History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
April 2010
Brooklyn school scores high despite poverty
- 04-26-2010
-
By Sharon Otterman/New York Times
To ace the state standardized tests, which begin on Monday, Public School 172 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, finds money for coaches in writing, reading and math. Teachers keep detailed notes on each child, writing down weaknesses and encouraging them to repeat tasks. There is after-school help and Saturday school. But at the start of this school year, seven or eight students were still falling behind. So the school hired a speech therapist who could analyze why they and other students stumbled in language. A psychologist produced detailed assessments and recommendations. A dental clinic staffed by Lutheran Medical Center opened an office just off the fourth-grade classrooms, diagnosing toothaches, a possible source of distraction, and providing free cleanings. (more...)
Capo strike closely watched across state
- 04-26-2010
-
By Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale/Orange County Register
Education communities across the state have watched closely as teachers in Orange County's second-largest school district walked picket lines for two days last week. But while other cash-strapped districts are dealing with the same stalled negotiations with their teachers unions, experts say the strike in the Capistrano Unified School District was largely the product of years of aggressive politicking unmatched by most districts. About 100 school districts across the state, including three in Orange County, are at impasse with their teachers unions – unable to hash out an employment contract, and with the state assigning mediators to each. That's four times the average of districts at impasse each year, according to the Sacramento-based school-finance consulting firm School Services of California. (more...)
Trouble ahead for new stimulus bill
- 04-26-2010
-
Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has proposed spending an additional $23 billion to prevent thousands of teacher layoffs across the country. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan blessed the idea in testimony before Congress earlier this month, warning of an “educational catastrophe.” Last December, the U.S. House approved the money and has been waiting since for Senate action. But if Dianne Feinstein’s conditional support is any indication on how the Senate may lean – and her position often is a telltale sign – then school districts shouldn’t bank on getting the money. Feinstein issued a one-paragraph statement last week, in which she called for offsetting any additional spending with cuts in other parts of the federal budget. (more...)
When the system works
- 04-26-2010
-
Editorial/New York Times
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has vowed to press states to remake the 5,000 or so chronically failing schools that account for about half of the nation’s dropouts and usually serve — or more to the point fail to serve — the poorest children. A $4 billion school improvement fund is intended to give states the help and the incentive to turn these schools around. Piecemeal plans that evaporate once the grant money is spent won’t do the job. Only comprehensive, districtwide approaches deserve to be financed. Local administrators — and the Department of Education in Washington — should be paying close attention to what is happening in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. (more...)
States expect revenue rise, though recovery pace slow
- 04-26-2010
-
By Lesli A. Maxwell/Education Week
The steep, recession-driven slide in state revenues—a crucial piece of the education funding infrastructure—is showing signs of easing slightly, though fiscal experts warn it will still be several years before most state budgets return to their prerecession health. For the 2011 fiscal year, nearly every state is projecting that revenues—generated mostly from personal-income and general sales-tax collections—will exceed current-year levels, although the increases in many states will be “razor thin,” according to a new report that examines fiscal conditions in the states. But even as revenues bottom out and begin a modest uptick, mounting spending pressures, along with the tapering-off of federal economic-stimulus aid, mean that most states are likely to be grappling with budget shortfalls for at least the next two or three years, warns the report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. (more...)
Last teacher in, first out? City has another idea
- 04-26-2010
-
By Jennifer Medina/New York Times
With New York City schools planning for up to 8,500 layoffs, new teachers like Mr. Borock, and half a dozen others at his school, could be some of the ones most likely to be let go. That has led the schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, into a high-stakes battle with the teachers’ union to overturn seniority rules that have been in place for decades. Facing the likelihood of the largest number of layoffs in more than a generation, Mr. Klein and his counterparts around the country say that the rules, which require that the most recently hired teachers be the first to lose their jobs, are anachronistic. In an era of accountability, they say, the rules will upend their efforts of the last few years to recruit new teachers, improve teacher performance and reward those who do best. (more...)
With nowhere else to cut, teachers are next to go
- 04-26-2010
-
By Larry Abramson/NPR
Tens of thousands of teachers across the country could receive pink slips in the next few weeks. After cutting their budgets to the bone and exhausting millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds, school districts have resorted to staff cuts to balance their budgets. New Jersey, California and Illinois are among the hardest-hit states. Scott Simon, host: This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. Im Scott Simon. School districts across the country say they're facing teacher layoffs of historic proportions. If that sounds like a headline from last year, it was. But in 2009 the stimulus package saved many education jobs. Now most of that rescue money is gone, and more than 100,000 teachers stand to lose their jobs. (more...)
