Recently in education policy Category

In an open letter to teachers nationwide sent in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2-6), U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged that teachers are frustrated and have come under attack in recent months.

He writes:

[Y]ou are frustrated when teachers alone are blamed for educational failures that have roots in broken families, unsafe communities, misguided reforms, and underfunded schools systems. You rightfully believe that responsibility for educational quality should be shared by administrators, community, parents, and even students themselves.

He acknowledged that many teachers are fed up with the teach-to-the-test effects of No Child Left Behind, and with being the target of accountability measures that don't factor in other elements of students' lives.

Many of you have told me you are willing to be held accountable for outcomes over which you have some control, but you also want school leaders held accountable for creating a positive and supportive learning environment. You want real feedback in a professional setting rather than drive-by visits from principals or a single score on a bubble test. And you want the time and opportunity to work with your colleagues and strengthen your craft.

The solution? Not surprisingly, Duncan says he wants to work together with teachers to change federal law to create a "a system of evaluation that draws on meaningful observations and input from your peers, as well as a sophisticated assessment that measures individual student growth, creativity, and critical thinking."

We'll see how that goes.

The whole letter is worth a read. It's after the jump.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will ask Congress
for $1.35 billion in his 2011 budget proposal to extend an education
grant program for states, although the Education Department remains
months away from announcing its first round of awards, senior
administration officials said.

Obama was outlining the budget proposal Tuesday at a Fairfax County,
Va., elementary school.

The $787 billion economic stimulus program Obama signed into law
soon after taking office included $4.3 billion in competitive grants
for states, nicknamed the "Race to the Top" fund. States must amend
education laws and policies to compete for a share of the money.

More than 30 states were expected to apply by Tuesday's deadline.
The first of two rounds of award announcements are expected in
April.

Even before that, however, Obama will ask lawmakers for another
$1.35 billion so that states not chosen in either award round will
have a chance to compete for money, according to the officials, who
spoke anonymously Monday because the president had not announced his
plans.

The president also wants to use some of the $1.35 billion for a
similar competitive grant program among school districts.

With the grant programs, Obama is trying to make federal education
spending more of a competitive endeavor to encourage states and
school districts to do better, rather than a solely formula-driven
effort in which states and districts look forward to receiving a
certain amount of money each school year, regardless of how good a
job they do educating students.

To that end, Obama sees using student test scores to judge teacher
performance and the creation of charter schools, which are funded
with public money but operate independently of local school boards,
as solutions to the problems that plague public education.

National teachers' unions disagree. They argue that student
achievement amounts to much more than a score on a standardized test
and that it would be a mistake to rely heavily on charter
schools.

The "Race to the Top" fund -- and the opportunity to compete for the
billions of dollars it holds -- was designed to encourage states to
rework their education systems and bring them more in line with
Obama's vision. Education is largely a state and local
responsibility.

So far, more than a dozen states have changed laws or policies to
link data on student achievement to the performance by teachers and
principals, or pave the way for opening more charter schools.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and
Labor Committee, called the administration's plans "exciting."

Obama is expected to send Congress his 2011 budget proposal sometime
next month.

In his State of the State address on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to uphold funding for California's public schools. Spending on the state's public schools has been slashed by nearly $18 billion since 2008 and K-12 spending this year still makes up about 37 percent of California's $91.4 billion overall budget, according to Education Week.

Schwarzenegger's comments come as state lawmakers grapple with a $20 billion deficit.

The Hermosa Beach City School District board of trustees will meet Monday in a closed-door meeting to discuss the best applicants for the open superintendent position. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 1645 Valley Dr. in Hermosa Beach. Information: 310-937-5877.

California schools superintendent Jack O'Connell is asking voters to support local school bond measures on Tuesday's ballot.

"Historically, California voters have overwhelmingly supported local school bonds and parcel tax proposals. However, with all of the frightening news about our economy recently, I am concerned that voters in our state may be hesitant to vote for these measures," O'Connell said in a news release.
"It is now more critical than ever to support schools in our communities."

The state's budget deficit has put education funding on the chopping block and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hints education cuts will be needed to close the gap.

