5 SURPRISING PERSPECTIVES ABOUT ONLINE SCHOOLS

By Sara Bernard | KQED MindShift Blog | http://bit.ly/l5HM1g

Lenny Gonzalez

May 25, 2011 | 6:00 AM | Most people think of online learning as a quiet, solitary experience. But over the past few months, after interviewing students, parents, and educators, a different sort of picture has emerged. We’ve learned about who teaches and learns online, and why, what works and what doesn’t, and perhaps most importantly, whether online learning affords the same quality of education as that of traditional schools.

I spoke with Apex Learning CEO Cheryl Vedoe, one of the leading online curriculum providers to traditional and virtual schools; Maureen Cottrell, a science teacher at iHigh Virtual Academy in San Diego, California; Rian Meadows, an economics instructor at Florida Virtual School; Patti Joubert, the mother of two full-time Florida Virtual School students; and Carylanne and Christiane Joubert, her two daughters.

“It takes down a lot of barriers that kids have to asking questions in class.”

As with most issues in education, nothing is black and white. There are many different kinds of learners and teachers, and while virtual education may be a revelation for some, it would never work for others.

It’s true that Skyping and instant-messaging can’t replace the face-to-face experience — and for those who need the social interaction — both teachers and students — virtual schools would be difficult. “The high school experience in which you’re socializing with your peers or doing sports after school is important. There are a lot of teachers who would hate to use Skype all the time; they’d prefer being in the classroom. They would hate my job,” said Cottrell, a science teacher at iHigh Virtual Academy. “I think you have to be a certain personality type and have a certain mindset to be a virtual teacher and still ensure student success.”

That said, here are five surprising perspectives you might not have associated with online learning.

1. Students get more one-on-one interaction with teachers, not less.

• “Students still talk with their teachers; you might even say they talk more. When I was in school, you didn’t have many one-on-one conversations with your teachers. Your teachers spoke to you, they didn’t speak with you. Here, they do oral exams, they talk with the kids, they really get to know each student.” — Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
• “If you have an issue, if you’re not quite getting something, you can email or text your teacher. I get a call from one of my teachers at least once a week asking if I’m doing okay, if I need help. I think you get a better way to talk to teachers [in virtual school]. You get that one-on-one.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “The one-on-one interaction with students is key. My students will say, ‘You’re there to help me when I need it!’ It takes down a lot of barriers that kids have to asking questions in class.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School.

2. Online courses are not necessarily easier than traditional courses.

• “Many students get into our system and find that they didn’t know how difficult it was going to be. I think the virtual world does make your life easier in a lot of ways. But it doesn’t make education easier. You’re not going to learn more easily or teach more easily; it’s just different.” — Maureen Cottrell, science teacher, iHigh Virtual Academy
• “Our courses are often viewed as too rigorous by the schools. One of the things the New York Times article pointed to was that the student wasn’t required to a read a work of literature. We do require that, but school districts don’t always choose to implement the entire curriculum.” — Cheryl Vedoe, CEO of Apex Learning
• “Most of the assignments are essays and take hours to do,” — commenter and student of FLVS.

3. Online learning could work for unmotivated students, as well as for those who are self-disciplined.

• “People always say, ‘It has to be for the highly motivated.’ No. That is our job as teachers. I don’t care if you’re a virtual or a brick-and-mortar teacher. We all have to help motivate our students across the board to be an effective instructor. Parents of children with learning disabilities will say, ‘How will my child be able to fit in?’ But often, if a child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), most of what it might say we already do here, such as allowing unlimited time on tests or letting kids redo assignments.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School
• “Whenever I meet another kid my age, I always recommend it as another way to do school. Especially for kids who don’t have an easy time with homework or with school.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “Credit recovery is not new, but in the past the only option schools had was to have the student repeat the course. This was typically unsuccessful. If they failed it the first time, they might fail it the second time using that model. But they might succeed in a different model. Students can go quickly through the material and only take time when they need to work on specific skills.” — Cheryl Vedoe, CEO of Apex Learning

4. Online learning can create a lot more free time for extracurricular activities.

• “I get to travel at whatever pace I want to. If I’m having a bad week, or a bad day with my diabetes, it doesn’t matter. I have Monday through Sunday to do my work. The flexibility makes it a lot easier. And with more time on our hands, it’s easier to do other activities like volunteering or Girl Scouts or other clubs.” – Carylanne Joubert, 14, Florida Virtual School student
• “By having this type of learning, we are able to still have a family life. We have the ability to travel when we want to and choose our time. You can’t do that in traditional schools.” – Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
  

5. Students can learn how to work cooperatively even without face-to-face interaction.

• “In all the courses they’ve taken so far, they’ve had assignments where they pair up with another student and do a project together. It’s a good experience — they’re learning how to overcome the challenges of working with someone else and to interact with other kids. Just because you don’t ‘see’ someone doesn’t mean you’re not interacting.” — Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
• “I’m in the newspaper club at FLVS. I’m able to have my voice heard and get across what I think is important. We have online meetings every Tuesday through Eluminate Live. It’s just like every other school newspaper, we’re just online.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “We have great phone conversations and discussion-based assessments. The students connect with one another, too. We have discussion groups where students post something and other students will post back; plus, they do a lot of collaborative projects and group work.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School

Charter Schools and New Market Tax Credits: EVIL ED, INC.

The Wall Street/Charter School Connection

written+Posted by Paul Rosenberg , Article from speakeasy/alternet.org | http://bit.ly/knvbA9   

This post first appeared on Open Left. | http://bit.ly/kLnaWc  

May 9, 2010 - In America, conservatives couldn’t kill the welfare state because it was too popular, so they decided to re-purpose it for conservative ends. These are their stories.

---

If you thought that Wall Street couldn’t get more destructive, think again.  And if you that the charter school movement couldn’t get even more removed from serving the public good, you also need to think again. On Friday, NY Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez wrote a column about how big investors can double their money in seven years using a special tax credit to invest in charter schools, and he also discussed what he uncovered in a brief segment on Democracy Now! which he co-hosts with Amy Goodman.  Here’s how he summarized it on the air:

One of the things I’ve been trying now for a couple of years is to try to figure out why is it that so many hedge fund managers, wealthy Americans, and big banks, Wall Street banks, executives of Wall Street banks, have all lined-up supporting and getting involved in the development of charter schools. I think I may have come across one of the reasons. There’s a lot of money to be made in charter schools, and I’m not talking just about the for-profit management companies that run a lot of these charter schools.It turns out that at the tail end of the Clinton administration in 2000, Congress passed a new kind of tax credit called a New Markets tax credit. What this allows is it gives enormous federal tax credit to banks and equity funds that invest in community projects in underserved communities and it’s been used heavily now for the last several years for charter schools. I have focused on Albany, New York, which in New York state, is the district with the highest percentage of children in charter schools, twenty percent of the schoolchildren in Albany attend are now attending charter schools. I discovered that quite a few of the charter schools there have been built using these New Markets tax credits.

What happens is the investors who put up the money to build charter schools get to basically or virtually double their money in seven years through a thirty-nine percent tax credit from the federal government. In addition, this is a tax credit on money that they’re lending, so they’re also collecting interest on the loans as well as getting the thirty-nine percent tax credit. They piggy-back the tax credit on other kinds of federal tax credits like historic preservation or job creation or brownfields credits.

The result is, you can put in ten million dollars and in seven years double your money. The problem is, that the charter schools end up paying in rents, the debt service on these loans and so now, a lot of the charter schools in Albany are straining paying their debt service–their rent has gone up from $170,000 to $500,000 in a year or–huge increases in their rents as they strain to pay off these loans, these construction loans. The rents are eating-up huge portions of their total cost. And, of course, the money is coming from the state.

