charter schools are being organized around the country. In Virginia Republican Governor Robert McDonnell outlined a plan on Wednesday to increase the state’s cap on the publicly funded, privately run schools. In Mississippi, the state Senate passed a bill Tuesday to clear the way for charter schools. Here in New York City, the city’s Panel for Educational Policy recently approved closing 19 public schools at a time when Mayor Mike Bloomberg was pushing state legislators to lift the cap on charter schools.

Part of the push for new charter schools has come from the Obama administration. Under a new program called “Race to the Top,” states are competing for $4.3 billion in federal grants for reforming schools. States submitted applications for the money in January. The money will be doled out by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a strong supporter of charter schools.

While the charter school movement is growing, some concerns are being raised about the system.

A new study by UCLA’s Civil Rights Project suggests charter school 

Education Research Report: Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau's Report: Public Virtual Charter Schools

Education Research Report: Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau's Report: Public Virtual Charter Schools

Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau's Report: Public Virtual Charter Schools

*
Virtual charter schools in Wisconsin are publicly funded nonsectarian schools that are exempt from many regulations that apply to traditional public schools and that offer the majority of their classes online. They began operating in Wisconsin during the 2002-03 school year. Pupils typically attend from their homes and communicate with teachers using e-mail, by telephone, or in online discussions. During the 2007-08 school year, 15 virtual charter schools enrolled 2,951 pupils. Most were high schools.

Enrollment in virtual charter schools has increased in every school year since 2002-03. Virtual charter schools spent an estimated $17.8 million in the 2007-08 school year. In the 2007-08 school year, 161 virtual charter school teachers were licensed in Wisconsin.

On statewide assessment exams, virtual charter school pupils typically scored higher than other public school pupils in reading and lower in mathematics.

Complete report.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook Editorial: Rendell's last round

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 11

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 02/11/2010 - 10:14 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Editorial: Rendell's last round The Inquirer
Education is the "centerpiece" of Rendell's final budget, but his "generous" increase in spending "should be offset with cuts elsewhere."

What would make 'Innovation' a real option The Notebook blog
Ron Whitehorne suggested adjustments to the Innovation model that would better allow teacher and principal teams to turnaround schools.

A Student Speaks Out Philly Education Justice blog
A PSU member from University City HS reflected on its status as an Empowerment, and now Renaissance Eligible School.

Ronnie Polaneczky: This weather got you down? It's all good, & that's snow lie Daily News
School's closed again so the "kids at South Philly High aren't getting bullied" today.

What you have to say about Ren. Schools The Notebook blog

More Scripts A Good Day Teaching blog

Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.

Click here to get Notes from the news in your inbox every day.

Notes from the news

School Districts Should Encourage Citizen Involvement in Education Policy Making - Kansas City infoZine News

School Districts Should Encourage Citizen Involvement in Education Policy Making - Kansas City infoZine News:

"MU professor finds correlation between increased voter turnout and higher test scores"

Columbia, MO - infoZine - President Obama’s “Race to the Top” grant program, which encourages school districts to compete for $4.35 billion, has made a strong push for education reform. While much of the education reform debate has focused on issues of adequate funding and teacher qualifications, few have addressed the role of citizen involvement in local education policy making. A University of Missouri researcher has examined the link between school board elections and local school performance. He has found a correlation between increased voter turnout for school board elections and state assessment scores.

“Education researchers know that parental involvement makes a difference, but few political scientists have asked: does voting make a difference?” said David Webber, associate professor of political science in the MU College of Arts and Science. “Because voter turnout and candidate competition in school district elections reflect a district’s social capital, these characteristics of school board elections should affect how schools perform and be valued as a means for improving school performance. While the local, nonprofessional atmosphere of school board elections could potentially attract high levels of citizen involvement, few candidates and equally few voters tend to get involved in school board elections. To encourage citizen involvement, school districts should host forums to discuss important issues and send newsletters to keep citizens informed of school progress.”

Sacramento Press / The survey of the community and employees regarding SCUSD's budget and strategic plan is complete.

Sacramento Press / The survey of the community and employees regarding SCUSD's budget and strategic plan is complete.

