June 2010

States create flood of education bills

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Sam Dillon/New York Times

Democrats backed by the state’s largest teachers’ union nicknamed legislation overhauling Colorado’s tenure and evaluation rules the “teacher scapegoat” bill, and several lawmakers wept in public sessions during their monthlong battle to stop it.  But other Democrats joined with Republicans to pass Colorado’s law, the most comprehensive of a dozen similar bills passed around the nation this year, in part to increase states’ chances in a $4 billion federal grant competition.  Louisiana, Oklahoma and New York also approved bills modifying their tenure and evaluation rules in the last week, just in time to meet Tuesday’s application deadline for Round 2 of the competition, known as Race to the Top. (more...)

Race to Top leaves some school reformers weary

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Stephanie Banchero/Wall Street Journal

President Barack Obama's signature education initiative has encouraged the overhaul of state laws governing charter schools, teacher evaluations and student-testing systems.  But ahead of the Tuesday deadline for states to apply for the second phase of Race to the Top, some education reformers were complaining the changes have not been as bold or widespread as expected.  "It's the dog that didn't bark," said Andy Smarick, a former education department official under George W. Bush who supports the initiative. "I don't want to underplay what has happened, but we have not seen revolutionary changes from coast to coast."  The $4.5 billion federal program aims to spur innovation by rewarding states that promote charter schools, adopt rigorous learning standards, tie teacher pay to student achievement and intervene in chronically low-performing schools. (more...)

Some states walk away from 'Race to Top' millions

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Chris Williams/San Francisco Chronicle

About two dozen states are going back to Washington for another shot at billions in education grants under the "Race to the Top" program, but at least nine others with more than 7 million children are opting out of trying a second time.  For them, a chance at hundreds of millions of dollars wasn't enough to overcome the opposition of teachers unions, the wariness of state leaders to pass laws to suit the program and fears of giving up too much local control.  Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming will all be on the sidelines for the second round, along with a handful of other states that didn't apply the first time. So far only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, have been approved for the money. (more...)

No magic bullet for education

• 05-31-2010
• 

Editorial/Los Angeles Times

The "unschooling" movement of the 1970s featured open classrooms, in which children studied what they were most interested in, when they felt ready. That was followed by today's back-to-basics, early-start model, in which students complete math worksheets in kindergarten and are supposed to take algebra by eighth grade at the latest. Under the "whole language" philosophy of the 1980s, children were expected to learn to read by having books read to them. By the late 1990s, reading lessons were dominated by phonics, with little time spent on the joys of what reading is all about — unlocking the world of stories and information.  A little more than a decade ago, educators bore no responsibility for their students' failure; it was considered the fault of the students, their parents and unequal social circumstances. (more...)

Half of English learners left behind

• 06-01-2010
• 

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

A new report on English learners in California is indicting and disturbing. At the end of  elementary school, half of English learners still lack basic  fluency in academic English. Their future in school is bleak without it.  Long-term English learners – students who have been in school at least six years without becoming proficient in English — will fall father behind once they arrive in middle or high school. Ninety percent are two or more years behind in math and English language arts and have gotten at least two Ds or Fs in the past year. By the time they are juniors in high school, three-quarters will be testing at the bottom – basic or far below basic – in math and English on state tests.  In California high schools, 18 percent of students are English learners, who, by definition,  are those who speak a language at home other than English. (more...)

California's dilemma over academic standards

• 06-01-2010
• 

Opinion by Scott Hill/San Francisco Chronicle

Scott Hill, a former California undersecretary of education, is vice president of education policy at School Innovations & Advocacy, a Sacramento consulting firm.

California is poised once again to host a battle, if not a war, over what our students should know and when they should know it.  Facing an improbable August deadline tied to the federal Race to the Top competition, the governor and legislative leaders must decide in the coming days whether to replace California's K-12 academic content standards in math and English/language arts with standards developed by a collaboration of states.  Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger initially embraced the concept of national core standards, his position today is less certain. I think that's unfortunate. (more...)

U.S. House (Finally) Passes STEM Education Bill

• 06-01-2010
• 

Blog by Erick Robelen/Education Week

After a couple of false starts in recent weeks amid partisan wrangling, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved a bill to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, legislation that contains a strong focus on improving education in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  The final vote was 262 to 150, with 17 Republicans joining most, but not all, Democrats in favor. Some Republicans have complained that the price tag for the legislation—all told, some $86 billion over five years—is too high, but Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., the chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, said the measure is essential to the nation's future.  "If we are to reverse the trend of the last 20 years, where our country's technology edge in the world has diminished, we must make the investments necessary today," Gordon, a key proponent of the bill, said in a prepared statement.  (more...)

A battle over who speaks for Latinos in Vista schools

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

Before Eduardo Preciado took over, it was a placid committee where parents gave their input on programs for English learners in Vista schools.  Now the group is embroiled in Vista's struggle to find a voice for a Latino community that has grown in numbers but not in political posts over the last decade.   Preciado has changed the committee on English learners into a platform for a small but passionate group of Latino parents who say it's their only place to speak out on all kinds of issues. Though Latino children are now much more common than white students in Vista schools, the school board is largely white and other Latino groups are scarce. One fan calls his group "the voice of the Latino people. (more...)

SJ Unified chief to retire after 39 years in education

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News

Amid education's worst fiscal crisis in decades, he's convinced teachers to work longer hours for less pay. He's overseen a steady rise in test scores in some of San Jose's lowest-performing schools. He arm-wrestled the state and won, in defining which schools — not his — should be labeled the worst of the worst.  Now San Jose Unified Superintendent Don Iglesias plans to retire from the South Bay's largest school district. The charismatic career educator says he is looking toward "jumping off the bullet train and onto a stagecoach."  Those who know him expect that stagecoach to steer a fast, careening course. After all, the man who calls himself "an adrenaline junkie" fed his habit during 39 years in education and at 61, doesn't look like he's about to slow down. (more...)

SF teachers ratify contract that reduces layoffs

• 06-01-2010
• 

Contra Costa Times

The union that represents San Francisco teachers has approved a labor contract that reduces the number of layoffs and shortens the school year by four days. The school district says the contract ratified Friday by the United Educators of San Francisco provides $39 million in savings over two years. The contract still calls for 199 layoffs of teachers and other certified staff, but that's well below the 701 preliminary layoff notices issued by the district in March and 350 final notices issued in May. The agreement also calls for four furlough days spread throughout the school year that will reduce the number of instructional days from 180 to 176.  (more...)

Texas textbooks are unlikely to spread

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Paul J. Weber/San Francisco Chronicle

Pop quiz: Does the school curriculum adopted in Texas really wind up in textbooks nationwide? If you answered yes, you might get a failing grade. As the second-largest purchaser of textbooks behind California, the Lone Star State has historically wielded enormous clout in deciding what material appears in classrooms across the country. That's why the state school board's recent decision to adopt new social studies standards was closely watched far beyond Texas.  Critics feared the new, more conservative curriculum in Texas would spread elsewhere. But publishing experts say those concerns are overblown.  "It's easier nowadays to create one edition for one situation and a different edition for another situation," said Bob Resnick, founder of Education Market Research, based in New York. "I don't believe the Texas curriculum will spread anyplace else."  (more...)

How much do O.C. superintendents make?

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Scott Martindale/Orange County Register

They are typically the first to be blamed when districts grapple with budget problems, employee unrest and community criticism.  They draw ire and scorn for being the highest-compensated figures in the K-12 public school system, making an average of $233,477 in Orange County last year. Yet their salaries seem to be lurching ever upward, by 24 percent countywide over the past five years.  Orange County’s 27 district superintendents have long been the targets of public scrutiny and the scapegoats for vocal critics, but the elected school boards who hire them and set their salaries say superintendents act much like CEOs of large corporations, managing multimillion-dollar budgets while being ultimately responsible for the education of half a million children countywide.  (more...)