I’ve written before about the larger phenomena of which this is a part–the conservative’s re-purposing of the welfare state for conservative ends once they realized the impossibility of destroying it outright, because of its popularity.  “What’s wrong with the third ‘Third Way’” provides an historical overview, and I’ve described examples in “Student Loan Debt–A Symptom of the Conservative Welfare State Shift”, “Superbowl Sunday highlights conservative welfare state in action”, and “Green grow the oil wells–oh!” (published just yesterday).  So here is yet another one.

In his column, Gonzalez gave a more detailed view of what’s been going on:

In Albany, which boasts the state’s highest percentage of charter school enrollments, a nonprofit called the Brighter Choice Foundation has employed the New Markets Tax Credit to arrange private financing for five of the city’s nine charter schools.But many of those same schools are now straining to pay escalating rents, which are going toward the debt service that Brighter Choice incurred during construction.

The Henry Johnson Charter School, for example, saw the rent for its 31,000-square-foot building skyrocket from $170,000 in 2008 to $560,000 last year.

The Albany Community School’s rent jumped from $195,000 to $350,000.

Green Tech High Charter School rents went from $443,000 to $487,000.

Meanwhile, all the Albany charter schools haven’t achieved the enrollment levels their founders expected, even after recruiting hundreds of students from suburban school districts to fill their seats.

The result has been less money in per-pupil state aid to pay operating costs, including those big rent bills.

Several charters have fallen into additional debt to the Brighter Choice Foundation.

You’d think these financial problems would raise eyebrows among state regulators – or at least worry those charter school boards.

But the powerful charter lobby has so far successfully battled to prevent independent government audits of how its schools spend their state aid.

And key officers of Albany’s charter school boards are themselves board members, employees or former employees of the Brighter Choice Foundation or its affiliates.

This is obviously a very bad deal for the public.  It’s even a bad deal for those who are true believers in the charter school sham. But it can be difficult to really understand what’s going on–and what’s fundamentally wrong with it–if you don’t stand back to see the larger picture.  So, here’s a quick run-down.

When Otto von Bismark created the first conservative welfare state, it was designed to co-opt the Social Democrat’s most popular idea, while strengthening German industry internationally and strengthening the power of its elites internally by placing them in charge of caring for social needs.  In America, the pattern is a little messier, as it represents a convergence of different conservative interests, all the while being disavowed as conservatives repeatedly claim to be against the “nanny state”.  But here we can see at least five different conservative ends being served at once:  (1) The attack on public education itself is a prime example of the attack on social democratic ideas and institutions, paralleling Bismark’s co-opting of the Social Democratic Party’s most popular idea. This serves to discredit public education, take money away from the public education system, and take money and jobs away from public employees and their unions.  (2) The siphoning off of certain students into separate learning environments is part of the conservative agenda for inscribing hierarchical differences in society. (3) The creation of lucrative money-making opportunities funnels public money to more wealthy members of society. (4) The creation of private governance structures further strengthens the power of unaccountable conservative elites, weakening democratic control.  (5) The private governance structures in turn empower crony networks that can also serve as organizing foundations for further consolidation of conservative power.

There is no way to effectively deal with these problems (conservative goals) in isolation.  They need to be seen and combatted as a whole.  If not, then one bad conservative idea will just be replaced by another, and another.

Of course this is easier said than done.  But doing it begins with recognizing the nature of what needs to be done.

 

●●smf: Just because an article is a year old from a liberal/comsymp/pinko blog doesn't mean it isn’t true!

CALIFORNIA MUST KEEP FREE EDUCATION TRULY FREE: As California's public schools have lost state funding, they've increasingly turned to a sort of 'pay to learn' system. It's unconstitutional.

L.A. Times Editorial | http://lat.ms/k4vNts

4:56 PM PDT, May 24, 2011The California Constitution is unequivocal: "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence" is essential to the "preservation of the rights and liberties of the people." Therefore, it says, the state shall provide a free education to its children.

| That provision — Article IX — was enacted at the Constitutional Convention of 1878-79. Today, California has nearly 10,000 taxpayer-supported public schools serving just over 6 million students. Gratis.

Except for one little hitch. It's true that you can enroll and attend class at a California public school without paying an entrance fee or a tuition bill. But what if the teacher tells you that it's going to cost $90 to purchase the novels that you must read to pass AP English, or that you have to pay $30 for your Spanish workbook? Is your education still free? What if you want to join the basketball team but the school hits you with a $50 uniform fee? Is basketball part of your education, and if so, can the school make you pay to play?

Charging for instructional materials as well as for art, music and sports programs is increasingly common in the state's public schools, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which last year filed a lawsuit arguing that such fees violate Article IX. In December, a tentative settlement was reached with the Schwarzenegger administration, but it was rejected by the judge in the case on technical grounds. So Assemblyman Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has proposed legislation to reaffirm that student fees are illegal and to set up an enforcement mechanism; his bill, AB 165, will be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday.

Not surprisingly, many schools are displeased at the thought of losing the fees. They have already absorbed more than $18 billion in state cuts over the last three years, resulting in shorter school years and larger class sizes as well as reductions in program offerings for students. Further cuts could be ahead if the Legislature rejects Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to extend the 2009 temporary tax hikes. As the crisis has deepened, schools have turned to fees, among other things, to replace some of the lost dollars. Now they're at risk of losing that money too, which they say could require them to cut still more academic programs and extracurricular activities.

California was once near the top of the national list in per-pupil spending, but it is now close to the bottom. So it's tempting to see student fees as a reasonable stopgap measure to help pick up some of the slack. But charging fees to students to offset budget cuts is not legal, just as it would not be legal to announce that in an effort to make ends meet, schools will no longer accept students of Filipino descent, or girls. Student fees deny opportunities to low-income students and put them at an academic disadvantage. Nearly 30 years ago, the California Supreme Court reached exactly that conclusion.

"Under the California Constitution … access to public education is a right enjoyed by all — not a commodity for sale," the court ruled in Hartzell vs. Connell in 1984. "Educational opportunities must be provided to all students without regard to their families' ability or willingness to pay fees…. This fundamental feature of public education is not contingent upon the inevitably fluctuating financial health of local school districts. A solution to those financial difficulties must be found elsewhere."

That was the correct decision a generation ago, and it is the correct decision today. It applies, the court held, not just to lab fees and book fees for traditional academic classes but to extracurricular activities as well, because they are an "integral component" of a child's education. In an effort to find middle ground, some have suggested keeping the fees while providing a waiver for low-income students, but the court rejected that idea in 1984 too. After all, why should poorer families have to request charity every time they can't pay for a workbook? And besides, if the Constitution says schools must be free, then they must be free for everyone, rich or poor.

Schools still have fundraising options that will meet constitutional scrutiny. They can solicit voluntary donations for general needs or for specific programs such as the basketball team or the ninth-grade class trip. While it's true that a voluntary system may not raise as much as a mandatory one, at least it's legal.

The rules banning fees do not have to be carried to a ludicrous level. Just because sneakers are required for gym class doesn't mean the school needs to pay for them. That would defy common sense. Other costs, such as pencils and three-ring binders, traditionally fall on parents as well, and don't seem to cause a significant problem. Furthermore, it would not be reasonable for non-school organizations — such as the PTA or booster clubs or organizations that use school buildings after hours for activities unrelated to regular academic or official extracurricular activities — to be barred from charging fees.

The basic rule, however, is that a public school education is free. It's true that California's schools are underfunded and that they need more money if they're going to provide a first-class education. But charging students to participate in academic and extracurricular programs is not the answer. That's why the Legislature should pass AB 165.

 

smf: Thank you L.A. Times!

Multiple stories: PARENTS AND TEACHERS RALLY ACROSS STATE FOR EDUCATION

 

L.A. school board, union still at odds over budget

The district appeals to the teachers union to take six unpaid days off to help balance the books and save jobs. But parents hold rallies in support of the union, which wants no cuts.

