Still guessing at size of state cuts, city grows closer to layoffs | GothamSchools

Still guessing at size of state cuts, city grows closer to layoffs | GothamSchools

Still guessing at size of state cuts, city grows closer to layoffs

by Maura Walz

With the clock ticking down toward probable layoffs, school officials say the fiscal picture hasn’t grown clearer in the last month.
Department of Education officials are still aiming to give principals their preliminary school budgets on June 1, Chancellor Joel Klein told City Council today. “That said, things in Albany are changing each day and our situation remains fluid,” said DOE spokeswoman Ann Forte.
As they decide exactly when to release school budgets, officials are seeking to strike a delicate balance. Principals need enough time to plan how to work large cuts into their budgets. But officials are also hesitant to pull the trigger on announcing exact cuts and layoffs too early, for fear of having to retrace their steps if a state budget follows soon thereafter.
City officials are currently anticipating that, unless Albany passes a less austere budget than the governor’s current proposal, the city schools will lose as many as 6,400 teacher positions — 4,400 of them through layoffs — and schools will face cuts that are much larger than the 4.9 percent reductions they saw this year.

Primers for Congressional Hearings on the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act | Alliance for Excellent Education

Primers for Congressional Hearings on the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act | Alliance for Excellent Education

Primers For Congressional Hearings On The Reauthorization Of The Elementary And Secondary Education Act

In the weeks since the Obama administration released its blueprint for revising ESEA on March 13, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee have held multiple hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind. The Alliance for Excellent Education has prepared primers for each hearing that contain useful facts, flaws in current law, and recommendations for how to improve federal policy on the subject featured in each hearing.

WaPo’s Strauss fact checks the NY Times Mag and Brill’s “last stand.” � Fred Klonsky's blog

WaPo’s Strauss fact checks the NY Times Mag and Brill’s “last stand.” � Fred Klonsky's blog

WaPo’s Strauss fact checks the NY Times Mag and Brill’s “last stand.”

by preaprez

The Reformers (“Reformers,” the “de-reformers,” the “so-called reformers”) went all dewy-eyed over Steven Brill’s less than brilliant anti-union hackery in Sunday’s NY Times Magazine.
But the ever-vigilant Washington Post Answer Sheet columnist, Valerie Strauss was fact checking. Gosh. A reporter doing fact checking. A hell of a concept.

The truth may not be as compelling, but it has the virtue of being, well, true. Some charter schools are excellent and work wonders with kids. Some do an average job, and some are awful. There is no evidence that charter schools are

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Albuquerque charter schools

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Albuquerque charter schools

Albuquerque charter schools

by The Perimeter Primate

Most recent story posted first.
APS Questions Charter School Superintendent Salary: APS Raises More Questions About Charter Schools (KOAT.com, March 11, 2010)

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 outrageous," said Marty Esquivel, president of APS school board.
Esquivel said this raises questions about accountability in the charter school system and

Qoobole! | The Latino Social Network

Qoobole! | The Latino Social Network

Qoobole! unites, empowers & represents Latino culture & community!

Welcome to Qoobole!, the social media portal that connects the Latino community to organizations, programs and causes.

Grand Opening of the Parent Resource Center Education News & Comment

Education News & Comment

Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond

Invites you to attend the

Grand Opening of the Parent Resource Center

Sacramento City Unified School District Parent Resource Center Grand Opening

Race to Top Uber Analyst Smarick Bolts for NJ - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to Top Uber Analyst Smarick Bolts for NJ - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to Top Uber Analyst Smarick Bolts for NJ

by Michele McNeil

Andy Smarick, the Fordham Fellow who perhaps knows as much about the Race to the Top competition as the folks at the U.S. Department of Education, will have to leave his wonky federal analysis, insights, and general blogginess behind when he takes on a new job as deputy education commissioner in New Jersey.
He'll work as the lone deputy under Commissioner Bret Schundler, who was a controversial pick for newly elected Republican Gov. Christopher Christie.
Smarick officially starts his new role sometime this summer, probably in early August (although if New Jersey were wise, it would tap his expertise as it puts the finishing touches on its Round 2 Race to the Top application, due June 1).
So what prompted Smarick's change from an inside-the-Beltway wonk to state government bureaucrat?
"In my lifetime there hasn't been a more exciting time to work for a state in education reform," he told me this afternoon.
Smarick, a former education department official under President George W. Bush, has cemented his role in the D.C. education wonk world with his writings on Race to the Top and turning around low-performing schools. He's been quoted in the Baltimore Sun, New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and, yes, frequently in EdWeekand on this blog.