Free books block 'summer slide' in low-income students

• 06-01-2010
• 

By Greg Toppo/USA TODAY

Can a $50 stack of paperback books do as much for a child's academic fortunes as a $3,000 stint in summer school?  An experimental program in seven states may help answer that question this summer as districts from Nevada to South Carolina give thousands of low-income students an armful of free books.  Research has shown that simply giving children books may be as effective as summer school — and a lot cheaper. The big question is whether the effect can be replicated on a larger scale and help reduce the USA's nagging achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students. (more...)

L.A. teachers union rejects contest for federal school-reform grant

• 06-01-2010
• 

Blog by Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles teachers union won’t sign the state’s application for federal Race to the Top school-reform grants, diminishing the state’s chances of claiming up to $700 million in grants tied to specific, but controversial reform strategies.  The grant has the potential to bind the state to future policies that would cost the state more than the one-time dollars would pay for, said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. He added that the extra costs could strain school district finances and ultimately result in damaging budget cuts.  California fell short during the first round of competition for a share of the $4.35 billion in federal grants, but tried again at the urging of U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and developed a new strategy. A few school districts would pursue reforms more specific and more aggressive than in the original state submission. (more...)

A failing grade for public school funding

• 06-02-2010
• 

Editorial/Los Angeles Times

Whichever way you slice the numbers, California's funding for public schools is nothing to cheer about. In state-by-state comparisons, its per-pupil funding falls in the middle — until you account for the higher cost of living, which puts California in 46th place. It is 49th in student-teacher ratios; only Utah fares worse. Recent cuts forced California school districts to shorten the academic year or raise class sizes or, in the case of Los Angeles Unified, do both. The state also has a particularly dysfunctional system for distributing what money it has. (more...)

Governors, schools chiefs unveil proposal for common math, English standards

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Nick Anderson/Washington Post

For the first time, public schools in many states would share common standards for what students should learn every year in English and math under a proposal that governors and schools chiefs made public Wednesday. The proposal, released at 10 a.m. in Georgia, is a revision of a draft that the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers circulated in March. The initiative has won favor from the Obama administration and is picking up endorsements from educators across the country. With notable exceptions, the effects on curriculum and testing would reach deeply into schools. (more...)

How to write a news story about school reform

• 06-02-2010
• 

Blog by Claus von Zastrow/Public School Insights

Do you want to write a news story about school reform? Here's how you do it.  Choose two neighboring schools: a successful charter school and a struggling traditional public school. Then choose one student from each school. Profile both students' humble or even tragic beginnings, but then compare the charter school student's great efflorescence with the continued struggles of the other student.  Use the two students to contrast the promise of charters in general with the problems many urban public schools face. Toss in a sentence somewhere about the uneven quality of charter schools, but don't belabor that point.  That has become a tried-and-true formula for quite a few national journalists lately. The Wall Street Journal ran the most recent variation on the theme last Sunday. (more...)

California applies again for federal school-reform grant

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

California applies again for federal school-reform grantCalifornia joined 34 other states Tuesday in competing a second time for federal Race to the Top school-reform grants, but union opposition could doom the effort. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger signed the state's application at Lafayette Elementary School in Long Beach, joined by officials who included state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.  "The goal is really quite simple," O'Connell said, "to have an effective teacher in front of every classroom, to have a true school leader at every school site and to have the necessary infrastructure and support at the school." (more...)

Also: San Jose Mercury News

Schwarzenegger: We’re too big to ignore

• 06-02-2010
• 

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

In their Race to the Top applications, some states have downplayed the lack of union support for their reforms. You have read deep into the applications to get the real numbers.  Not California. In his May 28 cover letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan accompanying the state’s second-round application (download pdf), Gov. Schwarzenegger wears union opposition as a badge of honor.  He wrote that the California Teachers Association “actively worked  to prevent union support” for the state’s effort. Then he added,  “I urge you not to penalize states like California that have submitted a detailed plan meeting all the goals of Race to the Top but have not gotten unanimous support of teachers unions. To do this would not only put at grave risk the ultimate goals embodied in Race to the Top, but it would send a message to some unions that their obstructionist tactics can work.” (more...)

35 States Plus D.C. Apply for Race to Top, Round 2

• 06-02-2010
• 

Blog by Michele Mc Neil/Education Week

With $3.4 billion left in the Race to the Top hopper and states facing dire financial straits, 35 states plus the District of Columbia have thrown their hats into the ring for what may be the last round of the Obama administration's signature education-reform competition.  First-time applicants are Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, and Washington, and will join other big-league competitors who were finalists in round one, such as Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Massachusetts. The number of round-two competitors is lower than in round one, which saw 40 states plus the District of Columbia apply. Of course, round-one winners Delaware and Tennessee didn't apply in this round. (more...)

 Also:  Ed Money Watch blog

How Race to the Top is recasting education reform in America

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Amanda Paulson/Christian Science Monitor

New York is more than doubling its number on charter schools and will tie teacher evaluations to student performance.  Colorado passed a major overhaul of teacher tenure and evaluation rules, despite fierce union opposition.  And Louisiana teachers will be subject to more rigorous evaluation, after a law the legislature pushed through last week.  As states submit their applications Tuesday for Round 2 of the Obama administration's Race to the Top education grants, several states have taken major actions to try to be more competitive. At the same time, a handful have dropped out, either over disagreement about the framework of the competition or after a failure to get the reforms needed to have a shot at a piece of the $4.3 billion pot of federal money.  (more...)

Principals tend to pick the best teachers, a study finds

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Debra Viadero/Education Week

The use of "value-added" data to determine which teachers are good, and which aren't, continues to be a hot topic in education. But, regardless of what you think about using student test scores to judge teachers performance, you have to admit that that it would be interesting to know whether the teachers who rack up high value-added test scores tend to be the same teachers that principals hire, anyway.  That's why this study highlighted in the latest edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality Bulletin caught my eye. In it, researchers Donald Boyd, Hamilton Lankford, Susanna Loeb and colleagues mine some long-term data on 81,000 teachers in New York City schools to find out which teachers apply for transfers and which of those applicants get hired. (more...)

Ex-justice O’Connor gives schools poor civics marks

• 06-02-2010
• 

Boston Globe

An “unintended consequence’’ of the No Child Left Behind initiative has been a decrease in civics knowledge, former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor said yesterday, promoting computer games that try to make learning about government fun.  The federal education program appropriated funds “based on good test scores in math, science, and reading,’’ she said, but did not distribute money for history or civics.  She made the remarks at a conference where she was promoting iCivics.org, a website that targets middle-school students.  “Barely one-third of Americans can even name the three branches of government, much less say what they do,’’ O’Connor said. (more...)

Schools of thought on looming teacher layoffs

• 06-02-2010
• 

Letter by Dave Obey and George Miller/Washington Post

David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. George Miller, a California Democrat, is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.  

Schools across the country are facing the worst layoffs in half a century. As many as 300,000 school employees are in danger of losing their jobs. If that happens, class sizes will explode and educational opportunities will decline drastically for millions of children. Education will become a "risky" career choice for a generation of potential teachers.  Communities are facing this emergency through no fault of their own. The collapse of the financial system devastated all economic sectors, leaving state and local governments in a huge budget crisis that's just reaching its peak despite the improving economy. (more...)

L.A. Board of Education condemns Arizona immigration and ethnic studies laws

• 06-02-2010
• 

Blog by Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

The local school system has joined the list of Los Angeles entities to oppose Arizona’s new law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.  The L.A. Board of Education voted 6-0 late Tuesday afternoon to condemn an Arizona law that requires law enforcement officers to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop and suspect is in the country illegally. It also makes it a state crime to lack proper immigration papers in Arizona.  “It’s very important for us to take a position of outrage,” said school board member Yolie Flores. “Because of the color of your skin and the accent you speak with, you will be targeted. You will be asked if you belong here.…Taking a position against that kind of racism is appropriate.”  The school board resolution says the Arizona law “effectively sanctions and promotes unconstitutional racial profiling and harassment, and blatantly violates the civil rights of both Arizona residents and all visitors to the state.” (more...)

Also: Los Angeles Daily News

LAUSD students demand dignity in schools

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Ariel Edwards Levy/Intersections South L.A.

