October 2009

60,000 teacher jobs restored with stimulus, educators say it's not enough

10-26-2009

By Rupa Dev and Aaron Glantz/New America Media

More than 60,000 of the 250,000 education jobs saved nationally by President Barack Obama's stimulus package were in California, according to data released this week by the California Department of Education. Community activists expressed relief over the saved jobs, but Fred Glass, spokesperson for the California Federation of Teachers, cautioned that while the stimulus package "stopped some of the bleeding," the state still had to lay off an estimated 10,000 teachers. "It's slightly better than we thought it would be," Glass said. "But that's because most of the districts depleted their reserves or found other ways to keep cuts away from the classroom ... They cut back on supplies, gardeners, school support secretaries, and food service workers." (more...)

L.A. Unified facilities chief was a key player in the school district's $20 billion school construction program.Departure of LA Unified school construction chief causes concern.

10-26-2009

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

Guy Mehula, the chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District's highly successful school construction program, has retired. A decade ago, many critics considered the program incompetent after it botched construction of a massive new school. The school district hired Mehula and other retired U.S. Navy officers with construction expertise to turn the division around. Fed by $20 billion in voter approved bonds, the division's gone on to build scores of new campuses and has garnered dozens of construction industry and design awards. Observers don’t think Mehula's departure bodes well for the future of L.A. Unified’s construction program. (more...)

Sac High turnaround can't be ignored

10-26-2009

Editorial/Sacramento Bee

Closing a school and turning it over to a nonprofit to run as a public charter school is not for the faint of heart. It requires a strong school board willing to back an inevitably controversial decision. It requires a charter organization willing to withstand withering criticism in its sensitive startup years by those tethered to the status quo. But it is an option, one among many dramatic actions that school boards and communities can take to turn around their lowest-performing schools. On these pages over time, we're featuring a number of alternatives for turning around chronically underperforming schools. (more...)

Statewide online charter school attempt angers some

10-26-2009

By Eric Louie/Contra Costa Times

A group that wants to start the first statewide kindergarten-through-12th grade online charter school has blanketed school districts throughout California — including many in the East Bay — with petitions seeking approval for its plan. The approach has upset some who say the effort is wasting public resources in a time when money is tight. "We don't support the 'throw it against the wall and see what sticks' approach," said Stephanie Farland, senior policy consultant at the California School Boards Association. Reviewing the petitions and holding the necessary public hearings is costing districts money, she said. Global Tides, an organization linked to an education group funded by the Walmart founder's Walton Family Foundation, says its Web-based charter schools will target at-risk students. (more...)

Should private money fund public schools?

10-26-2009

By Eliza Krigman/National Journal

Hard economic times have prompted public schools to look for or accept private financial support. Education Week reported that private donations are covering $18,000 of the $225,000 annual salary paid to a school superintendent in Indiana. In Boston, public schools worked with corporations, along with pro and collegiate sports teams, to boost school athletic budgets by more than 60 percent over the next three years ($4 million to $6.5 million). Even with federal stimulus dollars, which won't last forever, many schools are struggling financially and must seek alternative solutions. Should public-private partnerships be formed to shore up gaps in school budgets? Does this pose ethical concerns? (more...)

Education issues bidding for voters' attention

10-26-2009

By Erik W. Robelen/Education Week

In a relatively quiet electoral season, education is making some noise in a number of campaigns around the country, from the New York City mayoral race and New Jersey governor’s contest to ballot measures in Washington state and Maine. Voters in Maine, for instance, will consider measures with big implications for public schools, including a proposal to repeal a 2007 law requiring consolidation of many small school districts and an initiative designed to rein in state and local spending that could constrain education aid. Generating at least as much heat is an initiative that would overturn Maine’s new law allowing same-sex marriages. Those seeking to overturn the law have put out television ads suggesting it would lead to the widespread teaching of gay marriage in schools, an effect the law’s supporters dispute. (more...)

Spending, hiring freeze likely for San Diego Unified

10-26-2009

By Ana Tintocalis/KPBS

The San Diego Unified School District is expected to vote on a spending and hiring freeze for this academic year. School officials say the district is now facing an unexpected $16 million budget deficit. The trustees will vote on a district spending and hiring freeze at tomorrow's school board meeting. The action is a result of budget projections that show the district is once again in the red. District officials say the $16 million budget deficit is linked to questionable financial advice, non-budgeted expenses and overspending. Interim School Superintendent William Kowba says the district had to resort to a hiring freeze last year because of state money problems. He says the hiring freeze is not across the board. (more...)

Duncan scolds Hawaii on school furloughs

10-26-2009

By Louise Radnofsky/Wall Street Journal

Hawaii schools drew a stern rebuke from Washington on Friday, the first of 17 furlough days planned for the school year, amid concerns that billions of dollars in federal aid won't be enough to prevent further classroom cuts across the U.S. As the state awoke to "furlough Friday," Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote in an opinion piece in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper that Hawaii had taken "a step in the wrong direction." "All states are under financial pressure, but none are cutting this much learning time from their school year," Mr. Duncan wrote. "It's inconceivable to me that this is the best solution for Hawaii." Mr. Duncan pointed out that Hawaii had already received $105 million in aid from a $40 billion fund in the economic-stimulus plan designed to prop up states' education budgets, and that it was due to get another $52 million later this year. (more...)

Skills set drafted for students nationwide

09-23-2009

By Nick Anderson/Washington Post

Experts convened by the nation's governors and state schools chiefs on Monday proposed a set of math and English skills students should master before high school graduation, the first step toward what advocates hope will become common standards driving instruction in classrooms from coast to coast. The proposal aims to lift expectations for students beyond current standards, which vary widely from state to state, and establish for the first time an effective national consensus on core academic goals to help the United States keep pace with global competitors. Such agreement has proven elusive in the past because of a long tradition of local control over standards, testing and curriculum. In math, the proposal envisions that students would be able to solve systems of equations; find and interpret rates of change; and adapt probability models to solve real-world problems. (more...)

National academic standards: The first test

09-23-2009

By Editors/New York Times

The first official draft of proposed national educational standards was released on Monday, a joint project of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The curriculum guidelines detail math and English skills that all students should have by the end of high school. Forty-eight states (Texas and Alaska are the holdouts) have signed on to the effort, called the Common Core Standards Initiative, to write the standards. This is one step on a long road: there is a 30-day comment period, and then the panel convened by the governors association will work on grade-by-grade standards from kindergarten onward. What are some strengths and weaknesses of the new proposal? What are the obstacles to adopting common curriculum standards? Should this be a national goal, or should education reform efforts be directed elsewhere? (more...)

Obama's quiet success on schools

09-23-2009

Column by Ruth Marcus/Washington Post

President Obama's health-care proposals are under attack from the left and right. His bid to overhaul the financial regulatory system is foundering. His effort to institute a cap-and-trade regime to combat global warming is all but dead for the year. Beneath all this headline turmoil, Obama is overseeing a quiet upheaval in the nation's approach to education from preschool through college. I've been somewhat skeptical of the president's ability to pull this off, questioning his determination to stand up to two political giants: the student-lending lobby and teachers unions. The final results aren't in. The biggest challenge -- overhauling the No Child Left Behind law -- has no clear legislative path in sight. But when the National Education Association unloads on an Obama administration proposal to promote charter schools and teacher accountability as a "series of top-down directives," you know the administration is doing something bold. (more...)

Blinded by reform

10-26-2009

By Mike Rose/TruthDig

Mike Rose is on the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and author of “Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us.”

It’s gotten lost in the splashier news, but big things are going on at the U.S. Department of Education. Following on the unprecedented federal reach of No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration is extending further and putting serious money behind its education initiatives, inviting states and districts to compete for federal dollars. The department wants to increase the community college graduation rate. For K-12, it wants to stimulate the production of better state standards and tests, measure teacher effectiveness, turn around failing schools and increase the number of charter schools. Through a third initiative it wants to spark innovation and scale up the best of local academic programs. (more...)

Richard Dreyfuss fights for civics in American education

09-23-2009

By Maureen Cavaanugh, Josette Herdell/KPBS

In his best know roles, actor Richard Dreyfuss performed the amazing task of making smart sexy. His characters are brash, funny, neurotic and most of all, brainy. From shark expert Matt Hooper ruefully observing, "They're all gonna die," in Jaws to actor Elliot Garfield telling his new roommate he sleeps in the nude, "au buffo," in the Goodbye Girl, Richard Dreyfuss made intelligence attractive. Now, he's embarked on a new career, but once again it's all about the smarts. Richard Dreyfuss, who now lives in San Diego's North County, has been traveling the nation advocating the teaching of civics and the restoration of civil debate in America. He’s here to tell us about his passionate quest to teach Americans about America and about his role as guest of honor at the Eighth Annual San Diego Film Festival that takes place this weekend. (more...)

LAUSD cuts down on committees

09-23-2009

By Connie Llanos/Los Angeles Daily News

A divided Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to eliminate all special committees and limit public comment, but critics said the cost-cutting move comes at the expense of free and open debate at a time of huge change in the district. The 5-2 decision will save money by reducing materials and staff time associated with committees that handle issues ranging from curriculum and maintenance to school safety and charter schools. "We are in a crisis," said School Board President Monica Garcia, who proposed the plan. "And with this budget we are not only challenged to do less ... we must do things differently." The plan limits the number of speakers at a board meeting to seven on an item the board is voting on. Also under the new plan, up to 15 people can address the board during public discussion of general issues. (more...)