By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/kI3pQw

May 26, 2011 - While parents held rallies up and down California on Tuesday to protest school budget cuts, the state's largest school district appealed to its teachers union to agree to take unpaid time off to help the district balance its books and save jobs.

"We're trying to hold the house together," said Los Angeles Board of Education member Richard Vladovic.

He and other district officials have noted that five other unions have agreed to six furlough days to help balance a nearly $408-million projected budget shortfall.

Earlier this year, the school board voted to send preliminary layoff notices to nearly 7,000 employees, including about 5,000 teachers.

At a Tuesday morning school board meeting, Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy and board members pressed the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, to accept the six furlough days, which would save the district about $65 million. Union and district officials have been negotiating over budget cuts for weeks.

"We only ask our employees for what is necessary," Deasy said.

If the teachers union agrees, the board would be able to rescind about 3,200 teacher layoff notices, district officials said. And, Deasy said, school libraries would remain open, magnet coordinators would retain their jobs and a popular preschool program also would survive.

Teachers have agreed to furlough days, which are essentially a pay cut, in the last two years.

But union officials insist that the district should be able to balance its budget without firing any employees, saying that officials have overlooked potential sources of income and that revenue from Gov. Jerry Brown's latest proposed budget would allow the board to rescind all layoff notices.

"No [layoffs]. No cuts. No furloughs. That is our plan," union President A.J. Duffy said at an afternoon rally at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The protest was part of a series of gatherings throughout the state intended to call attention to education spending. At some rallies, dubbed "mamas in pajamas," parents attended in their pajamas and called for lawmakers to "wake up" and spend more on education.

The budget negotiations have contributed to a tense relationship between union and district officials.

During the board meeting, Duffy accused Deasy of negotiating through the media, something the superintendent denied. Deasy and union members also have been arguing over a new teacher evaluation system that would include standardized student test scores.

The union said it had not agreed to the program, which would have started on a voluntary basis next year, and filed a complaint in court to stop it.

During the rally, Duffy pointed out that Deasy has talked publicly and "tweeted" about his hopes that the union would agree to a deal — "it's Monday morning and I am still anxiously waiting to hear from UTLA to see if they are ready to save their membership," he posted on Twitter earlier this month.

After the crowd of several hundred teachers booed Deasy's name, Duffy asked: "Who the hell does he think he's talking to?"

 

LAUSD, teachers union spar over $408M budget gap negotiations

By Connie Llanos Staff Writer | daily News/Daily Breeze | http://bit.ly/jckT4L

5/25/2011 - With thousands of jobs at stake, the rhetoric between Los Angeles Unified officials and the teachers union heated up Tuesday as each side accused the other of not negotiating in good faith over plans to close a $408 million budget gap.

Superintendent John Deasy lamented that United Teachers Los Angeles has rejected an agreement that six other unions have signed, calling for six furlough days in exchange for saving thousands of jobs.

If signed by all nine unions, the deal would save about 5,700 jobs, although the district would still make about 1,900 layoffs.

UTLA argues the district can now afford to save every job and have no furloughs whatsoever after Gov. Jerry Brown released a revised state budget that increases school funding statewide by $3 billion.

"We are very much against the clock on this issue," Deasy said. "We have met 16 times with UTLA since March 24 and I am still looking for a counterproposal from UTLA."

UTLA leaders denounced Deasy's suggestion that they are dragging their feet in negotiations and accused the schools chief of trying to make his case through the media rather than at the table.

"He's negotiating in public, albeit subtly," UTLA President A.J. Duffy said during an interview. "And that forces us into an uncomfortable position."

Deasy has been superintendent for less than six weeks, but the tension between him and Duffy has been building recently over issues that include LAUSD's proposal to try out a new teacher evaluation system and the district's decision to give charter schools rights to operate some low-performing district campuses.

The union has filed several complaints with the state's public employee relations board and a court injunction to block the new evaluation system.

Deasy has sent critical messages via Twitter about UTLA's inability to agree to furloughs and its desire to block some reforms that union leaders have criticized.

"My good friend Mr. Deasy, ... when I see certain comments in the media, it seems like you're saying that we're not negotiating, and we have been for weeks," Duffy said during the board meeting.

"My very good friend, Mr. Duffy," Deasy replied. "You know I take your advice and only believe nine-tenths of what I read in the newspaper. ... You and I both know what really happens at the table."

Whatever the talks behind closed doors have been, in public UTLA leaders are refusing the idea of agreeing to any furlough package that doesn't save all educators' jobs.

Officials said the 1,900 layoffs are still necessary because of the district's declining enrollment.

During a picket and protest at the school district's downtown headquarters Tuesday, several hundred educators chanted and held signs demanding that the district rescind the more than 5,000 layoff notices sent to educators.

Diana Cervantes, a fourth-grade teacher at Eshelman Elementary School in Lomita, said she received a layoff notice this year after teaching for seven years. She said it is stressful not knowing whether a deal will be reached and her job will be saved. But Cervantes said she understands the union's reasons for taking a hard position at the bargaining table.

"The district needs to justify why we need these furloughs," she said. "Up until this point they haven't been able to do that yet."

The union believes that the state's updated budget plan, which reported increases in state revenue and included a $3 billion increase for school funding, will bring at least $300 million to LAUSD.

Deasy said Tuesday that he is going to be cautious about counting on any money when state officials have said that, without the approval of a series of tax extensions, schools could still see more cuts.

However, he said he has agreed to count on the state repaying $154 million in IOUs that it has previously failed to make good on.

School board member Richard Vladovic said he supported Deasy's cautious budgeting approach.

"Deasy is already taking a risk," Vladovic said. "When people say let's save all our employees, I'm going to say we have done everything possible. ... Now we need our union's help."

The unions that have agreed to the furlough deal represent administrators, school police, building and trades and other nonteaching positions.

Teamsters and the CSEA, representing office workers, campus aides and custodians, have also not agreed to the furlough deal.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Patch.com - Miriam Finder - ‎

Burlingame community members participated in Educate Our State's Wake-up California with a rally at City Hall. By Miriam Finder | Email the author | 4:12pm Around 60 members of the Burlingame community gathered outside City Hall Tuesday morning as part ...

Parents: Education in peril

 

San Mateo Daily Journal

Teachers To Rally Against Budget Cuts Tuesday

 

The San Francisco Appeal

LB Rally Tues. 4-5 pm @ Longfellow Elementary Pledges To Tell Sac'to Lawmakers ...

 

LBReport.com

all 5 news articles »

Protestors Rally In Redwood City To Support Schools

 

Patch.com - Austin Walsh - ‎

Educate Our State Rally brings hundreds of advocates for local schools together in Courthouse Square. By Austin Walsh | Email the author | 4:53pm Protesters gather in Courthouse Square in Redwood City at the Educate Our State rally. ...

LAist

Rally For Education

 

KTLA - ‎

More than 2 dozen schools from San Francisco to San Diego are getting in on the effort, which was organized by parent-led non-profit Educate Our State. As many as 300 protesters at Millikan Junior High School in Sherman Oaks waved signs and chanted "no ...

Protests over school budget cuts planned across Calif.

 

abc7.com

all 3 news articles »

Parents in Pajamas Demand State Funding for Schools

 

Patch.com - Brooke Wirtschafter - ‎

The protest was organized by Educate Our State, a parent-led group advocating high quality K-12 public education, and was part of a planned day of rallies at school sites, culminating in a citywide rally at the Federal Building in Westwood at 4 pm ...

News10.net

Parents rally at State Capitol for public schools

 

News10.net - ‎

Catherine Goddard, one of the founders of Educate Our State, says California's public schools are in crisis. "We are afraid our children will not have the right to a good, quality education, that's a huge fear, parents are very frustrated about that. ...

Colfax Charter Elementary Joins 'Wake Up California' Rally

Patch.com - Cathy Flynn - ‎

This event was part of a state-wide, multi-city day of action supporting K-12 education, sponsored by the non-profit parent organization Educate Our State. This group strives to reform public educations funding at the state level, and rallies were held ...

