I'm taking a turn as Principal for a Day this morning! Here's hoping I don't wreak havoc on a functioning middle school. I'll be back to blog about it another day. Now for the newsblitz:
The Union-Tribune profiles Kelly Kovacic, the Preuss School teacher who is one of the five California Teachers of the Year and who will vie for the title of National Teacher of the Year. KPBS covers it too.
A new campus for High Tech High is opening in San Marcos, the North County Times reports.
The California School Boards Association picked ... no one as their Legislator of the Year, the Los Angeles Times writes. Schools suffered so much from state cuts that no lawmaker got singled out for praise. In related news, our guest blogger Ashley Hermsmeier takes you through a day in her life as a teacher under budget cuts.
A new study found that most principals believe that teachers who joined the field through alternative routes after a first career are just as good or better than other beginning teachers, the Orange County Register reports.
Voters approved two parcel taxes for schools in the Bay Area this week, the Contra Costa Times writes. San Diego Unified will be eyeing those results closely as it weighs whether to float a parcel tax of its own.
Education Week blogs about how a Harvard University study in India reveals the creeping influence of class discrimination in grading tests. Intriguingly, teachers from the lowest social castes in India were most likely to discriminate, and they were most likely to discriminate against the most disadvantaged kids.
USA Today reports that more school districts are putting kids' grades online for parents using secure accounts.
Claus von Zastrow blogs that a Maryland elementary school has reaffirmed his belief in the difference schools can make, even though needs outside school must be addressed too.
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing schools in Palm Beach County, Florida for failing to provide an adequate education to kids, as evidenced by poor graduation rates.
Friday, November 6 -- 7:24 am
The Chinese government is again paying to bring San Diego Unified officials to see Chinese schools. And San Diego Unified will still cover some of the trip's costs despite a just-imposed spending freeze at the district.
Last year, school board members John de Beck and Katherine Nakamura went along with a parent liaison; now board President Shelia Jackson is slated to go along with four other employees, including its directors of communications and language acquisition. The trip from Los Angeles to China is being paid for a nonprofit affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Unfortunately, it still has a price tag for San Diego Unified: The school district has been cutting down on costs amid a spending freeze, but is asking the school board to approve $835 for registration and airfare for Jackson to Los Angeles, paid for out of the school board budget.
The Chinese nonprofit is only paying to get them from Los Angeles to China and covering their costs once they get there. It isn't clear how the traveling employees will pay the costs of registration and travel to L.A. or which budget string it would come from; I'm still tracking down the details on that.
Though the Fair Political Practices Commission, which clamped down on donated travel for public officials last year, school district attorney Mark Bresee said the trip is still permissible because it falls under an exemption for legislative or governmental travel that is provided by a foreign government or nonprofit.
Update: I heard back from Bernie Rhinerson, chief district relations officer for San Diego Unified and one of the four employees going to China. He said the only costs for San Diego Unified will be the expenses requested for Jackson; the other employees are either covering their costs or have a grant that will pay for them.
Friday, November 6 -- 2:44 pm
Here's something nifty to get your mind off budget cuts: Two San Diego County teachers were named among the five California Teachers of the Year today, and one will go forward as the California nominee for National Teacher of the Year. The press release from the California Department of Education includes some more details:
Kelly Kovacic teaches social studies at The Preuss School, an intensive college preparatory school (and a charter school) for low-income student populations that is located on the University of California San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla (San Diego Unified School District). She also was selected as California’s nominee for the prestigious National Teacher of the Year competition.
Melanie Tolan teaches English-language arts, history, and physical education at the Sarah Anthony School in San Diego (Juvenile Court and Community Schools n San Diego County Office of Education).
O'Connell said, “I am delighted that Kelly Kovacic is representing California at the national level. Ms. Kovacic is an exceptionally knowledgeable and effective teacher. She demonstrates an unparalleled passion and commitment to her students and school community that extends beyond the school day and the school yard.”
Thursday, November 5 -- 11:38 am Guest blogger Ashley Hermsmeier is a teacher, runner and writer in her sixth year of teaching English at El Capitan High School in Lakeside. In her blog titled, "I Run Because I Teach" she discusses the two aspects of life that simultaneously mean the most and frustrate her the most (besides her husband)-- teaching and running.
These are her reflections and opinions, not mine, so if you have burning questions or comments, please contact Ashley via e-mail at amorrow@guhsd.net. Or post a comment here on the blog.
8:02 a.m. Second Period
My students shuffle into the classroom turning off cell phones and stowing iPods in hoodie pockets. As they sit down and begin to unpack their things, I hear pieces of conversations and the occasional cough or sniffle. When I take roll I notice six students are absent. I usually have two empty desks, for a class size of 37, but today the room feels cavernous. I am reminded of the teacher down the hall who doesn’t have enough desks for all her 42 students; I feel lucky to have only 37 students.
I ask absentmindedly, “What’s up? Is it senior ditch day or something?” A chorus of “she’s sick," and "he’s sick” answers me. I look to the back of the room and see the empty tissue box glaring at me. With the budget cuts this year, my department could only afford to order a few boxes per teacher. That was my last box. Now, every time a sniffling student needs a tissue, he or she will have to leave class, walk down the hall to the bathroom, and thus miss important aspects of my lecture on the English Renaissance.
I look around the classroom and see dusty hairballs in every corner and dirt caked on the windowsills. Random scraps of paper, a broken mechanical pencil, and pieces of a dissected ballpoint pen are scattered under and between students’ feet. There is even a little pile of red dirt under a desk from a student who must have walked through mud on the way to school. They sit in filth most days of the week because our campus has only two custodians this year, as opposed to four last year and six the year before that. I make a mental note to sweep and dust the room after school (before I finish grading the 148 essays also glaring at me from the back of the room) and then buy tissues on my way home.
10:15 a.m. Prep Period
I walk to the library to reserve it for a research project. Today the place is a tomb; not a single student is inside the library. Budget cuts have made it inaccessible and unwelcoming. Last year it was bustling with students who came at all times of the day to do work, take tests, finish typing essays, or check out a reading book. However, this year the hours fluctuate daily based on the schedule and contract hours of the one librarian left to run the whole facility. This means the two girls I saw trying to check out independent reading books for English class will not be able to get them until the library arbitrarily reopens. Hopefully they will be able to get the books at lunch, because after school is just as unreliable as the rest of the day. I think of the freshman girl yesterday who was talking on her cell phone outside the library 10 minutes after the final bell rang, panicking about needing to type an essay. This is in direct contrast to the efficient library of last year. I wonder why our campus is the only one in the district without an assistant librarian?
Dirty classrooms and an inaccessible library are only two examples of how budget cuts have directly affected the students, teachers and classified staff on our campus, and the cuts affect each site in different ways. I wonder how our district can afford to start new programs, yet can’t keep current programs such as auto shop running properly. For example, how can the new literacy program justify spending money on a wine and cheese social, yet won’t provide the money and resources necessary to keep a campus library open with regular hours? Wouldn’t improving a library’s accessibility be a step toward literacy? I’d like to know why the district feels its programs are more important than our English, science or math programs? What does the district get for creating (instead of maintaining) programs nearly every year?
I also wonder how a district that received a $10 million dollar savings off the backs of teachers and students last year (by increasing class sizes), can now ask teachers to accept a contract that includes two furlough days and a 2.9 percent pay cut? (Especially considering they had a surprising $32.6 million ending balance last year.) It seems that those on top are requiring more and more from all of us, yet they are providing fewer and fewer resources with which to do it. Now they’re expecting us to give up even more? I hate to say it, but our children are becoming left behind because our schools have been left behind.
-- ASHLEY HERMSMEIERThursday, November 5 -- 9:59 am We've got a guest blogger lined up for today. Check back after your Bright and Early for a take on budget cuts from one county teacher. Now for the newsblitz:
La Mesa-Spring Valley schools are sticking with a year-round schedule, to the dismay of some critics, the Union-Tribune reports.
The UT also writes that two outside evaluators have given the green light to continue accrediting the College of Education at San Diego State, which turns out tons of local teachers.
And one more from the UT: Kids at Washington Elementary in Little Italy are learning Italian dance, language, art and history.
The North County Times zeroes in on a kiddo who makes animal documentaries.
Dropping enrollment in Los Angeles Unified is exacerbating the budget crisis because funding is based on attendance, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some of the students left LAUSD for charter schools; others just left town.
Also in the LAT: Obama spells out his education agenda in Wisconsin. Blogger Alexander Russo breaks down the speech too.
The Sacramento Bee reports that California lawmakers have taken another step to make the state more competitive for a second round of school stimulus dollars: It calls for strategies to turn around the lowest-performing schools and lifts a statewide cap on the number of charter schools.
Four superintendents in a Bakersfield-area school district say they'll take pay cuts if their faculty do, the Bakersfield Californian writes.
Education Week looks at how school issues factored into elections nationwide, from the re-election of the New York Mayor to the repeal of same-sex marriage in Maine.
More bad news about the economy: Foundation giving is expected to drop more than 10 percent this year, the Washington Post writes. This isn't good for schools that have increasingly been looking to grants and other private support to bulk up their coffers.
A report on how states can revamp how they recruit, prepare, evaluate and pay teachers has spurred an angry response from the American Federation of Teachers, which says it's disrespectful of the profession. Interestingly, the group that produced it includes former San Diego Unified Superintendent Carl Cohn.
Along the same lines, here's a Q & A with the author of a book comparing U.S. schools to those in Australia and Japan. She found that teacher quality, school safety and a sense of school community needed to change to keep U.S. schools up to pace. Linked from THE Journal.
Thursday, November 5 -- 7:41 am I am informed that a school news item I picked up yesterday from Indiana was not, in fact, from Indianapolis but rather from the now famed town of Churubusco. Duly chastened, I return to give you another, geographically correct newsblitz:
We bring you the findings from a just-the-facts-ma'am report that looks at San Diego Unified from test scores to finances. It's meant to be the beginning of a conversation about how parents, philanthropists and business leaders can help improve schools. But the next steps are unclear. Researchers also found that two options floated to revamp schools, mayoral control and expanding the school board, would lead to battles at the ballot box.
Chula Vista Star News reporter Jon Campbell turned up an amazing story on how Sweetwater Superintendent Jesus Gandara failed to notify the school board and repeatedly denied publicly that he was seeking a job in Austin -- despite the fact that documents from Texas point to him being a candidate. If true, it would be grounds for his termination, the Star News reports. More will certainly come on this story.
KPBS reports that San Diego Unified could get as much as $74 million in federal loans to pay for solar energy projects at schools. The only problem is it has to pay it back -- and if it doesn't think it can reasonably do it, it can't accept all that money. The UT has also reported on this.
Two school parcel taxes were turned down by voters near San Jose yesterday, the Mercury News reports. This doesn't bode well for similar plans here in San Diego. I'm still looking for news on what happened to a similar proposal in Long Beach.
The Los Angeles Times editorializes that a bill designed to help California be more competitive for federal stimulus dollars for schools is poorly constructed and includes a hodgepodge of ideas, some not so great, that aren't really related to the stimulus.
Chino schools are considering whether to solicit corporate advertising in schools to help get more money amid the state budget crisis, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports.
The Educated Guess blogs about a class size reduction program won by the California Teachers Association and its results, both good and bad. The union just issued data showing that it has had positive effects on school scores.
Jay Mathews at the Washington Post opines that the office of federal education secretary should be abolished, and Arne Duncan should be freed from the lecture circuit and sent back to local schools where he could do better work.
Wednesday, November 4 -- 7:43 am San Diego Unified released new details yesterday on how the spending freeze will work. It mandated that departments in the central office slim down their budgets by 3 percent and school sites cut theirs by 2.5 percent.
Travel has been suspended unless it is required by regulations, will benefit the school district financially or is deemed necessary for the school board or superintendent. Procurement cards, which are like credit cards for school district employees, have been suspended.
Also, field trips and overtime will be kept to a minimum. And schools aren't supposed to buy catered food unless it's for kids, with the possible exception of events for the school board or superintendent. (This exception was pointed out to me by an employee who found it more than a little annoying.)
I'm curious about how these rules pan out for schools. Notice something interesting? Shoot me an e-mail at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org or leave a comment here.
Wednesday, November 4 -- 6:53 am Local news on schools is a little thin today, but there's plenty of fascinating stuff going on across the state and the nation. Read up in the newsblitz!
Now that student newspapers are online, I can post news written by kids! The student newspaper at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts opines that musical tours should be brought back, even though some kids couldn't pay the expenses last year.
A Fremont charter school may become the first Arabic immersion school in the country, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Sa n Diego has an elementary school with an Arabic program, but this charter would go a step further and have kids spent part of the day entirely in Arabic.
California could face a crisis in school leadership, Education Week reports. Principals are retiring and fewer are in the pipeline.
Santa Rosa schools may dip into their reserves to survive the budget crisis, the Press-Democrat writes.
The San Jose mayor is trying to draw together different school districts and charter schools to strategize about how to close the achievement gap, Educated Guess blogs.
The Los Angeles Times opines that skirmishes over smaller issues are threatening to harm the Los Angeles Unified effort to open up campuses to outside operators.
USA Today reports that some school districts now use income as the basis for diversifying schools instead of race.
The ACLU is suing an Indianapolis school after it punished two girls for putting sexually suggestive photos on Myspace that had nothing to do with the school.
Educated Reporter Linda Perlstein is not convinced by the rationale that superintendent searches should be secret. "Is educational leadership public service, or a Robert Ludlum novel?" she asks.
Literacy experts worry that some of the folks consulted on how to create national academic standards could profit off the results, Education Week writes.
A Washington Post writer opines that all the turbulence surrounding controversial D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee is getting in the way of reform.
And better late than never: USA Today has another account of the troubling story of Filipino teachers who say they were held in virtual servitude by an overseas company and its sister agency in California. The American Federation of Teachers filed a federal complaint over the issue.
Tuesday, November 3 -- 7:39 am
Stop raiding the leftover Halloween candy for a minute and catch up on all the education news you missed while you were trick-or-treating:
The Union-Tribune writes about the dreamed-of high school in Alpine.
Schools could begin inoculating children against swine flu as early as next week, KPBS reports.
San Diego News Network fields more questions from parents about how their kids can meet the standards to apply for the University of California and California State University systems.
A Julian parent created a "green party kit" to replace disposable plates and cups used for classroom parties and got profiled in National Geographic for her work, the North County Times reports.
Also in the North County Times: Escondido high schools are preparing for more construction.
A San Jose-area school district has ousted their superintendent after questions cropped up about his spending, the Mercury News reports. The problem is that it cost them another $120,000 to do it -- plus his health benefits.
Parcel taxes and school construction bonds will be popping up on ballots for voters to approve or deny across Southern California as school districts try to gather more funds, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Merc zeroes in on two such school districts with parcel taxes going before voters in their area.
The LAT also profiles a Pasadena high school that is trying to turn itself around.
The San Francisco Chronicle tells the appalling story of the gang rape of a teenage girl in Richmond and her classmates who did it. I'd like to think that the headline -- which says that the attack is seen as "nearly inevitable" -- isn't true.
The Educated Guess, a blog on school policy, writes about a hearing today on another bill aimed at helping California snap up a second batch of school stimulus funds. This one would give researchers access to state data systems.
States and school districts are beginning to worry about what happens when the stimulus money runs dry, Education Week reports. It's called the funding cliff. San Diego Unified, for instance, has used some stimulus money to pay salaries for teachers in a program to reduce class sizes. But when the federal money disappears, it must figure out how to cover those costs.
The Washington Post writes that tumult over education reform in the nation's capitol is nothing new.
The Chicago Tribune reports that schools there found an interesting way to get around No Child Left Behind requirements: Don't count struggling students as juniors so their scores don't count against them under the federal law.
Monday, November 2 -- 6:45 am
Our best and worst worksheets contest is coming to a close! Send your entries in today for a shot at a voiceofsandiego.org T-shirt, a free book (choose one of three) and unending fame on my blog. But before you go scrounging through your old folders and binders, keep up with the school newsblitz:
Federal agents told kids at Montgomery High in South County about the consequences of smuggling drugs, a practice that teens are being recruited for, the Union-Tribune reports.
The UT also reports that running clubs are growing more popular in Poway schools.
Encinitas school officials are trying to decide what to do with a vacant school site, the North County Times writes.
KPBS reports that college professors held a rally against budget cuts downtown.
The Sacramento Bee has this fascinating piece about the ideological battle between the California Teachers Association and an organization called EdVoice. Each will back a different candidate to replace the state superintendent, Jack O'Connell. Their divide mirrors the reform debate nationwide.
Los Angeles schools are raising the possibility of shortening the school year, counter to what Obama is pushing, the Los Angeles Times blogs. They're studying whether it would save money.
Speaking of Los Angeles, Teacher Beat blogs about a study financed by the Broad Foundation finds that kids taught by Teach for America teachers there actually outperformed their peers who were taught by other teachers -- even veteran teachers. But it's tough to say whether that really means the TFA teachers are better, because students weren't randomly assigned to teachers.
Students are rallying around the cause of a San Jose-area custodian whose job is at risk after he recruited student as models, the Mercury News reports.
The Orange County Register reports on a national study that found that California's educational standards are among the highest in the country, as measured by the toughness of state tests. The Christian Science Monitor lists the top and bottom states.
Meanwhile, the New York Times notes that the same report found that one third of states actually lowered their standards in recent years to stay ahead of No Child Left Behind sanctions. Check out the Education Week article for
href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/29/10nces.h29.html?tkn=[ZPF7Fi9WZgIEMrgf2wACSTLSTKapbyLFQjL" target="_blank" title="">a slightly wonkier take. Blogger Robert Pondiscio does not find this terribly surprising. Neither does Eduflack. A rare bit of celebrity news in Bright and Early: The kids who starred in Slumdog Millionaire are at risk of losing their trust funds if they keep going truant from school, the Associated Press reports.D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee ignored a directive to cut back on summer school programs and laid off teachers instead, the Washington Post reports. City Council members charge that she skirted the law.The U.S. News and World Report blog asks: Could texting be good for students?More news of why schools are no fun: The New York Times reports on how nationwide, schools are setting limits on Halloween costumes. I know, I know, there are good reasons to do this. Still -- how awesome was it to go to school as Morticia?Friday, October 30 -- 10:12 am
School news is a little thin today. Maybe it's a good thing that one of our news flashes is about a new provider for education reporting. Read onward!
The Union-Tribune zeroes in on an anti-bullying assembly in Escondido.School board members in Vista are talking about their goals and roles, the North County Times reports.Beth Barber at San Diego News Network opines that the schoobrary is an extravagance.A new study found that Los Angeles kids who are learning English have stayed in separate classes for English learners as long as eight years, even though many of them were born in the United States. The Associated Press dissects the findings and their meaning, along with the Los Angeles Times. And if you want all the gritty details, here's the actual study.A columnist at the San Jose Mercury News complains that school rules are taking all the fun out of Halloween and mentions that his son is considering going as "a disenfranchised youth."The Associated Press finds that the White House may have overstated the number of jobs saved by the stimulus, including school jobs.Another article on how closing failing schools in Chicago, a hallmark of reform efforts under now-Education Secretary Arne Duncan, didn't seem to do anything for kids. This one is from the New York Times.News for education reporting nerds: The Hechinger Institute in New York City, which provides training to education reporters, is launching its own news source to fill gaps in the field.And Educated Reporter Linda Perlstein blogs about a new book on sloppy grading for essays on standardized tests.Thursday, October 29 -- 7:46 am
I just caught up with Scott Himelstein, director of the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego, about the meeting he convened yesterday among education and business leaders on how to improve the school system.
He said no decisions or plans had come out of the meeting, during which people who in August urged the school board to find a way to keep Superintendent Terry Grier discussed finances, student performance and governance of San Diego Unified.
"I would characterize it as a very, very healthy discussion about the district," Himelstein said. "What it did say to me is there are a group of folks from diverse entities, backgrounds who are interested in talking about this more."
Wednesday, October 28 -- 3:59 pm
A few readers have asked where the heck I've been. I'm digging deep on a project, but I promise I'll be back to my normal antics soon. In the meantime, read up with the newsblitz!
San Diego Unified trustees voted to halt spending and hiring last night. There will be exceptions, of course, but the ban is an attempt to save up as much money as possible out of the roughly $220 million that has yet to be spent or encumbered for schools. We blog about it here. KPBS takes it on too.Educators, business leaders and community members who earlier petitioned the school board to find a way to keep Superintendent Terry Grier met yesterday to discuss how to improve schools. I couldn't get into the meeting, but the gathering could mark the beginning of a new coalition on school matters.Carlsbad schools are holding an open hearing on how they should spend state dollars that used to be earmarked for specific purposes, but are now available for other uses, the North County Times reports.Parents can now spark reforms at their schools if a majority vote for changes, the Los Angeles Times writes. It's a new initiative for Los Angeles Unified that gives parents new powers.Closed schools aren't sitting idle around Sacramento, the Bee reports. Repurposing the schools for other programs has helped districts avoid letting the buildings fall into disrepair.The Bee also reports that the California Charter Schools Association has announced that charters are growing this year, with new schools opening up and enrollment expanding.A custodian who recruited students for retro modeling shoots is going to be fired by a San Jose-area school district, the Mercury News writes. He protests that he got the green light to recruit and that the shoots weren't overly sexy. An ethicist says it's worrisome that school officials would ever think this sort of recruiting was OK.A new study says that high schools aren't dropping the ball when it comes to preparing kids for careers in math, science and engineering -- the kids are just defecting to other fields when they graduate. Education Week explains the nuanced report.Here's a fascinating one: A study in Chicago, where schools were closed for poor performance, found that most kids were sent to schools that did no better and the students didn't seem to perform any better themselves, the Chicago Tribune and Education Week report. This is a big deal because Arne Duncan, the federal education secretary, is pushing school closures as part of his school turnaround plan.Controversial D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is trying to regain trust among teachers after layoffs and the introduction of a new evaluation system, the Washington Post writes.And now for something completely different: A former NBA strength and conditioning coach is now working as a teacher at an unusual charter school that pays teachers six-figure salaries. NPR has a fun snippet about his new gig.Wednesday, October 28 -- 8:19 am
The San Diego Unified school board voted unanimously tonight to halt spending and hiring unless its interim superintendent decides that the spending is a must. It has already racked up nearly $17 million in unplanned spending for the current school year and could face a deficit of up to $180 million for the 2010-2011 school year, depending on the decisions that the California legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger make.
Workers from the unions that represent library assistants and maintenance workers protested the move, which they said would leave them understaffed and overworked. Elaine Sabetti, a library technician and chapter leader of the union that represents library assistants, said there are now 10 schools that don't have anyone to staff their libraries. Others are only able to leave their libraries open for a few hours.
"Don't freeze them out of their libraries by freezing their library staff," Sabetti said.
Board member Richard Barrera said controlling spending could help San Diego Unified spare as much as possible out of the roughly $220 million in its current budget that is neither spent nor encumbered for future spending. The school board took the same step last year and found itself with more savings than it expected. School board President Shelia Jackson said the situation was too dire to ignore this year.
"We're not fat and happy. The state's not fat and happy," she said, adding that even if schools get their fair share of the budget, "We can't get 40 percent of zero. That's zero."
Wednesday, October 28 -- 8:17 am
Education, business and community leaders who earlier aired their concerns about the exit of Superintendent Terry Grier are meeting at the University of San Diego today to go over a new study of test scores, finances and employment in San Diego Unified.
They also plan to talk about improving what happens for kids in the massive school district.
It is the first such gathering after Grier departed, signaling that the alarm about the status quo at the school district hasn't disappeared along with the last superintendent. It could be a reawakening for business leaders, who have shied from school matters in the years since Alan Bersin led the schools, though members stress that the coalition also includes educators, community members and parents outside the business sphere.
The meeting, held by the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego, wasn't open to the public. It was announced to the people who signed an open letter in the Union-Tribune this summer expressing their worries about superintendent turnover and pleading with the school board to find a way to keep Grier. The signers included retired state Sen. Dede Alpert and parent leader David Page.
The invitation, which was later forwarded to voiceofsandiego.org by several participants, stated:
The majority of the session will be reserved for a discussion of the various concerns, ideas and issues important to participants and how we all can best assist in improving outcomes for students. Issues raised thus far by interested individuals include creating Twenty-first Century learning environments, transparency of district actions, parent/community involvement as well as selection of a new superintendent and governance.
I showed up to the meeting, but was turned away. CEPAL Director Scott Himelstein told me he couldn't allow me to attend because he hadn't told attendees that the press would be there. He agreed to speak with me afterwards; check back for details later when we talk.
Tuesday, October 27 -- 2:27 pm
I'm still waiting on your entries for our best and worst worksheets contest! Send them in by this Friday via e-mail at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org or fax at 619-325-0530. Now for your newsblitz:
Swine flu is getting some parents riled about how the process by which their schools notify them if other kids are sick, 10News reports. The basic rule is that schools have to tell parents about an outbreak. But a case or two does not an outbreak make.KPBS reports that City Council will vote today on whether to put the downtown library school out to bid. An existing downtown charter school, KIPP Adelante, is organizing students to back the idea, saying that it helps them to have a new library and a new high school nearby.An assistant principal at Helix High, a charter school that has suffered repeated scandals involving its employees, was fired for giving a student a ride to the bus station. The administrator violated a policy that bars employees from having students in their vehicles, the Union-Tribune reports.A program to help students with special needs get work experience has had to get more creative as the economy slides, the North County Times writes. They're selling coffee and tea to teachers during breaks, for example.The San Francisco Chronicle reports that some academics are questioning whether UC-Berkeley should keep subsidizing athletics as its budgets dwindle.Los Angeles Unified is nearly ready to throw dozens of its campuses open to outside operators, the Torrance Daily Breeze writes. But the pace and particulars of the plans are stirring up concerns with both the teachers union and charter school leaders.A New England boarding school is taking its school library digital, replacing books with electronic texts and giving students Kindles, USA Today writes. In somewhat related news, textbook publisher McGraw-Hill is losing dough as states such as California postpone getting new textbooks, MarketWatch reports.Claus von Zastrow tells the educonomists that teacher training and support can't be ignored and question why they believe that "great teachers are born, not made."The CEO of a Virginia-based system of charter schools is under fire over a memo he wrote urging that charter school boards should be tightly controlled by the company, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. That goes against a key idea of charters -- that the schools should be independently governed by local leaders.Education Next blogs that school turnarounds are a bad idea. Instead, school systems should be closing bad schools and replacing them completely, a Fordham Institute fellow writes.And a Rhode Island education official dropped a bombshell on schools this weekend: Stop using seniority to decide where teachers should be sent, Now. The teachers union says they're going to court over it, reports the Providence Journal.Tuesday, October 27 -- 9:56 am Wonderful readers: Thanks for all your terrific tips on the $16.6 million that schools racked up in unplanned spending! I'll be following up on your suggestions this week. Now to kick off your week with the newsblitz:
Four Southwestern College instructors were suspended after a rally protesting cutbacks, but the college says the suspensions were unrelated to the protests, the Union-Tribune reports. KPBS also brings more details about the tensions at the school.Also in the UT: The county gave a no-bid contract for after-school services to a charity with three top county officials on its board of directors. Officials says there's no conflict of interest because their service on the board is unpaid.Southern California schools are getting explicit about what they mean when they say no sexy dancing by making kids sign contracts before they get on the dance floor, the Los Angeles Times reports. One school even has a "freak patrol."Disney is now offering refunds for all the Baby Einstein videos that did not, in fact, make your child a baby Einstein. This news from the New York Times, reprinted here in the San Francisco Chronicle.The Wall Street Journal lines up three educators to gab on the question: What can schools do to improve math and science education?The Associated Press zeroes in on Bill Gates and his foundation, which has been a force to reckon with in public education. The question that some educators and academics are asking is whether it's a good thing for a private group to hold so much sway in public schools. Blogger Alexander Russo counters that he's not so sure that the Gates Foundation is actually that powerful.In Denver, charter schools are being prodded to ensure that they are open and accessible to students with disabilities, the Denver Post reports.Federal education secretary Arne Duncan is scolding Hawaii for paring back the school year, the Wall Street Journal writes.Education Week profiles the late Ted Sizer, an educator whose ideas reshaped the debate on reforming high schools. “He believed you really have to know your students and your teaching, and your school has to be responsible to kids as they are and not as data points or widgets on an assembly line,” one supporter said.Monday, October 26 -- 7:58 am
A few readers asked if I could provide a link to the 1984 court case I mentioned in my article about fees at public school so that they could see the ruling for themselves. It's called Hartzell v. Connell.
You can read the full text here. And for your further reading pleasure, here are two more documents that provide guidance and interpretation of the law from the Fiscal Crisis Management & Assistance Team.
Date: 10/23/09 OK, OK. I'm giving all of you an extension on our best and worst worksheets contest. Please keep sending me entries -- you get another week to gather them out of your backpacks and binders. Remember, you could win a free T-shirt and a book! Now to your daily newsblitz:
We delve into the question of whether San Diego Unified schools have overstepped the legal line that guarantees children a free public education when asking -- or requiring -- families to pony up for classroom supplies, fees or uniforms for athletics and clubs. One mother is raising the issue here, but it's come up across the state, and it raises questions about how schools can ensure equity without cutting off fundraising entirely.We blog that Katherine Nakamura may have a second competitor for her seat on the San Diego Unified board: Business owner and parent Stephen Rosen, who got steamed about how budget cuts were handled last year.And we enlist you to help us go over this detailed list of how San Diego Unified ran up $16.6 million in added spending that wasn't included in its budget, just a few months into the school year. Keep sending me your thoughts at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org!A new elementary school campus is under construction in San Marcos, the Union-Tribune reports. It's being funded by local developer fees and redevelopment money.KPBS reports that San Diego Unified says it will talk early and often about budget cuts to get the public more involved this year.An anonymous donor has stepped forward to save after-school art classes for kids in Escondido, the North County Times writes.Outside experts are visiting a Sacramento-area school district to help it understand whether it uses its money effectively to help students achieve, the Bee reports. The analysts are also visiting Los Angeles Unified and Pasadena schools.A new teachers contract in Connecticut has been heralded as a national model, Education Week writes. It lays the groundwork for major changes in how teachers are paid, supported and evaluated.Nearly 70 percent of the staff reductions in the Washington D.C. school district came from its neediest schools, the Washington Teachers Union found. The Washington Post blogs that the school district says the results aren't as out of line as they look because those schools were more likely to lose enrollment and cut staff to compensate.One teacher blogger asks: What do you think about using data to evaluate teaching the way former San Diego Unified Superintendent Terry Grier wanted?More sad news in education circles this week: Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, has passed on. "He dared to challenge the conventional wisdom that seat time equaled learning, that grades actually measured performance, and that students should be sorted for instruction by perceived ability," George Wood wrote of Sizer. Blogger Alexander Russo has the full announcement here.Date: 10/23/09 The teachers union has joined with other school employee unions to bar the principals union from a labor group that jointly discusses health and welfare issues after principals openly criticized a controversial proposal from the teachers union intended to limit teacher workloads in San Diego Unified.
Principals have questioned whether the plan would tie their hands in making any changes to teachers' duties. Several principals spoke before the school board about their concerns; union director Bruce McGirr also blogged about the issue here. Camille Zombro, president of the teachers union, also blogged about the issue, calling the opponents "at best intentionally ill-informed and at worst maliciously anti-educator."
In an Oct. 15 letter to the principals union, Zombro wrote that after meeting with unions that represent school police and noneducators such as bus drivers and clerical workers, they concluded that neither McGirr nor University City High Principal Mike Price, who spoke publicly about the issue, could participate in joint meetings about health benefits. The principals union would be barred from the meetings unless they submitted a written retraction of their comments by November 18, Zombro wrote.
The letter was obtained by voiceofsandiego.org after it was forwarded to the school board, making it a public document. Asked about the letter over e-mail, Zombro wrote:
The San Diego Education Association has the utmost respect for the rank and file administrators in SDUSD who work hard to support a quality teaching and learning environment in our schools. We do not, as a matter of principle, participate in public criticism of other unions. While we are disheartened by AASD’s recent actions and their decision to contact the media and elected officials about an internal matter, we remain hopeful that we can find common ground in the future from which to focus on the critical issues before ALL of us in public education.
Friday, October 23 -- 6:38 am
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 Crib some notes on all things educational in San Diego, from the latest and greatest classroom innovations to scuffles on the school board, from school lunches to the teachers union.
Reporter Emily Alpert hits the books, dials the decision makers and navigates the bureaucracy so you don't have to, keeping you posted throughout each day on the education beat.
Contact her at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org.
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