 These surveys mark the beginning of a new commitment by SCUSD to listening to our community, consulting the community on important decisions and providing the public open access to our work in leading the district. We thank everyone for their enthusiastic participation in these historic surveys. The data will be accumulate

Teacher Magazine: News and Information for Teacher Leaders

Teacher Magazine: News and Information for Teacher Leaders

Teacher Blogs

TOP

Blogboard Easy Recipe to Becoming a Teacher Prompted by a blogger looking to become a teacher because "teaching looks interesting," Mei Flower provides some handy tips on preparing to become a teacher. Think: Myth of Sisyphus. And more.

A Place at the Table Snowmageddon Susan Graham wonders whether the concerns about snow days suggest that there's something wrong with our educational priorities.

Teacher in a Strange Land Fluff and Nonsense Nancy Flanagan asks, "Why do some people adamantly insist that project-based learning is fluff?"

Living in Dialogue Duncan: "Don't Teach to the Test!" Secretary Duncan says we must "give every child a chance to discover their genius." What are the implications?

Road Diaries: Teacher of the Year Teacher Tales Anthony Mullen, who was asked to write the foreword to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teacher Tales, debuts the foreword for his Teacher readers.

Unwrapping the Gifted What Brain Imaging Shows Us About Gifted Learners  Tamara Fisher scans available information regarding MRI's and what they indicate about developmental differences in the brains of gifted youth.

The Book Whisperer Effective Literacy Programs Lose Funding Donalyn Miller urges educators to show support for five literacy programs which will lose direct funding under the FY2011 proposed federal budget.

Teacher Magazine: These Things We Believe

Teacher Magazine: These Things We Believe

I’ve been working with teachers as a journalist, writer, and online-community moderator for more than 25 years. And I can’t remember a time when so many outstanding teachers were so discouraged about the conditions under which they’re working and the daily criticism they’re hearing from political leaders, school reform groups, and media pundits who’ve identified teachers as the chief cause of public education’s problems.

Good teachers are frustrated, I believe, because they care so much about the work they do. They feel strait-jacketed by conflicting directives from above, and overwhelmed by constant budget cutting that makes a hard job even harder. More and more, there’s a temptation to respond to the constant criticism with angry rebuttals that point out society’s mixed messages: “Teach to the test.” “Individualize instruction.” “Stick to the teaching script.” “Transform students into critical thinkers.” Then, when teacher tempers boil over, we hear: “How come they’re always whining?”

This point was underscored recently in some interesting dialogue that took place in the Teacher Leaders Network daily discussion group. Bob Williams, a high school math teacher and Alaska’s 2009 state teacher of the year, noted all the time and energy he’s invested lately in “adamantly opposing” the criticism he found to be poorly researched or ill-informed. (See this recent essay, for example.)

“It feels unhealthy for me to become defined only in terms

The Education Report: A Twitter plug

The Education Report

A Twitter plug

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 10:33 pm in environment
No Comments

If you’re an avid consumer of education news, I should level with you: I post updates and story links about schools on Twitter, and some of it doesn’t make it into the blog or in the paper.

http://twitter.com/katymurphy

Even if you don’t want to sign up, or you’re not quite ready to “follow” me (understandably), you can still see those updates by going to the above Web page. Like the one I just posted about the solar panels to be installed at 17 Oakland schools. Of course, there wasn’t space to list the schools on Twitter, so I’ll do it here: Read the rest of this entry »

Oakland principals speak out about gang violence, ask for help

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 2:07 pm in elementary schools, safety,students
1 Comment

Two East Oakland elementary school principals have appealed to the police and the community for help, saying increased gang activity and violence is threatening to erode the progress they have made during the last several years.

In a letter sent this afternoon to Oakland school district’s police chief and dozens of others from the school district, city and county (and local newspaper), ACORN Woodland Principal Kimi Kean and EnCompass Academy Principal Tram Nguyen detailed their concerns — which include daytime shootings and weekend drug sales in the school parking lot — and proposed solutions.

They write: Read the rest of this entry »

Tilden update: Can one shuttered school save another from closing?

By Katy Murphy
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 2:00 pm in buildings, elementary schools, families,preschool, special education, students
No Comments

Tribune file photo by Sean Donnelly

For well over a year, parents from Oakland’s Tilden School have cajoled, grilled and held district administrators to task about the future of the unique program, which serves children — many of them, with special needs — in preschool through third grade.

Tilden will close in June. Still, those behind the dogged effort to keep elements of the program alive have scored a substantial victory: a new preschool and special needs diagnostic center at the nearby Burbank campus. Most of Tilden’s students are in preschool. Read the rest of this entry »