South L.A. schools should be gateways to graduation, not prison, members of L.A.'s Dignity in Schools campaign told school district board members Tuesday.  Students, parents and activists trekked down to the LAUSD board meeting to protest zero tolerance measures, suspensions and truancy tickets - programs that they say penalize students rather than helping them to learn.  Jose Solis can still remember his frustration at being punished for situations beyond his control.  “When I used to go to Crenshaw High School, I used to get truancy tickets," said Solis, now an organizer for the Youth Justice Coalition. "The cops never asked me why I was late. Well, the reason was because the bus was too packed, so the bus driver didn’t want to stop. So I used to walk almost 20 blocks, and then I would get tickets because the cops were waiting for me at the front entrance of the school."  (more...)

'Race to Top' fizzles out in O.C.

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Fermin Leal/Orange County Register

One district in Orange County – Santa Ana Unified – will join the 300 others statewide in applying for the second phase of a federal Race to the Top Funds.  California is eligible for up to $700 million in federal funding for schools program. But districts must pledge a series of reforms in return for the cash.  Under California's reforms, teachers and principals would be evaluated in part based on student performance. The state also will try to place effective teachers in low-performing schools.  Nine Orange County districts applied for the first phase of the program back in January. But California was among dozens of states that lost out in that initial round of competition.  County Superintendent William Habermehl said he wasn't surprised most of the county's 28 districts passed on Race to the Top. (more...)

Budget pressure heightens South Bay charter-school district disputes

• 06-02-2010
• 

By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News

With enrollment growing annually, Discovery Charter School in San Jose hoped to add two classrooms at its West San Jose campus this fall. Instead, the 4-year-old charter school has received a letter from the Moreland School District's attorney declaring that nearly one-third of the school's portable classrooms would be removed by the end of June. "We've reached an all-time low in communication," said Barb Eagle, Discovery's board president.  Discovery isn't alone in its sometime fractious relationship with elected trustees. The financial vise squeezing California schools has intensified friction between charter schools and nearby school districts. In the South Bay, a dispute over parcel tax revenues in Alum Rock and ongoing lawsuits in Los Altos have roots in the pressing search for dollars and in the vague rules governing charters, which are public schools allowed to operate independently of local school boards and California's education code. (more...)

California looks at national education standards

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Melody Gutierrez/Sacramento Bee

Sweeping new education benchmarks released Wednesday would have students learn math and English-language arts concepts in the same grade no matter what state they live in.  For example, fourth-graders from California to New York should know how to multiply and divide to solve a word problem and 11th-graders should be able to analyze historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence.  The benchmarks, called Common Core State Standards, aim to give students across the nation uniform expectations.  "I see it as part of the push to put more rigor in the classroom," said Mary Shelton, acting chief academic officer at Sacramento City Unified School District.  If adopted, this would be the first time states have come together to establish national standards for K-12 students.  (more...)

Final version of common standards unveiled

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Catherine Gewertz/Education Week

The final set of common academic standards was released today, capping months of closed-door work to write them and months more to revise them with feedback from state education officials, teachers’ unions, and other education interest groups.  The project is an attempt to address the uneven patchwork of standards that results in differing expectations among schools, districts, and states and leaves many students unprepared for work or college.  Organizers of the Common Core State Standards Initiative held a press event at a Georgia high school this morning. A high-profile list of guests, including governors and education commissioners, spoke in support of the standards. (more...) 

Also:  New York Times * San Francisco Chronicle * KPCC * Wall Street Journal *

What Common Core State Standards are -- and aren't

• 06-03-2010
• 

Blog by Valerie Strauss/Washington Post

So now we have a set of standards for math and English language arts that were designed for all states to adopt so learning could be more uniform across the country.  On Wednesday, the folks behind the initiative -- the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association -- released the standards that spell out what children are expected to learn in those two subjects from kindergarten through the end of high school.  There’s no good way to argue against the notion that a student in Florida should learn the same important concepts and skills as a kid in Alaska, especially considering the current hodgepodge of state standards -- some of which expose students to academic garbage.  But we should keep in mind what the results of the Common Core State Standards actually are -- and what they aren’t.  (more...)

Let the common-core debate begin

• 06-03-2010
• 

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

The drafters of the common-core state standards released their final version Wednesday with fanfare and the endorsement of a slew of educators and political leaders in Atlanta. The debate now shifts to state capitals, including Sacramento, where the question that must be answered in two months can be reframed: Is what’s good for the nation – K-12 academic standards in math and English language arts that are more demanding than most states now have – also good for California?  Preceding that question is another: Can Californians who care about these matters engage in  a dispassionate analysis of common core standards and associated issues of cost and testing without becoming defensive and retreating to the positions they had in the ‘90s, when they fought over the current state math standards?  (more...)

Kindergarten age bill approved by state Senate, now heads to Assembly

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Tracy Garcia/San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Proposed legislation that would require all incoming kindergartners be 5 years old by Sept. 1 cleared the state Senate on Wednesday and is now headed to the Assembly for consideration.  The Kindergarten Readiness Bill, authored by state Sen. Pete Simitian, D-Palo Alto, would move the state's kindergarten-age cutoff date from the current Dec. 2 to Sept. 1.  Simitian describes the bill as win-win for all because it would:  keep younger kids from entering school before they're ready to handle it; and save the state $700 million annually because it would keep an extra 100,000 students with fall birthdays out of the public school system every year; and  redirect those savings equally toward quality preschool programs and alleviating the state's budget shortfall. (more...)

Students fight to make sure their teachers aren't fired

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Nico Pitney/Huffington Post

Tonight, in a little strip-mall office next to the local Safeway, a teenage student from Alameda, California will spend the evening dialing up strangers to make an earnest request: please save my school.  The budget ax is about to fall on this Bay Area city. Seven million dollars in K-12 education cuts are planned this year, nearly $10 million will be lopped off next year, and a massive $17 million cut looms in 2012. A few weeks ago, Alameda's Board of Education handed out pink slips to 130 teachers, administrators and staff.  "This is the worst yet," said Superintendent Kirsten Vital, a 20-year veteran of California's education system. "I've never seen anything like it."  And so this month, Vital and a host of parents and students are fighting to pass a "parcel tax" -- basically a flat tax on landowners -- the latest trend in last-ditch efforts to save California's schools.  (more...)

Fixing NCLB: How testing hurts disadvantaged kids

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Renee Moore/Teacher Magazine (subscription required)

I’ve been part of a group of determined teachers from around the nation working to engage in direct discussions with the Obama administration about its blueprint for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known for the past decade as No Child Left Behind). Some of us thought it might be a good time to write about issues related to the Blueprint, and why we think seeking the expertise of successful teachers might help lawmakers develop better policies.  One of the first points identified by teachers as a problem is that the proposed plan continues to place an emphasis on high-stakes accountability through standardized test scores. What's wrong with a big focus on test scores? Don't we need to know how students are performing? (more...)

In teacher layoffs, seniority rules. But should it?

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Larry Abramson/NPR

School districts around the country are planning massive layoffs as they struggle to bridge big budget deficits.  And as they select which teachers go and which ones stay, many can only use one factor as their guide: seniority. Many districts will have to cast out effective teachers, because local contracts and even state laws require it.  Like many of his counterparts around the country, Cleveland schools CEO Eugene Sanders is facing a monster $54 million spending gap.  According to Sanders, there's no room left to trim, and he may have to shed more than 500 teachers. He says that when he sent out pink slips earlier this year, he had no flexibility. (more...)

L.A. Unified to shutter 200 classes, campus for disabled students

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

With its fountains, gardens, playgrounds, murals and spotless walkways, Frances Blend School in Hollywood looks more like an oasis than a battleground over the future of education for the disabled.  The well-ordered campus for young blind students conveys the message that no detail, no extra care, is too trivial or wasted in helping the neediest in the Los Angeles Unified School District.  This level of care, intermittent districtwide, grew out of decades of effort by educators and advocates, who sometimes sued the district to secure rights.  But now officials plan to spend much less on the disabled: 200 classes will be shut down, as well as a specialized campus, the West Valley Special Education Center. (more...)