There's a very good and comprehensive story by the L.A. Times today about how plans to shrink the state budget deficit could take $2 billion to $4 billion in promised funding from schools.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday told education leaders that significant cuts may be unavoidable even if lawmakers approved an increase in sales tax.

School officials say that making billions of dollars of cuts in the middle of a school year would be devastating.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer said that Schwarzenegger's proposal would cost the district as much as $440 million. He called cuts of that magnitude "impossible."

"They're going to have to go out and borrow money because we'd go bankrupt," Brewer said. "Fiscally, we can't do that without literally having to shut down schools."

A judge on Tuesday ordered the state Board of Education to postpone plan to force all California eighth-graders to be tested in algebra, according to the Associated Press.

Sacramento Superior Court judge Shelleyanne Chang ordered the board not to make any further decisions on the algebra test until a Dec. 19 court hearing. The group had been scheduled to take up its plan to phase-in algebra over the next three years during a meeting next week, the AP writes.

The board approved the algebra plan in the summer but was criticized by California's schools superintendent Jack O'Connell and education groups. They questioned whether the state had the money, staff and training to handle the requirement.

Just half of California eighth-graders currently take full algebra, up from about 34 percent four years ago. But only about a quarter of those who take it score proficient or above on standardized tests. The rate is even lower for black, Hispanic and poor students.

Opponents argued the decision was made hastily and that the public did not have adequate time to comment. The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators sued in September.

REL#08-150_AlgebraTRO_10-28-08.doc

It's barely been a month since lawmakers finally agreed on a state budget but it looks as though California may be already $10 billion in the red, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Reporter Dan Walters believes schools will be the likely target of massive cuts because it makes up the largest piece of the budget pie. Mmm, it tastes like overcrowded classrooms, fewer programs with a hint of teacher layoffs.

School spending is vulnerable not only because it's such a huge pot - 40-plus percent of the budget - but because as state revenues fall ever-further below the rosy projections, the constitutional floor of school spending also drops. In words, the Legislature and the governor could legally cut schools by billions of bucks, perhaps $4 billion or more.

The Education Coalition, headed by the powerful California Teachers Association, is already beseeching Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to leave them alone, contending that the current budget already shorts schools by several billion dollars, thus renewing the perennial debate over school finance.

Over the past 10 years, spending on K-12 schools in California, both state aid and local property taxes, has risen by an average of 4.9 percent a year while enrollment has risen by under 1 percent per year, according to data from the Legislature's budget office. Most of the remaining 4-plus percent is eaten up by inflation, leaving real per-pupil spending increasing at around 1 percent a year.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has joined the state's largest teachers' union to oppose an effort to end gay marriages in the state.

According to an Associated Press article:

Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, doesn't mention education, but what public schools will be required to teach about homosexuality has emerged as the central issue in the campaign.

"I've seen the spots on the TV, and [legalized gay marriage] just isn't going to require any kind of teaching of personal relationships or lifestyle," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who has joined the state's largest teachers union in opposing the measure. "That's just not an accurate statement or portrayal."

State schools for years have taught issues surrounding homophobia and sexual orientation but it been up to the district discretion on how to deliver that instruction.

It's still pretty hazy at this point. The L.A. Times reports schools aren't forced to introduce students to marriage. But the state requires schools that offer sex education "teach respect for marriage and committed relationships. There is no mention if the marriages or committed relationships are same sex or opposite sex.

Districts have taken different approaches.

The Los Angeles Unified School District offers ninth-graders a "Life Skills" class that deals with a variety of issues, including personal identity and relationships. A district spokeswoman said marriage is not a specific part of that curriculum but could come up as part of classroom discussion.

In Fresno, meanwhile, district policy is that teachers do not address the subject of gay marriage in the classroom; students who ask about it are told to raise the issue with their families, according to district officials.

Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, said she was unaware of any district that had changed its curriculum as a result of the California Supreme Court's May ruling allowing same-sex marriage.

What do you think? Do you think teaches will introduce gay marriage to students if Prop. 8 fails?

