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Educational News Archive
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Would you like to give some money if you knew it was for scholarships for high school kids to go to college? Well then… What: SCTA (Sacramento City Teachers Association) Annual Crab Feed Scholarship Fundraiser When: Saturday, February 7 from 5-10pm Where: Elk's Lodge, 6446 Riverside Blvd in Sacramento, CA RSVP by sending an email to: Contact SCTA TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Call Jolene at 916-452-4591
The America Reinvestment and Recovery Plan - Barack Obama Return to Top of Page
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Kennedy’s Words, Obama’s Challenge By Richard Reeves
It was an anxious time, the beginning of 1961. In the eight years before Jan. 20, 1961, the Soviet Union had tested a hydrogen bomb and had put in orbit the first satellite, Sputnik, which passed over the United States for months. Central Intelligence Agency analysts estimated the the Soviet economy was growing at a rate of between 6 percent and 10 percent a year, compared with the United States’ growth rate of between 2 percent and 3 percent. Unemployment in America was at 7 percent and the country had gone into recession early in 1960.
Now, this day, the youngest man and the first Catholic ever elected, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, was to be inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States.
Kennedy had defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in one of the closest of national elections, but the country was united — by fear. For the first time since early in the 19th century, the United States mainland seemed vulnerable to foreign invasion. Nearly 20 new countries, most of the former colonies in Asia and Africa, joined the United Nations in 1960 and most of them were looking for guidance not to the Americans but to the Soviets.
 “We’ve got to get this country moving again!” was the line Kennedy had used most often during his campaign.
So, it was not surprising that the new President would give an inaugural speech that was essentially a cold war battle cry. Only two words in Kennedy’s speech even touched on domestic affairs. Those words were “at home,” and they were added by Kennedy and his gifted speechwriter, Theodore Sorensen, at the very last minute.
The new president’s civil rights adviser, a young man named Harris Wofford, complained to Kennedy, pointing out that 24 hours before the inauguration, 23 Negro students had begun a sit-in at segregated lunch counters in Richmond, Va., the old capital of thre Confederacy, 100 miles south of the Capitol of the United States.
“Okay,” said Kennedy, who added the words so that one sentence declared that Americans were: “unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed and to which we are committed to at home and around the world.”
The ceremony was in a city sparkling like a diamond. Eight inches of snow had fallen during the night and and the sky was perfect cold wintry blue. The temperature was 10 degrees below freezing. The young President made his first statement by not wearing an overcoat as he sat next to his 70-year old predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenower, who was bundled in a great coat, scarf and top hat.
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans … Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,support any friend,oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”
The words rang, still do in television excerpts and classrooms. Kennedy was a man who knew that in his new job, words were often more important than deeds. Few people would remember whether he balanced the budget. Almost all Americans would remember his lines, particularly, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
The speech was bellicose and conciliatory at the same time:
“Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not a call to battle,though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out …”
“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate …”
Paradoxically, one of Kennedy’s worries that day was that he would be overshadowed by another speaker, the poet Robert Frost. When Frost, who was 86, asked to speak, Kennedy’s first reaction was: “He’s a master of words I have to be sure he doesn’t upstage me …” The President-elect suggested he recite an old poem, but Frost insisted on writing a new one. The day’s sun and the wind made it impossible for the old man to handle his papers and, in the end, he did recite from memory an older poem titled “The Gift Outright.”
So, it was Kennedy’s day and Kennedy’s words that are remembered. Like the 44th president, Barack Obama, the 35th read and re-read the inaugural adresses of the 16th, Abraham Lincoln, who had said exactly 100 years before: “In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.”
Kennedy concluded: “Let us begin. In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.”