Report finds S.D. school officials are raiding student coffers

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Ana Tintocalis/San Diego KPBS

"A new report finds San Diego public school officials are raiding the coffers of student groups at various San Diego Unified campuses.  The San Diego County Grand Jury investigated two dozen San Diego schools with Associated Student Body groups. They found officials at more than half of those campuses collectively spent about $170,000 of student money on their own purposes.  Students raise that money to pay for events that benefit all kids at their campus including school dances, festivals and assemblies.  Instead, the money was used for equipment and supplies. In one case, the funds went toward a staff Christmas party, staff mugs and polo shirts. (more...)

Students protest teachers’ furloughs

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Alex Garcia/San Fernando Sun

Last Friday was the first of 12 scheduled furlough days for all Los Angeles Unified School District employees.  But even though there were no teachers or classes, some 200 Cleveland High School students still showed up at the school to protest the education cuts that have led to the campus being closed.  "We're here to show our commitment to education. That even though there's no school, we love to learn," said Paula Kahn, an 11th grader who organized the "walk-in".  Carrying protest signs, the students gathered at the school gates and then walked around the perimeter chanting slogans against education cuts before returning to campus. (more...)

Student immigrants use civil rights-era strategies

• 06-03-2010
• 

They gather on statehouse steps with signs and bullhorns, risking arrest. They attend workshops on civil disobedience and personal storytelling, and they hold sit-ins and walk out of class in protest. They're being warned that they could even lose their lives.  Students fighting laws that target illegal immigrants are taking a page from the civil rights era, adopting tactics and gathering praise and momentum from the demonstrators who marched in the streets and sat at segregated lunch counters as they sought to turn the public tide against racial segregation.  "Their struggle then is ours now," said Deivid Ribeiro, 21, an illegal immigrant from Brazil and an aspiring physicist. "Like it was for them, this is about survival for us. We have no choice." (more...)

One school scraps picture books, goes for novels for English Learners

• 06-03-2010
• 

By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

Stuck in a race against time to prime high schoolers fresh to the United States for the high school exit exam, Jessica Vargas and her fellow teachers realized that simple books meant for small children wouldn't cut it.  So they stepped it up.  San Ysidro High School, in the sparse, industrial stretches of Otay Mesa, took the books and readings meant for English learners at the advanced level and gave them to students in the middle level this year. They handed the middle books to kids in the basic level. And so on.  Teens once would have been assigned a simple picture book with painted illustrations and a single sentence on each page. Now, they are given paperbacks loaded with complex sentences like, "The short blade was curved like a scythe, its fat wooden handle fitting snugly in her palm." (more...)

Parcel Taxes Could Widen Gap between Wealthy and Poor Neighborhoods, Schools

• 06-04-2010
• 

By UCLA IDEA Staff

Many, perhaps most, California schools are facing further cuts in their already-inadequate budgets. Next week, residents of a handful of districts will vote on parcel taxes that could generate additional money for their local schools. If the special taxes pass, schools will be able to keep teachers on staff and keep crucial programs alive (Huffington Post).  A key issue for fair and just public policy, however, is that wealthier neighborhoods are much more likely to pass these taxes than poorer neighborhoods. For example, a preliminary survey by the Las Virgenes Unified School District, serving  higher-wealth suburban LA County communities including Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village, found that enough of its residents would support a parcel tax to restore some programs at the schools (The Acorn). (more...)

Districts' financial crisis is not the time to talk reform

• 06-04-2010
• 

Commentary by Harold J. Kwalwasser/Education Week (subscription required)

Harold J. Kwalwasser was the general counsel of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2003.

It seems that every day for the past few months there has been an article reporting that some school district faces widespread teacher layoffs this fall. The recession has sapped local and state funds, and the districts have no choice.  U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, have responded by proposing that the federal government spend an additional $23 billion largely to save teachers from wholesale firings. The Obama administration has endorsed the idea. In an essay last month, the Hoover Institution’s Eric A. Hanushek objected. His argument was simple. In every crisis, one should find opportunity. (more...)

A lesson for teachers

• 06-04-2010
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Opinion by Mike Rose/Los Angeles Times

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

New teachers, celebrate your calling to join one of our society's grand professions. What is more important than fostering the development of young people's lives? Cherish this calling, for it will be tested.  You are entering the profession at a troubled time. For all the political talk about the importance of education, cities and states are trying to balance their budgets through cuts to schools. You will also hear conflicting messages in the national conversation about education. Teachers are universally praised as the solution to our educational problems — and condemned as the root cause of all that's wrong with our schools.  Underlying this craziness is an ideological battle to define what teaching is. And though there's not much you can do to revive the economy, you can be tough-minded and vocal about what it means to teach.  (more...)

New immigrants, same old confounding issue

• 06-04-2010
• 

Guest blog by Peter Shrag/Educated Guess

Last month’s report charging California schools with failing to educate English language learners is hardly the first such indictment. And given all the other crises confronting the schools and the state, it won’t get nearly the official attention it deserves.  But in its condemnation of the system for its fumbling, its lack of data, its inconsistency and confusion in pedagogical strategies and its outright neglect of immigrant children – and often the U.S.-born children of immigrants as well – it evokes eerie echoes of a long history of battles about the education of immigrants from colonial days to the current gubernatorial campaign of California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.  (more...)

National Review: Raising a real education standard

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Lindsey Burke and Jennifer Marshall/NPR

If the Obama administration has its way, change could be afoot for your local K–12 curriculum.  Through its "Race to the Top" program, the administration is using federal grant money to coax states into adopting the "common core" standards developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. In addition, while President Obama probably won't be able to push a reauthorization of No Child Left Behind through Congress before this session ends, the administration's "blueprint" for the law would cut off access to $14.5 billion in federal funding for states that fail to adopt these "common standards."  Proponents claim that national standards would improve the American education system. They are wrong. Here's why. (more...)

States' fiscal condition still dismal, new report finds

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Alyson Klein/Education Week

State finances remain as bad as they have been in decades, and the fiscal picture isn't likely to clear up anytime soon, according to a report released this morning by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.  "Fiscal 2010 presented the most difficult challenges for states' financial management since the Great Depression, and fiscal 2011 is expected to present states with similar challenges," the report says. "The severe national recession that most likely ended in the second half of calendar year 2009 has drastically reduced tax revenues from every revenue source."  And fiscal 2011 isn't looking much brighter, the groups say: A majority of states are contemplating cutting K-12 education next year as they brace for overall spending reductions for what could be the third year in a row.  (more...)

Public financing supports growth of online charter schools

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Carol Pogash/New York Times

Laura Drews has converted a corner of her San Jose dining room into a public school. Every weekday, she guides her first-, fifth- and eighth-grade children through their class assignments, delivered through textbooks and desktop computers.  The Drews’ unorthodox education is paid for by taxpayers, but created and operated by a for-profit company based in Virginia. The California Virtual Academy at San Mateo is part of an expanding network of virtual public schools, including 10 in the Bay Area, that provide much of the instruction online with the help of a parent.  The schools are a manifestation of the charter school movement, which gives parents and students more choice in public education.  (more...)

S.D. School Board takes first big step in selecting school chief

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Ana Tintocalis/KPBS San Diego

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education began its first round of interviews today in its search for a new superintendent.  The panel is said to be interviewing five candidates. The trustees met with the five candidates behind closed doors.  District officials are not identifying who they are, however the board will name the top three finalists based on the interviews.  The district has held numerous town hall forums to get feedback on the issue. The board also appointed a committee of community members to go through the applications.  That group whittled the candidates down to five, but the school board wanted to interview seven. (more...)

East Side teachers agree to five furlough days

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News

San Jose's East Side high schools will let out for summer vacation before Memorial Day next year, courtesy of five furlough days the teachers union agreed to take in 2010-11.  In the face of a severe budget crunch, members of the East Side Teachers Association on Wednesday voted 580-168 to ratify a new contract that includes concessions.  By agreeing to the furloughs and an increase in health insurance copays, teachers hope to avert drastic budget cuts proposed for next year. Interim Superintendent Dan Moser had suggested going down to one counselor at each of the district's 11 comprehensive high schools, and cutting librarians, social workers and activity directors as part of $19.8 million in reductions to balance next school year's budget.  "This is a good start. We do have a win-win situation, and we'll be able to restore many valuable services for students," Moser said.  (more...)