Capistrano teachers to continue strike
- 04-26-2010
-
Los Angeles Daily News
Striking teachers in the Capistrano Unified School District will be back on the picket line today, as talks between the teachers and the district ended last night without a resolution, a union spokesman said. Talks are set to resume at 11 a.m., but the teachers plan to continue their strike until a resolution is reached, said Bill Guy of the California Teachers Association. The teachers want a commitment from the school board that a 10.1 percent pay cut imposed by the board will be temporary. About 90 percent of the district's 2,200 teachers went on strike Thursday, picketing all 56 schools. (more...)
School furloughs leave parents in the lurch
- 04-26-2010
-
By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News
Desperate to balance their budgets, school districts on the Peninsula and in the South Bay are increasingly turning to furloughs. But faced with no-school days at unconventional times, parents are scrambling for child care, worrying about how their children will remember square roots and feeling left out of the decision-making. While a handful of districts, including San Jose Unified, began furlough days last year, hundreds more statewide are proposing the unpaid leaves as they struggle with their worst budget crunch in decades. If labor unions agree, millions of schoolchildren will get from one to five fewer days of school in the 2010-11 academic year. In scheduling, districts follow no pattern: some, like San Jose Unified, plan an entire week off, Oct. 4-8. Others, like Jefferson Union High School District in Daly City, moved up the end of school—the last day of school this year will be May 28, and next year likewise will be four days short, Associate Superintendent Steve Fuentes said. (more...)
Music lessons build brainpower
- 04-26-2010
-
Column by Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times
To those who suggest, as many do, that my brain doesn't seem to function very effectively at times, I know exactly what's wrong with me. And I blame my parents. Never during my upbringing did I hear the words that so many millions of children dread: "You're going to take piano lessons, and you're going to like them." My parents never played any instruments, and the only music in my house was TV-show theme songs. Sure, there were music classes in my Northern California schools, but with no encouragement or curiosity, I missed the boat. So what does any of that have to do with my limited brainpower? (more...)
Pre-K rules for ELLs would break ground nationally
- 04-26-2010
-
By Mary Ann Zehr/Education Week
Questions are being raised about proposed regulations that would impose the same requirements on Illinois school districts about educating English-learners at the preschool level as for older students. The Illinois board of education is poised to adopt those regulations next month. Should the board do so, it is believed that Illinois would have the most prescriptive regulations in the nation for ELLs in preschool. Accountability provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act don’t apply to preschoolers. “We’ve been very proud [of Illinois education] on two fronts, the transitional bilingual education that we provide our students and our early-childhood-education programs,” said Jesse Ruiz, the chairman of the Illinois school board. The proposed ELL regulations would bring the two strengths together, he said, to ensure that preschoolers get the support they need. (more...)
Schools try fundraisers to save music, sports, small classes
- 04-26-2010
-
By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News
The turnout was small but the enthusiasm huge as musicians — young and younger — put out their collective hats to raise money Sunday for music and other programs in the Alum Rock Union School District. The sparse attendance at the fundraiser, which featured the Alum Rock Jazz Band and the Funk Train Xpress, a rhythm-and-blues/soul group that includes Alum Rock band alumni, illustrated the challenges facing schools, especially those serving Silicon Valley's poor. Although several dozen people showed up, the $20 requested donation deterred many low-income parents in East Side communities served by Alum Rock, sponsors said. And other events on a busy weekend competed for the residents' time. From PTAs to school district foundations, groups are staging fundraisers to try to stave off the wolf at schoolhouse doors, as California schools draw up their 2010-11 budgets and face the deepest cuts in decades. (more...)
SB City Unified's number of poor kids ranks at top
- 04-27-2010
-
By James Rufus Koren/San Bernardino Sun
The school district has more poor students than any other large school district in California, a fact that academics and district leaders say is at least partly responsible for the district's chronic low performance. But with existing resources, it's not clear what more the San Bernardino City Unified School District can do to ease the problems poverty creates, raise student test scores and put poor students on an even playing field with their more affluent peers. "Poverty is at least one of the components that affects how well students do in school," said Superintendent Arturo Delgado. "But that's not an indicator that kids can't learn." Last school year, more than 45,000 students - nearly 83percent of the district's 54,727 total students - qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. (more...)