NYTimes.com Return to Top of Page
January 14, 2009
Teachers at 2 Charter Schools Plan to Join Union, Despite Notion of Incompatibility
The United Federation of Teachers announced on Tuesday that it had organized teachers at two respected New York City charter schools, making inroads in a movement that has long sold itself as an alternative that is not hamstrung by union contracts and work rules. Union officials said the teachers’ decision was an important step because the schools are part of the Knowledge Is Power Program, known as KIPP, which has 66 schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia and plays an influential role in national education debates. Advocates for charter schools — which are publicly funded but independently operated — expressed concern that unionization could undermine the schools’ effectiveness. “A union contract is actually at odds with a charter school,” said Jeanne Allen, executive director of the Center for Education Reform, a Washington group that supports charter schools. “As long as you have nonessential rules that have more to do with job operations than with student achievement,” she said, “you are going to have a hard time with accomplishing your mission.” Several teachers at the two schools — KIPP Amp, a middle school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and KIPP Infinity, a middle school in Harlem — said the union organizing drive came about because they wanted a stronger voice on the job and because the demands on them were so rigorous. They also said that they wanted to insure a fair discipline and evaluation system. KIPP’s teachers in New York generally earn at least $10,000 more a year than teachers at the city’s traditional public schools, but also typically work from 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as one or two Saturdays a month. Many teachers also give students their personal phone numbers. Those who run the schools say the extra hours and increased availability are exactly what are needed to boost student achievement — KIPP Amp and KIPP Infinity both earned A’s on their report cards and students had high scores on standardized tests. But several teachers at the two schools said some KIPP teachers were getting burned out and quitting, hurting the schools and student-teacher relations. “It’s a matter of sustainability for teachers,” said Luisa Bonifacio, who teaches sixth-grade reading at KIPP Amp. “There’s a heavy workload, and people have to balance their lives with their work.” David Levin, who co-founded KIPP nearly 15 years ago and is now the superintendent of the KIPP schools in New York, said he would fully cooperate with the union, but had no details of how and when contract negotiations would begin. He pointed out that KIPP Academy, a Bronx middle school, has had a union since its inception, because it grew out of an existing public school. As for complaints about overwork, Mr. Levin said: “Just because the school is available to kids at all times, that doesn’t mean that each and every staff member has to be available at all times. We’ve been able to successfully work that out.” Ms. Bonifacio said that 15 of the 22 teachers at KIPP Amp had signed cards saying they wanted a union; charter schools in New York generally must grant union recognition once workers show majority support. On Tuesday, along with asking the principal of the KIPP Amp school to recognize the union on the basis of the signed cards, union officials asked KIPP Infinity to begin negotiating a contract because teachers there had previously shown majority support for a union. “We have often said that the charter school movement and unionization are things that can easily be harmonized,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the union, which itself operates two charter schools. “The teachers who have been there know that as much as they like working at a KIPP school, they want to find ways to make it better and deal with the high turnover rates. They saw that the way they get their voice and have input is through collective bargaining.” Ms. Allen, the Washington charter school advocate, said she was not surprised by the teachers’ move because the union had been trying to make inroads at charter schools for several years. “Right now it is an ideal time for unions to take root in charter schools,” she said. “People are scared of budget cuts, scared of fiscal austerity, scared of a lot of things.” The New York Times Company Return to Top of Page
