SCUSD eCONNECTION Newsletter 1-24-11

 

 

 

 

SCUSD Strategic Plan Update January 28 2011

 

 

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• Project Overview
• Report
• Background
• Findings
• Recommendations
• Methodology & Data
• Glossary
• FAQ

SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED

Physical address:

5735 47TH AVE

SACRAMENTO, CA 95824

Locale: 

City — Large

Enrollment: 

48,446

Number of schools within the district: 

95

Productivity

	Rating
Basic Return on Investment Index
Adjusted Return on Investment Index
Predicted Efficiency Index

Achievement

	District	State

4th Grade Math62%65%

4th Grade Reading52%60%

8th Grade Math41%41%

8th Grade Reading44%48%

High School Math59%54%

High School Reading57%52%

Demographics

	District	State
Low income	63%	47%
Special education	11%	10%
Limited English proficient (LEP)	26%	21%
White	21%	38%
Black	21%	5%
Hispanic	32%	42%
Asian or Pacific Islander	23%	9%
American Indian or Alaskan Native	1%	2%

Finance

		Amount	Amount per student	Percent
Total revenue:		$545,693,000	$11,264	—
	Revenue by source
	Federal:	$78,196,000	$1,614	14%
	State:	$345,913,000	$7,140	63%
	Local:	$121,584,000	$2,510	22%
Total expenditures		$559,994,000	$11,559	—
	Total current expenditures	$486,908,000	$10,051	—
	Instructional expenditures	$290,622,000	$5,999	60%
	Student and staff support	$58,298,000	$1,203	12%
	Administration	$61,432,000	$1,268	13%
	Operations, food service, other	$76,556,000	$1,580	16%
	Total capital outlay	$42,850,000	$884	—
	Construction	$39,068,000	$806	—
	Total non-elementary and secondary education, and other	$10,411,000	$215	—
	Interest on debt	$19,782,000	$408	—

Other fiscal indicators

	District	District rank in the state	State's lowest-spending districts*	State's highest-spending districts**	Range of spending in the state***
Per pupil expenditure, unadjusted:	$10,051	255 out of 308	$7,702	$13,359	$5,657
Per pupil expenditure, after adjusting for differences in cost of living:	$9,839	229 out of 308	$7,249	$15,902	$8,653
Per pupil expenditure, after adjusting for differences in cost of living and student needs:	$6,661	205 out of 308	$5,208	$11,382	$6,175

* 5th percentile of per pupil expenditures

** 95th percentile of per pupil expenditures

*** The difference between the 95th and the 5th percentile

Sources and Notes: For achievement, we looked at the percent of students scoring proficient or above according to state-defined proficiency standards for each grade. In the demographic section, the state average represents the average value for that indicator for all of the districts included in our analysis. In the achievement section, the state average represents the average score for all of the districts in the state. 

For spending and demographic information, we relied on 2008 data complied by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. For overall school district achievement results, we used 2008 data complied by the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project, and for district achievement data disaggregated by student subgroups, we relied on 2008 data from GreatSchools, a California-based company that publishes school performance data. A small number of states and districts were missing data for certain demographic indicators, necessitating the use of proxies. For more information on our sources, use of proxies, and our approach to calculating educational productivity, please consult our detailed methodology.

 

 

 

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January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: Recommendations

Recommendations based on the analysis of "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: Findings

Findings for "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: FAQs

Frequently asked questions for "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Interactive Map: Return on Educational Investment

Interactive map from a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: Methodology and Data

The methodology used in "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: Glossary

A glossary of terms used in "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment: Background Info

Background information for "Return on Investment," a district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity.

January 19, 2011

Return on Educational Investment

Report from Ulrich Boser presents findings from a yearlong study of the efficiency of the nation’s public education system.By Ulrich Boser

 

Interactive Map: Return on Educational Investment

January 19, 2011

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Interactive | Report | Findings | Recommendations | Background | Glossary | Methodology & Data | FAQs | Help

Introduction and summary

This report is the culmination of a yearlong effort to study the efficiency of the nation’s public education system and includes the first-ever attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country. In the business world, the notion of productivity describes the benefit received in exchange for effort or money expended. Our project measures the academic achievement a school district produces relative to its educational spending, while controlling for factors outside a district’s control, such as cost of living and students in poverty.

Our nation’s school system has for too long failed to ensure that education funding consistently promotes strong student achievement. After adjusting for inflation, education spending per student has nearly tripled over the past four decades. But while some states and districts have spent their additional dollars wisely—and thus shown significant increases in student outcomes—overall student achievement has largely remained flat. And besides Luxembourg, the United States spends more per student than any of the 65 countries that participated in a recent international reading assessment, and while Estonia and Poland scored at the same level as the United States on the exam, the United States spent roughly $60,000 more to educate each student to age 15 than either nation.

Our aims for this project, then, are threefold. First, we hope to kick-start a national conversation about educational productivity. Second, we want to identify districts that generate higher-than-average achievement per dollar spent, demonstrate how productivity varies widely within states, and encourage efforts to study highly productive districts. Third—and most important—we want to encourage states and districts to embrace approaches that make it easier to create and sustain educational efficiencies.

This report comes at a pivotal time for schools and districts. Sagging revenues have forced more than 30 states to cut education spending since the recession began. The fiscal situation is likely to get worse before it gets better because the full impact of the housing market collapse has yet to hit many state and local budgets. At a time when states are projecting more than $100 billion in budget shortfalls, educators need to be able to show that education dollars produce significant outcomes or taxpayers might begin to see schools as a weak investment. If schools don’t deliver maximum results for the dollar, public trust in education could erode and taxpayers may fund schools less generously.