Veteran substitute teachers protest loss of work

09-23-2009

By Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

About 100 angry substitute teachers denounced Los Angeles teachers union president A.J. Duffy tonight at a demonstration outside the Wilshire district headquarters of United Teachers Los Angeles. The protesters were angry that Duffy had signed an agreement that could result in reduced work hours for veteran substitute teachers and put their health benefits at risk. Duffy signed the one-year agreement -- a side letter to the union contract -- in July. Details of the agreement did not emerge until more than a month later, after an inquiry from The Times. Under the agreement, 1,800 full-time teachers who were laid off this summer are given preference for open substitute jobs. In L.A. Unified there are roughly 2,200 openings for substitute teachers every day. (more...)

Local schools struggle with federal guidelines

09-23-2009

By Amanda Baumfeld/San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Forty-five percent of San Gabriel Valley schools have failed to meet federal standards known as Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, for two consecutive years in English or math, officials said. But even with the difficulty of obtaining AYP, some educators feel the goals set-forth by No Child Left Behind are necessary. "It's forced us to come up with different strategies," said Superintendent Mark Skvarna of the Baldwin Park Unified School District. "At first it appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to education, but I actually think its woken us up a little bit. It's better for public education." Getting AYP students in subgroups including English Language Learners, Special Education and Low-income needs to reach federal goals is ultimately where many schools struggle. "Every subgroup has to have that same increase," said Vincent Jantz, director of student achievement for Azusa Unified. "But if one group fails, you've failed to meet AYP." (more...)

UCLA volunteers fan out across city

09-23-2009

Blog by Larry Gordon/Los Angeles Times

Brush in hand, UCLA junior Jacob Castaneda was hard at work Tuesday, spreading a fresh coat of brown paint on the exterior of a classroom bungalow at Samuel Gompers Middle School. He was among an army of about 4,600 UCLA volunteers who came to the South Los Angeles campus and seven other spots around the region for a day of community service. "It's always nice to reach out to the community and it's always great to help out kids," said Castaneda, a Mid-City resident who recently transferred to UCLA from Santa Monica College. "We need to take the time to give a hand to kids who are without." In what UCLA officials hope will become an annual event, Volunteer Day brought fresh paint, trash removal and gardening help to five public schools, as well as to Griffith Park, Point Dume State Beach and the veterans hospital and cemetery on the city's Westside. (more...)

SF school board weighs in on sanctuary city policy

09-23-2009

Blog by Jill Tucker/San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco school board jumped into the city's illegal immigrant debate Tuesday night, officially chastising city officials for reporting "undocumented students" to immigration and customs officials. The approved resolution, sponsored by board President Kim-Shree Maufas and board member Jane Kim, calls on the elected officials to amend a city ordinance so that youth receive "due process in juvenile court" before they are referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "The Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District believes that reporting a student's immigration status to ICE may create a chilling effect on access to public education in the City and County of San Francisco, deterring some parents from sending their children to school for fear that their children may be prosecuted by ICE and deported." (more...)

Boca Raton considers seizing control of its schools

09-23-2009

By Marc Freeman/South Florida Sun Sentinel

Boca Raton's 10 public schools are a showcase of A-rated education. You'll find some of Palm Beach County's most desired campuses, high-tech learning and award-winning teachers. Yet city leaders and some parents say they'd like nothing better than to break away from the county school district and seize local control. The push to secede comes from frustration with recent mandates, including the removal of the traditional one-teacher model and new homework rules in elementary schools. Tonight, the City Council will vote on sanctioning a study into converting Boca Raton's public schools into charter schools run by the city. A report is due in eight months, which could be followed by parents and teachers voting at each school. (more...)

Too many Black students still not passing exit exam

09-14-2009

By Cynthia Griffin/Our Weekly

“I am pleased to see that the results show that California’s high school students are continuing to meet the challenge of higher expectations,” said State Superintendent Jack O’Connell recently, as he reviewed the results of the 2008-09 California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). The superintendent noted that by the end of their senior year, about 90.6% of the Class of 2009, had successfully passed the English language arts and math portions of the CAHSEE. This is up from 90.4% for the Class of 2008. In addition, O’Connell touted the fact that an estimated 658 students from the class of 2006 (the first graduating class required to pass the Exit Exam), an estimated 1,113 students from the Class of 2007, and about 5,233 more students from the Class of 2008 continued to take and had passed the exit exam by May 2009. (more...)

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