OPINION Obama Picks a Moderate on Education The president will ultimately decide whether to take on the teachers' unions. By COLLIN LEVY Barack Obama picked Arne Duncan only partly for his skills on the basketball court. As secretary of education, he will be running one of the administration's most important finesse games. The CEO of the Chicago public schools and the ultimate diplomat, Mr. Duncan rises to the rim at a moment when teachers unions are, for the first time, facing opposition within the Democratic Party from young idealists who favor education reform. They want to recapture what should always have been a natural issue for Democrats: helping underprivileged kids get out of failing public schools. Considering the reviews from the right and the left, you might be confused about whether Mr. Duncan is a signal that Mr. Obama's administration is lining up behind the reformers or supporting the status quo. Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor (and über reformer) Michelle Rhee endorsed the pick, as did President Bush's Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings. But Mr. Duncan also has fans among traditional Democrats, whose main interest is keeping the teachers unions happy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauded the choice, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that he would enjoy a speedy confirmation. The Opinion Journal Widget Download Opinion Journal's widget and link to the most important editorials and op-eds of the day from your blog or Web page. So what should we make of Mr. Duncan? One promising clue comes from a group called Democrats for Education Reform, part of the growing voice for reform in the party. DFER is known to cheer Democrats brave enough to support charter schools and other methods of extending options to parents. Joe Williams, the group's executive director, predicted that Mr. Duncan will help break the "ideological and political gridlock to promote new, innovative and experimental ideas." In Chicago, Mr. Duncan is credited with laying out plans to close 100 underperforming public schools. Fans also note that he helped raise the cap on charter schools to 30 from 15. But his record is short of miraculous. Why have a cap on charter schools at all? And the teachers unions extracted plenty of concessions, including a ban on new charters operating multiple campuses. Mr. Duncan is certainly no bomb thrower. His role instead will be to harness the entrepreneurial spirit of young idealists in the party, like DFER and the tens of thousands of young people who join Teach For America each year. This group, which continues to attract highly skilled young people, is fast creating the new Democratic elite in the education arena while challenging the education establishment. At forums during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, several big-city mayors lined up with reform principles against union demands. Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., said that "As Democrats we have been wrong on education, and it's time to get it right." Washington, D.C.'s Adrian Fenty, a strong backer of Ms. Rhee's effort to negotiate tough terms with the unions, remarked that the politics of school reform are changing fast. At one DFER event last year, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. used the word "monopoly" -- a major affront to teachers unions -- to describe failing schools. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third ranking Democrat in the House, is another important convert to the idea of more parental choice in education. It's all a bit delicate, which makes Mr. Duncan Mr. Obama's man for a good reason. He's known for a flexibility that allows him to float between the traditional Democratic strongholds and the new wave of reformers in the party. With proper implementation, Mr. Obama could accomplish on education reform what President Bill Clinton did for welfare reform -- taking a previously Republican issue and transforming it from within the left. But unions aren't about to slink off into the sunset. If they're losing some of their clout at the national level, they maintain their grip locally. In many places, teachers angle to usurp the language of the reformers while pushing their own agenda. Thus "merit pay" has been twisted into a system that bears little resemblance to the original concept of paying teachers for teaching kids successfully. Instead, it has become pay-for-credential, offering salary bumps for continuing education and other qualifications, with no anchor to proven results in the classroom. Mr. Duncan is a reformer at heart, if one who works collegially within the system. But in the end, much will depend on his boss. Whether Mr. Obama is an artful fence walker or a real agent of change -- on schools or anything else -- is a mystery the coming year may finally clear up. Ms. Levy, based in Washington, is a senior editorial writer at the Journal.