The Wisconsin school systems of Oshkosh and Eau Claire are about the same size and serve similar student populations. They also get largely similar results on state exams–but Eau Claire spends an extra $8 million to run its school system.

While some forward-thinking education leaders have taken steps to promote better educational efficiency, most states and districts have not done nearly enough to measure or produce the productivity gains our education system so desperately needs. Some fear that a focus on efficiency might inspire policymakers to reduce already limited education budgets and further increase the inequitable distribution of school dollars. To be sure, our nation’s system of financing schools is unfair. Low-income and minority students are far more likely to attend schools that don’t receive their fair share of federal, state, and local dollars. But while the issue of fairness must be central to any conversation about education finance, efficiency should not be sacrificed on the altar of equity. Our nation must aspire to have a school system that’s both fair and productive.

Our emphasis on productivity does not mean we endorse unfettered market-based reforms, such as vouchers allowing parents to direct public funds to private schools. Nor do we argue that policymakers should spend less on education. Indeed, we believe neither of these approaches can solve the nation’s pressing education challenges. Transforming our schools will demand both real resources and real reform. As Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently said: “It’s time to stop treating the problem of educational productivity as a grinding, eat-your-broccoli exercise. It’s time to start treating it as an opportunity for innovation and accelerating progress.”

Summary of findings

• Many school districts could boost student achievement without increasing spending if they used their money more productively. An Arizona school district, for example, could see as much as a 36 percent boost in achievement if it increased its efficiency from the lowest level to the highest, all else being equal.
• Low productivity costs the nation’s school system as much as $175 billion a year. This figure is an estimate; our study does not capture everything that goes into creating an efficient district. But the approximate loss in capacity equals about 1 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
• Without controls on how additional school dollars are spent, more education spending will not automatically improve student outcomes. In more than half of the states included in our study, there was no clear relationship between spending and achievement after adjusting for other variables, such as cost of living and students in poverty. These findings are consistent with existing research: How a school system spends its dollars can be just as important as how much it spends, at least above some threshold level.
• Efficiency varies widely within states. Some districts spent thousands more per student to obtain the same broad level of academic achievement. After adjusting for factors outside of a district’s control, the range of spending among the districts scoring in the top third of achievement in California was nearly $8,000 per student.
• More than a million students are enrolled in highly inefficient districts. Over 400 school districts around the country were rated highly inefficient on all three of our productivity metrics. These districts serve about 3 percent of the almost 43 million students covered by our study.
• High-spending school systems are often inefficient. Our analysis showed that after accounting for factors outside of a district’s control, many high spending districts posted middling productivity results. For example, only 17 percent of Florida’s districts in the top third in spending were also in the top third in achievement.
• Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be enrolled in highly inefficient districts. Students who participated in subsidized lunch programs were 12 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in the nation’s least-productive districts, even after making allowances for the higher cost of educating lower-income students.
• Highly productive districts are focused on improving student outcomes. We surveyed a sample of highly productive districts to learn more about their principles and practices. The districts that performed well on our metrics shared a number of values and practices, including strong community support and a willingness to make tough choices.
• States and districts fail to evaluate the productivity of schools and districts. While the nation spends billions of dollars on education, only two states, Florida and Texas, currently provide annual school-level productivity evaluations, which report to the public how well funds are being spent at the local level.
• The quality of state and local education data is often poor. In many instances, key information on school spending and outcomes is not available or insufficiently rigorous, and this severely impedes the study of educational productivity. For instance, we did not have good enough data to control for certain cost factors, such as transportation. So a rural district with high busing costs might suffer in some of our metrics compared with a more densely populated district.
• The nation’s least-productive districts spend more on administration. The most inefficient districts in the country devote an extra 3 percentage points of their budgets on average to administration, operations, and other noninstructional expenditures.
• Some urban districts are far more productive than others. While our main results are limited to within-state comparisons, we were able to conduct a special cross-state analysis of urban districts that recently participated in a national achievement test. After adjusting for certain factors outside a district’s control, we found that some big-city school systems spend millions of dollars more than others—but get far lower results on math and reading tests.

Summary of recommendations

Policymakers should promote educational efficiency

We hope this report launches a broad dialogue about educational productivity. Education policymakers should encourage further research in this area, as well as convene a national panel to recommend how state and federal governments can better support policies and programs that promote efficiency.

States and districts must reform school management systems

Education policymakers should create performance-focused management systems that are flexible on inputs and strict on outcomes. State and federal governments should also provide educators with the tools, technology, and training required to succeed with limited school dollars.

Education leaders should encourage smarter, fairer approaches to school funding

Education policymakers should develop funding policies that direct money to students based on their needs, so that all schools and districts have an equal opportunity to succeed. Federal policymakers should also continue to support competitive funding programs that create opportunities for reform and innovation.

States and districts should report far more data on school performance

States and districts should develop data systems that report reliable, high-quality information on educational outcomes, operations, and finance.

America’s ingenuity and dynamism have helped make it one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and these traits will be key to boosting the productivity of our school system. Efficiency reforms will not come fast or easy, but they must come soon because our nation can no longer afford schools that fail to make the most of their limited resources. We hope that our interactive website together with the findings and recommendations in the following pages—will prompt a new way of thinking about educational success, one that does far more to guarantee that all schools and districts have the necessary data, tools, and incentives to be efficient with their school dollars.