Not likely, according to an article by the Associated Press. Some educators say time-out rooms are being used more often to discipline children with behavioral disorders which can do more harm than good.

According to the AP:

"It really is a form of abuse," said Ken Merrell, head of the Department for Special Education and Clinical Sciences at the University of Oregon. "It's going to do nothing to change the behavior. You're using it as an isolation booth."

Segregating children removes them from the positive aspect of the classroom and highlights that they're different from other children, said Stephen Camarata, director of the Kennedy Center for Behavioral Research at Vanderbilt University. And isolating an autistic child might be particularly counterproductive.

Little Company of Mary Hospitals have partnered with the Lunada Bay Elementary School in Palos Verdes Estates to support "Red Ribbon Week", which takes place October 20 through October 24.

"Red Ribbon Week" is a PTA-sponsored campaign throughout schools across the country to prevent drug use. In the Lunada Bay Elementary School the initiative is focused on teaching the young children to make good choices in many areas of their life. Supporting the health aspect of the initiative, Little Company of Mary has donated specially-ordered jump ropes for each student at Lunada Bay Elementary School.

They're baaack. Well, not exactly. Lawmakers might consider a plan to call everyone back to Sacramento to discuss the state's need for a short term $7 billion loan, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Because of the credit crunch and less state revenues Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could declare a special session where legislators may look at different ways to make up the budget hole, including cuts to schools.

Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Association, said lawmakers "might as well stay home" if they are planning to make up the latest shortfall with cuts alone. His group and other school organizations believe the state should use tax increases to balance the budget.

"If they come back into a special session because revenue projections are in decline for the current year budget, it probably could only mean bad news for schools unless they're inclined to have a conversation about new revenues," Plotkin said.

I'm still getting responses about Torrance Unified's latest bonds effort. One being from district officials looking to clear up how long it will take for the bonds to be repaid.

My Sunday article said both the bonds will be paid back in 40 years because it's the time frame the school board approved in an Aug. 4 resolution.

But Torrance Unified said the measures are actually scheduled to be repaid in 30 years, beginning in 2010, if they both pass. I've added the district's breakdown of the payments in this blog so you all can see the numbers for yourselves.

HELPFUL NOTE:
The total yearly repayment schedule for the $265 million Measure Y is on the first page, twelfth column, that says "New Election Total Debt Service."

The total yearly repayment schedule for the $91 million Measure Z is on the second page, twelfth column, that says "Total Debt Service."

TUSD Bond Scenarios_0723081.pdf

Interesting story in today's Los Angeles Times about the eighth-grade algebra mandate that the state Board of Education approved in July. That 8-1 vote made a yearly test in algebra -- which many students do not take in middle school, and some struggle with even in high school -- a requirement.

Schwarzenegger endorsed the move at the last minute, while schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell was fiercely opposed, saying it was "setting our students up for failure." The board, which has been sued over the unanticipated vote, gave a three-year deadline to implement the mandate.

Howard Blume's story focuses on a report released today by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution that looks at the nationwide trend toward requiring algebra in eighth grade over the past two decades. The report says the push has forced unprepared students into advanced math classes, while requiring teachers to abandon the advanced learners with watered-down instruction.

To some, algebra is a social justice issue. From the intro to the report:

The push for universal eighth-grade algebra is based on an argument for equity, not on empirical evidence. General or remedial math courses tend to be curricular dead-ends, leading to more courses with the same title (for example, General Math 9, General Math 10) and no real progression in mathematical content. By completing algebra in eighth grade--and then completing a sequence of geometry as freshmen, advanced algebra as sophomores, and trigonometry, math analysis, or pre-calculus as juniors--students are able to take calculus in the senior year of high school. Waiting until ninth grade to take algebra makes taking calculus in high school more difficult. From this point of view, expanding eighth-grade algebra to include all students opens up opportunities for advancement to students who previously had not been afforded them, in particular, students of color and from poor families. Democratizing eighth-grade algebra promotes social justice

In a press release that goes with the report, author Tom Loveless calls it "false democratization."

A full report on the matter will be issued in December.

*Apparently we ran an AP story on this too. Probably should read our own coverage first ... !