WSJ.com Return to Top of Page
California Leaders to Meet Monday on Budget Deal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders plan to meet again tomorrow as they search for a $42-billion solution to the state's budget woes. Lawmakers have failed to resolve differences over how to deal with the budget deficit and they missed a self-imposed, end-of-January deadline. "There's a lot at stake for school kids, for public education and for local governments, for public safety, for healthcare," says State Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D) Sacramento. He says both sides have to get it right, adding, "The opportunity is to do everything we can to make sure that we don't go through this again." Republican lawmakers say the deal must include long-term, structural reform that would include a budgetary spending cap. "We need to establish a level spending pattern so that we spend less at the peaks so that we have a little bit more left over at the valleys," said Assemblyman Roger Niello, (R) Fair Oaks. A spokesman for the governor says staffers are working through the weekend on legislative language to resolve severak key issues. Analyst John Syres says years of ballot-box budgeting, through voter initiatives, has limited what legislators and the governor can do. "They have to examine almost everything, from caps to tax increases, obviously, to program cuts." State Controller John Chiang is delaying $3.5-billion dollars in state payments for 30-days, including nearly 2-billion in refunds due to state taxpayers. At Southside Park in Sacamento, Anita Washington says she needs her tax refund to help with expenses for her two grandchildren. "I depend on the money to help buy things for my grandchildren and send 'em to school and things like that." The state's delay in payments will also affect hundreds of vendors. In addition, government workers may have to begin taking unpaid furloughs as early as Friday. News10.net
Schools' Budgetary Scissors Cut Paper
Many Methods Found To Save on Copying
By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 29, 2009; GZ01
Earlier generations of students copied homework assignments from the blackboard onto pages of lined, three-hole notebook paper. In today's classrooms, assignments often come preprinted on a photocopy slapped onto the desk. Teachers generate copies by the ream. And now, in tight budget times, many schools are trying to save money, time and trees by cutting back on paper. The Montgomery County school system's $2.1 billion spending request for the next fiscal year reflects the smallest year-to-year increase -- about $40 million -- this decade. Because the system faces an increase of at least $76 million in fixed costs, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast plans $36 million in cuts to bring the budget into balance. One way every school can contribute to that cause is by saving paper. A 5,000-sheet case of copier paper costs about $40. Envision copying 30 to 40 sheets every week for 500 students, and it's easy to see how costs add up. Some schools are taking a fresh look at "paperless" activities, meaning pretty much anything involving three-dimensional objects. Searching for hands-on activities is "just a great strategy," apart from any cost-saving concerns, "because the more varied the activities in the learning program, the better the program," Barbara J. Leister, principal of Wyngate Elementary School in Bethesda, said in an e-mail. Jennifer Baker, principal of Tilden Middle School in Rockville, said she is asking teachers to "consider the cost" when they are making copies, a concern that might not have entered their minds a year or two ago. Baker cited the Promethean boards, interactive screens that have been installed in classrooms at many schools, as an aid to paperless study. They allow students, for example, to vote or answer yes-no questions electronically from their desks. Some teachers at Rockville High School are returning to the old ways: asking students to bring notebook paper and copy questions from the board, as was customary in the days of the mimeograph. It's a bit of an adjustment for students who are used to "just getting a piece of paper with the questions already written on it," said Debra S. Munk, the principal. Staff members at Maryvale Elementary School in Rockville are reducing the amount of paper used for fliers sent home by printing them on half-sheets -- and distributing them only to the youngest child in families with more than one student at the school, said Rachael Nichols, PTA president. The Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations is "trying to move as much as we can online" through its Internet site and e-mail lists, said Kay Romero, county PTA president. One copy of the monthly president's newsletter is sent to PTA presidents now instead of three. The group is exploring putting its annual PTA directory online. "The drawback of moving so much online," Romero said in an e-mail, "is making sure that we do not leave anyone out who may not have computer access." The copier at College Gardens Elementary now requires a personal code, and each employee has a monthly limit of copies, said Kate Savage, a parent. College Gardens and many other schools are encouraging faculty instead to use Copy-Plus, a centralized print shop that operates as a sort of Kinko's for Montgomery teachers. Copy-Plus, an ensemble of nine high-volume copiers housed in a relocatable classroom in Rockville, produced 79 million copies for schools last year; the number is projected to rise this year to more than 90 million. Copies produced at the central facility save money in a few different ways. Because of the volume, copies made there cost less per page than if they were printed on the smaller machines at individual schools. Using Copy-Plus also relieves the pressure on smaller copiers and printers in the schools, said John Marshall, supervisor of graphics and publishing. "That has allowed us to extend the life of the school-based equipment," he added, "and that savings will be showing up in fiscal year 2010." Marshall estimates that a teacher saves an hour of labor for every 2,500 copies referred to Copy-Plus. The math suggests the service saved the school system's teachers a collective 30,000 hours last year, freeing them to do other things. Washington Post Return to Top of Page
