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Friday, August 29, 2014

SSPI Statement on Vergara Lawsuit - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

SSPI Statement on Vergara Lawsuit - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):



State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Releases Statement on Vergara Lawsuit




SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today released the following statement regarding the Vergara, et al. vs. State of California, et al. lawsuit:
"The people who dedicate their lives to the teaching profession deserve our admiration and support. Instead, this ruling lays the failings of our education system at their feet.
"We do not fault doctors when the emergency room is full. We do not criticize the firefighter whose supply of water runs dry. Yet while we crowd our classrooms and fail to properly equip them with adequate resources, those who filed and support this case shamelessly seek to blame teachers who step forward every day to make a difference for our children.
"No teacher is perfect. A very few are not worthy of the job. School districts have always had the power to dismiss those who do not measure up, and this year I helped pass a new law that streamlined the dismissal process, while protecting the rights of both teachers and students. It is disappointing that the Court refused to even consider this important reform.
"In a cruel irony, this final ruling comes as many California teachers spend countless unpaid hours preparing to start the new school year in hopes of better serving the very students this case purportedly seeks to help.
"While the statutes in this case are not under my jurisdiction as state Superintendent, it is clear that the Court's ruling is not supported by the facts or the law. Its vagueness provides no guidance about how the Legislature could successfully alter the challenged statutes to satisfy the Court. Accordingly, I will ask the Attorney General to seek appellate review."
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The California Department of Education is a state agency led by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. For more information, please visit the California Department of Education Web site or by mobile device. You may also follow Superintendent Torlakson on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Welcomes Students and Teachers Back to School


SACRAMENTO—As millions of California students, teachers, and administrators are returning to school, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson offered his top 10 tips to support student learning.
"This is going to be an exciting year of new challenges, not only for students but also schools, as we enter a new era of teaching and learning, assessments, and the way we fund schools," Torlakson said. "Our future depends on the next generation of students to lead California. To help support them so they will be prepared for college and careers, I am offering my top 10 tips."
Superintendent Torlakson's Top 10 Tips
  • Students should not only know their ABCs, but everyone should also know about the CCSS (Common Core State Standards), which is remodeling California's education system so every child will learn real-world skills that will prepare them for college and careers.
  • Hungry children don't learn. So make sure they eat a hearty breakfast before school and a nutritious lunch at school. Or take advantage of California's many nutrition programs that provide healthy meals and snacks to children.
  • When children are sick at home or partake in risky behavior, they can't learn. Find out how the state is helping children stay healthy, and avoid alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and other dangerous activities.
  • Eating nutritious food, being physically active, and well-hydrated, all help children succeed in school. Join Torlakson'sTeam California for Healthy Kids initiative to find out what you can do to help keep your kids healthy and active every day.
  • Busy parents can help their children take advantage of expanded learning opportunities outside of regular school hours, by signing them up for before and after school programs.
  • Having a stable home and dependable support system will help children feel better about themselves and will help them learn in school. Find out about services for foster youth, immigrant students, homeless children, and support for children in military families.
  • A safe school environment is more conducive to helping students learn. Find out how the state provides guidelines to administrators on providing safe schools environments for children.
  • Students speak more than a 100 languages in the California's public school system. Learn more about services to help students learn English and how the state helps schools get the word out about important notices through itsClearinghouse for Multilingual Documents.
  • Chronic absences, even among kindergarteners, is an early indicator of students dropping out of school. Learn more about how the state helps prevent dropouts and how School Attendance Review Boards help keep kids in school and learning.
  • When parents are more involved in their children's education, students perform better in school. Volunteer to help your local school and teachers. Or consider donating school supplies to teachers who often use their own money to buy paper and pencils for their students to use in their classrooms.
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
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Search the LAUSD iPad emails | scpr.org

Search the LAUSD iPad emails | scpr.org:



Search selected LA schools' emails related to the district iPad project

Produced by Annie Gilbertson & Chris Keller | Published Aug. 29, 2014



Emails obtained by KPCC through a public records request show Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy directed his staff to figure out how to incorporate Pearson PLC's software into the school system's plan to transition to the Common Core standards.
Officials with Pearson – the largest publishing company in the world – were copied on communication between Deasy and Jaime Aquino, the district's head of curriculum at the time, who expressed reservations at some of the costs and the speed with which the district was moving. Emails show Pearson weighed in on questions of how to finance software purchases.
Deasy also personally pitched Apple on working with Pearson, according to the emails.
Those meetings and conversations began nearly a year before L.A. Unified put the project out to public bid. Apple and Pearson won the contract on June 24, 2013, after committees made up of school district staff members picked them from among 19 bids.
Records and emails also show some staff members on those bid the selection committees met with Pearson executives and were among 50 staffers sent on a weekend to Palm Springs to attend a Pearson sales pitch on the software. Conference attendees were given iPads to take home.
KPCC has found inconsistencies in how district staff scored Pearson's competition for the software, and L.A. Unified lost some of the competition's scoresheets or didn’t score them at all.
KPCC reviewed more than 1,000 emails for this investigation. Below are 18 key emails among school district staff and with Pearson and Apple executives.
Click here to search using a combination of people, places and things to return documents that match the query.
 About Sources Read more
Select a document
About this: This email from Tuesday, April 17, 2012 is one in a series obtained by KPCC through a public records request that show Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy directed his staff to figure out how to incorporate Pearson PLC's software into the school system's plan to transition to the Common Core standards. As a courtesy, information that could be personal has been redacted by KPCC. Chichi Daniel works in L.A. Unified's legal department. Her email address appears at the top of each communication because she was in charge of sending the emails to KPCC.

Source: KPCC public records request to Los Angeles Unified School DistrictSearch the LAUSD iPad emails | scpr.org:
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Torlakson asks state to appeal Vergara ruling | EdSource

Torlakson asks state to appeal Vergara ruling | EdSource:



Torlakson asks state to appeal Vergara ruling

August 29, 2014 | By Jane Meredith Adams | No Comments




State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Friday asked the California attorney general to appeal the landmark court decision in Vergara vs. California, which in June struck down statutes giving California teachers firing protections and rights to tenure and seniority.
The request comes two days after Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu affirmed his ruling in a final review Wednesday, triggering the 60-day window for filing appeals.
After a two-month trial last spring in Los Angeles, Treu ruled that teacher protection laws disproportionately deny poor and minority students access to a quality public education. The judge agreed with the claims from nine students in five districts that teacher tenure and dismissal laws result in “grossly ineffective teachers” being hired and retained and that these teachers are “disproportionately situated in schools serving predominantly low-income and minority students.”
In a statement,  Torlakson said that the ruling unfairly “lays the failings of our education system” at the feet of teachers. Teachers deserve “our admiration and support,” Torlakson said.
After a two-month trial last spring in Los Angeles, Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu ruled that teacher protection laws disproportionately deny poor and minority students access to a quality public education.
“We do not fault doctors when emergency rooms are full,” Torlakson said. “We do not criticize the firefighters whose supply of water runs dry. Yet while we crowd our classrooms and fail to properly equip them with adequate resources, those who filed and support this case shamelessly seek to blame teachers who step forward every day to make a difference for our children.”
The court’s ruling “is not supported by the facts or the law,” Torlakson said, stating that he would ask Attorney General Kamala Harris to file an appeal.
The case was filed by Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Welch, who founded the group known Students Matter to pursue the case on behalf of the nine students, including Beatriz Vergara, a high school student in the Los Angeles Unified School District who is the first Torlakson asks state to appeal Vergara ruling | EdSource:
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A short blog, a big problem–can anyone help this Cami victim? | Bob Braun's Ledger

A short blog, a big problem–can anyone help this Cami victim? | Bob Braun's Ledger:



A short blog, a big problem–can anyone help this Cami victim?