Hundreds of Long Beach Parents and Kids Attend Rally for Public Education

 

Patch.com - Jacqui Viale - ‎

The rally was organized in a short two-week timeframe by several parents in the Long Beach area in conjunction with the statewide organization called Educate Our State. The group called for a statewide, multi-city day of action supporting K-12 public ...

 

A Call to Action: RALLY TODAY/TUESDAY TO SAVE ARTS & MUSIC EDUCATION + UTLA NEGOTIATION UPDATE

 

An Open Letter from Ginger Fox, UTLA Chapter Chair for Elementary Arts Teachers

Dear Awesome Arts Teachers, Parents and Arts Advocates,

Please read the forwarded email below for the latest important news from UTLA on negotiations.

OK, so as you can see, this is crunch time to SAVE THE ARTS!!!

It is absolutely critical that we ALL attend both the Picketing and Rallies today, May 24 to demand that LAUSD rescind all RIFs, restore class sizes and funding for essential instructional programs including Arts Programs K-12!

1.  Join the "Wake Up California" Rally at the Visual and Performing Arts Central High School #9 @ 450 N. Grand Ave. downtown after school (things will get going at about 3:15 after VAPA dismisses) then...

2.  March en masse to Beaudry together at about 4:30 and join the UTLA Mass Demonstration, Picketing, and Rally in front of the School Board to support the UTLA Negotiations Team as they fight for ALL of us!!!

Remember to wear red, bring a hat, wear your walkin' shoes, and bring your protest signs:

SAVE the ARTS; Restore funding to Arts Education; NO Either/Or Budget Decisions; An Injury to One is an Injury to ALL: We are ALL Essential -- Arts Programs, Teachers, Adult Ed, SRLDP, Librarians, Counselors, Nurses, Magnet Programs. How about having a New Orleans style jazz funeral march and wake? Bring your trumpet, trombone, clarinet, and/or drums!

Some theatrical ideas from theatre teacher, Kathleen Ford:
Some good ideas came out at the last rally and our mock funeral. We got some good publicity, for what it's worth (hopefully it will help us). Michael Ryther suggested a firing squad and Katy H. "a la Goya."  Berit suggested an execution with the guillotine and blood and the Queen of Hearts.  She's got a cape & crown. Bring any props and costumes you want (or wear black) and I'll be there with the coffin, red construction paper hearts, signs, a giant pair of scissors for "cutting the fat and restoring the arts.  I also have a great cigar smoking "fat cat' mask.   Ever the optimist (crazy as that may be), I'm hoping everyone's jobs will be restored.

Calling all PARENTS (especially Latino/a) from Monica Garcia or Nury Martinez' Board Districts (Boyle Heights, East Valley):

We need YOU to speak to the Board tomorrow on behalf of Saving Arts Education! For details on the decimating cuts to Arts Programs District-wide -- up to 85% -- more than any other K-12 instructional program please download the Friends of the Arts in LAUSD flyer at http://lausdartsed.blogspot.com/ or  http://bit.ly/mDR76g

Teachers: If you know of a parent/family member who would be willing to speak to the Board tomorrow (they can speak in Spanish if they want) PLEASE encourage them to go to Beaudry to pick-up a speakers card, and join us at the Rallies.

And in the wise words of one of our Elementary Music Teachers, Susan Roe:

"Go UTLA!  I'm so proud of our union for standing it's ground. It's so hypocritical for the adults in administrative positions of our district not to reveal the truth when we are all in the business of teaching children to develop and uphold good moral character!"

See you all tomorrow!

Onwards and Upwards!

Ginger Rose Fox

Itinerant Elementary Dance Teacher

UTLA Chapter Chair, Itinerant Elementary Arts Teachers

UTLA Arts Education Committee Chair

http://lausdartsed.blogspot.com/

Begin forwarded message:

From: "UTLA" <webmaster@utla.net>

Date: May 23, 2011 4:24:07 PM PDT

To: gingfox@sbcglobal.net

Subject: Negotiations update

Reply-To: webmaster@utla.net

Negotiations update: UTLA fighting to save ALL positions

• The District’s current offer has been reduced from twelve to six furlough days, but that would save only 3,300 positions. That leaves out thousands of pink-slipped UTLA members! The District is still willing to make deep cuts to vital programs, such as adult education, arts programs, counselors, teacher-librarians, nurses, SRLDP, and support for magnet programs. UTLA’s top priority remains to restore all RIF’d positions and to stop class-size increases—that is what will do the most to protect our students’ education. With the new state funding for schools, $150 million LAUSD admits it has, and other pots of money LAUSD can use to restore positions, UTLA is standing firm to save ALL jobs.  It is disturbing that the District is hiding behind the ultra-conservative view that they cannot count on the state money when both Republicans and Democrats are supporting increased funding for schools.

For more info: http://www.utla.net/system/files/demo_may242011.pdf

SUPPORT YOUR NEGOTIATION TEAM: Picket and Rally at the School Board Tuesday, May 24:

UTLA is encouraging all members, parents and community members to demonstrate after school today to support negotiations and to pressure the District to bring back all RIF’d positions immediately.  In light of the new funds for education from the state and other funding sources, UTLA demands that the School Board immediately rescind all layoff notices and restore class sizes and any programs LAUSD has cut in the last three years.  However, even with this new information, the District is still insisting on layoffs and furlough days.  This is not acceptable and we are urging all our members to come to the school board after school and put the pressure on the School Board to make the right decision and rescind all the RIFs.  Picketing will begin at 3 pm and the rally will begin at 5 pm.  Encourage parents and community members to attend.

What:  Picketing and Rally to support negotiations and to pressure the School Board to bring back all RIF’d positions
When:  Tuesday, May 24th
Where:  LAUSD School Board, 333 So. Beaudry Avenue, Los Angeles 90017
When: After School (Picketing   3:00 pm | Rally 5:00 pm)
Parking:  Available at Athena Parking, 416 South Boylston Street, LA, CA. First come. First serve.

• District is holding new state money hostage. LAUSD is hiding behind the ultra-conservative view that school districts can’t count on the increased funding in Governor Brown’s proposed budget, even though both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature support increased funding for schools.

• We continue to demand that LAUSD embrace all strategies to bring back the most positions possible. UTLA has identified specific pots of money that we believe can be used to restore jobs without furlough days, including $70 million in the unrestricted spending ending balance, $60 million in workers’ comp, $50 million (estimated) in QEIA funds, $25 million in further cuts to local district/central office spending, and $10 million in unspent Tier 3 textbook carryover. That is on top of the $150 million by which the District overstated its deficit, which LAUSD officials admitted under UTLA pressure.

• Negotiations are scheduled for today, Tuesday, and Wednesday. UTLA is doing all we can to quickly reach a settlement with LAUSD to stabilize our schools, and we are prepared to negotiate around the clock.

If a settlement is reached, it will be put to a vote of the members, and chapter chairs will need to pick up voting materials for schools.

Send a message that you support UTLA’s fight to restore ALL positions and instructional programs, and stop class-size increases.

3 to 5 p.m.: Picketing

5 p.m.: Rally

For more info: http://www.utla.net/system/files/demo_may242011.pdf

click for printable pdf file

HIGH SCHOOLS OFFER GRADE BOOSTS TO STUDENTS WHO IMPROVE TEST SCORES

A voluntary program at 39 L.A. campuses allows students who improve test scores from one achievement category to the next to qualify for a higher grade.

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times |  http://lat.ms/moOSTu

May 24, 2011|High schools are offering a new deal at 39 Los Angeles campuses: Students who raise their scores on the state's standardized tests will be rewarded with higher grades in their classes.

If it works, schools also will benefit because low scores can lead to teachers and administrators being fired and schools being closed. A proposed teacher evaluation system relies specifically on these tests for part of an instructor's rating. Even the new superintendent's salary, and his tenure, are tied to scores on the California Standards Tests, which are administered this month.