Stop The Budget Cuts Teachers and parents are asking others to join in the fight to protect education in California. Education Week a national newspaper covering K-12 education reports that California spends almost $1,900 dollars on 
average per student, ranking the state 46th in the nation for education spending.  Protect our Students
 The Education Coalition Return to Top of Page
State could get $10 billion stimulus school aidNanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 28, 2009 (01-27) 20:38 PST -- An economic stimulus package working its way through Congress could provide $10 billion in federal relief over the next two years for California's public schools, raising optimism among educators that it might ease cutbacks caused by the state's budget crisis. The money is part of an $825 billion stimulus package the House of Representatives is expected to vote on today. It contains about $140 billion for schools nationwide. The package would provide millions of dollars to most school districts in the Bay Area and across the state for construction, special education and help for low-income students. "This does not solve the fiscal crisis, but it does throw us a lifeline," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Tuesday. Although no package has been approved, California educators are salivating over what could be the largest infusion of one-time federal cash for schools in the state's history. To put it in context, in 2007, the federal government spent $54 billion on education nationwide, an amount dwarfed by the $140 billion in the stimulus bill. California's share would be about $10 billion - more than $1 billion of it for the huge Los Angeles Unified School District. The Senate is expected to take up its version of a stimulus package next week, and a compromise is likely to be approved by both houses in mid-February. "We've never seen numbers this big from the feds - ever," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. Wells is among several California educators - school board members, principals, parents and teachers - who have lobbied Washington since before President Obama took office. "We wanted to make sure they were aware of just how deep the proposed cuts are in California," Wells said. Keeping the money localAnd they asked for language in the bill that would ensure schools could keep the new federal money rather than allow the state to siphon the money away by reducing its school funding by the same amount. It's a danger that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman, H.D. Palmer, acknowledges could happen - at least to some extent - unless the federal money were specifically earmarked for certain purposes. California is facing a $42 billion budget gap over the next 18 months, and state lawmakers have yet to agree on how to close it. With the state on the brink of running out of cash, California hopes to borrow money to keep short-term cash flowing, Palmer said. But if money came in from the stimulus package "with no strings attached," he said, "our priority would be to use the money to reduce or eliminate that borrowing." Under the House plan, the education stimulus money is largely earmarked. That might protect much of the cash from California lawmakers who want to use it to pay down debt, but it also restricts local educators from using it as they see fit - say, to retain teachers. "Even this amount of money is not a silver bullet for all of our funding problems," said Mike Myslinski, spokesman for the California Teachers Association. San Francisco is a case in point. The district would directly receive nearly $42 million over the next two years under the stimulus plan being voted on in the House. But the money is earmarked for special education, school construction and schools with low-income children. "We're still going to have to put out layoff notices," said Superintendent Carlos Garcia, noting that the state's legal deadline for mailing out such notices each year is March 15. The notices can be rescinded later if the fiscal picture improves. But Garcia said that as of now, with no state budget and no certainty in how any incoming money might be spent, the notices are going out. Schwarzenegger proposes to help close the budget gap by withholding about $5.2 billion from schools over two years. An additional $7 billion also could be lost to schools through an accounting procedure that the governor hopes to impose. This is forcing schools to prepare for extensive teacher layoffs, ballooning class sizes and even the chance of a shorter school year But the proposed $10 billion in federal funds is earmarked for specific purposes and is unlikely to prevent all the dire steps being planned. San Francisco again provides an example. The district has to spend $31 million from its general fund to pay for special education costs that the federal government requires but does not fund. Under the stimulus package, the district would receive an additional $6.5 million specifically for special education. "Obviously, this will help us," Garcia said. "But we have to look at this as one-time money." Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, who sits on the Assembly Education Committee, agreed. "While we aren't out of the woods yet, the federal stimulus package is a promising leap in the right direction," Torlakson said. "It provides hope that our schools will be spared the worst of budget cuts that threaten the future of our children and our economy." 'Astonishing' figuresThe figures in the stimulus package for schools "are astonishing," said Mike Kirst, former state Board of Education president and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University. "(Former President George W.) Bush spent a little money for a brand-new program with enormous impact on public schools," he said, referring to the $1.2 billion spent each year on No Child Left Behind. "By contrast, Obama is spending enormously more money on education than Bush - it intensifies the federal role but does not change the substance of what schools are doing. It's the reverse of Bush." http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgif=/c/a/2009/01/28/MNG415I0V2.DTL This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Obama stimulus, Schwarzenegger budget plans at odds
By Mike Zapler and Frank Davies
Mercury News
Posted: 01/23/2009 08:42:34 PM PST
SACRAMENTO — Within the next few weeks, President Barack Obama is expected to sign an enormous package of federal spending and tax cuts in a bid to revive the nation's economy.