Read the full report (pdf)

Interactive | Report | Findings | Recommendations | Background | Glossary | Methodology & Data | FAQs

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

Print: Megan Smith (health care, education, economic policy)
202.741.6346 or msmith@americanprogress.org

Print: Anna Soellner (foreign policy and security, energy)
asoellner@americanprogress.org

Print: Raúl Arce-Contreras (ethnic media, immigration)
202.478.5318 or rarcecontreras@americanprogress.org

Radio: Laura Pereyra
202.741.6258 or lpereyra@americanprogress.org

TV: Andrea Purse
202.741.6250 or apurse@americanprogress.org

Web: Erin Lindsay
202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond Letter to Staff Jan. 13, 2011

 

 

 

SCUSD eCONNECTION Newsletter 1-10-11

 

 

 

 

 SCUSD Board Update January 14, 2011

 

 

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Viewpoints: Brown's 'Hail Mary' plan puts our schools in peril

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By Jonathan Raymond
Special to The Bee

Published: Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 5E

Last Modified: Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 - 10:47 am

In his inaugural address at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium, Gov. Jerry Brown offered dire words of warning about the budget he will release Monday.

"The year ahead will demand courage and sacrifice," he said. "The budget I present next week will be painful, but it will be an honest budget. … Choices have to be made and difficult decisions taken."

As I read those words – rhetoric, no doubt, meant both to inspire and frighten – I thought of the thousands of men and women who labor in public schools across the Golden State to ready California's 6 million children for a demanding future of increased global economic competition.

For those of us in education, Brown's words induce neither awe nor chills. Sacrifice? We've been there. Year after year, we've been there.

"At this stage of my life, I have not come here to embrace delay or denial," he said.

In education, we've been living without the luxury of denial for a long time now.

What struck me most, though, was Brown's call for courage at a time when – according to sources quoted in the Bee – he is unveiling a risky plan for K-12 education funding that is less brave than desperate.

Brown's proposal is to spare K-12 schools from further drastic cuts so long as voters extend higher taxes in a June special election. In other words, he is gambling our children's education on the bet that he can persuade voters to support tax hike extensions. As one writer put it, he is "playing chicken with voters whose own finances are, in many cases, stretched to the breaking point." Or, in the lingo of college bowl season, it's a Hail Mary pass.

As anyone who has followed California politics knows, Golden State voters view statewide tax increases with as much contempt (almost) as they view state legislators.

In fact, voters in recent years have repeatedly rejected ballot measures that called for increasing statewide taxes, even temporary ones. In May 2009, they voted down an extension of temporary increases to the sales, income and vehicle taxes.

What if those voters – battered by years of foreclosures and furloughs, debt and downsizing – turn down this plan? What then?

California's public schools cannot wait on this outcome. On March 15, school districts across the state will be forced to issue pink slips to hard-working employees based on projections from the Legislative Analyst's Office, which has called 2011-12 the worst year for schools since the recession started. Without any increase in state revenue, schools stand to lose $2 billion in funding in the next school year because of declining tax revenue.

In his speech, Brown talked about "difficult decisions" to be made. The reality is that California schools have been making those difficult decisions for years. Do we lose sports or art? Music or bus service? Libraries or landscaping? Do we maintain class sizes or say goodbye to beloved teachers?

Of course, this mess is not Brown's making. He has inherited a $28 billion deficit and the reins to a state that is, by all accounts, ungovernable due to intransigent party politics. And, to his credit, on his first full day on the job he talked to reporters about Proposition 13, considered the "third rail" of California politics because it is certain ballot-box death for any incumbent or candidate who brings it up.

That does take courage. As a relative newcomer to California, I see that the state's spectacular natural beauty is matched by the spectacular reluctance of its populace to pay for the level of service that will bring the state's public schools on par with schools elsewhere in the nation. Without a structure that will support education, our schools will continue to cycle through boom and bust years, fading all the while.

My point is that California schoolchildren deserve true leadership at the state level – no Hail Mary financing schemes, no temporary fixes.

At a meeting with state education officials in Los Angeles last month, Brown told those gathered to "fasten your seat belts," meaning that his budget would prove a bumpy ride for schools.

And indeed, unless our state comes up with more innovative, flexible and future-minded solutions for schools, we will need those seat belts – if for nothing else than to keep parents buckled in who would rather flee to states with better educational systems.

Still, I remain optimistic that Californians will decide that enough is enough when it comes to starving school budgets (yes, there is such a thing as too thin) and that collectively our community will make good choices. After all, schools should be our top priority, as they represent our best hope for maintaining our Golden State status.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/09/3308277/browns-hail-mary-plan-puts-our.html#ixzz1AeOx6Sv4

 

 

 

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To all SACS* Scholars

Ready to Roll?

I'm very excited to let you all know that I've begun working at the Serna. I have a desk, a phone number, district email and access to SACS. Yes, that means I can pull your schoolsite council budget reports.

My status is "volunteer", I work very irregular hours, and my "job description" has yet to be fully detailed.  My task is to "connect spending to student outcomes". More specifically I will be helping to create a process whereby the SSC  monitors their SPSA's planned spending. The plan is for me to work with the area directors, Lisa Allen, Greg Purcell, and Mary Hardin-Young. They in turn will let their principals know that I'm available to help them with their plans and corresponding budgets/expenditures.  This has yet to get off the ground, but I'm prepared to begin assisting parents now.

Within the next week I hope to send you each a copy of your budget/expenditure reports. You will be getting 4 reports: summary, detail, resource summary, and position control. I will provide recommendations for printing hard copies and for maintenance.

Many any of you will probably be a little rusty on your SACS reading skills? This is to be expected. I will also have a copy of your report and will be able to help you with your questions via phone or email ---   any day of the week, any hour or the day.

Needless to say I'm extremely pleased. This is truly "full transparency" and a testament to Superintendent Raymond's parent engagement goals.

In this extremely busy time of year, I hope you all will take just a few moments to glance at your reports. I also hope you will all continue to look for more parents who might have a desire to follow the fiscal data at their school site.  Please help to recruit more SACS Scholars.

Happy Holidays,
~karen
447-0585

*Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS)  

Validation Tables

Current validation tables for Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) software.