Yet for students, these tests don't affect grade-point averages, graduation requirements or college applications.

Test scores frequently decline sharply after elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the grade-boost strategy, officials hope, could at least address student apathy toward the tests.

"We're always looking for a way to motivate kids to do better in school," said Jefferson High Principal Michael Taft. "I'd see them bubbling in carelessly and say, 'Are you reading that question?' They would say, 'No I'm tired.' They had multiple excuses."

He estimated that 50% weren't trying hard.

The voluntary program being tried this month allows high school students to qualify for a higher grade when they improve their scores from one achievement category to the next: from "below basic" to "basic," for example, or from "proficient" to "advanced." The idea began with Chief Academic Officer Judy Elliott under then-Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. If successful, it will probably be expanded districtwide by Supt. John Deasy.

Jefferson High, south of downtown, started the grade-incentive program on its own last year. The low-achieving campus had been on the verge of being handed over to an outside organization, but Taft and his faculty retained control of their campus with a reform plan that they now have to carry out.

About 400 of 1,600 Jefferson students earned one or more improved grades last year. Taft expects that number to increase, as a result of this and other initiatives. Only teachers are allowed to change a student's grade, and some initially resisted, Taft said. They didn't want to bail out a student who hadn't put forth effort in class.

Critics say such incentives are ineffective or unseemly or that they exacerbate an over-emphasis on standardized tests.

"The predictable consequence will be even more teaching to the test in order to boost scores and grades, with a resulting decline in educational breadth and quality," said Robert Schaeffer of the Massachusetts-based National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

As a rule, incentive programs don't violate state law, said John Boivin, who oversees testing for the state education department. Anecdotally, he's heard concerns about how inflated grades could affect competition for admission to colleges.

At Jefferson, Anthony Vasquez raised his ninth-grade geography grade from a B to an A. This year, the 10th-grader hopes to improve his history grade from a C to a B.

"I thought the tests weren't important," Vasquez said. "Now that they did this, I thought, 'I'm going to try hard on this one.' " He said he also studied more in class leading up to the test.

Ultimately, incentives provide only temporary benefits, said Alfie Kohn, author of "Punished by Rewards," who has reviewed relevant research. "The more you reward people for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward."

Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, characterized the results as mixed: "Sometimes it looks like kids respond and other times they don't."

"If you have something like this that will motivate a subset of kids, you probably should do it," he said.

In New York, the performance of students on state Regents exams in five subject areas is linked directly to earning a diploma.

The L.A. Unified plan also applies to Advanced Placement tests, which are nationally administered. L.A. Unified students who take AP classes already benefit from "weighted grades," meaning that they receive more points per class, which can significantly raise grade-point averages. Under the new plan, a "passing" score on the college-level AP exams will allow students to achieve an automatic A in that course.

"It gives us the opportunity to get that A we wanted," said Scott Sadeghian, a junior at Polytechnic High in Sun Valley. He's muscling through five AP classes. "These courses are pretty rigorous and we do try."

But paying cash for performance — an idea being tried in Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere — would go too far, said students and teachers interviewed at the two schools.

"If you pay students to get good grades," said Poly junior Javier Castillo, "they might view education as merely a way to get money."

Videos: HERE’S TO THE PARENTS, HERE’S TO THE STUDENTS, HERE’S TO THE TEACHERS: We need them all to Save Our Schools!

By Anthony Cody Living in Dialogue/EdWeek | http://bit.ly/jRA4vO

May 20, 2011 9:17 AM | Parents may end up being the deciding force in determining the direction of our nation's schools. Will we continue to use an ever-larger share of instructional time and scarce dollars for more and more tests? Will we continue to starve local public schools and expand semi-private charter networks? Or will we reclaim the institution of public education for future generations? These short videos have been created to build awareness of the Save Our Schools March, coming up July 30th in Washington, DC.

Three months ago I shared some scripts for some video spots to build interest and awareness for the Save Our Schools March in Washington, DC, this summer. I asked readers to share images, and then I worked with talented film makers Tom and Amy Valens, who created the wonderful documentary August to June.

Today I am sharing the third video in the series, celebrating parents.

Here's to the Parents! Please share it far and wide.

The second in the series, Here's to the Students!, has been a viral hit. Check it out!

And here is our first video, Here’s to the Teachers - released two weeks ago in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week:

And by the way, we still need some more photos and/or video footage. We need an image of parents or grandparents together with teachers, and images of tough schools in need of repair, and of community members pitching in to fix up their schools. Please email them to me at anthony_cody@hotmail.com

What do you think of our videos so far?

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR PUTS THE TESTING JUGGERNAUT ON ICE

from Living in Dialogue/EdWeek  by Anthony Cody | http://bit.ly/imgi1C

May 18, 2011 9:29 AM - California Governor Jerry Brown has taken a big step towards reducing the testing mania in the nation's most populous state. Up until his administration we have been on an accelerated path towards the comprehensive data-driven system that test publishers and corporate reformers have convinced leaders is needed to improve schools. But in the May budget outline from Brown's office, he makes it clear he is putting on the brakes.

From the Thoughts on Public Education blog (aka The Educated Guess) comes this:

Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to suspend funding for CALPADS, the state student longitudinal data system, and to stop further planning for CALTIDES, the teacher data base that was to be joined at the hip with CALPADS.

What is even more encouraging is the explanation Brown offers, which shows a great deal of understanding of these issues. The document states:

A number of problems have been identified with California's state testing, data collection and accountability regime. Testing takes huge amounts of time from classroom instruction. Data collection requirements are cumbersome and do not provide timely - and therefore usable - information back to schools. Teachers are forced to cub their own creativity and engagement with students as they focus on teaching to the test. State and federal administrators continue to centralize teaching authority far from the classroom.

The (Brown) Administration proposes to deal with these issues by carefully reforming testing and accountability requirements to achieve genuine accountability and maximum local autonomy. It will engage teachers, scholars, school administrators and parents to develop proposals to

(1) reduce the amount of time devoted to state testing in schools;

(2) eliminate data collections that do not provide useful information to school administrators, teachers and parents; and

(3) restore power to school administrators, teachers and parents.

The goal is to improve the learning environment in every classroom, thereby encouraging the demanding pursuit of excellence. The May Revision proposes to suspend funding for CALPADS in 2011-12 pending this continued review of data collection requirements.

Praise be!

Jerry Brown is unusual among our nation's governors. He got a bit more involved than most in on-the-ground school reform while he was serving as mayor of Oakland. He learned the hard way how schools are a reflection of deeper social issues. In a statement he wrote to respond to Arne Duncan's Race to the Top a year and a half ago, while he was California's Attorney General, he said:

You assume we know how to "turn around all the struggling low performing schools," when the real answers may lie outside of school. As Oakland mayor, I directly confronted conditions that hindered education, and that were deeply rooted in the social and economic conditions of the community or were embedded in the particular attitudes and situations of the parents. There is insufficient recognition in the draft regulations that inside and outside of school strategies must be interactive and merged.

Even more revealing was what he wrote about federally-driven education "reform":

The basic assumption of your draft regulations appears to be that top down, Washington driven standardization is best. This is a "one size fit all" approach that ignores the vast diversity of our federal system and the creativity inherent in local communities. What we have at stake are the impressionable minds of the children of America. You are not collecting data or devising standards for operating machines or establishing a credit score. You are funding teaching interventions or changes to the learning environment that promise to make public education better, i.e. greater mastery of what it takes to become an effective citizen and a productive member of society. In the draft you have circulated, I sense a pervasive technocratic bias and an uncritical faith in the power of social science.

We all know that Secretary Duncan did not heed Jerry Brown's thoughtful advice, and still has not. But Brown's proposed budget takes on the testing machine from the top, and that is a very hopeful sign.

LOS ANGELES TEACHERS UNION SEEKS TO BLOCK TEST OF EVALUATION PROGRAM

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy appeared to have momentum in the effort to revise educator evaluations in the LAUSD, but the teachers union is digging in its heels.

By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/kxMvTv

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy -- pictured before becoming superintendent in January 2010 at Quincy Jones Elementary School in Historic South-Central -- seemed to have momentum to change how teachers are evaluated in the district. But the union is attempting to block a test of a new evaluation program. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times / January 13, 2011)

May 23, 2011 - Even before he officially took over the top job at the Los Angeles school district in April, John Deasy said one of his top priorities was overhauling teacher evaluations.

It appeared the new superintendent was in an ideal position. The school board had voted to reopen teachers' contract negotiations and to use student test scores as part of evaluations, something a growing number of districts around the country had been doing. The mayor was also calling for new educator accountability measures, and national teachers union leaders had begun accepting test data as one measure of educator performance.

But negotiations on teacher evaluations are now at a virtual standstill; the L.A. union sought a court order Friday to, among other things, try to block a voluntary pilot program to evaluate teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The stalled talks have led to an increasingly tense relationship between the union leadership and Deasy, who had a reputation of working well with labor in his previous jobs.

"Everything I've heard about John Deasy is that he's a collaborator. This is not the John Deasy I've heard about," said A.J. Duffy, the outgoing president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Using test scores to evaluate teachers is one of the most controversial topics in education today, so the impasse isn't surprising, especially given the union's long reluctance to do it, educators and others said.

But some disagreed with the union's tactics.

"Stopping the whole train seems shortsighted to me," said Ted Mitchell, the former president of the state Board of Education who also headed a district task force on teacher effectiveness. "I understand why they want to [take legal action]. If they stop it now, there's no chance the district will implement new evaluations" soon.

L.A. Unified and UTLA have been discussing retooling teacher evaluations for several years. The district created a task force in 2009 to make recommendations for a new evaluation system that included outside experts and union officials.

Duffy and other union leaders agreed that the evaluation system was in need of an overhaul. In L.A. Unified, as in many places, teachers were evaluated on subjective measures — an administrator made a quick visit to a classroom and filled out a form. Nearly 99% of L.A. teachers received a positive rating. Still, the union consistently objected to using student test scores to make high-stakes moves, such as hiring and tenure.

But after the Los Angeles Times released a database containing "value-added" scores for teachers last summer, the school board voted to begin authorizing a new evaluation system that included student data.

Value-added analysis uses a student's past performance on standardized tests to estimate whether the teachers added to or subtracted from students' growth. Supporters say it provides a measure of objectivity and accuracy to evaluations, but critics contend that it is too unreliable for personnel decisions.

Deasy and other district officials announced that they would start a pilot evaluation program next year and begin using it throughout the nation's second-largest school district in the 2012-13 school year. The union contends the new system must be approved at the bargaining table.

More than 900 teachers and administrators offered to take part in the voluntary effort. In exchange, they were also offered a $1,250 stipend, paid professional days and detailed feedback.

Union lawyers filed a complaint alleging unfair labor practices and on Friday asked for an injunction in Los Angeles County Superior Court to halt the new evaluation program. (The union also issued a news release that day accusing Deasy of negotiating improperly for unpaid furlough days by issuing public statements about issues that are being discussed confidentially.)

Deasy said he was surprised that the union filed a grievance, especially since there were no stakes attached to the program and there appeared to be widespread interest.

"I think there is a large disconnect between what the leadership has done and what the rank and file is saying to us," Deasy said. "They're not only excited about the evaluation system, but they're chomping at the bit to use it."

UTLA's position stands in contrast to many other districts and labor groups. The nation's two largest teachers unions have either accepted using value-added scores as one measure in evaluations or helped unions and districts negotiate contracts that incorporate value-added scores.

"California, and [Los Angeles] in particular, has been an anomaly when it comes to this kind of work," said Arun Ramanathan, the executive director of the Education Trust-West, a nonprofit education advocacy group.

Board of Education member Steve Zimmer, who said he understands Deasy's urgency and the union's reluctance over evaluations, said: "The context is really negative right now.... It's a very frustrating moment."

CALIFORNIA STILL LEADS THE U.S., INCLUDING IN INEQUALITY + A PORTRAIT OF CALIFORNIA/A Measure of America

By Peter Henderson, Reuters | http://reut.rs/jTZOWF

A man hangs California's state flag in Nevada City, California in this May 16, 2011 file photo.  Credit: Reuters/Max Whittaker

 

Thu May 19, 2011 7:23pm EDT - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Perennial trend-setter California still represents potential aspects of the future of the United States, ranging from wealth and opportunity in Silicon Valley to abject poverty in the agricultural Central Valley.

The Golden State has always seen itself as the best, and it still is for some, but a new study of federal census and state data covering longevity, education and income shows the state is also home to arguably the worst-off parts of the nation.

Its diversity, continued attraction to immigrants, and a fast-changing economy that is still the world's eighth largest make it a harbinger for the globe as well as the nation, according to the study released this week.

"Some Californians are actually enjoying the highest levels of well-being in the world, where the rest of the world won't be for another half-century," said Kristen Lewis, one of the authors of "A Portrait of California."

But the report by the American Human Development Project, which uses United Nations-based indicators of health, wealth and education rolled into a Human Development Index score, also sheds light on less fortunate parts of the state. (report follows)

The Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, which exploded in riots in 1965, only now scores at levels enjoyed by the rest of the county that year, while a companion study found the nation's worst-off congressional district to be in Fresno, California -- not the Mississippi Delta or Appalachia as researchers had expected.

The reputation of the most populous U.S. state as home of the good life has been tarnished as the mortgage crisis stripped families of homes, while the state's financial problems have undermined the education system and sense of opportunity that gave California its glittering reputation.

Many of the contrasts in the state, which after all has inspired "Grapes of Wrath" Depression-era tales as well as Disneyland, are tied in some way to education and immigration.

PAY AND EDUCATION

Education and income tend to go hand in hand, but some of the longest-living Californians are Latino immigrants at the bottom of the pay and education scales -- whose native-born children die earlier.

"The longer Latinos live in the United States, the shorter they live," Lewis said.

The report breaks down the state into "Five Californias." They range from the affluent towns of Silicon Valley, such as Cupertino, home to Apple Inc, and Mountain View, where Google Inc is based, followed by well-off metropolitan coastal enclaves.

A group of mostly minority citizens in California's suburbs and exurbs make up the middle class, or about 40 percent of the population. An equally large group that also includes rural areas is labeled "Struggling California." Both are trying to fit into a state that wants highly skilled or unskilled labor, without much demand in the middle.

"All over the U.S., the labor market is diverging, and it's creating an hourglass shape," Lewis said.

A "Forsaken" 5 percent, whose life expectancy is nine years less than those at the top and who tend to live in impoverished neighborhoods in Los Angeles and the farming-dependent Central Valley, make up the bottom stratus in the state.

In the San Francisco Bay Area town of San Ramon, only 2.6 percent of adult residents did not finish high school, compared with 63.3 percent in the Vernon Central area of Los Angeles.

The top and bottom groups have one thing in common: a third of each was born outside the United States. But while the top demographic features engineers from Asia, the bottom contains mainly Latinos with a high school education or less.

Measures of state public education have dropped because of the financial crisis to the point where California in some ways now ranks 49th to 51st against other states and the District of Columbia.

"California is really losing its edge in terms of education," said Lewis.

But the statistics don't necessarily tell the whole story -- many Latino immigrants drag down the state average because they cut short their education to come to California, but their children are hitting state norms.

(Reporting by Peter Henderson; Editing by Eric Walsh)

 

A Portrait of California

A Portrait of California - Measure of America: American Human Development Project | http://bit.ly/kNrhQJ

LAUNCHED TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011

 

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

ORDER Hard copies of the report are available for purchase at $15 each to cover printing and shipping costs. For educational and bulk discounts, please contact diana@measureofamerica.org.