Around the same time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to sign a budget plan imposing steep tax increases and spending cuts to wipe out a $40 billion deficit.
The contradiction underscores a difficult reality: The solution to the state's yawning budget deficit may well blunt the effects of the federal stimulus here.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a state budget that would undermine Obama's economic agenda in California," Democrat Phil Angelides, the governor's 2006 re-election opponent, argued in an opinion piece in the Mercury News this week.
And yet, given the vastly different imperatives of each — California has to balance its books each year, while the federal government can spend money freely with few immediate consequences — many economists and politicians say there is little other choice.
"The federal government can do one thing the state can't do: Print money," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "We have to make cuts and raise revenues, that's our job. What we have to do is find the best balance that does the least amount of damage."
California, it became clear this week, has a lot riding on the stimulus package. The $825 billion proposal being debated in the House would deliver about $11 billion to California through mid-2010 for education and for Medi-Cal, the state health care program for the poor, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
If that sum holds up, the state's general fund deficit would shrink from $40 billion to $29 billion over that period. (The state is also slated to receive billions more for infrastructure projects, but those won't affect the shortfall in California's operating budget.)
But $29 billion is still a towering figure that will take a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to solve, most observers believe.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week acknowledged the tension between what Obama is trying to achieve and the fiscal conundrum California and other states face. Asked at a news conference whether she had concerns that states would boost taxes at the same time Congress cuts them, she said: "States can't just take the (federal stimulus) money and use it and raise taxes."
But a Pelosi aide later softened her remark. "The idea in the recovery package is we're trying to help the states "... so they don't have to raise taxes," said Pelosi's spokesman, Brendan Daly. "But in the end, they will do what they have to do to make up a shortfall. We understand that, and we're working in good faith with them."
The contrast between the federal stimulus plan and the state budget is stark. Obama has called for a $500 tax credit for most workers; Schwarzenegger proposes raising the sales tax by 11/2 cents on the dollar; according to figures from the IRS, each 1 percentage-point increase in sales tax costs the average California family of four $127 a year.
And while the president and congressional leaders want to shore up spending on health care and schools, Democrats and Republicans here say significant cuts to both are unavoidable.
"It will make a bad situation less bad, but it won't make it go away," Jed Kolko, an economist for the Public Policy Institute of California, said of the federal aid. "If California receives $10 billion, that's $10 billion in taxes it won't have to raise or cuts it won't have to make."
Still, Kolko acknowledged, "balancing the state budget and stimulating the economy fundamentally work in opposite directions."
Schwarzenegger and some state Democrats argue that even though the tax increases and spending cuts might undermine the federal stimulus, solving the deficit will provide an overall boost to the state's economy. For one, righting the budget would open up the possibility of borrowing money again for public works projects; the deficit has all but precluded that because lenders are wary of the state's fiscal health.
"If we can't sell bonds, we can't work in tandem with the feds to move infrastructure projects forward," said administration spokesman H.D. Palmer. "That's something we need to address immediately."