When changes are made to the SACS validation tables, revised tables are posted here. If you would like an e-mail notification of updates, please send a blank message to join-sacs-update@mlist.cde.ca.gov to subscribe to the sacs-update mailing list. The SACS software update routine is a three-step process that includes downloading the most current tables from the Internet, unzipping that file, then running a routine in the SACS software to replace the existing tables.

Step 1 -- Downloading the Most Current Tables

Validation Table Files (Revised 06-Dec-2010; EXE; 240KB)

Depending on your operating system, clicking on the link above will open a "File Download" or "Save As" window. Click "Save," then navigate to your C:\SACS2010ALL\Update folder. Click "Save" and the vtables.exe file will be downloaded and saved into the C:\SACS2010ALL\Update folder. Close the Download Complete box and close your Internet browser.

Step 2 -- Unzipping the Vtables.exe Files

Once the download is complete, the zip file will need to be unzipped. Use a Windows tool, such as Windows Explorer or My Computer, to locate the C:\SACS2010ALL\Update folder. Double-click on the vtables.exe file to open the WinZip self-extractor window. The default folder for the unzipped files is the same as for the zipped file, C:\SACS2010ALL\Update. Make sure the "Overwrite file without prompting" box is checked to overwrite the existing validation tables with the current ones, and then click on Unzip. After the file is unzipped, a message will display indicating that 14 files have been successfully unzipped. Click on OK, and then close the WinZip Self-Extractor window. Verify that your Update directory (again, the default is C:\SACS2010ALL\Update) has 12 updated .txt files, one .xls file, and one .doc file, in addition to the vtables.exe file. The .doc file is a Microsoft Word document that explains the validation table changes in detail. The .xls file is an Excel spreadsheet that contains a summarized list of the code combinations affected by this table update.

Step 3 -- Running the Update

Once the validation tables have been downloaded from the Internet, unzipped, and copied to the C:\SACS2010ALL\Update subdirectory, the SACS software update validation routine inside the SACS2010ALL software must be run for the software tables to get updated. Refer to the SACS Software User Guide for further instructions. (The SACS Software User Guide has been installed with the SACS software in the default subdirectory C:\SACS2010ALL\Calendars and Manuals.)

Questions:   Financial Accountability & Information Services | sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov | 916-322-1770

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Dear Colleagues:
Next week, families and friends across Sacramento will gather at dinner tables to celebrate Thanksgiving. And although I like turkey and mashed potatoes as much as the next person, I have to say that the best part of Thanksgiving is, in fact, “giving thanks” – acknowledging with gratitude things that go right in life.
There is something reassuring in affirming out loud that, despite our challenges, we have much to rejoice in. Come to think of it, this is a good message for all of us in education. Public schools have taken a thumping this year from movies like “Waiting for Superman” and from those justifiably worried about how well our educational system is preparing kids for the future. The truth is, we can and must do a better job.
Still, there is no other country in the world that tries to do as much in the arena of public education as ours. Our schools work to prepare ALL children for college and the workforce, regardless of where they live or how and regardless of ability level. This is not a standard idea around the globe, and deserves recognition.
With gratitude in mind, I would like to offer the following list of 10 things I am thankful for (in no particular order):
Principals: Imagine tossing a ball in the air. Now imagine juggling two. Now three. Now four. Now five. Now 20. Welcome to the world of K-12 principals. Great principals keep all the balls aloft: They direct and motivate faculty and staff, they encourage cooperative leadership, they welcome and engage parents, they nurture and inspire children and they take care of the hundreds of big and small decisions during the course of year that make or break a school. Thank you.
Teachers: The poet William Butler Yeats once wrote: "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." As we know from research, the No. 1 factor in how much students learn is the classroom teacher. Thanks for lighting the fire.
Staff: They bring our children to school. They feed them breakfast and lunch. They monitor their play time. They care for kids when they are sick. They clean the classrooms and repair our schools where children learn and play. They mow the grass. They answer the phones and fill in the forms and put up the flag and take down last week’s posters. Then they take our children back home again. We can’t “put children first” without them. Thank you.

Parents: They are our student’s first teachers. Their trust in us is astounding. And their support is absolutely vital to our success. Thank you, parents, for joining the PTA or PTO or School Site Council on your campus or for participating in a district advisory group. Thank you for forming one. Thank you for volunteering in our classrooms. Thank you for attending our on-campus events, working in our gardens and chaperoning our field trips. Thank you for reading with your children at night. Most of all, thank you for taking that one moment at the end of a long day to hug your child and ask “How was school?”
Community partners: At a time when the government’s underfunding of public schools has triggered the deepest cuts in decades, community partners have stepped in to help. From the Target-sponsored library makeover at Ethel I. Baker Elementary to the Boys and Girls Club to Reading Partners to the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project, and all those in between, thanks for the boost.
Gardens: Gardens are sprouting up everywhere in our district, turning brown, weedy patches into outdoor science laboratories. Many garden-gloved hands are at work on these projects, and I would like to thank a few, including parent organizations, the Sacramento Area Community Gardens Coalition, our Healthy Food Task Force and our own facilities department.
Libraries, art and music: I know from personal experience how much kids love their computers and video games and phones. But there is magic in libraries and creativity and imagination in art, music, dance and drama. This year, we kept our libraries open and are adding to our visual and performing arts programs. I’m proud that SCUSD bucked the growing trend among districts to shutter these valuable resources that engage kids and ignite a love of learning and school. This is truly a gift to the future.

