Themes in the News

Miramonte Struggles: What Can the Rest of Us Do?

02-10-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Themes in the News for the week of Feb. 6-10, 2012

Miramonte Elementary School has been through hell for the last two weeks, and for many children and adults the pain will not be forgotten. The school has suffered the unnerving realization that students were abused, and trust in the school and in the school system has eroded. An entirely new workforce has stepped in halfway through the year adding to the students’ educational upheaval.

When news broke last week, we learned that a longtime teacher who had been under investigation and out of the classroom for about a year was arrested. He has been charged with 23 felony counts of lewd acts on children. Shortly after, a second teacher was arrested and charged with three counts of lewd acts.

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s response was swift and drastic. The school was closed for two days and Superintendent John Deasy said the entire school staff would be replaced pending an investigation. “I can’t have any more surprises at Miramonte,” he said (KPCC).

Deasy’s actions have been widely discussed and argued, and they have been met with both praise and criticism from parents (Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, This Week in Education). The move is a costly one with the district spending $5.7 million to transfer 85 teachers and 40 support staff, and hire replacements (Los Angeles Times). Plus, there’s the cost of potential litigation and teacher grievances.

Many who question the mass transfer have said that a trusted teacher, rather than a new one, is best suited to help students through this experience and return a sense of normalcy to their education. Teachers’ union president Warren Fletcher said, "We resent it when this community and these parents have their children's education deeply disrupted for no other purpose than to deflect criticism from an administration that failed to do its job" (Los Angeles Times). But many teachers and others are less inclined to lay blame on the administration—looking instead to broad, structural challenges that Miramonte and other schools face.

Miramonte is located in Florence, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County with high poverty and a largely Latino population. It is one of the few remaining year-round track schools in the district, and it enrolls almost 1,500 students (down from a high of more than 2,100 just a few years ago). That is almost three times the statewide elementary school average of 555. In other words, the school is overcrowded, more difficult to manage and supervise, and has greater unmet needs than schools in more affluent communities. These conditions did not cause the tragedy, but better conditions might, just might, have prevented it.

Across the state, generally, Californians can’t do much to heal the emotional disruptions of the student victims or their families. But they can act to give all schools adequate space, manageable size, and sufficient, responsible supervision.

Facebook IPO Windfall Won't Bail Out California Schools

02-03-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Week of Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2012

Download PDF version

Two weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown announced that California was “on the mend,” news surfaced that the state will run out of money by March. On Tuesday, state Controller John Chiang said California needed to borrow $3 billion just to keep priority programs running (Sacramento Bee). It was discouraging news after a brief sigh of relief. But is there another lifeboat being floated?

Immediately after Facebook announced it would go public, some folks got to work and figured out how many tax dollars the IPO sale would bring in. The Menlo Park social-networking giant’s massive transaction would generate a one-time tax windfall for the state—very rough estimates are $500 million. Some Republican legislators, who oppose raising taxes, have suggested that the capital gains revenue could fill budget gaps and stem cuts to public education (Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor).

What are voters to make of the bad-news/good-news rollercoaster? Although an unexpected boost in tax revenues is welcome, it could become a misleading distraction from Brown’s tax-hike initiative designed to prevent, according to Brown, billions in additional cuts to education. In other words, if voters believe that a crisis has been averted, will they vote for a more significant (albeit still temporary) solution?

California needs to approve additional taxes this fall, but it also needs comprehensive tax reform for sustained, long-term revenue for public sectors such as k-12 education. Across the state, the public education system continues to show signs of strain from underfunding. Districts will not be funded for transitional kindergarten—an especially serious blow now that California moved up the date of eligibility for kindergarteners (Sacramento Bee). School bus transportation got a reprieve from immediate cuts—but that was a narrow escape from huge mid-year disruptions (San Francisco Chronicle). Some are proposing that the state requirement for students to take two years of high school science be reduced to one year. In response, Santa Rosa School Board member Frank Pugh commented, “I hope the public really understands — they are dismantling, day-by-day, public education” (Santa Rosa Press Democrat).

An indicator of how desperate finances are comes from Los Angeles Unified School District. The entire early childhood education, adult education, and elementary arts education programs are on the cutting block in order to close a $600 million deficit (Los Angeles Times, LAist). Well-meaning private efforts to fill the gaps highlight the depth of the shortfall. The Wasserman Foundation donated $4 million for gift cards that parents and community members could use to fund basic classroom supplies and needed high-tech equipment through DonorsChoose.org. The money was meant to last two years. It lasted 12 weeks (Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News).

While millions of schoolchildren attend California classrooms lacking the most basic necessities, a fortunate few stand to reap millions when Facebook goes public. The real lesson from Facebook’s IPO is not that our schools will be saved from an unexpected windfall. Rather, the lesson is that California is home to enormous wealth. We need not educate our students amidst a climate of scarcity.