Needs of 'whole child' may factor in ESEA renewal
- 04-27-2010
-
By Alyson Klein/Education Week
As Congress gears up for renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, lawmakers and the Obama administration are seeking to address a perennial complaint: that the current version of the law, the No Child Left Behind Act, places too much emphasis on students’ test scores and pays little attention to their health and other needs. And at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee last week, lawmakers agreed that the idea of educating “the whole child” encompasses a wide range of support services, which advocates are hoping could be reflected in the rewrite of the ESEA. Those include dental and mental health, as well as programs aimed at providing prekindergarten and library services, summer and after-school enrichment, mentoring, college counseling, and increased parent and community involement. (more...)
The truth about K-12 teacher tenure
- 04-27-2010
-
Blog by Jeanette DeMain/A Hard Day's Blog
It's a subject that can make even the most progressive person hem and haw just a little. People who are otherwise die-hard union supporters often distance themselves from it. It drives conservatives absolutely nuts. And I find that it's one of the more misunderstood concepts around. I'm talking about K-12 public school teacher tenure. (As opposed to higher ed tenure, which is an altogether different animal.) The number one myth surrounding K-12 teacher tenure is that it means that a teacher has a job for life. If you can find me a tenure law that guarantees that, then I'll...actually, you can't find a tenure law that guarantees that, so I'm not even going to bother making any promises. (more...)
Policy guide to prep and pepper candidates
- 04-27-2010
-
Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess
Just in time for the silly season, the university-based, independent research center PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) has released Reforming Education in California: A Guide for Candidates and Citizens, a 23-page plan for fixing K-12 schools. While not breaking any new ground, it makes smart recommendations in four critical policy areas that budget-fixated candidates for the Legislature and for school board should be thinking about. Needless to say, gubernatorial candidates should, too, though you’d never guess that from the impoverished level of debate thus far. (more...)
Capistrano Unified teacher strike is over
- 04-27-2010
-
By Scott Martindale/Orange County Register
A five-day standoff between the Capistrano Unified School District and its teachers union ended late Monday, with the two sides coming to a tentative agreement that ends teacher picketing. Teachers will all return to their classrooms Tuesday morning. Teachers, parents and students yell slogans at the San Clemente Community Center after a march from North Beach as part of the teachers strike against the Capistrano Unified School District. “We are really, really happy for our teachers and our schools, to have our family back together again,” school board President Anna Bryson said of the agreement that was reached about 11:30 p.m. “It’s a really wonderful feeling to know our kids will have their teachers.” (more...)
Political war continues to rage in Capistrano Unified School District
- 04-27-2010
-
By Rachana Rathi/Los Angeles Times
For years, Capistrano Unified was the picture of a quiet, upper-middle-class, high-performing school district. Students in the south Orange County district still do well academically, but the adults have waged a loud political war for more than half a decade. And they show no signs of stopping. Last week, the teachers went on strike over a 10% pay cut. The school board wants to make at least part of that cut permanent; the teachers union has accepted the cut for this contract year but contends any extension should be open to negotiation. And that's just the latest dust-up. On one side of the divide is the Committee to Reform CUSD, which five years ago moved to oust the old school board and superintendent — and succeeded. On the other is a new group, Parents for Local Control, and the teachers union, the Capistrano Unified Education Assn. (more...)
Teacher incentives, easier firing backed
- 04-27-2010
-
By Connie Llanos/Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Unified officials should have the power to reward some teachers with incentive pay and fire others for underperformance, according to a long-awaited report being presented to the school board today. Many of the recommendations in the report require changes to state law or major negotiations with employee unions that could take months or years. But the 24-page document contains some suggestions that can be implemented by the board immediately, paving the way for perhaps the biggest ever overhaul of the district's teacher evaluation process. "There are a lot of things we've needed to do better for a very long time to be able to guarantee every student in this district an amazing and effective teacher," said LAUSD school board member Yolie Flores. (more...)
Immigration and Arizona schools
- 04-27-2010
-
By Claus von Zastrow/Public School Insights
Arizona's new immigration law has caused quite a stir. It allows police to question anyone if they "reasonably suspect" that person is in the country illegally. (Does that mean that people who have dark hair or speak with an accent will have to produce papers on demand?) This law could have a big impact on schools. The Arizona School Boards Association worries that it could have a "chilling effect that will make some parents hesitant to send their children to school, even if those children are eligible to attend Arizona public schools." Schools often find themselves on the front lines of new immigration policies. Their mission to serve every child can become all the more difficult in a climate of fear and suspicion. The misguided belief that schools can somehow serve as field offices for Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't help. (more...)