4-day school weeks gain popularity across US

• 06-04-2010
• 

By Dorie Turner/San Francisco Chronicle

During the school year, Mondays in this rural Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma's house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center.  Don't bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off.  Peach County is one of more than 120 school districts across the country where students attend school just four days a week, a cost-saving tactic gaining popularity among cash-strapped districts struggling to make ends meet. The 4,000-student district started shaving a day off its weekly school calendar last year to help fill a $1 million budget shortfall.  It was that or lay off 39 teachers the week before school started, said Superintendent Susan Clark.  (more...)

Appreciation: Tam Tran, Advocate for the undocumented

• 06-04-2010
• 

Commentary by Julie Thi Underhill/New America Media

Julie Thi Underhill is a filmmaker, photographer, essayist, poet, and doctoral student of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley.

When I learned that Tam Tran had died in a car crash earlier this month, I felt sorrow and disbelief.   Had the young woman I’d befriended last November, over conversations about the Vietnamese diaspora, filmmaking, activism, and graduate school, really been killed in car accident along with her friend and fellow activist Cinthya Felix?   When I met Tam at the American Studies Association conference, she was so centered, compassionate, and warm. Over dinner, Tam had mentioned her advocacy for undocumented students through her filmmaking—she later sent me her film “Lost and Found.” Yet she’d relayed her passions so humbly. Tam never announced that she was, actually, a nationally celebrated advocate for the rights of undocumented immigrant students, an effort she began in earnest as a student at UCLA. (more...)

Educators are opposed to Obama’s school plan

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Gerry Shih/San Francisco Chronicle

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last week that California was submitting a new bid for hundreds of millions of dollars in financing under President Obama’s education initiative, Race to the Top, he could not resist a Hollywood joke.  The school superintendents who prepared the bid deserved an Oscar “for the great performance in putting this together,” he said, thanking several by name, including Carlos A. Garcia, the San Francisco superintendent.  “It’s supported just about by everybody,” Mr. Schwarzenegger added.  That, too, was meant to be a joke. (more...)

A number crunching Mom's crusade against tax inequity -- and toward solving the school funding problem

• 06-07-2010
• 

Opinion by Charles Kerchner/Huffington Post

Charles Kerchner is a research professor at Claremont Graduate University currently studying institutional change in public education.

Jennifer Bestor doesn't sound like a radical, but she has methodically peeled back a veil that clouds the inequity caused by the way California taxes commercial property.  She is a stay-at-home mom in Menlo Park who just happens to have 20 years' experience in business and finance. She's also ticked off, but in a very nice way.  Bestor, who traces her Republican roots to an ancestor who served in the Illinois legislature with Abraham Lincoln, was drawn to look at how commercial property is assessed when her local school district came upon hard financial times. She examined the tax rolls for 352 commercial properties and found enormous unfairness. "Once you start digging," she said, "it's really hard to stop."  (more...)

Education jobs bill faces tough climb in Congress

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Alyson Klein/Education Week

Against a current of political resistance—including from some Democrats—the Obama administration and congressional leaders continue to seek new strategies to pass a $23 billion measure aimed at helping schools stave off what could be massive layoffs.  The effort to advance the bill before Memorial Day met with bipartisan opposition in both chambers, including from the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition of Democrats, who worried about the impact of the measure on the federal deficit. The legislation’s sponsor, Rep. David R. Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, decided to pull the bill from committee consideration. (more...)

States up ante on applications for Race to Top

• 06-07-2010
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By Michele McNeil and Lesli A. Maxwell/Education Week

 After 39 applicants went home losers from the first round of the Race to the Top competition, many states regrouped and raised the stakes for round two—changing laws to revamp teacher evaluations, drumming up more support from districts and teachers’ unions, and getting more aggressive about turning around low-performing schools.  The result is a field of 35 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have proposed what they assert are their boldest plans yet in hopes of capturing part of the remaining $3.4 billion in the second, and maybe last, round of the federal education sweepstakes.  Colorado rewrote its laws on teacher evaluation and tenure so that half of an educator’s rating is based on student performance, and ineffective teachers can be dismissed more easily.  (more...)

Will new standards mean better-educated kids?

• 06-07-2010
• 

Guest blog by Daniel Willingham/Washington Post

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham is a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”
The final versions of the Common Core standards for math and English Language Arts were just released. What are their likely impact on learning over the next decade? Will students be better educated? From a quick read the standards look pretty good, but most would agree that high-quality standards are necessary but not sufficient for positive impact. We also need (1) a curriculum that implements the standards; (2) professional development for teachers; (3) lesson plans that implement the curriculum.  Some observers would add a standardized test as a fourth requirement.  Is there reason to think that these next steps will happen? (more...)

Skeptics named to common-core commission

• 06-07-2010
• 

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

Two men who helped craft the state’s math standards in 1997 and have been critical of the effort to create national common-core standards in math and English language arts are among the 11 individuals named by Gov. Schwarzenegger to a commission to evaluate them.  With the nominations Friday of Ze’ev Wurman and Bill Evers, both of whom served in the Department of Education under President George W. Bush, and nine others, the roster of the 21-member Academic Content Standards Commission is complete. But by the time the commission holds its first meeting, on Thursday, June 17, it will have less than a month before it must report its findings to the State Board of Education. That’s little time in which to cram a lot of work, with little professional help to get it done.  (more...)

Bureaucrats buckle, and two L.A. schools will get makeovers

• 06-07-2010
• 

Column by Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times

Excuse me? I think the word is out on run-down schools. Should the kids have to suffer so the adults can avoid more embarrassment?  There were no such concerns in Compton Unified when "School Pride" offered to do a makeover of Enterprise Middle School. Over a 10-day stretch during spring break, hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community volunteers painted, scrubbed, cleaned, removed graffiti, fixed cracks and rebuilt the athletic field.  "We were very happy with the results," said Assistant Principal Kim Gaston. He said there's been a noticeable change in the attitude of students, who are taking more pride in their campus. "I have not had to make one phone call to have graffiti removed, and it was almost a daily thing before." (more...)

L.A. school honors a living revolutionary

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Hector Tobar/Los Angeles Times

Sal Castro went from classroom to jail cell.  The Eastside social studies teacher was branded a dangerous agitator in the press — held responsible for inciting thousands of teenagers to march out of school. The district attorney slapped a bunch of conspiracy charges on him. The Board of Education voted him out of his job. All that was 42 years ago.  Fast forward to Saturday, when Sal Castro will stand with Los Angeles Unified School District dignitaries and cut the ribbon at a brand-new campus: Salvador B. Castro Middle School. "I thought they'd wait until I was dead," joked Castro, 76. "Maybe they're trying to send me a message. Or maybe they're just running out of names."  (more...)

Major cuts: High schools face hard economic lessons

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Christine Armario and Terence Chea/USA Today

Students graduating from high school this spring may be collecting their diplomas just in time, leaving institutions that are being badly weakened by the nation's economic downturn.  Across the country, mass layoffs of teachers, counselors and other staff members — caused in part by the drying up of federal stimulus dollars — are leading to larger classes and reductions in everything that is not a core subject, including music, art, clubs, sports and other after-school activities. Educators and others worry the cuts could lead to higher dropout rates and lower college attendance as students receive less guidance and become less engaged in school.  (more...)

Same warnings sounded as schools eye money for disadvantaged kids again

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

Under the gun to scrape together savings by the end of the month, San Diego Unified is now weighing whether to use more than $15 million in federal funds for disadvantaged students to cover what once were basic costs.  It would play out differently depending on the school.  Poorer schools would cover the costs of the counselors and coaches with special federal funds for disadvantaged students. Schools with wealthier students would use leftover federal stimulus money. It would play out differently depending on the school. Poorer schools would cover the costs of the counselors and coaches with special federal funds for disadvantaged students. (more...)