Looking for the “Common” in “Common Sense”

01-26-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 23-27, 2012

Download PDF version

In his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama grappled with America’s need to solve important challenges in the midst of incivility and lack of shared focus. Obama drew comparisons with America’s Armed Forces, whose successes in the field depend on placing the mission ahead of individual interests: “Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.” Later in his speech, he added, “We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common-sense ideas.”

Of course, one party’s “common-sense ideas” can be another party’s horrible ideas—which makes those ideas not at all common and nowhere near a consensus. The challenge is to identify what is truly common once one gets past the rhetorical generalities of our desires for a strong economy, fair taxation, innovative business climate, educational opportunities, and so forth.

Closer to home, California schools continue to be wracked by the pitched battles among stakeholders who have decidedly different notions of common sense. With this climate in mind, a new study from UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) looks for promising consensus-building common ideas that may be obscured in the daily acrimony over strategies and proposals.

In Finding Common Ground in Education Values, IDEA researchers interviewed 50 influential Californians about their thoughts on the purposes of public education. The individuals included state legislators and legislative staff from both political parties, business and labor leaders, and representatives of civic organizations. Though they came from disparate political and ideological backgrounds, the white paper reveals strong points of agreement.

For example, respondents thought that “powerful learning” depended on personalized teacher-student interactions; respondents favored teaching that draws upon student interest and is project-based; they valued learning that can be used outside of classrooms. Experiences with technology, teamwork, problem-solving, analytic skills and civic participation were valued as inherently worthwhile rather than as means to other ends. Each of the values represents a productive starting point from which to develop not only “solutions,” but to gain the mutual trust and political climate needed to realize those solutions. Significantly, almost all of the survey respondents said that the current education system does not support these values.

The values reported in the white paper resonate with Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent comments about the need for California to develop new forms of accountability that do not rely exclusively on standardized tests (Washington Post). But, more than that, the white paper brings attention to what California schools should be doing and why this matters.

In closing his address, Obama said: “As long as we are joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.” Building such resolve and purpose in education policy requires common education values that are not so lofty as to defy disagreement and not so specific as to immediately draw oppositional boundaries. Common values have to reside in the body of our deliberations, not just in the introduction and conclusion of our speeches.

Brown: "I Believe it is Time to Reduce the Number of Tests"

01-20-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 16-20, 2012

Download PDF version

In his State of the State address Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown acknowledged that “the house of education is divided by powerful forces and strong emotions.” Nowhere have those forces and emotions stirred more distraction and waste than in the passion for high-stakes standardized testing.

Brown spoke of local control and his belief that schools and districts know best how to help students by using assessments wisely: “To me that means, we should set broad goals and have a good accountability system, leaving the real work to those closest to the students.” Brown noted that standardized tests—which are not local, but statewide or national—can draw attention and resources from local decisions and teaching. The governor wants to dial down the disproportionate energies spent on tests: “I believe it is time to reduce the number of tests and get the results to teachers, principals and superintendents in weeks, not months. With timely data, principals and superintendents can better mentor and guide teachers as well as make sound evaluations of their performance. I also believe we need a qualitative system of assessments…” (Thoughts on Public Education, Washington Post, Education Week).

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson was heartened by Brown’s comments: “Like many teachers, I have long argued that students need to spend more time learning and less time taking exams” (CDE).

Sue Burr, executive director of the State Board of Education, agreed, noting that standardized tests have narrowed curriculum to English language arts and mathematics. “While those are critically important, we can’t ignore history. We can’t ignore science. We can’t ignore civics. We can’t ignore the arts” (Sacramento Bee).

Historian Diane Ravitch, speaking across the state, is broadly critical of standardized tests; but she does believe they are useful for diagnostic purposes. Ravitch cautions against high stakes use of tests and favors “a full curriculum, with arts and dramatics and libraries. All those things matter.” Testing, she believes, focuses attention on “what’s your number” (or score on the test) and away from meaningful instruction and learning (Lodi News-Sentinel).

Gov. Brown’s speech has set a promising tone. Policymakers and stakeholders need to continue the conversation about the effects of standardized tests, asking how tests that focus on math and literacy affect other courses such as foreign language and the arts; and asking educators to produce alternate assessments that support authentic learning.

Guidance for improving California’s tests is close at hand. In a 2010 white paper, Linda Darling-Hammond outlined key benchmarks for a quality student-assessment system:

Address the depth and breadth of standards as well as all areas of the curriculum, not just those that are easy to measure
Consider and include all students as an integral part of the design process, anticipating their particular needs and encouraging all students to demonstrate what they know and can do
Honor the research indicating that students learn best when given challenging content and provided with assistance, guidance, and feedback on a regular basis
Employ a variety of appropriate measures, instruments, and processes at the classroom, school, and district levels, as well as the state level. These include multiple forms of assessment and incorporate formative as well as summative measures
Engage teachers in scoring student work based on shared targets.

"Rights of Youth...Imperiled...Violated"

01-13-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 9-13, 2012

Download PDF version

Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his proposed budget proposal last week, and Californians are responding with large doses of shock, fear, anger and a pinch of wary optimism. The budget, if it can be realized, would provide some relief, but conditions to support a positive scenario are uncertain.

Brown’s proposal assumes a $9.2 billion deficit, a much smaller deficit than last year’s $26 billion. Also, he plans to increase funding by $8.3 billion to more than $94 billion. Schools would receive more funding compared to this year’s budget—$52.5 billion (San Francisco Chronicle). Brown also laid out a set of ideas that would distribute school funds based on need, providing districts serving a large proportion of low-income students with almost $3,000 more per student (Thoughts on Public Education).

However, all these hopes are pegged to a November initiative to raise taxes. Brown plans on the measure raising $6.9 billion, but the Legislative Analyst’s Office recently cautioned that the amount could be less than $5 billion (Los Angeles Times). It is this gamble and what hangs in the balance—$4.8 billion in cuts from public schools—that have many questioning the governor’s tactics.

This uncertain funding climate is familiar to schools, and the uncertainty is enormously inefficient and costly. Uncertainty affects the school climate and diminishes the effective use of funds—current and future funds—beyond the actual size of the budget. To act responsibly, school personnel and communities must act as if the tax measure will fail and there will be no new money.

How do schools prepare, in the midst of the current crisis, for new devastation if the measure doesn’t pass? How damaging to students? How many days of instruction to cut? How crowded to make the classrooms? How many teachers and staff will districts send notices to that layoffs are in the works? Many are concerned, even if the measure does pass, schools will still be forced to cut (Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee). The "best case" scenario presented by Brown will leave California schools with less funding than 2007, and far less than schools in almost every other state. New funding would not be a lasting solution to California’s dysfunctional school funding system—just a temporary slowing of the constant flow of cuts.

The proposed tax measure will keep California schools on life support; not passing it will pull the plug. Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy told the school board that there could be thousands of layoffs and months cut out of the school year in order to close a $543 million gap.

“Quite simply we’ve reached the point where there is not a single solitary thing in this budget that can and should be reduced. I actually believe, at this point, that the rights of youth are completely imperiled, if not outright violated…” he said (KPCC).

2012: The Year of College Affordability?

01-06-2012

by UCLA IDEA

Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 3-6, 2012

Download PDF version

Last month the Obama administration signaled that it is paying attention to the increasing problem of college affordability, especially for middle-income families. Vice President Joe Biden discussed the reality for many parents: “There’s more parents tonight who are going to go to bed staring at the ceiling literally wondering about, whether your mother is going to have to tell you… ‘you can’t go back next semester, we don’t have the money’” (Huffington Post).

Those worries are already familiar to Californians, who have witnessed seemingly endless tuition and fee increases at all of its public institutions—University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges. In the past three years, the UCs, Cal States and community colleges have been devastated by hundreds of millions in budget cuts. Last year, UCs and Cal States dealt with a $650 million shortfall followed by another $100 million in midyear cuts (Thoughts on Public Education, San Francisco Chronicle). On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown said to prepare for up to $200 million more cuts for UCs and Cal States unless additional revenues can be generated through a November ballot initiative (Sacramento Bee).

For students, budget cuts mean increased tuition, more competition for admission from out-of-state students (who pay much higher tuition and are favored by some budget watchers), and fewer courses and services once enrolled (often entailing a costly fifth year to achieve a four-year degree). The pace at which tuition has increased is alarming. In November, anticipating midyear “trigger cuts,” Cal State trustees voted on a 10-percent tuition hike, its ninth fee increase in as many years (Thoughts on Public Education).

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, public four-year college tuition more than tripled in western states in the last 30 years (US News). And according to the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, California public four-year universities had the highest percentage increase in in-state tuition and fees for the 2011-12 year (Neon Tommy).

Responding to higher college costs, students are borrowing more and ending college with more debt. “A Berkeley education is still a bargain, in terms of lifetime earnings, but that’s a small comfort to a middle-class who can’t afford it, or to a student who has to take out a burdensome loan,” said Robert Reich, a Berkeley professor and former U.S. labor secretary (Washington Post).

Though all sectors are impacted, many middle-class families are no longer confident that they can pay for their children’s education without extraordinary sacrifice, if at all. Middle-class families typically do not qualify for financial assistance available to California’s poor. At UC Berkeley, the proportion of middle-class students—those whose families earn between $80,000 and $140,000—has declined while low- and high-income student populations have grown. In response, Berkeley officials decided to cap the amount middle-class families pay at 15 percent of their household income.

The cost and scarcity of college opportunities raises the risk of different classes pitting their interests against each other. For example, the California Dream Act, which went into effect this month, provides access to public and private scholarships for a group of low-income, primarily undocumented immigrant students who previously had no chance for financial help. It would be sad if these students had added to their vulnerable legal and social status the enmity of others whose educational opportunities were also becoming increasingly jeopardized. Collective efforts to ensure affordable college for low- and middle-income families offer the best hope for avoiding social-class resentment and expanding opportunity. Ultimately, the way to protect the middle class is to grow the middle class.