And three just for me…
Baseball: Things change. Trends come and go. Children grow. Adults grow older. But baseball is a constant. Each Fall Classic (and this year’s was especially sweet for Giants fans) is followed by spring training and the renewal of hope (OK, my hope) that the Red Sox will win it all again.
Sacramento weather: It’s November and my overcoat remains in the closet. Perhaps native Californians miss the significance of this. Native New Englanders do not.
My family: The reason I do what I do. I love you guys. And thank you.
Have a wonderful holiday break.
Sincerely, 
Jonathan P. Raymond
Superintendent

November 19, 2010
Teaching and Learning
The Glow of Art and Science: Tenth and eleventh graders at George Washington Carver School of Arts & Science are integrating art and science with projects this week. Students are sculpting solar powered outdoor lamps around the quad. The students have been learning about solar powered electrical circuits in physics. In art they have been designing and building “cobb” sculptures to house the solar lamps. Cobb is an adobe type material made from clay, sand, straw, water and earth.

Principal’s Big Moment: In a surprise announcement during a school assembly on Tuesday, Earl Warren Elementary School Principal Tu Moua received the prestigious Milken National Educator Award from Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Founder Lowell Milken. Dubbed “the Oscars of teaching” by Teacher Magazine, the Milken Educator Award carries with it a $25,000, no-strings-attached cash prize. Ms. Moua was recommended for the honor without her knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by the state Department of Education. Cut and paste this link into your browser to watch her stirring speech to students: http://www.mff.org/mea/mea.taf?page=videos&vid=1143

Achievement Recognized: Freeport Elementary School rewarded students for outstanding achievement on the California Standards Tests and on recent benchmark tests during the monthly Student Recognition Assembly held on November 19. Students were also recognized for good attendance and for showing improvement in both language arts and math.

“Educator of the Year”: Sam Brannan Middle School teacher Andrea Guijarno-Zarate is one of 11 educators who will be recognized as a California League of Middle Schools "Educator of the Year" at a ceremony next month. The award recognizes teachers “who exemplify educational excellence and have made significant efforts to implement elements of educational reform in the middle school.”

“Race to Nowhere”: Principals gathered at the Serna Center on Wednesday for a screening of the documentary “Race to Nowhere,” a film that questions the purpose of K-12 education and the pressures on children to perform rather than learn. A brief discussion followed.

Community Engagement
School, Family and Community Partnership Network Forum: More than 40 parent liaisons and other parent paraprofessionals participated in a School, Family and Community Partnerships Network Forum at the Serna Center on November 3. Participants discussed the new vision for family and community engagement outlined in the District’s Strategic Plan 2010-2014: Putting Children First and shared challenges and promising school practices for partnering with families. Organized by the Office of School, Family and Community Partnerships, Network Forums will be held once a month to provide participants with opportunities to receive training, hear from speakers in the field of parent engagement and to share best practices for planning and implementing high quality parent involvement programs that directly support their schools.
Kit Carson and the First Lady: A group of 100 eager Kit Carson Middle School students participated in First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” Campaign event – a “flash workout” to The Black Eyed Peas’ hit “I Gotta Feeling” -- on November 16. The “Let’s Move” campaign is Mrs. Obama’s effort to end childhood obesity in America. During this event, thousands of middle school kids across America simultaneously performed the same four-minute dance routine. Kit Carson represented SCUSD. Students practiced for three days under the instruction of the school’s Physical Education Department (Diana Hoffmann, Nicole Coronado and October Reyes). Way to go!

Community “Goal” Reached: The SCUSD Elementary Soccer Tournament was attended by over 700 community members. Ten local elementary schools competed in a five-week soccer league on Friday afternoons organized by principals and teachers. The weekly soccer games brought nearly 200 community members to the local schools for games. The championship tournament held at Ethel I. Baker involved four teams: Ethel I. Baker, Ethel Phillips, Pacific and Woodbine. Ethel Phillips won the tournament and first place in the soccer league. The same schools will be starting a basketball league in January.

The “Best” Assembly: Kaiser Permanente’s school performance group presented a “Best Me Assembly” at Freeport Elementary School on November 16. Students loved the singing, dancing, and performances while they learned about the importance of staying active and developing healthy eating habits. The following night, the school welcomed students and families to Family Art Night. The McClaskey Adult Ed Center provided a variety of art activities for students, parents and Freeport staff to work on together.

Math Fun, Pillar Two Work: For Pony Express Elementary School’s Harvest Fest Carnival, students designed games and booths based on statistics and probability. Money earned at the booths went back to classrooms for supplies and field trips. In three hours, that amounted to $4,200. Additionally, the school’s Dad’s Club spruced up the school’s garden and the PTA sponsored a successful Spaghetti Feed. Finally, the school held a Family Friday during which parents arrived at 9 a.m. and experienced learning in the classroom with their own children. “Our school certainly demonstrates that we implement Pillar 2: Family and Community Engagement,” says principal Amelia Williams.

Mentoring Boys at a Priority School: Jedediah Smith Elementary School is continuing its partnership with 100 Black Men of Sacramento to provide mentoring services for over a dozen boys in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. This is the second year of this collaborative effort and was kicked off on November 11 by an introductory presentation by 100 Black Men member Dennis Lomack.

Operations
Preventing Pertussis: Approximately 1,000 SCUSD students and family members have been vaccinated against season flu and pertussis – whooping cough – thanks to the efforts of Health Services. The district offered a total of 11 immunization clinics -- five during the summer and six clinics this fall -- at various school sites. The Hiram Johnson High School clinic remains open by appointment only until December 17.

Upcoming Events

Doing the Robot Saturday, November 20 – 8 a.m.

Five SCUSD middle school teams will be among 18 middle school teams from the area that will compete this Saturday in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics competition at Sam Brannan Middle School. The SCUSD teams, sponsored by the Career Technical Preparation Department, have spent the last eight weeks building and programing robots tied to the FIRST competition’s theme of biomedical engineering.
Holiday Craft Faire Saturday, November 20 – 9 a.m.