Educators backing $100 parcel tax for school programs in L.A. Unified

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Connie Llanos/LA Daily News

Suffering from its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Los Angeles Unified School District is asking local voters on Tuesday to approve a new $100 parcel tax.  Measure E would generate $92 million a year over the next four years to help save arts and music teachers, school librarians, campus police, custodians and keep class sizes down at the high school level.  The money comes as the district continues to struggle with massive budget deficits that have forced $1.5 billion in cuts since 2008.  "We have to face the facts: The state is in serious trouble, there is less revenue coming in and there simply isn't one area left in this district that I haven't cut," said LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines.  (more...)

Despite protests, Texas board passes curriculum

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Gordon Jackson/New America Media

A week-long series of strong testimonies, marches, rallies and cries of injustice by nationally renowned figures such as NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous and former U.S. Secretary of State Rod Paige could not deter a bloc of hard-core ultra “Christian Conservatives” of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) from passing 9-5 a controversial social studies component of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum in the late evening of May 21.   Unless other efforts are successful, the structure of the social studies curriculum will be implemented into Texas schoolbooks, by law, for the next 10 years and taught to over 4.7 million public school students. (more...)

Parent volunteers help lift San Jose schools

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Caille Millner/San Francisco Chronicle

The face of California public education soon will look a lot like Alum Rock Union Elementary School District in San Jose.  Almost 78 percent of the district's 13,816 students are of Hispanic or Latino origin. About 54 percent of them are English-language learners. The district, which sprawls over the foothills in east San Jose, is more working class than middle class.  It's tempting to view a district like Alum Rock as indicative of the challenges California will face in educating the next generation of children, but it might be better to view it as an opportunity. California's educational system desperately needs to adapt to both a 21st century economy and the state's shifting demographics. (more...)

Science education will soon be required in Oakland's public elementaries

• 06-07-2010
• 

By Katy Murphy/Oakland Tribune

Last week, the Oakland school district became one of the first in California to require elementary schools to teach science for at least 60 to 90 minutes a week. It might sound like a modest proposal, but it could be a boon for a subject that's often treated as optional in the lower grades — even in the high-tech Bay Area — because of a narrow focus on the 3Rs.  "Making time and space for science is sometimes a revolutionary act," Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith said during "Dinner with a Scientist" at the Oakland Zoo, an invitation-only event where enthusiastic students were exposed to careers in the field.  The 10- and 11-year-olds who compared fingerprints with a forensic scientist and learned about the endangered Western Pond Turtle on Wednesday night were probably unaware of the policy set to take effect in their schools by 2011. (more...)

Stop the education reform pendulum

• 06-07-2010
• 

Column by Walt Gardner/Education Week

It's understandable why teachers feel they need a summer vacation so desperately this year. The spring semester has been marked by an avalanche of educational legislation across the nation that has left them reeling. What is disturbing is not the sheer number of changes as much as their lack of cohesiveness. In an excellent analysis in The Nation, Pedro Noguera warns that policy makers have not thought out clearly what must be done to improve educational quality ("A New Vision of School Reform"). As a result, the Race to the Top and other initiatives constitute fragmented approaches. But the truth is that for decades public education in this country has undergone abrupt swings from one extreme to the other for the same reason. (more...)

Needed: Fresh thinking on teacher accountability

• 06-08-2010
• 

By James W. Stigler/Education Week (subscription required)

James W. Stigler is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a senior partner at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates have both thrown their support behind a new accountability system for teachers. Based on research showing significant variability in teachers’ effectiveness (as measured by their students’ learning), Duncan and Gates propose developing measures of effectiveness to get rid of bad teachers and increase the pay of good ones. It sounds like common sense. Or does it?  This approach was called the “inspection” method by W. Edwards Deming, known as the father of the science of quality improvement. Inspection, he wrote, is not an effective way to improve quality because it has no effect on the process that caused suboptimal results in the first place.  (more...)

A new vision of school reform

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Pedro Noguera/The Nation

Before his election President Obama carved out what many regarded as a more progressive and enlightened position on education reform. Recognizing that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) had become widely unpopular because of its overemphasis on standardized tests, he declared, "Don't tell us that the only way to teach a child is to spend too much of the year preparing him to fill out a few bubbles in a standardized test." He pledged to lead the nation in a different direction.  We are still waiting for a change of course. Since the election, the president and his secretary of education, Arne Duncan, have adopted policies that, to the chagrin of many of their supporters, have had far more in common with the previous administration than expected. (more...)

California should consider common core standards for education

• 06-08-2010
• 

Editorial/San Jose Mercury News

For a decade, defenders of California's K-12 standards in math and English language arts have warded off criticisms and legitimate calls for revisions by citing positive reviews by think tanks and praise for the rigor of California's standards.  The common-core state standards initiative that the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers developed offers an opportunity for an overdue reassessment. Reflexive pride of ownership shouldn't stand in the way. If an objective comparison confirms the benefits of common-core standards, then the state should adopt them.  (more...)

Leg analyst predicts Prop 98 suspension

• 06-08-2010
• 

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor believes it may be unavoidable – and may be preferable – to suspend Proposition 98, the primary method of funding K-12 schools and community colleges, in a year when the state is struggling to close a massive $20 billion deficit.  Doing so would at least be a candid acknowledgment that the state can’t afford what it is legally obligated to pay for education. It would also free up the Legislature to establish priorities – do the least harm – if it manages to raise additional revenue.  Taylor described the scenario and presented a budget overview last Friday during a budget conference committee of the Legislature. (more...)

The end of 'the stupid class'

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

Bianca Penuelas and her friends used to joke about being in "the stupid class" at Correia Middle School. The gifted kids took one set of tougher classes for English and history; she and her friends took another, easier set of classes. So Bianca didn't bother to work hard at school.  "I didn't think I had to try because I was below average anyway," the eighth grader said.  Now she sits side by side with those smart kids she used to only see between classes, kids who she now counts among her friends. Correia put almost all students into the same classes this year, ending the controversial practice of splitting children into classes based on ability, also known as tracking.  (more...)

Obama at Kalamazoo Central High School: How did it win the honor?

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Lynn Turner/Christian Science Monitor

For Kalamazoo Central High School, President Obama's commencement address Monday is a measure of how far the school has come.  This is an urban school in Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in America. At K-Central, there have been big gaps between the enrollment of students in their freshman year and their graduation rates. Not too long ago, crime-related stories seemed to grab as many headlines as those about learning achievements and sports victories.  But in recent years, the academic improvement in Kalamazoo has been notable. For one thing, since 2006, 91 percent of K-Central graduates have gone to college for at least one semester. Key to that achievement has been an innovative program called the Kalamazoo Promise.   (more...)

Students sue over disappearing teachers

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Rupa Dev/New America Media

“It’s sad because my school is closing after 51 years,” said Natalie. “I’m going to miss my teachers; they were all really nice and creative.”  Cordova Lane Elementary, which takes its name from the Sacramento suburb where its located, shut down due to low enrollment, and this is just one of many changes the Folsom Cordova Unified School District has already implemented as a result of $14.7 million slashed from the 2009-2010 budget and $14.1 million more for the upcoming school year’s budget.  “We will increase class sizes and reduce the number of teachers, custodians, librarian assistants, counselors, principals, vice principals, and sports program,” said Steven Nichols, spokesperson for Folsom Cordova Unified School District. “These cuts are very uncomfortable for us because we never thought we’d have to make them.”   (more...)

Suit would overhaul Calif. school finance system

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Lesli A. Maxwell/Education Week (subscription required)

In what could become the most important school finance litigation in 40 years in California, parents, students, school leaders, and education advocates are suing the state to force it to overhaul the way it pays for public schooling.  The plaintiffs—including nine school districts and 60 students and their families—sued late last month, claiming that California’s system for financing K-12 public education violates the state constitution.  They argue that although the state prescribes what teachers must teach and what students must learn, it does not provide the resources to deliver on those requirements. They are asking the courts to order the governor and the state legislature to scrap the current finance system and design a new one that is “sound, stable, and sufficient.” (more...)

Loss of pink-slipped teachers looms for schools throughout East Bay

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Theresa Harrington/Contra Costa Times

After four years at the school she has grown to love, Jessica Beerbaum won't return to her fifth-grade classroom at Silverwood Elementary for the coming school year.  "When I'm teaching, I'm as happy as I've ever been in my life," said Beerbaum, 56, whose position has been filled by someone with more seniority. "I can't bear the thought of not teaching. I know that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now, and I know I'm good at it and I give it my all."  Beerbaum is one of nearly 200 teachers and other credentialed employees in the Mt. Diablo school district who received final pink slips in May, telling them they would be out of work after the school year ends Monday. (more...)