Vermont will not seek federal education grant
- 04-27-2010
-
By Lisa Rathke/Boston Globe
Vermont will not seek millions of dollars in a federal grant program aimed at improving failing schools, joining a handful of states in dropping out of the "Race to the Top" program despite strapped budgets. The competitive grant requires states to link teacher pay to student performance and invest in charter schools, which would require policy and legislative changes in Vermont, commissioner Armando Vilaseca said Monday. After spending hundreds of hours reviewing the application and program, the state will not apply, Vilaseca said. "When we look at it realistically with limited resources we have to make sure we put our energies and our efforts into places that we know we can be successful in and that fit what the direction of Vermont education is moving in," Vilaseca said. (more...)
Recruiting blitz on even as teachers await layoffs
- 04-27-2010
-
By Emily Richmond/Las Vegas Sun
Here’s one of the paradoxes facing the Clark County School District: Even as hundreds of teachers await word on whether their positions are being eliminated, recruiters are on a nationwide hunt to fill hundreds of critical, hard-to-fill jobs. Among them are 19 math, 27 science and 22 special education teaching jobs at the middle school level, and 32 math, 28 science and 43 special ed teaching positions at the high school level. Those numbers are expected to increase this summer as teachers quit, retire or move up to administrative positions. Filling those vacancies isn’t as easy as shuffling the existing pool of teachers, because not everyone is qualified for the high-need areas, nor does everyone want those jobs. (more...)
California takes new tack in bid for U.S. school funding
- 04-28-2010
-
By Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times
California has a new strategy to win a high-profile federal grant for school reform: Three large districts, including Los Angeles Unified, will apply for those competitive dollars. The state lost out in the first round of competition for a share of the $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants, held in March. Its application was opposed by about three-fourths of the state's teacher unions, and about half of the school districts also refused to sign on. In the last few weeks, state leaders have been lobbied by federal officials who have argued that California should not back away from applying for the second round of funding. The Obama administration has made Race to the Top a major initiative aimed at pressuring school districts to adopt many of its favored reforms. (more...)
A common-sense educator
- 04-28-2010
-
Editorial/Los Angeles Times
It's not entirely clear why the framers of California's Constitution decided that the state superintendent of public instruction should be elected rather than appointed. It is especially mystifying considering that the state Board of Education, which sets policy and enacts regulations, is appointed, while the elected superintendent is tasked with carrying out those policies — the opposite of how things are done in all local school districts. In addition, the state has an appointed secretary of education, whose main job is to advise the governor. In other words, if the governance structure for California schools made more sense, we wouldn't be endorsing a candidate for state superintendent. But there it is: The nonpartisan position is important — it calls for overseeing the state's single most expensive responsibility — and there are 12 candidates vying for it. (more...)
Student test score data proposed to evaluate L.A. teachers
- 04-28-2010
-
By Jason Song/Los Angeles Times
Teachers union officials strongly opposed recommendations made to the Los Angeles school board Tuesday that call for using student test score data to evaluate instructors. The suggestions came from a task force comprising Los Angeles Unified School District administrators, principals, teachers and union leaders that was created shortly before The Times published a series of articles last May examining the difficulties in firing and evaluating teachers. The task force made several proposals, including giving more money to high-performing teachers willing to work in hard-to-staff schools, waiting up to four years before granting tenure to teachers and requiring principals and local superintendents to vouch for an instructor before they receive tenure, and revamping the evaluation process to include student test scores and parent and teacher feedback. (more...)
Should student scores be used to evaluate teachers?
- 04-28-2010
-
Blog by Diane Ravitch/Education Week
I am just back from travels that started in Boston, moved on to Chicago, then to Los Angeles and San Francisco. This week I will be in Dallas and Denver. Wherever I go, I meet many teachers who say virtually the same thing: They have never been more demoralized in their professional lives. They feel that they are scapegoats for everything that is wrong in American education. Arne Duncan and Barack Obama, even more than Margaret Spellings and George W. Bush, are giving credibility to the idea that 100 percent of students should be proficient, that teachers are to blame when test scores are not 100 percent proficient, that teachers use students' poverty as just an excuse for their bad teaching, and that firing teachers is laudable and courageous. Teachers say that they worked hard to elect Obama, and they now feel betrayed by his negative attitudes about teachers. (more...)
Can "bad" schools teach us good things?