Read the Media Release | Comunicado de prensa
Create Maps for over 100 indicators

A Portrait of California goes beyond the state’s fiscal and budgetary woes to examine the well-being of its people using the American Human Development Index, a measure based on official government data in health, education, and living standards. This timely report introduces the ‘Five Californias’ to highlight the varied opportunities open to differing segments of the population, and provides close-up snapshots of major metro areas. The report also ranks native-born and foreign-born residents for each major ethnic group, as well as all 233 Census neighborhoods in the state. The report concludes with recommendations aligned with current fiscal realities for protecting and building upon human development successes already in place.

A few facts:

• Asian American women in California can expect to live up to 88.6 years, over 18 years longer than African American men.

• A gap of $58,000 in median personal earnings separate the top earners in the Santa Clara–Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos area (about $73,000) from the lowest earners in the LA–East Adams–Exposition Park area (about $15,000)—a gap double the median personal earnings for the country as a whole.

• Just 100 of California’s nearly 2,500 high schools account for nearly half of the state’s dropouts.

• California’s Latina women earn the least, at $18,000—earnings on par with those of the typical American worker in 1960, half a century ago.

A Portrait of California highlights actions that Californians can take to lock in human development successes today while setting the stage for significant budget savings and improved well-being tomorrow. These include investing in public health campaigns and food subsidies for fruits and vegetables; investing in preschool and targeting the worst performing high schools with the highest dropout rates; and taking steps to address gender equality and wage discrimination in the workplace.

____________________________________________________________________________

DONORS TO A Portrait of California: The California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Draper Foundation, The Lincy Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, United Ways of California, and the Weingart Foundation.

____________________________________________________________________________

For media inquiries: John Keaten | jkeaten@groupgordon.com | (212) 784-5701
Questions? Email: contact@measureofamerica.org

LAO REPORT: The 2011-12 Budget - Overview of the May Revision

“California now is in a position to dramatically shrink its budget problem with a focus on ongoing budget solutions.”

smf: Mac Taylor, the LAO, is the nonpartisan fiscal and policy advisor to the California State Legislature and he and his staff are the only non-partisans in the Capitol building. Excuse the cynicism but the position ‘to dramatically shrink the problem’ – and the impetus to do so – are two very different things!

State of California Legislative Analyst's Office | http://bit.ly/kTXMtT

Full Report: HTML |  PDF

May 19, 2011 - Significantly improved General Fund revenue trends since January and over $13 billion of budget actions already approved by the Legislature have reduced the size of the budget gap still to be addressed by California’s elected leaders. The administration identifies a $9.6 billion remaining budget problem based on generally reasonable 2010-11 and 2011-12 revenue and expenditure assumptions. The Governor’s plan to address this shortfall and leave the state with a $1.2 billion reserve at the end of 2011-12 has many positive aspects. It would help bring annual spending and resources much closer in line for the next five years, and its focus on reducing budgetary debt obligations is laudable. On the other hand, the Legislature has other options to address the reduced budget shortfall, including adoption of alternative tax proposals, additional program reductions, and selected fund transfers and internal borrowing. The improved economic and revenue situation, along with significant budgetary solutions already adopted, mean that California now is in a position to dramatically shrink its budget problem with a focus on ongoing budget solutions.

TEN THINGS TEACHERS NEED TO RECLAIM THEIR PROFESSION

By Horace B. Lucido,  posted on The Answer Sheet/Washington Post Education blog By Valerie Strauss | http://wapo.st/iHVZuE

Horace B. Lucido is a retired physics instructor, author and educational consultant, and a founding member of Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse

5/21/2011 - Sports referees make split second decisions. Judges and doctors do too, sometimes decisions that are life changing. Despite the subjective nature of their judgments, they are given respect and trust because of their training and experience, and we most often accept their decisions as valid.

This was once the same type of respect given to our public school teachers, the professionals who work in the classroom. But since the onslaught of state and national high-stakes testing regimes, too many teachers have been relegated to mechanized assembly line workers who have little say about the process but are required to follow the company line.

This is in direct conflict with the national Model Core Teaching Standards, which give the teacher responsibility to adjust, modify and pace the lessons according to the needs of their individual students. In today’s classrooms, though, teachers are taken out of the equation, becoming functionaries in a system of rigorous “manufacturing” controls by local, state and national directives.

High-stakes tests are said by proponents to provide “objective” truth whereas teachers’ opinions are classified as subjective and, thus, believed to be less trustworthy.

But test scores aren’t really objective. Who writes the test questions on these tests? People. Who chooses the test questions, the number of questions, the time allowed and when the test will be given? People. Who chooses the cut scores that decide where proficient or passing is? People. Who determines the meaning of these scores? People. These are all subjective not objective processes and most of these people are not even educators.

Teachers are trustworthy, trained professionals. Throughout the year they have a long sustained contact with their students. They know their students’ strengths and weaknesses. Their judgments are based on multiple sources of information over the entire school year and are more valid than the results of a few hours of annual high-stakes testing.

Why else would some states, like California, in their Testing Report to Parents, contain a clear disclaimer on the reporting sheet:

A note on using this information: A single test can provide only limited information. A student taking this same test more than once might score higher or lower in each tested area in a small range. You should confirm your child’s strengths and needs in these topics by reviewing classroom work, standards-based assessments, and your child’s progress during the year.

California’s Department of Education thus admits that assessments, assignments and progress provided by the classroom teacher should be the place to assess the real meaning and accuracy of standardized test results. But it doesn’t act like it really believes it because schools and districts are judged almost entirely by standardized test scores.

Which is a more valid predictor of student success in college: “objective” SAT and ACT college entrance scores or “subjective” teacher grades? Several studies have found that high school grades more accurately predict academic college achievement than any other factor. But still the standardized test remains dominant in admissions decisions.

In many detailed analysis of international tests such as the PISA and TIMSS, as well as our own national report card, National Assessment of Educational Progress, what is clearly evident is that poverty and the gap between the wealthy and the poor are the major contributors to test performance.

Our top-performing students far outnumber other nations. They come from schools that have less than 10% poverty. When we compare these students to the other participating nations we are among the leaders. No analysis in any of these studies points to poorer teaching in America than elsewhere.

So what are some key elements in teachers regaining the professional respect and trust they deserve? State, district and site practices and policies should:

1. Allow our teachers to use best practices in lesson design and pedagogy rather than canned programs that require rigorous adherence to step-by-step procedures without flexibility.

2. Permit teachers to adjust and modify their lessons to fit their students’ knowledge and skills rather than prepare them for high-stakes testing. Forgo all site and district high-stakes testing that is not required by state or national law. Do away with site and district tests used to prepare for more tests.

3. Test score ‘data’ can only become relevant when interpretation for individual students is corroborated by their teachers — individually or groups — who have evaluated said students using multiple sources of information. No judgments, placements or qualifications for individual students should be made solely on the basis of annual high-stakes testing.

4. Abolish all goal-setting based on annual high-stakes testing scores. This includes targeting students, teachers and schools for score improvement. Each should be evaluated using multiple sources of information before making plans for any corrective actions. Teams of educators, parents, psychologists and community members should be employed in developing helpful strategies.

5. Eliminate both scripted and paced lesson mandates. It is not in standardizing our classrooms that students learn to be creative and innovative-attributes that are highly prized in the world of work. Just as the diversity of plants and animals is the strength of the Earth’s ecosystem, our ‘edusystem’ should model that diversity in the manner in which teachers provide unique lessons using a variety of methods. Standardized sameness is not conducive to how students learn nor is it an attribute valued in our culture — otherwise we would all be driving only Fords and wearing only Levi jeans.