Schools rewarding English fluency

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Michelle L. Klampe/Riverside Press-Enterprise

When they began school, the four Mancilla sisters had to learn reading, writing and math, just like the rest of their classmates.  But Blanca, now 13, Esmeralda, 11, and 8-year-old twins Isabel and Jocelyn faced another hurdle: They had to learn English.  Several years later, the sisters, who attend schools in Romoland, earned their proficiency certificates and shiny gold medals to recognize their achievement.  "When I heard I was going to get a medal, I was really happy," said Blanca, a seventh-grader at Boulder Ridge Middle School. "I felt like I made it."  Mastering English requires students to do extra class work such as grammar drills alongside their regular school, even while they struggle to understand what's being said around them. (more...)

Chicago Teachers Union to sue over class sizes

• 06-08-2010
• 

By Rosalind Rossi/Chicago Sun Times

Chicago Teachers Union officials vowed to file suit today, charging that plans to raise city class sizes to 35 are unsafe and violate the municipal code.  "You're looking at a very dangerous situation,'' CTU President Marilyn Stewart said at a news conference Monday.  "We're asking the Board [of Education] to prove that you can do this without violating the law.'' The suit -- which may be the first of its kind -- will hinge on a municipal code requirement that classrooms contain 20 square feet of floor space per person. (more...)

Educating all in Colombia

• 06-08-2010
• 

Editorial/Los Angeles Times

While politicos and Latin America analysts have been preoccupied with next month's presidential race in Colombia, a truly historic development has gone almost unnoticed. Thanks to the work of the Cornell Law School International Human Rights Clinic, Colombia has joined the ranks of nations that provide free and compulsory primary school education. Four years of work by the clinic and by the Colombian Coalition for the Right to Education came to fruition last week when the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled that charging tuition for public elementary school was a violation of the Colombian Constitution.  The immediate result of the ruling is that thousands of children for whom fees were an insurmountable barrier can now go to school. (more...)

Report: Tough times ahead for children of the great recession

• 06-09-2010
• 

By Sarah Garland/Education Week

More children will live in poverty this year. More will have two parents who are unemployed. Fewer children will enroll in prekindergarten programs, and fewer teenagers will find jobs. More children are likely to commit suicide, be overweight, and be victimized by crime.  This is all according to a report released Tuesday by the Foundation for Child Development that measures the impact of the recession on the current generation. These are the children of the Great Recession, a cohort that will experience a decline in fortunes that erases 30 years of social progress, the report contends. Known as the Child and Youth Well-Being Index, the report predicts that in the next few years, the economy may recover and the unemployment rate may drop, but the generation growing up now could feel the harsh impact of the recession for years to come. (more...)

Run off shaping up in superintendent of public instruction race

• 06-09-2010
• 

Blog by Dan Smith/Capitol Alert

It appears that no candidate will have the 50 percent needed to win the state school chief's job outright, but Larry Aceves and Tom Torlakson are leading in early returns. The two top vote-getters in the nonpartisan race will advance to the November general election.  With 12 percent of the statewide vote counted, Aceves had 21 percent to Torlakson's 18 percent. Sen. Gloria Romero is running third with 14 percent of the vote.  All three leading candidates - Torlakson, a Democratic assemblyman from Pittsburg, Romero, D-Los Angeles, and former school superintendent Aceves - saw their campaigns waged largely by others through independent expenditure committees.  (more...)

L.A. school bond measure falling short of required two-thirds majority

• 06-09-2010
• 

By Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times

A long-shot parcel tax to offset some of the looming funding cuts in the Los Angeles Unified School District claimed a majority of votes but was falling well short of the required two-thirds majority in early returns Tuesday night. Measure E sought a $100-per-parcel tax to raise $92.5 million annually for four years. Top school officials made a symbolic last stand Monday at Mar Vista Elementary School on the Westside when school board member Steve Zimmer approached parents dropping off children. L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines then joined him to answer questions at a parents meeting. (more...)

More:  Los Angeles Daily News * San Jose Mercury News

Parcel taxes, bonds leading in early returns

• 06-09-2010
• 

By Sharon Noguchi/San Jose Mercury News

Schools anxious to cushion the blow of state budget cuts appeared largely to be succeeding Tuesday, as Santa Clara County voters seemed to be giving a thumbs-up to three parcel taxes. Districts hoping to remodel schools and boost technology fared just as well, as three bond measures seemed headed toward comfortable victories. Milpitas and the Mount Pleasant school districts, aiming to pass their first parcel tax to supplement state funding, were prevailing at the polls. "We're feeling a little anxious, but we're hoping it's a trend," Marsha Grilli, Milpitas school board president, said about returns that showed the measure passing. The Alum Rock School District, which sought to increase its existing tax, also appeared to be winning. All parcel-tax measures needed 66.7 percent approval to pass. (more...)

Obama conveys principle to students

• 06-09-2010
• 

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg/New York Times

President Obama has been telling the nation that he takes responsibility for cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, he imparted his buck-stops-here philosophy to an audience of high school graduates, telling them: “Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility not just for your successes. Take responsibility where you fall short as well.”  Mr. Obama spent the morning in Washington meeting with cabinet officials to discuss the oil spill. Hours later, he was standing in a university gymnasium before about 280 graduates and their families as the commencement speaker for Kalamazoo Central High School, which won a nationwide competition to promote his Race to the Top education initiative. (more...)

Standards debate puts Texas board in hot seat

• 06-09-2010
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By Erik W. Robelen/Education Week (subscription required)

You don’t have to be an education policy wonk to have heard a little about the goings-on at the Texas board of education lately.  The 15-member elected body drew national attention as a bloc of staunch conservatives largely succeeded in putting its stamp on a revised set of social studies standards. The debate was marked by tussles over such matters as the separation of church and state, the representation of minority figures and the role of discrimination in U.S. history, and, more broadly, whether the school board’s conservatives were seeking to infuse the standards with a particular political ideology.  The voting may be over, but the debate continues, and questions remain about the future of the standards, and of the board itself. (more...)

Behind the hype of charter schools

• 06-09-2010
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By Laura Klivans/KALW News

One of the most important challenges facing parents is how to get the best education for their child. Private school or public school? Conventional or charter? Many parents, including President Barack Obama, have become increasingly interested in the charter option.  The charter school movement has been growing. Across the country, more than 5,000 charter schools teach a million-and-a-half students. And more are on the way.  The Race to the Top education program offers more than $4 billion in federal grants to states that are willing to, among other things, lift the cap on the number of new charter schools in their state.  Here in California, the first charter school was opened in 1993. Today there are more than 800, with about 40 new schools opening each year.  (more...)

Parent activists come together

• 06-09-2010
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Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

Cupertino parents’ success in raising $2.5 million in eight weeks to save 100  teachers’ jobs and small classes is providing a model for parents in other communities distraught over budget cuts threatening their schools.  The huge, time-consuming effort also taught a lesson to Cupertino parents, which they are happy to share: Once is plenty; don’t count on doing this every year to bail out your budgets.  The outgrowth of the Cupertino experience is a new, as yet unnamed, Silicon Valley organization of parents with a two-prong goal: grass-roots organizing to save local schools and regional and state activism to reform education funding.  (more...)

1,100 students later … some thoughts on teaching

• 06-09-2010
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Column by Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times

Next week, Jane Schwanbeck will retire from Lomarena Elementary School in Laguna Hills after 37 years as a kindergarten teacher, 36 of them in the same room.  Let the testimonials begin.  "I feel like she's the best teacher I've ever had." That's from TJ, one of her current students. He added that he meant no offense to his pre-school teacher.  "What I'm going to say is that I love my teacher." That's from Kirsten, and there was a long line of classmates behind her, ready with more of the same. These little interviews took place, by the way, after Mrs. Schwanbeck had let her students put me on the spot with a few questions of their own. (more...)