James Marshall Elementary School is hosting its first-ever Community Holiday Craft Faire on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria. There will be many vendors from the community as well as some run by the children from the school. The Rosemont Community Association will also be in attendance.
Thanksgiving Break November 22 through November 26

The Central Office and all of our schools will be closed Monday through Friday next week. Have a safe and restful holiday!
Sequoia Garden Ground-Breaking Friday, December 3 – 8:30 a.m.

School staff, students, parents and volunteers will break ground on a new Community Garden at Sequoia Elementary School, 3333 Rosemont Drive. Made possible by a grant to the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education, the installation will provide the school with a butterfly garden, native plantings and edible produce. Plans also call for a worm farm and composting area.
 

 

Click here to read the SACRAMENTO PRESS

 

 

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When is Parent Day?

Nov 16th, 2010 

by Lily.

It’s Parent Day today.

Ok. Parent Day was Tuesday of American Education Week and I fell behind my schedule for getting this up, but still. It’s Parent Day.

I remember when I first started teaching sometime in the late 1800s when one of the moms of one of my 4th graders came to the class to apologize. She had always been The Room Mother for her kids, but this year she was working outside the home, and she was apologizing for not being able to be involved.

I said, “You’re going to be involved, because you’re a good mom. You don’t have to be a school volunteer to be involved. I’m a working mom, too, and I’m involved with my kids’ education because I make sure they do their homework and that they don’t watch too much TV and I ask what they’re doing at school, and I make them tell me. You do that every day, and it’s the best parent involvement a teacher could ask for.”

We love it when parents get involved. But just as things have changed in the world so that there are fewer and fewer stay-home parents who can even think about being school volunteers, schools, themselves, need to recognize how when they need to change to involve parents.

I visited a fearless school in Waterbury, Connecticut. West Side Middle School isn’t in an affluent community. There are families working two or three part-time jobs with no benefits just to put food on the table and pay the rent. They love their kids, but they don’t have the time or money to provide all the enriching opportunities that some families can provide with dance classes and league sports and trips to the museum.

Families are counting on that school to care about their children, mind, body and soul. That is a huge responsibility.

Four years ago, West Side Middle School wasn’t what it wanted to be. Teachers were tired and discouraged. Support staff were overworked. Kids were absent too often and too many of them were disruptive and too many of them just didn’t care. Parents rarely walked into the building and some teachers were thinking out loud, “What are we supposed to do if we can’t get the parents to show up.”

It was a rhetorical question. But something happened to move that question to a different level. The University of Connecticut and the teachers’ union on the local and state and national level and the principal and the district and the school board and a few community leaders decided to turn the school around.

There was a little bit of money from the University and the NEA to pay for a little time to get together and plan and to study the results after the plan was in place. But the magic started when the conversation turned to the parents.

They started asking that question with a different tone of voice, “What are we supposed to do if we can’t get the parents to show up.” They wanted an answer. For these professionals, they were determined to do something.

They sent out a survey to parents. They were distressed at what they heard. Parents didn’t feel welcome. They felt disrespected. They felt invisible.

One teacher said that at first she wanted to argue with the results of their survey and tell parents that they were wrong; that the teachers did care and did want them. But she stopped. They asked parents how they felt. Just because they didn’t like the answer didn’t mean it wasn’t important information they needed to know.

Changing the climate in a school is not a task for the faint of heart. These brave folks decided that nothing was going to get better for kids until the staff and the parents were a solid team. They talked, as a school community, what personal responsibility each one had tomake that school a place of respect and energy and inclusion.

I met one of the parents. I asked her what it was like five years ago. A cloud came over her face. “If I ever came to school, it was because my kid was in trouble. It was the only time the school asked me to come. I hated coming into this school.”

I asked her what it was like now. The sun came out. “I walk into the office, and the school secretary stops what she’s doing and smiles at me. They ask me if they can get me a cup of coffee. They’ve got a Saturday Community Day where the whole family comes to a party in the gym with music and art shows and games and prizes. I get to see the teachers and principal relaxing and just having fun and we talk and we laugh. I love this school.”

I could go on and tell you about other teams that came up with innovative literature programs that get kids reading so much that they don’t want to put down their books. I could tell you how teachers are collaborating across the curriculum so that the Math teacher and the Art teacher coordinate around a geometry lesson. I could tell you that disruptions and violence have all but disappeared.

But you have to start with the most important things. Inside the school, research says the teacher is the single most important factor in the success of a child. Outside the school, research says the parent is the single most important factor in the success of a child. Put the most important factors together, and this child will fly to the future. So celebrate!

It’s Parent Day today. Every day is Parent Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily's Blackboard

 

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About Lily

Lily Eskelsen, an elementary teacher from Utah, is vice president of the National Education Association. She is one of the highest-ranking labor leaders in the country and one of its most influential Hispanic educators.

She began her career in education as a lunch worker in a school cafeteria. She became a kindergarten aide and was encouraged by the teacher to think about going to college and becoming a teacher herself.

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New and Continued Great Community Leadership
Congratulations to SCUSD President Ellyne Bell and

New Board Members Jeff Cuneo and Darrel Woo 

AREA 1 Land Park, downtown, midtown, Curtis Park.	AREA 2 East Sacramento, Tahoe Park, College Glen, part of midtown	AREA 6 Pocket area
Ellyne Bell, school board president	Jeff Cuneo for School Board 2010	Darrel Woo for School Board 2010
Click Here to go to Ellyne's Web Site	Click Here to go to Jeff 's Web Site	Click Here to go to Darrel 's Web Site

 

 

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SCUSD Board Member Diana Rodriguez Reflects on the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics

My Dear Friend,

Just yesterday I was at the White House East Room with the President of the Unites States, Barack Obama, to witness him signing the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

The initiative calls for the expansion of educational opportunities, improvement of education outcomes, and the need to deliver a complete and competitive education for all Hispanics, the Initiative shall, consistent with law, promote, encourage, and undertake efforts designed to meet the goals and objectives set forth in the document signed by President Obama on the 19th day of October in the year 2010.