6. Eliminate all punitive policies that pronounce harsh judgments on students, teachers, schools and districts based on unchallenged interpretations of student test scores. Teacher evaluations of their students’ knowledge and skills should be the hallmark and cornerstone of valid conclusions about what students know and are able to do. They are the professionals in the classroom.

7. Codify regulations against administrative use of direct and/or implied threats of repercussions to those teachers who follow their State Standards for the Teaching Profession rather than curricular and/or pedagogy directives which utilize a script-like pacing without allowing for teacher modification and adjustments to fit the classroom clientele.

8. State Standards for the Teaching Profession should be the guiding principles for all teacher evaluation protocols used by administrators. Terminate ‘walkthroughs’. Thoughtful classroom visitations that respect the context of the lesson with pre and post discussion is vital to proper evaluation. Otherwise, walkthroughs become nothing more than “big brother” in a formal setting, keeping a critical eye rather than a supportive stance.

9. Teachers should have the freedom without fear of recrimination to express their professional opinions inside and outside of school sites regarding school practices and policies. Fellow teachers, parents and the larger community need to hear from the classroom professionals regarding the educational programs at their schools. This will provide open forums for discussion and the enhancement of the school environment.

10. Develop an enhanced parent-teacher communication protocol complete with translators for second language learner parents who are not fluent in English. Ongoing and frequent parent-teacher communication will both improve understanding and appreciation of the role each plays in the education of their students and also foster a greater mutual respect.

It will take a coalition of educators, parents and community members to take this agenda forward. Seeking changes in existing local, state and national educational mandates from school boards, legislatures and congress should be the focus of our actions. This should be of the highest priority. If we want the best for our students, then we need to have the best for their teachers. When they again have the highest community respect and when classroom autonomy is returned to them, students will then be able to experience the creativity of revived and energized instructors.

Stopping the culture of high-stakes testing will be the key step in initiating this process. How long will it take? That is up to us.

Mathews: CLOSE BAD CHARTERS FASTER

By Jay Mathews, Washington Post | http://wapo.st/mpEUSw

●●smf: Mathews, who is the Ed Columnist for the WaPo – is the writer who discovered Jamie Escalante – if ‘discovering’ a force of nature is the right verb.  DC is second only to LA in number of charter schools – and being DC is even more driven-by and responsive-to the politics of the pro-charter “choice” machine. At one level having a separate board of ed for charters makes a certain amount of sense – tempered by the conflict-of-interest to support rather oversee the schools.

Published: May 15 - The D.C. Public Charter School Board might soon close the Ideal Academy Public Charter School, more than a year and a half after I told it to.

When I made that suggestion in a December 2009 column, Ideal was a prime example of a charter school overdue for termination. Its high school, after four years, had shown that most of its students would be better off elsewhere.

“Of the 31 sophomores who took the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System test in math last spring,” I said then, “only 25.8 percent scored at the proficient level or above. Only 38.7 percent reached that level in reading. Among secondary schools [in the District], only six regular schools and two charter schools had lower math proficiency rates. Only 11 regular schools and three charters were worse in reading proficiency.”

Charter schools are public schools, often started by educators and parents dissatisfied with regular schools. They are typically independent of many district rules. President Obama has been telling charter authorizers — mostly city, state and university boards — to get rid of stinkers. The nonprofit group Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) has also been urging the D.C. Public Charter School Board in that direction, and might succeed if Ideal closes. Did it have to take so long? I don’t think so.

Two years ago, Ideal was clearly a loser, but as often happens, unjustifiable optimism intruded. Thomas Nida, then chairman of the D.C. charter school board, told me his board had not had enough time to turn Ideal around. His board, independent of the D.C. school system, had just assumed responsibility for Ideal and several other charters. They had previously been authorized and supervised by the D.C. school board, which never liked dealing with charter schools and was not good at it. I understand why public-spirited people such as Nida didn’t want to dump Ideal too quickly, but they were wrong to entertain false hopes when the school’s awkward rhythms and low expectations were pretty much set.

More than 80 percent of Ideal’s students are from low-income families. But that’s also true for charter high schools, such as Hyde and SEED, with much higher proficiency rates. There was no major change in Ideal’s methods and philosophy that might have cured its inertia and apathy. The year after I spoke to Nida, the school’s proficiency rates were virtually unchanged — down three percentage points in reading and up two in math. Ideal’s elementary and middle school at another location still had math and reading proficiency rates below 50 percent.

The board voted in March to begin the process of revoking Ideal’s charter. Its final decision is expected this month.

According to FOCUS, 37 percent of D.C. charter schools have been closed since the first one opened in 1996. Nationally, federal data show that 27 percent of 6,725 charters opened in the past 20 years have closed. Those are much higher closure rates than would occur in a regular school district. Robert Cane, FOCUS executive director, rightly calls it “a signal to parents and others that we mean business.”

But why stop there? The Center for Research on Educational Outcomes at Stanford University reported in 2009 that only 17 percent of charter schools had academic gains significantly better than regular public schools, 37 percent were worse and 46 percent were about the same. Closing more bad charters, and doing it faster than is being done with Ideal, would improve that track record.

This is one of the great advantages charters have over regular school systems, where communities heatedly resist closing anything. Why not use it? The Stanford study found that charter school achievement gains were greater in states that did not limit the number of charters that could be authorized. So let’s not limit closing charters, either. If we stop waiting for unlikely miracles, we will have fewer students wasting their time at schools as un-ideal as Ideal.

TO FIX CALIFORNIA’S BUDGET WE NEED TAXES TOO

An all-cuts solution would be too painful. Lawmakers should approve Gov. Jerry Brown's tax extensions.

LA Times Editorial | http://lat.ms/lSjhAE

May 22, 2011 - Lawmakers in Sacramento traditionally put off the toughest budget decisions until the governor's office updates its spending plan in mid-May with fresh estimates of revenue and costs. Those estimates are now in, and one thing should be even clearer than it was when Gov. Jerry Brown released his original budget in January: Legislators can't cut their way to a balanced budget.

Granted, a projected $6.6-billion surge in tax revenue has narrowed the budget gap. So have the steps already taken by lawmakers, including more than $10 billion in spending cuts (mainly to safety-net programs and higher education) and almost $3 billion in borrowing. But the state still faces a shortfall of more than $10 billion. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office and legislative Republicans have both identified more cuts that could be made, but the reductions would take far too great a toll on the young, the elderly and the vulnerable.

Just to pick out a few examples, cutting $500 million more from the University of California system, as the legislative analyst suggested, would force the campuses to hit students with a 32% increase in tuition in midyear, UC President Mark G. Yudof said. And the Republican proposal would wipe out funding for early childhood and mental health programs — a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach with ugly long-term consequences for schools, hospitals and prisons.

To avert such destructive cuts, Brown and his Democratic colleagues in Sacramento want to maintain California's personal income, sales and vehicle tax rates at their 2010 levels. Those rates, which had been increased temporarily in 2009, are scheduled to revert by July 1. This year's budget gap is reason enough to delay those reductions. Here's another: The state is expected to have annual shortfalls of $10 billion at least through fiscal 2014-15, caused in part by a decade's worth of borrowing to paper over past budget gaps.

Even with the tax increases, state government spending would fall to pre-recession levels. And when measured against total personal income in the state, general fund spending would drop to its lowest level in almost 40 years.

The debate over taxes has dragged on too long, and the uncertainty is damaging in its own right. As Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor pointed out Thursday, the uncertainty would only be magnified under Brown's plan to extend the tax rates, then ask voters a few months later whether to repeal them.

Rather than continuing to flirt with a ballot measure, legislators should take stock of the cuts they've already made — such as eliminating 5,500 state jobs, closing up to 70 state parks, slashing welfare grants to pre-1987 levels, siphoning $1 billion out of early childhood education programs and requiring the poor to make co-pays for medical care — and recognize how damaging it could be to go further. The right move now is to generate more revenue to close the budget gap. And the least painful course is to keep in place the rates Californians have already been paying.