- 04-28-2010
-
Blog by Claus von Zastrow/Public School Insights
Here's a message that rings out loud and clear in the current debate on school reform: If we can learn anything from struggling schools, it's what not to do. Those schools teach lessons about indifference, fecklessness and bull-headed resistance to change. It's best to wipe the slate very, very clean. That is a counter-productive view of things. Struggling schools may be doing some things quite well, things that could anchor or enhance future turnaround strategies. More successful schools may be doing some things quite badly, and we can learn from their shortcomings. But our ideologies compel us to draw a thick, dark line between success and failure, which blinds us to the richer lessons we could be drawing from our experience. (more...)
Strike was symptom of long-term distrust
- 04-28-2010
-
By Scott Martindale/Orange County Register
Capistrano Unified School District teachers are proclaiming victory after three days of striking, saying "we can hold our heads high." District officials, meanwhile, are touting a tentative settlement agreement reached with teachers late Monday as “providing consistency and stability” for Orange County’s second-largest school district. Kids make their way back to school to Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo on Tuesday after the Capistrano Unified teacher ended. "It feels good," said Principal Charles Salter. "It's nice to have everybody back in the fold." But the long-term impacts of the five-day standoff over a 10.1 percent pay cut are probably best described in less rosy terms, observers say. The picketing, the angst, the anger all may be signs of a school community nowhere close to healing, and the fleeting jubilation both sides are feeling in the wake of Monday’s tentative settlement may simply revert to distrust and discontent in the days ahead. (more...)
New downsizing details for the Oakland school district
- 04-28-2010
-
By Katy Murphy/Oakland Tribune
The payroll of Oakland Unified, one of the city's largest employers, is about to shrink. The school system would have about 460 fewer full-time positions — about 9 percent of the current work force — come July 1 under the CFO's latest proposal to address the district's massive projected deficit. It will be discussed at (today's) 5 p.m. school board meeting, on the eve of the teacher strike. Jobs of just about every shape and size would thin out under the plan: teachers, assistant principals, security officers, high-level district executive staff, gardeners, painters, clerks, support coaches for new teachers, adult education and child development teachers — you name it. The central office would eliminate 105 positions, about 17 percent of its staff. And 114 K-12 teaching positions would be reduced, about 6 percent. (more...)
Act One. What's that smell?
- 04-28-2010
-
By Ira Glass/This American Life
California gubernatorial candidate and millionaire Steve Poizner has written a book about his experience teaching for a semester at Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose. In this American Life episode, Ira Glass examines the claims in his book (show: 7:42 in) (transcript).
In New Jersey, a civics lesson in the Internet age
- 04-28-2010
-
By Winnie Hu/New York Times
It was a silent call to arms: an easy-to-overlook message urging New Jersey students to take a stand against the budget cuts that threaten class sizes and choices as well as after-school activities. But some 18,000 students accepted the invitation posted last month on Facebook, the social media site better known for publicizing parties and sporting events. And on Tuesday many of them — and many others — walked out of class in one of the largest grass-roots demonstrations to hit New Jersey in years. The largest turnout was in Newark, where thousands of students from various high schools converged on City Hall. The protest disrupted classroom routines and standardized testing in some of the state’s biggest and best-known school districts, offering a real-life civics lesson that unfolded on lawns, sidewalks, parking lots and football fields. (more...)
Report: Californians say schools underfunded
- 04-29-2010
-
By Fermin Leal/Orange County Register
Most Californians believe the state's economic crisis has left public education inadequately funded, leading to concerns that schools will continue to suffer with fewer teachers, larger class sizes and fewer instruction days, according to a report released Wednesday. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed about 2,500 residents statewide for the report "Concern Rises Over Impact of Budget Cuts on Public Schools." According to the survey, 62 percent of Californians believe there is not enough state funding going to their public schools, while 26 percent believe there is just enough, and 6 percent believe schools have more than enough. When asked how they feel about some potential ways schools might deal with decreased funding, 73 percent of Californians said they are very concerned about teacher layoffs. (more...)
Is teacher tenure still necessary?
- 04-29-2010
-
By Alan Greenblatt/NPR
Tenure is under attack. The century-old system of protecting experienced teachers from arbitrary dismissal — long viewed as sacred — has triggered hot political debates in several states. "Teacher effectiveness" has emerged as the biggest buzz phrase in education policy circles. Because teachers have such potential for affecting the quality of children's education, some people are starting to argue that it must become easier to get bad teachers out of the classroom. "There seems to be a lot of drive to do away with tenure," says Sandy Kress, who helped write federal and state education laws as an adviser to George W. Bush and other policymakers. "Tenure has proved to be just a horrible barrier to getting rid of that small percentage of teachers who are just not effective." (more...)