The initiative also calls for us to work across communities in partnership with one another to help achieve President Obama's goal to ensure that all of our children, regardless of race, are provided a world-class education. As President Obama stated in his speech, just before signing the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics, "Now, this is not just a Latino problem; this is an American problem.  We’ve got to solve it because if we allow these trends to continue, it won’t just be one community that falls behind -– we will all fall behind together."

 

This is why I have taken the commitment to our children in Sacramento to continue to learn as much as I can and to use my knowledge, skills, and abilities to ensure we provide results and positive outcomes in alignment with President Obama's 2020 goal. As you know, we are not only local or national, we are a globally competitive environment, and we can no longer afford to see things as just a local issue. We have a responsibility to ensure our work is being done in the manner in which it is prescribed in order to achieve the greatness that we know we are.

I have a simple request of you; that you continue to support me; and when I call upon you for assistance, please roll up your sleeves to help create a brighter and more prosperous future for our children; for not only our city, but also our great nation, and ultimately, our entire world.


After all, it's all about the kids. If we fail them, we fail ourselves and everyone else we share this planet with.


Have a great evening and enjoy your time with your families. When you look at the young children in your family, in their precious faces, know that there are people who are genuinely concerned about doing the right thing for them and their future.


Sincerely,

Diana Rodriguez
SCUSD Board Member
District 5
(916) 752-3686

 

http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx

 

 

 

 

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“Our Color System is Education, An Injustice!”

 

Children are labeled early in kindergarten and as late as the third grade, as potential convicts in the California prison system by principals, teachers, school counselors, liaisons, and other helping professionals. The reality of this is that most of these children are of distinct ethnic backgrounds. The number of students and the dominating race in this cycle are young African-American men.  Children are racially labeled as soon as they enter the education system.  Their cultural background may not be taken into consideration.  We belong to an education system in California that is colored. Others to follow are Xicano/ Latino/ Mexicano’s, Native American’s, Asian (particularly the Hmong community), and anyone with darker than fair pigmentation.  In most of our schools if the student body has an ethnic majority; this does not indicate that the teachers’ racial background will reflect the student body.  This is problematic in our schools because none of the organizations that are supposed to address these issues are concerned about the Achievement Gap i.e. District Advisory Committee, statewide, and federal programs. The Achievement Gap is a racial matter. The “No Child Left Behind” certainly left many of our students behind.  It is continuing to do so with larger classroom sizes, pinking slipping effective teachers for less qualified one’s, demotion, and budget cuts.

Parents and students who identify culturally rather than racially are still up against a system that has been racially defined since the inception of public schools. During the Great Depression, public schools in America were not in the business of teaching children English and transitioning them from their native tongue to the English language. The assimilation movement left many immigrants and bilingual citizens scarred. There were school officials who would come to the homes of bilingual students and tell the parents to not speak their native tongue.  Language became a racial category; people were slumped together, and treated as ignorant fools. Our schools are not in the business of keeping our children safe and practicing the “safe haven” policy that is on most school district websites. Extreme amounts of policy and rules are not culturally or racially sensitive to the needs of our children while they are in the classroom. For example, a child drops their pencil on the floor and receives a warning from the teacher for even moving to pick it up.  This happens not once, but on many occasions that is gender specific (male) and racially targeted (color of any skin type). Or a child excitedly raises their hand in class, and the non-ethnic teacher takes this action to indicate that the child is disruptive.  Or a child who is bilingual, having trouble in school, shuts down because he used his glue the wrong way and the teacher became extremely mad.  Now, that child has to repeat their grade all over again because the teacher on several occasion reacted negatively to that child. This is a civil rights violation and an injustice, especially when these children have no behavioral problems. If there are behavioral issues, the behavioral intervention is for the school to begin documenting that child’s incidences which eventually lead to the juvenile court system, foster care, and prison.  The documentation, citations, and expulsions in many instances are not to help the colored child; it is to send them on their way to the criminal system. Schools, principals, teachers, and helping professionals do know how to create behavior problems and anxiety in students. If students are to respect authority; authority must respect students and not hinder their ability to learn. There are many sides to the argument posed in this article. The problem lies on the school which has targeted these children underhandedly/ discreetly because they were in need of extra support, maybe they are a special education student, and the school will then designate a teacher to deal with the “problem students”.  Again, these are all violations of the law.  Another issue is the amount of police officers patrolling elementary schools and looking for a child to get into trouble- this is not effective. Allowing students in middle schools to get away with smoking a joint, getting high in the hallways; but picking on a student who wears a solid colored shirt with no gang affiliation- is a mix of up of priorities. Another real-life example is, a colored child comes to school with corn rolls nicely done, does not sag their pants; but, is labeled as a problem child.  This child and many like him are written up, given citations, and expulsion for events that make no logical sense.

The education system is a colored system and the professionals teaching our children do not reflect color. In the Sacramento City Unified School District with regards to the administrative leadership and officers; it lacks cultural diversity and begins within the cabinet office.  Proposition 209 ended in the late 1990’s where White women and minorities benefited the most from the federal program.  Since the program is no longer in effect there is no monitoring system of hiring and firing practices. Our education system throughout California is colored and corrupt.  Our prison system in California is colored. People can hash out data and statistics all day long. The facts have been revealed time and time again.  Our school libraries use the Athena system for checking out and cataloging books.  It is software that is used in the California prisons, as well. Our schools that get millions of dollars cannot afford to invest in effective software, but we can afford to pay for cell phones for our departments within the Board of Education! The injustice mutes us into lacking action because the colored system has created a culture of complacency.  As long as individuals are willing to sale each other out for the next position, whether paid or voluntary, then the systematic injustice continues on to the next person.  We can complain or we can act! Community members, grandparents, aunts, uncles, moms, dads, teachers, principals, counselors, and even students must realize what time it is.  Education is the key; and it begins in the home.  One must remember that no matter how much our education system may stigmatize, stereotype, label, and not care about the number of children failing in our schools.  Whatever smarts and level of intelligence a person may possess, the mind cannot be taken away.  Education is not a waste; it is simply in need of serious change. Teachers are not incompetent; they are in need of serious cultural professional development courses.  Our curriculum must encompass a mutli-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual classroom setting in every classroom, school, and in administrative offices.  Most importantly, students need to see people who look like themselves.  Where is the justice when there is no reflection of those cultures and races in the classroom, school, or administrative leadership, and offices?

Reference: The Washington Post at: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/equity/the-achievement-gap-when-progr.html?referrer=emaillink

Written By: Nekesha Bell de Castañon

“I live the truth! I speak the truth! You can catch me swinging in the haloes away from all of the diablos (devils) that I could never learn to kiss up to.”

Mother of two children

World Citizen

Email: diosadevida@hotmail.com

Copyright © 2010.  All rights reserved.

Bio:  Nekesha Bell de Castañon hailed from Michigan in 2006 to California.  She is an advocate for special needs and developmentally delayed children.  A lifetime Xicana & ethnic poet with five self-published books, past assistant coach for children’s sports, bilingual in Spanish to the best of her ability, storyteller, and grew up in the Igbo tribe of Nigeria, here in America.  She is a lifetime survivor of domestic and sexual violence. She knows the glue it takes to hold it together. Her many cultural bloodlines including growing up in-a then-small town-country called Turlock, California, helped her to become vibrantly colorful and cross cultural due to many different adversities.  She has been a lead organizer in different venues for over 17 years:  Political Strategist, Civil Rights, Equal Opportunity, Women Rights, Affirmative Action, Migrant/ Immigration Rights; currently, Human Rights on a global platform, and Indigenous Rights.  She is spiritual; therefore, most of what she does and who she is comes from within. She is a performing artist, entrepreneur, conference presenter, and mother of two children who attend school in Sacramento City Unified School District. She adamantly advocates for the youth, children, and performs yearly with them.  Nekesha is a graduate student, volunteers weekly to help children with literacy, a member of the local School Site Council, District Advisory Committee, Parent Engagement, and Parent Membership under DAC.  Nekesha helps families in crisis, locally and in other states, by lending a listening ear and resources that will get them results. For the last six years, she has been a voice for men in prison, gangs, and other violence that begins to affect them at a young age.  She believes that by sharing an adult male’s poetry and stories; she is able to voice the victim’s stories and raise awareness.  She lives life to the fullest and currently resides in Sacramento, California.  Nekesha can be contacted at:  diosadevida@hotmail.com or you catch her on her radio show at: www.blogtalkradio.com/diosadevida

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You Are Invited!

Please keep checking back as more conference information is coming soon!

The California State Parent Team and Parents Anonymous^® Inc. in partnership with the California Department of Social Services are pleased to invite you to attend the exciting 2011 California Parent Leadership Conference. The theme of this 1½ day event is Taking Parent Leadership to New Heights: Real Families, Real Involvement, Real Outcomes.

The conference is scheduled on Tuesday February 8, 2011 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Wednesday February 9, 2011 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Ontario Convention Center located at 2000 E. Convention Center Way, Ontario, California., 91764. We hope you will also join us for a Special Networking Reception on Tuesday evening from 5:30 - 6:30 pm at the Holiday Inn Hotel (within walking distance from the Convention Center).

The registration fee is $175.00 per person and covers the cost of workshops, Think Tanks, meals and all conference materials. There will be a separate $25.00 fee for those interested in showcasing materials at a Resource Table.

For those who need overnight lodging, we have reserved a block of rooms at a discounted rate at the Holiday Inn Hotel Ontario Airport, located at 2155 E. Convention Center Way, Ontario, California 91764. The price for a room (single/double) is $84.00 plus tax. Click onHotel and Lodging for more information.

Based on feedback from the 2010 California Parent Leadership Conference, we are pleased to announce that the 2011 conference will include more in-depth skill-building workshops on parent leadership practices, policies and research in an effort to move parent leadership to new heights throughout the state. We have also added a new component -- "Think Tanks" to facilitate discussions on critical parent leadership issues and challenges with parent leaders, service providers and other key stakeholders.

Since California Parent Leadership Month is celebrated annually all throughout the month of February, we will recognize and honor 2 outstanding Parent Leaders, 1 exemplary staff member and 1 exceptional Parent Leadership Program. The deadline for submission isDecember 10, 2010. Click on Award Nominations to get more information on submitting nominations.

Key conference participants will include parents and staff from the public and private sector interested in partnering together to strengthen services and policies affecting families and creating and implementing meaningful leadership roles for parents. This includes administrators, supervisors, and direct service staff who work with children and families in various systems such as child welfare, early childhood development, education, mental health, health, juvenile justice and other family strengthening organizations, parents/caregivers, Parent Advocates, Parent Partners and other Parent Leaders.

We look forward to seeing you!

 

California Parent Engagement Center | Parents Anonymous® Inc.
675 Foothill Blvd. Suite 220, Claremont, CA 91711; Phone: 909-621-6184 x220

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