Friday, March 12, 2010
Sacramento City Unified hires communications chief - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee
Sacramento City Unified hires communications chief
Published: Friday, Mar. 12, 2010 - 1:23 pm
Sacramento City Unified School District has hired Sacramento River Cats spokesman Gabe Ross to be the district's new chief communication officer.
Ross, who begins Monday and will be paid $114,178 annually, will be the first person in the newly created position.
Ross ends a five-year run with the River Cats, where he served as director of media relations and, most recently, vice president of media relations. Before moving to Sacramento, Ross was director of public relations for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, which also is a Triple-A baseball team.
Local News | 47 schools on state's official "lowest-performing" list | Seattle Times Newspaper
47 schools on state's official "lowest-performing" list
State officials on Thursday released the official list of Washington's 47 lowest performing schools, which are eligible to receive three-year federal grants of $50,000 to $2 million per year.
Seattle Times education reporter
State officials on Thursday released the official list of Washington's 47 lowest performing schools, which are eligible to receive three-year federal grants of $50,000 to $2 million per year.
Most are in Central Washington, including four in the Yakima School District and seven in the Pasco School District, which represents a little more than one-third of Pasco schools.
In Western Washington, the Tacoma School District has four middle schools on the list and Seattle Public Schools has three — Cleveland High, Hawthorne Elementary and West Seattle Elementary.
The list is supposed to represent the state's "persistently lowest-achieving schools," judged by three years of reading and math scores, and, for high schools, by graduation rates. To be eligible for the federal grants, the schools also had to receive money or be eligible to receive money under the federal Title I program, aimed at supporting students from low-income families.
Some school officials took issue with how the schools were chosen, and questioned whether the measures truly captured the progress some of their schools were making. Still, most, if not all, applied for the federal grants, which could bring each school anywhere from $50,000 to $2 million a year for three years.
Like other Obama administration education initiatives, this one offers big financial incentives in exchange for accepting controversial requirements.
Districts that want the grants must agree to overhaul a school in one of four ways. In brief, they can: close a school, replace its principal and at least half its staff, turn it into a charter school (which is not allowed under Washington law), or "transform" it. The latter has a number of requirements, such as tougher teacher evaluations, a new instructional program and more learning time for students.
In addition to the Seattle and Tacoma schools on the list, other Puget Sound-area schools are:
Tepid response to attacks against Asians is nothing new | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Tepid response to attacks against Asians is nothing new
by Gustavo Martínez Contreras
Photo: Tim Moyer Photography - Media Mobilizing Project
Students have brought attention to anti-Asian violence at South Philadelphia H.S.
In 1981, two stabbings and a series of brawls between African American and Asian students disrupted school life at University City High School.
Two years later, a Vietnamese student named Do Manh spent a month in traction after a pair of attacks at University City left him with a broken neck and a Laotian girl needing stitches in her lip.
Then, as now, in the aftermath of attacks on Asian students at South Philadelphia High, District officials were slow to recognize the problem as ethnic violence and take action. Only after community outcry did they move to respond.
“I went to see [Do Manh] at the hospital and found out from his classmates that no student had even been suspended for that assault,” recalled educator Debbie Wei.
“I ended up going to the newspapers, and after it got reported, then the District made an investigation,” Wei said. “If I hadn’t gone to the newspapers, nothing would have been done.”
In fact, it took Philadelphia police more than a month to get warrants and arrest the two teenagers charged with Do Manh’s beating because the school declined to cooperate in the investigation, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer story at the time.
District officials are no better able to cope and respond today, according to Xu Lin, an organizer with the Chinatown Development Corporation. He said that before th
Day of action rallies people nationwide - San Jose Mercury News
Day of action rallies people nationwide - San Jose Mercury News
Day of action rallies people nationwide
Posted: 03/12/2010 10:37:10 AM PST
Updated: 03/12/2010 10:37:10 AM PST
Click photo to enlarge
Thousands of people, young and old from differing cultures and walks of life, rallied together in an effort to amplify the same universal message to legislators last week: "No more cuts to education."
Last Thursday's effort, called "Start the Day for Students," was an urgent statewide day of action to fight for the diminishing resources for students, and California's future. It was organized at the University of California at Berkeley but expanded nationally with similar rallies held in other states that have seen the economic downturn stress its budgets and trigger education cuts.
According to the Stand Up For Schools Web site, the 106 initial events registered early last week grew to 218 by Thursday. Although most of the events were peaceful, protests in Oakland, Santa Cruz and Davis were raucous, garnering more attention from media outlets and police forces.