Hundreds reportedly received unsolicited copies of Poizner memoir
- 04-29-2010
-
By Malcolm Maclachlan/Capitol Weekly
In early April, Matthew Donnellan received a copy of Steve Poizner’s new memoir, “Mount Pleasant,” in the mail from Amazon.com. But the San Diego area college student, who is active in local Republican clubs, said he never ordered the book. “I wasn’t too sure if the book came in as a joke from a friend who was a Whitman supporter or as a gift from a friend who is a Poizner supporter,” Donnellan said. But Donnellan also noticed that his name and address were listed not only as the recipient but as the buyer on the invoice. Wanting to make sure his credit card number hadn’t been stolen, he called Amazon. (more...)
School reform we can’t believe in
- 04-29-2010
-
By Stan Karp/Rethinking Schools
While running for president, Barack Obama called No Child Left Behind “one of the emptiest slogans in the history of American politics.” By the time he gets a new version of the law through Congress, his own campaign theme—“change you can believe in”—may be a contender for the same title. In fact, if the healthcare debate is any guide and the reform ideas being floated by the current administration are ultimately adopted, the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, still commonly known as NCLB, could make a bad law worse. The administration hopes to move a reauthorization bill this year, but Congressional divisions and election year politics make that doubtful. The current law will remain in effect until it’s replaced. It will also continue to trap growing numbers of schools in its test and punish dragnet as the 2014 deadline nears for its unreachable goal of 100 percent pass rates on state tests. (more...)
Oakland teachers steel for one-day walkout
- 04-29-2010
-
By Jill Tucker/San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland teachers prepared for today's one-day strike by putting the finishing touches on picket signs Wednesday, while school administrators readied 300 emergency workers to cover the classrooms. The Oakland Unified School District's 100-plus schools were scheduled to be open during the strike, with teachers picketing each site starting at 5:30 a.m. Emergency substitutes and about 70 central office workers are expected to be in the classrooms to teach students who show up. The Oakland Education Association urged parents to keep their children home for the day. The district asked parents to keep their kids in school. (more...)
What Congress didn't say about standards
- 04-29-2010
-
Blog by Alyson Klein/Education Week
Wednesday's hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on standards and assessments was most notable for what didn't get talked about: the Obama administration's proposal to tie Title I funding to states' adoption of college- and career-ready standards. Under the proposal, states could work in a consortium to set such standards, or they could get their institutions of higher education to certify that their own standards were high enough that students wouldn't need remedial coursework. The idea earned accolades from some governors, but generally it was met with either a "we're studying it" or a "no way" from education groups. Members of Congress, who generally aren't shy, haven't had too much to say one way or the other. (more...)
The myth of the "powerful" teachers' union
- 04-29-2010
-
Blog by David Macaray/Counterpunch
There’s a myth circulating out there that not only threatens to ruin the reputation of America’s school teachers, but has the potential to side-track any realistic hopes of education reform. It’s the assertion that “powerful” teachers’ unions are responsible for the decline of public education in the United States in general, and California in particular. Propagators of this myth claim that the reason test scores of American children have sunk so low in recent years is because our public school teachers are too incompetent and lazy to provide adequate instruction. Moreover, because the teachers’ unions are so domineering and evil—because their leaders will do anything to maintain union hegemony, including not allowing demonstrably inferior teachers to be fired—school administrators are powerless to act. (more...)
FUSD teams up with L.A., Long Beach for fed funds
- 04-29-2010
-
By Tracy Correa/The Fresno Bee
Fresno Unified School District will go after federal Race to the Top funding -- along with two more of the state's largest school districts -- after California failed to secure the education reform dollars earlier this year. Fresno, Long Beach and Los Angeles unified school districts will apply for the second round of funding, and could possibly qualify for up to $700 million in stimulus money. Their application is part of a new strategy to bring some of the competitive grant funds into the state. California, like most other states, was not selected for the first round of funding -- a pot of about $4.35 billion. Only two were selected: Delaware and Tennessee. The state was about to give up when federal officials encouraged leaders to try again. (more...)
Duncan wants California to resubmit
- 04-29-2010
-
Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess
A week ago, state officials were all set to abandon thoughts of re-applying to the Race to the Top. They’d been discouraged by California’s 27th place, out of 40 states, in the first round competition for federal dollars, and there’s not much time before the June 1 submission deadline. But then, over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan personally called Gov. Schwarzenegger to ask California to stay in the running, according to two individuals in the know. And so top state officials – Education Secretary Bonnie Reiss, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and members of the state Board of Education – are once again thinking it through. (more...)