Support for budget relief in early voting

• 06-09-2010
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By Jill Tucker/San Francisco Chronicle

Bay Area voters were largely favoring school measures on local ballots Tuesday, suggesting that despite the tough economy they were ready to give school districts and one community college district relief from state budget cuts, and cash to help construct or modernize classrooms. Four of the five parcel taxes were ahead, with one hovering slightly under the required two-thirds margin of approval. All seven school facilities measures were comfortably ahead.  Here is how the races looked late into the evening:  Bond measures requiring 55 percent support held strong leads:  Mount Diablo Unified School District: Measure C, a $348 million bond, would add classrooms labs, fix leaky roofs, and allow other repairs. (more...)

Parcel tax, rent stabilization measures appear to have passed

• 06-09-2010
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KGO San Francisco

Both parcel tax measures in San Mateo County and another measure providing rent stabilization and eviction guidelines for the city of East Palo Alto appear to have been approved in Tuesday's election, according to complete unofficial election results.  The two parcel tax measures, for the Cabrillo Unified School District and the San Mateo County Community College District, required a two-thirds majority to pass.  Measure E, which assess an annual education parcel tax of $150 per parcel for five years for the Cabrillo Unified School District, appears to have passed with 70.7 percent of the votes in its favor.  The measure calls for annual audits and citizen oversight, and the money would not go toward administrative salaries. (more...)

Three-fourths of local tax, bond issues passed

• 06-09-2010
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Blog by Dan Walters/Sacramento Bee

Local school district, special district, city and county voters approved three-fourths of the 60 tax and bond measures placed before them in Tuesday's election, according to a post-election compilation released by the League of California Cities.  Eleven of the 13 majority vote tax proposals passed, as did 21 of 27 special taxes and 15 of 20 school district bond issues. Overall 44 of the 60 local finance measures were approved.  The city organization also announced that Eastvale, a community in Riverside County, voted to become California's 481st incorporated city, and that voters in Vallejo, which declared bankruptcy, repealed that city's law requiring binding arbitration in contract disputes with city unions.  (more...)

De Beck: 'I have more of a challenge than I realized'

• 06-09-2010
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Blog by Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

One thing is clear from the early returns in the San Diego Unified school board race: Unless the numbers change in a big way, school board veteran John de Beck will face off with Scott Barnett, a budget consultant with backing from the teachers union, and not Michelle Crisci.  Crisci, a school psychologist who liked de Beck, was hoping to knock Barnett out of the primary. That looks unlikely, even with only 18 percent of precincts tallied. Crisci, who spent barely any money on the race and campaigned little, had only 16 percent of the vote.  Barnett had 41 percent, de Beck 42 percent.  The strong showing from Barnett is even more remarkable because he trailed de Beck in fundraising. And though the teachers union endorsed Barnett, it hasn't been heavily involved in the race yet.  (more...)

Learning Chinese in Mexico: Children prepare for the future

• 06-09-2010
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By Tracy Wilkinson/Los Angeles Times

Wo jiao Maribel. Ni ji sui?  Alberto and Maribel, sixth-graders at the Pedro Garcia Rojas elementary school here in central Mexico, introduce themselves to each other in Mandarin Chinese. Their class also recites numbers, clothing items and weather conditions in a language that, to them, is about as foreign as it gets.  Some, like Damaris De Luna Sanchez, 11, move their hands the way a conductor directs an orchestra, slicing through the air to help them reach the proper intonations, the staccato flats and singsong vowelish sounds. (more...)

UC pushes for new, integrated curriculum

• 06-09-2010
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By UCLA IDEA Staff

For 20 years, Sheryl Ryder taught business economics and virtual enterprise classes to high school students in Northern California. She had never considered combining her lesson plan with one from an algebra class. That was, until she attended the first University of California-sponsored conference on integrated curriculum. There, her small group made up of Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers and math teachers came up with lesson plans that used algebraic equations to graph a business’s break-even point and profit margin.  “Magical things happen when teachers spend time together, share ideas and resources,” said Ryder, coordinator of the CA Business Education Leadership Project, which develops standards-based curriculum and assessment tools for CTE classes.  (more...)

Aceves, Torlakson in runoff for schools chief

• 06-10-2010
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By Jill Tucker/San Francisco Chronicle

Larry who?  A few months ago, that might have been a good question. Not anymore.  Retired district Superintendent Larry Aceves, a dark horse contender in the race for state superintendent of public instruction got more votes than two legislative bigwigs, shocking the education establishment and proving that candidates can still make the cut without a war chest.  Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, came in second.  The two will face a runoff for the nonpartisan post in November. State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, took third and is out of the race along with nine other contenders.  (more...)

Also:  Educated Guess * San Jose Mercury News

NEA eyes Congress as high court refuses NCLB case

• 06-10-2010
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By Alyson Klein/Education WEek

Fresh from a snub by the U.S. Supreme Court, the National Education Association is turning to Congress to address its concerns that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—in the form of the 8-year-old No Child Left Behind Act—is an unfunded mandate. Alice O’Brien, the general counsel for the 3.2 million-member NEA, said the high court’s June 7 refusal to consider a challenge by the nation’s largest teachers’ union and nine school districts to the NCLB law is the “end of the line” for the lawsuit, but not for the argument that the law places an undue financial burden on states. “Our schools are now in a terrible economic crisis,” said Ms. O’Brien. Class sizes are ballooning and “we have curriculums that are being slashed,” she said. (more...)

Law professor Bill Koski takes the state's education finance system to court

• 06-10-2010
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Blog by Ben Trefny/KALW

For school-aged students around the Bay, these are the final weeks of the school year. Summer vacation is around the corner, but that doesn't mean families are likely to get a holiday from the bad news about their schools. Headlines about massive staff and program cuts, student protests and administrators scrambling for a slice of the vanishing budget pie continue to dominate education news.  The fall of California's schools, though, reflects more than just this year's massive budget deficit. Public education in the state has been in decline for decades now, a downward spiral that some educators trace to the way California funds its schools. Now, the state PTA and dozens of students and school districts say how the goverrnment pays for public education is not only ineffective but also unconstitutional. (more...)

LAUSD looks for funding after Measure E doesn't garner enough votes

• 06-10-2010
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KPCC

Measure E was supported by more than half of voters during Tuesday's election, but it required a two-thirds majority vote to pass.  "If Measure E required a simple majority to pass, we would be celebrating right now,'' LAUSD Board of Education President Monica Garcia and and board member Steve Zimmer said in a joint statement. "The two-thirds requirement, however, proved too high of a threshold in such uncertain economic times.  "LAUSD students did not create our budget crisis and they cannot afford to be its victims,'' according to the statement. "That's why we woke up early this morning, rolled up our sleeves and began the work on new fronts to generate revenue for LAUSD.''

Also: Los Angeles Times * Los Angeles Daily News

Buena Park parcel tax defeated

• 06-10-2010
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By Michael Mello and Amanda Portillo/Orange County Register

A parcel tax that would have provided $1 million to the struggling Buena Park School District suffered a sound defeat in Tuesday's election. Of about 3,000 voters who cast ballots on the measure, 50.66 percent voted "yes" and 49.34 percent voted "no." The measure needed more than 66 percent to pass. "It's very disappointing," school board member Barbara Michel said. "We put it out there for the community to vote on. It was their choice." Rosanne Jasieniecki, who wrote the ballot argument opposing the measure, said she's happy with the outcome. "It's encouraging to know that the voters are paying attention and understand that all Californians have to live within our means during these difficult economic times," she said. (more...)

‘We’re not happy with the way things are’

• 06-10-2010
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By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego

The San Diego Unified school board primary is often sleepy and overlooked, assumed to be an easy win for incumbents. But voters upended that idea in the Tuesday primary, putting one school board member in a neck-and-neck race and threatening to oust another from the race completely. Katherine Nakamura trailed behind middle school math teacher Kevin Beiser and is still battling for second place with businessman Stephen Rosen. She trailed Rosen by just 59 votes Wednesday, with roughly 160,000 ballots still to be counted in all races across the county. Nakamura is in jeopardy of losing altogether, because only the top two contenders move on to the November election. (more...)