NEA Organizes EduJobs Call-In Blitz for Wednesday | Intercepts

NEA Organizes EduJobs Call-In Blitz for Wednesday | Intercepts

NEA Organizes EduJobs Call-In Blitz for Wednesday

by Mike Antonucci

Click here to read:
1) NEA Organizes EduJobs Call-In Blitz for Wednesday
2) Do Early Retirements Actually Save Money?
3) Minnesota Teachers to Receive Pay to Write College Recommendations for Students
4) Cure for Union Apathy: Contested Elections
5) New York Judges Court Teachers’ Union
6) Florida Education Association Endorses Crist and Meek
7) Scheduling Note
8) Last Week’s Intercepts
9) Quote of the Week

New York City’s Antiquated Seniority Rules Hurt Children Most - The Daily Beast

New York City’s Antiquated Seniority Rules Hurt Children Most - The Daily Beast

We’re Firing the Wrong Teachers

by Joel Klein

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Julie Jacobson / AP PhotoThousands of New York City’s strongest teachers are in danger of losing their jobs—with no consideration given to their talent, only how long they’ve been teaching. And the real losers will be children, says Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

When the principal at P.S. 40 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, talks about the impact on students of one of her best teachers, Malvola Lewis, her eyes fill with tears.

After growing up in homeless shelters, Lewis earned an education degree from Brooklyn College and returned to her old neighborhood to teach at P.S. 40, a historically hard-to-staff school. Now she’s one of the school’s strongest teachers; her students are making more progress than almost any other class in the school.

NorthJersey.com: Miss. board denies staging 'sham' prom for lesbian

NorthJersey.com: Miss. board denies staging 'sham' prom for lesbian

Miss. board denies staging 'sham' prom for lesbian

Monday, May 24, 2010

BY SHELIA BYRD

WIRE SERVICE

Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — A rural Mississippi school district that was sued by a lesbian student who wanted to bring a same-sex date to the high school prom is denying accusations it routed her to a "sham prom" at a country club while most of her schoolmates partied elsewhere.
The Itawamba County School District addressed the claims made by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Constance McMillen in papers filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Aberdeen.
It's been nearly two months since McMillen attended a prom at the Fulton Country Club that drew fewer than 10 other students from Itawamba Agricultural High School. Most of her classmates attended a separate event at the nearby Evergreen Community Center, to which McMillen was not invited, and later posted pictures from the dance on Internet sites.
At the time, McMillen had already sued the district over its policy banning same-sex prom dates and for canceling an April 2 school-sponsored prom after the teenager pressed to bring her girlfriend to the event and wear a tuxedo.

EDUCATION NEWS

When Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Wyckoff needed to update its library, the community pulled together. THE RECORD

• Kelly: Career road maps for kids have different signposts THE RECORD

Cash-starved districts cutting summer school THE RECORD

• Kinnelon councils slashes $474,000 from BOE levy SUBURBAN TRENDS

Record crowds flood Trenton to protest against N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, budget cutsSTATE HOUSE BUREAU

• School delays work to remove asbestos after parent outcry THE RECORD

EARLY CHILDHOOD

• Woman dedicated to children moves to new phase NUTLEY SUN

• Full day Pre-K to start in SeptemberGLEN RIDGE VOICE

Spring singTHE GAZETTE (HAWTHORNE EDITION)

Class tripTWIN-BORO NEWS

Boys & Girls Club opens Early Education Center WAYNE TODAY

Recycling works in WhartonNEIGHBOR NEWS (DOVER EDITION)

HIGH SCHOOL

• Miss. board denies staging 'sham' prom for lesbian THE RECORD

Craig Lampmann awarded certificate for 'Parents Club of West Point Award'SUBURBAN TRENDS

History Bowl contestants show their minds' mettleTHE RECORD

• Afterschool brawl in North Bergen ended in student's arrest THE RECORD

• Living literature AIM VERNON

• Officials prevent walkout at CHSCLIFTON JOURNAL

SPECIAL NEEDS

Autism schools ride for dollars THE RECORD

• High school students organize effort to include everyoneNEIGHBOR NEWS (MONTVILLE EDITION)

• Pequannock school board adds special education committeeSUBURBAN TRENDS

• Stepping out THE PARENT PAPER

Open wide NUTLEY SUN

• Parents upset over possible move for special ed studentsCOMMUNITY NEWS (ELMWOOD PARK EDITION)

SteveLendmanBlog: Destroying Public Education in America: Part II | Educational New York

Senator Tom Seymour: National Teachers Group News Letter | Educational New York

Senator Tom Seymour: National Teachers Group News Letter

by Educational America

The release of President Obama’s “blueprint” for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has spurred a flurry of related activity in Washington. Both the House and the Senate are … In November 2009, the New York Board of Regents began working in earnest with the state department of education on the identification of steps needed to spark reform in education across the state, particularly for high-poverty students.

Continued here:

yourscoops.com » Blog Archive » Do outsiders really understand …

by Educational America

Often referred to as the stolen generation, half cast children were taken from their parents and placed in missions to gain an education and an appreciation of a culture very strange to them. …

Here is the original post:

SteveLendmanBlog: Destroying Public Education in America: Part II

by Educational America

$386 million in various services, including alternative education for teen parents, after-school activities for 25000 at-risk youths, and other children’s programs. Given a deteriorating economy, these are for starters, much like for … in expected hundreds of thousands of lost teacher and support staff jobs, a virtual blizzard of pink slips from New York to California with many more in prospect – as many as 300000 near-term, according to Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Read more: