Bright and Early

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Wake up and smell the education news!

• We blog that San Diegans are prodding the state to help offset school budget cuts, but in two different ways. 

Some parents are pushing for California to change its laws to compete for more stimulus money. Meanwhile, the school board is nudging the state, too — but it wants to see California find new revenues, including taxes, to help cover its deficit. 10News gives a good breakdown of their discussion last night.

• We also blog that a statewide nonprofit is challenging whether school construction bond auditors — including the group just tapped to audit San Diego Unified — are shirking their responsibilities by doing shorter, simpler reviews instead of the legally required audits. The auditors say the complaint is inaccurate.
• KPBS reports that a California State University faculty union alleges that San Diego State is using its financial woes as an excuse to make radical policy changes, such as the controversial changes to its admissions policy earlier this year. The San Gabriel Valley Tribune takes a broader look at the report, too.
• The San Jose Mercury News writes about a nonprofit that gives school uniforms to kids who can’t afford them: Operation School Bell.
• Hey! Good news about California schools! Student debt in the Golden State is among the lowest nationwide, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
• Two new California bills could expand the ways to get a teaching credential, perhaps allowing businesses or charter schools to award them, as High Tech High in San Diego already does. Educated Guess blogs about the different ideas on the table, their pros and their cons.
• The founder of the Green Dot charter school system, Steve Barr, repaid more than $50,000 to his own organization after an internal review found that his expenses were unjustified, the Los Angeles Times writes.
• Long Beach schools are weighing increasing class sizes and cutting bus routes to help balance their budget, the Press-Telegram reports.
• The Arizona Republic reports that Arizona may be ahead of the game for Race to the Top. Stuff like this is why California legislators are reading a bill today that could help them compete for the funds.
• Letters to The New York Times question a new plan from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to include students’ scores as a factor when awarding tenure to teachers.
• Meanwhile in Maryland, some schools are awarding bonuses to teachers based on classroom performance, the Washington Post writes. The money goes out today.
• And a new report from the Brookings Institution says that education reporting is woefully inadequate, making up just 1.4 percent of national news coverage in much of 2009. But Education Week blogs that Google users are rabid for education news, with school searches topping the list in many cities.