Panel finds no favorite in teacher-prep pathways
- 04-29-2010
-
By Debra Viadero/Education Week
After six years of study, a national panel of prominent scholars has concluded that there’s not enough evidence to suggest that teachers who take alternative pathways into the classroom are any worse —or any better —than those who finish traditional college-based preparation programs. The finding comes in a report released today by the National Research Council, which is an arm of the National Academies, a scientific body created to advise the federal government on scientific matters. “Now we can see that we’ve looked at the best available evidence, and the evidence suggests that there are not significant differences,” said Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, the chairwoman of the 24-member panel. (more...)
Budget cuts gaining students' attention
- 04-29-2010
-
By Emily Kay Shrader/Modesto Bee
The economy. Politics. Budget cuts. When most teens hear these words, they instantly check out, thinking there is no way they can have any say in these ongoing issues in American society. Think again. These are tough times in our schools. Some school districts have made painful cuts to programs and staff, and others will soon. Today, the members of The Bee's Teens in the Newsroom program present the first of a two-week project in which they examine from a student perspective the anxiety that budget cuts, real or rumored, are causing. Countless high school students in the Modesto City Schools district are speaking up in regard to the budget discussions that are affecting all schools and teachers. (more...)
Community outlines qualities for San Diego’s next school leader
- 04-29-2010
-
By Ana Tintocalis/San Diego KPBS
A community taskforce helping to pick San Diego's next school superintendent held the last of five town hall meetings on the topic Wednesday evening. One taskforce member says he knows what kind of leader students want. Evan Reed is a senior at Patrick Henry High School in San Carlos. He's the only student to be appointed to the district's superintendent search committee. The committee is made up of 15 community members. Reed and the others held five town hall forums within the district this month to hear what kind of leader the community wants. Reed says students want a young person who's hip to technology. “An understanding of youth, of this generation and the direction things are going,” Reed said. (more...)
RI teachers union sues after mass firings
- 04-29-2010
-
Washington Post
A Rhode Island teachers union has sued a troubled school district that fired all its high school teachers and staff. The union is challenging a requirement that all fired teachers reapply for their jobs. No more than half can be rehired under a federal turnaround model selected for the school district. The union says it thought Superintendent Frances Gallo was committed to working with them on an alternative to the firings, which take effect at the end of the school year. (more...)
Calexico schools struggle to recover from quake
- 04-29-2010
-
By Tony Perry/Los Angeles Times
The Calexico High School Bulldogs track team is preparing to defend its league championship at the biggest meet of the season Thursday. But the meet, scheduled for Calexico, has been moved to El Centro. And the Bulldogs cannot practice on their own turf. The school's athletic field has been declared unsafe because light poles were loosened and bent by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck on Easter Sunday. Schools Supt. Christina Luna is worried that another temblor could send the poles and lights crashing down, killing or severely injuring someone. Every school in the Calexico Unified School District was closed after the April 4 shaker, which was centered across the border, about 20 miles south of Calexico's "twin city" of Mexicali. In the weeks since the quake, aftershocks have added to the destruction. (more...)
Not all charter schools succeeding
- 04-29-2010
-
By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News
The Obama administration has touted charter schools as a key education reform, based on the phenomenal success some have scored in educating hard-to-teach students. But just like regular public schools, some charters — publicly funded schools that run independently of school boards and education codes — have washed up on the shoals amid rough seas. Locally, MACSA Academia Calmecac in San Jose and MACSA El Portal Leadership Academy in Gilroy lost their charters last year over financial irregularities. In perhaps the most embarrassing example, Stanford New Schools in East Palo Alto, a venture of the vaunted university's school of education, two weeks ago was denied a renewal by the Ravenswood City School District. (more...)
California mayors gather to discuss student dropout rate
- 04-30-2010
-
By Melody Gutierrez/Sacramento Bee
Mayors from across California met in Sacramento on Thursday to discuss strategies for addressing the state's high public school dropout rates. Nearly one in five students – 18.9 percent – dropped out of California high schools during the 2007-08 school year, according to California Department of Education figures released last year. 2008-09 numbers are due this summer. "We are making some progress," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "This will never be solved by making this a school district problem." Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson hosted the California Mayors Graduation Summit and said he hopes to find ways to increase high school graduation rates. (more...)
Math training’s low numbers
- 04-30-2010
-
Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess
Leaders in math education in Silicon Valley are concerned that school boards and the public will dismiss the importance of teacher training as a result the dismal results from a much publicized study whose findings were released earlier this month. “It is ludicrous to conclude that professional development is not important,” said David Foster, executive director of the Noyce Foundation-backed Silicon Valley Math Initiative. Data is overwhelming showing that effective teaching produces student achievement, he said. “I am worried that parents will see professional development as expensive and not worth it.” (more...)
Enrollment in school lunch assistance programs reaches record highs
- 04-30-2010
-
By Jorge Barrientos/Bakersfield Californian
More than ever, local families are enrolling in free or reduced-price school meal programs, a big help for those struggling but an added burden to taxpayers. School officials blame the bad economy -- job and home loss. "The economic crisis has impacted families and education," said Tom Corson, executive director of the Kern County Network for Children. "And more low-income Kern County children depend on free and reduced lunches." According to a recent report by the network, 68 percent of school children here were enrolled in a free or reduced-cost meal program in October 2009. That's 4 percent higher than the year before, and roughly 17 percent more than the state average. (more...)
Learning to love algebra
- 04-30-2010
-
By K. Oanh Ha/The California Report (audio)
California schools have higher math standards than most states. The goal is to get all eighth graders enrolled in algebra. But that's a tall order, especially in schools where there's a high immigrant population still struggling to learn English. The last installment of our series looking at math and science education visits a district that's trying to meet the math challenge by having fun. (more...)
`The Daily Show With Jon Stewart' attends Hacienda La Puente Unified board meeting
- 04-30-2010
-
By Maritza Velazquez/San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" is zeroing in on the controversy surrounding Hacienda La Puente Unified School District's new Confucius Classroom. The satirical news program's crew filmed the school district's board meeting Thursday night. They also videotaped several community members who vehemently oppose the Chinese language and culture classroom, which will be funded by the Chinese government. Mary Anne King, a Hacienda Heights resident opposed to the Confucius Classroom, said she has never seen an episode of "The Daily Show," but was concerned how it would portray the issue. (more..)
Teachers from local districts rally against state budget cuts
- 04-30-2010
-
By James Wagner/San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Nearly 125 people, mostly teachers, stood on a busy street corner along the Covina/Azusa border Thursday decrying the state's slashing of school funding. Holding signs and wearing shirts colored pink because of the infamous pink slips, the protesters rallied against the cuts, some of which have forced school districts to trim millions from their budgets and lay off teachers. Many said they wanted to show residents and parents what the state was doing to their children's education. As they stood at Azusa Avenue and Arrow Highway, some said the blame rested mostly on Sacramento and not their local school districts. (more...)
Study says charters are 'painting with mittens'
- 04-30-2010
-
Blog by Debra Viadero/Education Week
The quid pro quo with charter schools has always been pretty clear: They get freedom from a lot of the rules and regulations that govern regular schools and, in return, they produce results in terms of student achievement—or else. In practice, though, the typical charter school isn't all that autonomous, says a new report. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Public Agenda examined charter school laws in the 26 states that house the largest percentage of charter schools, inspected charter school contracts for 100 schools associated with some of the nation's biggest authorizers, and interviewed a wide range of people associated with those schools and authorizers. (more...)
SDUSD votes down AP exam mandate
- 04-30-2010
-
By Staff/San Diego News Network
The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education tonight voted 3-2 to no longer require students in advanced placement classes to take expensive tests at the end of the semester, but the pupils will still receive weighted grades. The $86 tests were paid for by the district during the current and last school years, at an annual cost of about $680,000, but the outlay fell victim to budget cuts for the 2010-11 school year. Because it is illegal to make students pay for required programs or materials, the district had to drop the requirement of taking the test. Students who pass the rigorous classes and the tests receive weighted credits, where a B in AP is the equivalent of an A in a regular course — which is why some pupils have grade point averages greater than 4.0. (more...)
Teacher absences and the achievement gap
- 04-30-2010
-
Blog by Walt Gardner /Education Week
One of the greatest challenges facing reformers is recruiting the best teachers for the worst schools. These schools are disproportionately staffed by novice teachers who have not yet demonstrated their effectiveness. Convinced that veteran teachers with a track record of success will flock there if the proper incentives are put in place, reformers are pushing hard to implement their strategies. There's one problem, however, that gets little attention. It was the basis of a news story in the Wall Street Journal on Apr. 28 ("Teacher Absences Plague Schools"). Even if the best teachers agree to teach where they are needed the most, will learning improve? According to the Journal's analysis, one-fifth of New York City teachers were absent for more than two weeks last school year. (more...)