 
Can anyone help this victim of Cami’s “On Newark” plan?
I know there are many such but this story struck a never because I knew a young man named Michael Davis who worked at St. Benedict’s Prep.  He lived in the South Ward and walked through Weequahic Park twice a day–in the morning on his way to work and in the evening on his way home.
On winter evening, when the sun had gone down early, he was walking through the park when someone stepped from behind a tree and shot him. The bullet severed his spone, turning this athletic young man into a quadriplegic. He was not robbed and his assailant was never found. The police assumed Michael David was the price of some young man’s entry into a gang.
I wrote about him for The Star-Ledger and got to know him well. He become a symbol of courage in the face of absolute horror and diversity–both for me and the students and employees at St. Benedict’s.
Knowing that story, read the note sent to me by a frightened mother of a Newark A short blog, a big problem–can anyone help this Cami victim? | Bob Braun's Ledger:
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Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race - The Washington Post

Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race - The Washington Post:



Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race




 The Vergara case in California, in which a judge struck down that state’s tenure laws and other job protections for teachers, is about to become a central issue in the November race for state schools chief.

The incumbent, Tom Torlakson, a Democrat, is a former legislator with strong union backing. Torlakson was named as a defendant in the Vergara case along with Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
He is facing a challenge from another Democrat, Marshall Tuck, who was president of Green Dot, a chain of public charter schools. Green Dot is one of a few charters with unionized teachers. But Tuck has sided with the plaintiffs in Vergara, calling the state’s teacher protections “a broken system.”
Their differences set up a political dilemma for Torlakson: as a defendant, does he accept the state Supreme Court ruling in the Vergara case, alienating teachers unions but robbing Tuck of ammunition? Or does he appeal the ruling, counting on the political clout of the unions to deliver for him at the ballot box?
On Friday, Torlakson cast his lot with the unions.
Read the ruling
Tenure ruling
A California judge ruled that the state's teacher tenure rules violate the civil rights of students, as the worst teachers end up in the highest-poverty schools, creating unequal conditions. Read it.
“The people who dedicate their lives to the teaching profession deserve our admiration and support. Instead, this ruling lays the failings of our education system at their feet,” he said in a statement announcing that he would seek an appeal of the Vergara decision.
“We do not fault doctors when the emergency room is full,” Torlakson said. “We do not criticize the firefighter whose supply of water runs dry. Yet Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race - The Washington Post:
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8-29-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:







Video: Captain America & Thinking Outside The Box
I’m adding this video to The Best Videos Showing “Thinking Outside The Box”:
by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h





Four New & Useful Links About Instruction
© 1995 Seattle Municipal Archives, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are several new and useful links about classroom instruction: New Study: Engage Kids with 7x the Effect is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On Student Engagement. Want to Take Over My Class? Be My Guest! is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to the same list. Encouraging student questioning is by Warren Berge
by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 


ASCD’s Ed Leadership Is Online – Here Are My Recommendations
© 2012 Steven Depolo, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio The newest issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership publication is now online, and its theme is Motivation Matters. Here are three pieces that are not behind a paywall that I would highly recommend: Rick Wormeli has a typically great article that’s titled Motivating Young Adolescents. It includes a list of “Top 12 Demotivators” that I think should be
by Larry Ferlazzo / 17min 

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
© 2013 Jinho Jung, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio I’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: Here’s How Russian, French, Portuguese, And German Native Speakers Screw Up English is from Business Insider. Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners is a w
by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 



9/11 Anniversary Is Coming Up – Here Are Related Resources
© 2001 The U.S. National Archives, Flickr | PD | via Wylio The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is coming up soon. You might be interested in The Best Sites To Help Teach About 9/11.
by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 


8-28-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: New Resources On Students & Sleep© 2011 Pink Sherbet Photography, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are some new additions to The Best Resources For Helping Teens Learn About The Importance Of Sleep: Let Them Sleep In: Docs Want Later School Times for Teens is from NBC News. Students Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep—School Sta
by mike simpson / 17min 
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information on the compensation of public employees in California Transparent California

Transparent California:







Salaries 
 

Transparent California:

Pensions 
 

Transparent California:

About Transparent California

Transparent California is provided by the California Policy Center and the Nevada Policy Research Institute as a public service.
Transparent California is dedicated to providing accurate, comprehensive and easily searchable information on the compensation of public employees in California.
Complete and accurate information is necessary to increase public understanding of government and help decision makers, including elected officials and voters, make informed decisions.
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Teachers Not Overpaid

Teachers Not Overpaid:



Labor Day Assignment: Educating the Uninformed





teachers not overpaid




 It’s Labor Day weekend, the schools have been in session about a week, and the disgruntled voices of a minority drone on. Their screeching refrain, often in letters to the editor and talk show call-ins, is familiar:

  • Teachers only work half a year.
  • Teachers are overpaid.
  • Local school districts and their taxpayers shouldn’t have to hold the burden of teacher salaries.
Often, those who complain the most are those who were average or below-average students who blame teachers, not themselves, for their mediocrity. Although most claim to be strong free-market capitalists, they believe teachers should not have much higher wages and benefits than they do, a philosophy bordering on socialism.
Let’s look at each of the claims.
First, the work year. Public school teachers generally work a 180-day school year. Each day is about six hours. That leads the uninformed to believe teachers only work half a year. But, let’s do the math. There are 365 days in a year. Subtract two days a week, which the average worker does not work, and that leaves 261 days. Next, remove 10 days of vacation; some get as many as 20 days a year, but 10 days is the usual vacation time. That leaves 251 days. Next, there are state and federal holidays, bracketed by New Year’s Day and Christmas. Generally, most businesses accept the 10 federal holidays. That leaves 241 days.
Now, the critics may claim that teachers still work 61 days less than the average worker. But let’s look at the hours. Most public school teachers may be in class only six hours a day, but they have to be at work before classes, most stay after classes to assist in extracurricular activities and then, at home in evenings and weekends, grade papers, read current information about teaching practices and their own academic specialties, and prepare lesson plans for five to seven classes. With schools shoving more students into each class, teachers don’t have the option of working less—they still have to grade papers, talk with individual students andf their parents about performance.

Public school teachers are paid about 19 percent less than professionals with similar education and experience. Some, especially in the sciences and math, may be paid less than half of what others with their backgrounds are paid.

Most teachers don’t spend the summers lying around beach houses. Summer is when most develop lesson plans for the coming academic year, attend professional conferences, and take additional college classes to keep their certification and improve their knowledge of teaching methods and their own academic disciplines.Now, let’s look at those “overpriced” teachers. The average wage of a teacher—who must have at least a college degree, and additional coursework, often a graduate degree—is about $63,000, according to the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). While this may seem generous to an overburdened taxpayer earning only $35,000 a year, it is not a wage that is comparable to those with similar education and work experience. The non-partisan Economic Policy Institute says public school teachers are paid about 19 percent less than professionals with similar education and experience. Some, especially in the sciences and math, may be paid less than half of what others with their backgrounds are paid.
Finally, taxpayers do have a valid point about the burden on local school districts. Most school funding comes from local taxpayers. When the federal stimulus funds were eliminated, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett chose not to replace it. Corbett also cut about $500 million that was not federal stimulus Teachers Not Overpaid:
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8-29-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Supporter of Public Education and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:



Wait What? 




Pelto Statement on falling short of the 7,500 signatures needed to get on the ballot

Later today, the Connecticut Secretary of State’s Office is expected to officially announce that the Jonathan Pelto/Ebony Murphy ticket did not collect the 7,500 certified signatures needed to qualify for a position on the 2014 gubernatorial ballot. On behalf of the Pelto/Murphy campaign, Jonathan Pelto has released the following statement; “We are, of course, deeply […] The post Pelto Statement o
by jonpelto / 25min


8-27-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy
Wait What?: Wait What? All Week Pelto/Murphy 2014 Barriers for 3rd party challengers are widespread – Here is a new disturbing case in MassachusettsProving that the notion that supporting the Constitution and “Protecting Freedom and Democracy” is a relative term for some people. Secretary Galvin [Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts] Sued over Rejection of Voter Signatures.  Rejection of
by mike simpson / 4min 
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