During rush hour traffic more than 150 people were taken to jail for blocking interstates 980 and 880, Oakland police said. At Davis, protestors clashed with police, who fired beanbags, tear gas and pepper spray, as protestors locked arms in an attempt to block Interstate 80. And students, faculty and workers used their bodies to block all campus entrances of the University of California at Santa Cruz, causing the school to be shut down for the day.
Local efforts were more peaceful.
Milpitas Unified School District was doing a leafleting campaign at all 13 school sites with teachers, administrators, parents
and board members handing out informational fliers to parents as they dropped their kids off that morning, said Michael Vieyra, secretary of Milpitas Teachers Association and California Teachers Association representative for Milpitas teachers.He said the flier contained basic but vital information about how the $17 billion in cuts to education in the last two years have impacted public schools and colleges. Such impacts include the elimination of entire art, music and physical education programs and more than 16,000 educators being laid off. At state universities, student fees have grown almost 50 percent since 2007 while thousands fewer classes are being offered, according to the California
Smarter Data Systems: Urban Districts Lead the Way � The Quick and the Ed
Smarter Data Systems: Urban Districts Lead the Way
Part VII of the Five Principles for Smarter Data Systems series–a guest post from Lori Fey, Director Policy Initiatives, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation:
Bill Tucker and the Education Sector make important and relevant points about next-generation data systems in Five Design Principles for Smarter Data Systems to Support Student Learning. We should recognize, however, that data systems that use better information about teaching and learning to improve outcomes for every student are in use in many districts across the United States.
Urban districts like Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Houston and New York are already providing educators with information that helps predict and manage student achievement, rather than just track it. In a classroom with 30 different individuals, each has his or her own unique story. With next-generation data systems in these districts, those stories – as found within the data – can be accurate, holistic, and readily available to a teacher. Those data stories tell where a student has excelled and experienced challenges, give insight into ways to help a student improve performance, and help guide and determine the effectiveness of the teacher her/himself. And often, the data story debunks the conventional wisdom about what we think we know by providing an accurate view of the overall performance of a student, a class and a school.
State education agencies are taking note of the successes of pioneering districts and looking to scale the capabilities of performance management and next generation systems to serve the needs of all classrooms. In Texas, for example,
APS Questions Charter School Superintendent Salary - Education News Story - KOAT Albuquerque
APS Questions Charter School Superintendent Salary - Education News Story - KOAT Albuquerque
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Albuquerque Public School district is questioning why a charter school superintendent makes more money than the mayor of Albuquerque.
Scott Glasrud oversees three charter schools, Southwest Primary, La Luz Del Monte and Southwest Secondary.
According to reports, he oversees slightly fewer than 500 students and gets paid $204,000 per year.
Winston Brooks, superintendent of the Albuquerque Public School district, supervises 94,000 students and makes $256,000 per year.
"I think a $204,000 salary for 500 kids is absolutely outragous," said Marty Esquivel, president of APS school board.
Esquivel said this raises questions about accountability in the charter school system and questions who is overseeing the schools.
"They have charter boards that supposedly oversee the directors and principals, but are those boards really truly doing that," said Esquivel.
Action 7 News tried contacting Scott Glasrud but his secretary said he was unavailable for interviews Thursday.
Glasrud released a written statement and in it he said he made no apologies for his salary at each school, and that his job description includes all duties performed by a principal as well as those of a superintendent.
He also said if he was not performing those duties, someone else would have
APS Questions Charter School Superintendent Salary
APS Raises More Questions About Charter Schools
POSTED: 9:07 pm MST March 11, 2010
UPDATED: 11:53 am MST March 12, 2010
UPDATED: 11:53 am MST March 12, 2010
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Scott Glasrud oversees three charter schools, Southwest Primary, La Luz Del Monte and Southwest Secondary.
According to reports, he oversees slightly fewer than 500 students and gets paid $204,000 per year.
Winston Brooks, superintendent of the Albuquerque Public School district, supervises 94,000 students and makes $256,000 per year.
"I think a $204,000 salary for 500 kids is absolutely outragous," said Marty Esquivel, president of APS school board.
Esquivel said this raises questions about accountability in the charter school system and questions who is overseeing the schools.
"They have charter boards that supposedly oversee the directors and principals, but are those boards really truly doing that," said Esquivel.
Action 7 News tried contacting Scott Glasrud but his secretary said he was unavailable for interviews Thursday.
Glasrud released a written statement and in it he said he made no apologies for his salary at each school, and that his job description includes all duties performed by a principal as well as those of a superintendent.
He also said if he was not performing those duties, someone else would have
Where's Antonio? Flying to D.C., Hanging with His Cousin...Again - Los Angeles News - LA Daily
Where's Antonio? Flying to D.C., Hanging with His Cousin...Again
By Patrick Range McDonald, Friday, Mar. 12 2010 @ 9:00AM
Categories: politics
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa flew out of town again this week, and attended another swearing-in ceremony for his cousin, California State Assembly Speaker John Perez. This time around, the mayor didn't blow a good chunk of his workday glad-handing in Sacramento.
On Monday, March 8, Villaraigosa was found in Wilmington at 9:30 a.m., breaking ground for a $22-million roadway improvements project along Harry Bridges Boulevard, according to City News Service.
The mayor hung out with several elected officials, including L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who Villaraigosa later endorsed for lieutenant governoron Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the mayor was completely off the radar ... at least the media's radar.
Villaraigosa, City News Service dutifully reported, held "no public events." No word on what kept the mayor from his usual sprint around town, attending one P.R. event after another.
By Wednesday, Villaraigosa was back in the swing of things, taking an interview with KABC at 8 a.m.
At 10 a.m., the mayor scooted over to Markham Middle School in Watts to attend the first performance of the Alvin Alley American Dance Theater's four-day residency at Markham, City News Service reported.
Markham Middle School, if you remember, was taken over by the Mayor's Office from the Los Angeles Unified School District, but its students continue to under-perform, with a November, 2009, L.A. Times editorial describing the school as "problem-plagued."
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| L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa |
On Monday, March 8, Villaraigosa was found in Wilmington at 9:30 a.m., breaking ground for a $22-million roadway improvements project along Harry Bridges Boulevard, according to City News Service.
The mayor hung out with several elected officials, including L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who Villaraigosa later endorsed for lieutenant governoron Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the mayor was completely off the radar ... at least the media's radar.
Villaraigosa, City News Service dutifully reported, held "no public events." No word on what kept the mayor from his usual sprint around town, attending one P.R. event after another.
By Wednesday, Villaraigosa was back in the swing of things, taking an interview with KABC at 8 a.m.
At 10 a.m., the mayor scooted over to Markham Middle School in Watts to attend the first performance of the Alvin Alley American Dance Theater's four-day residency at Markham, City News Service reported.
Markham Middle School, if you remember, was taken over by the Mayor's Office from the Los Angeles Unified School District, but its students continue to under-perform, with a November, 2009, L.A. Times editorial describing the school as "problem-plagued."
Civil suit: Richard Izquierdo Arroyo failed to protect student in alleged harassment by teacher
Civil suit: Richard Izquierdo Arroyo failed to protect student in alleged harassment by teacher
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/03/12/2010-03-12_add_civil_suit_to_pol_kins_woes.html#ixzz0hz8fA49h
Civil suit: Richard Izquierdo Arroyo failed to protect student in alleged harassment by teacher
Originally Published:Friday, March 12th 2010, 1:53 AM
Updated: Friday, March 12th 2010, 1:53 AM
Smith for News
Richard Izquierdo Arroyo is slated to plead guilty in federal court to embezzling funds from a housing nonprofit.As he prepared to plead guilty in a criminal case, a Bronx man with family ties to two pols faces a civil suit over alleged abuse at a charter school he ran.
Richard Izquierdo Arroyo, grandson of an assemblywoman and a councilwoman's nephew, is accused of failing to protect a student allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted by a teacher.
"The teacher's conduct was reprehensible and utterly inappropriate for a class of high school seniors, let alone second- and third-graders," said Patrick Mullaney, lawyer for angry mom Nereida Pastrana.
"But to make matters worse, the conduct was well-known and condoned by the school staff and administration."
Izquierdo was chairman of the South Bronx Charter School for International Culture and the Arts when the alleged abuse took place. He has since resigned and is slated to plead guilty in federal court Friday to embezzling funds from a housing nonprofit.
Federal prosecutors accused him and a co-defendant of using some of the funds to finance the campaigns and district offices of Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo and Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo.
Izquierdo could be hit with a second civil suit as soon as Friday, charging another student was abused at the school.
The suit filed in Bronx Supreme Court earlier this week says teacher Jared Alessandroni repeatedly called Pastrana's son, now 10, "gay" and twisted his arm in March 2009.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/03/12/2010-03-12_add_civil_suit_to_pol_kins_woes.html#ixzz0hz8fA49h
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