Contact Mike Zapler at mzapler@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4603.
Mercury News Return to Top of Page
Education should be extended, not cut
The Monterey County Herald Updated: 01/15/2009 01:37:27 AM PST
T he 13-year-old girl, a diligent student, was on her way to school on the outskirts of Monterey when she was told that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was proposing to help balance the state budget by chopping a week from the school year. Her reaction was no surprise.
"That's fine," she offered. "We don't do anything the last week of school anyway."
But when she learned that there would still be a last week of school, only earlier, and that she would be expected to learn as much in less time, she wasn't so sure it was a good idea.
It is, actually, a horrible idea. With California's budget hole getting deeper and darker by the week, it may be understandable that the governor would consider such a thing, but he should be forgiven for this blunder only if
he drops it quickly.
If the "no new taxes" Republicans in Sacramento ever let the process start, fixing this budget mess will require new taxes and painful cuts in popular and important programs. There seems to be no getting around those realities. But public education in California is struggling enough as it is. More cutting there would cause irreversible harm to the children of this once great state and ultimately to everyone else.
With schools under heavy political pressure to perform well on standardized testing, teachers are struggling to find room for the mandatory curriculum. Time is scarce for creativity or anything else that doesn't lead directly to correct answers on state exams.
Because resources, including classroom time, are in short supply, students in some struggling schools are getting a bare-bones treatment. To stretch the school day, students in higher-performing districts are often weighted down with homework loads well beyond what was expected of past generations. In terms of educational spending, California now ranks 47th among the states. Vermont tops the list. Its spending per student is almost exactly double California's.
In hopes of reducing education's share of the overall state budget, Schwarzenegger is now attempting to manipulate the education funding formulas established by voter initiative. We'd rather he left those calculations alone but are less worried about the potential damage there because it could be undone. On the other hand, shortening the school year would become quickly embedded in teacher contracts, making the problem more difficult to undo.
California's 180-day school year is already too short, sprinkled with time off for holidays, days after holidays, teacher preparation days, teacher conference days, etc., etc. Our elected leadership should be talking about extending it, not shortening it.
The Monterey County Herald Return to Top of Page
Sacramento could learn a thing or two from Manteca
By Dennis Wyatt
Managing Editor
dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
209-249-3532
Folks up in Sacramento should take a tip or two from the Manteca Unified School District. Instead of playing games with numbers, Manteca Unified has gone through a gut-wrenching self-examination to determine what is expendable and what isn’t expandable given the reality of a $14 million budget shortfall. They’re not making arbitrary decisions to waving empty phrases around such as “cutting salaries by 10 percent”. The school board formed a 100-member budget reduction committee that represented a cross-section of teachers, classified employees, and administrators to devise a list of possible spending cuts. The district administration made sure everything was transparent. The result is a list of recommended cuts that don’t cut too much into muscle. In some cases, they increase efficiency by suggesting the district take over special education busing that is now contracted out. Others eliminated things that in tough times must be considered luxuries such as shorter walking distances to school, and mailing report cards. Some recommendations mean classrooms will be a bit warmer in the heat and slightly cooler in the cold months. And even the more drastic suggestions — closing elementary annexes if necessary — were examined against the big picture. Along the way, rank-and-file educators who were unaware of some of the Byzantine rules that the state and federal governments imposed on programs learned why the district can’t “cut this” or “has to do things a certain way.” They also found out the naked truth about school financing. If the district, for example, cuts class-size reduction it saves $400,000 and loses 130 teachers. Yet it the state decided to cut class-size reduction, they’d save $8 million and Manteca Unified would lose 130 teachers. It sounds a bit bizarre to say, but you could argue the budget crisis has all the potential of making Manteca Unified leaner and meaner when things pick up by targeting money to where it is most effective. It is good to have such a thorough examination of how one spends the public’s money. Manteca Police Chief Dave Bricker — under the shadow of a looming $8 million municipal budget deficit — eliminated two police officer positions and created three community service officer jobs plus switched six sergeant positions to six corporal positions. The need result was putting more police presence on the street and a net savings of $61,018. It isn’t a first for the City of Manteca, either. For years, the city’s rank-and-file workers have done a Herculean job of squeezing dimes and nickels out of municipal budgets to operate more efficiently. The parks and the fact the number of workers needed to maintain Manteca parks per acre are the lowest in the region is just one example. Sacramento has never undertaken such an exercise as Manteca Unified or the City of Manteca has. Do we really need six or so agencies overlapping on various environmental regulations? Is there really a vital need for a solid waste board or the California Arts Council? Does California need 50 or so county offices of education or can we get by with just a dozen or so regional offices? State government is no different than those blinded by the “got to have” and “I deserve” syndromes that basically jettisoned delayed gratification and made everything that was a want a need. Many households — as they had more money coming in — had to have bigger houses, newer cars, and the newest electronic gadgets. It didn’t matter that the house was adequate, the car was running fine or that the TV was working perfectly. It isn’t the flashiest house, the shiniest car or a plasma flat screen TV. Living within one’s means is essential. Indebting future generations for our excesses — whether it is material things or financing a bloated government — is always justified as we like to think we are making a better life for “them.” But who is fooling whom? It’s time to stop picketing, finger pointing, and whining about the painful end result of what is essentially excessive gluttony. We are to blame for this mess, not whomever we define as “them.” We wanted the latest stuff. We wanted a government that took care of each and every one of our little ills. We wanted “free money.” “Free money” has a price. And we are about to pay for it big time. The Manteca Bulletin
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Teachers union proposes sales tax to fund schools By Neil Gonzales Bay Area News Group Posted: 01/06/2009 08:01:37 AM PST BURLINGAME — The California Teachers Association has proposed a statewide ballot initiative to raise at least $5 billion a year for public education through a 1-cent sales tax increase. The tax would provide new, ongoing funding for schools and community colleges in a time of continuing budget shortfalls, the Burlingame-based association said. "California's budget process is broken," said David Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member CTA, "and our students and schools are suffering the consequences. More students are being squeezed into already overcrowded classrooms (and) more than 10,000 teachers and education support professionals have been (laid) off while art, music, technical and vocational education programs are being eliminated." Last month, the CTA filed the proposed Public School Investment and Accountability Act with the Secretary of State to qualify the initiative for a possible special election this year. Later this month, CTA leaders are expected to decide how to move forward with the proposal. The measure would generate $5 billion to $6 billion annually, specifically for student learning and classroom support, the CTA said. The revenue would go toward reducing class sizes in all grades, providing updated textbooks and materials, boosting teacher training, hiring additional counselors, librarians and other support staff, restoring arts and career technical programs and recruiting and retaining highly qualified educators, the CTA said. None of the money would be spent on administrative costs, the CTA said, and the governor and legislators would not be able to cut, delay or divert the money. "It's time for stable and independent funding that cannot be cut by the Legislature or diverted for other uses," Sanchez said. "Schools are in a terrible funding crisis," said Stephen Rogers, trustee for the San Mateo Union High School District, "and we do have to think creatively and look for ways to fund them." But Rogers has his reservations about the initiative, saying he's concerned about how the revenue would be allocated. "If every penny raised in our district comes back to our schools, I'd be in favor," he said. Otherwise, "I have difficulty supporting it. I don't want to subsidize other districts. We got our own issues we got to solve." Rogers favors seeing districts pursue more local solutions such as a parcel tax, he said. The revenue raised by the initiative would be distributed among districts statewide based on their average daily student attendance, CTA spokesman Mike Myslinski said. "It seems to make the most sense." Myslinski acknowledged that the initiative is similar to the governor's sales tax proposal in that both seek to raise new revenue. But "how they would affect each other is hard to speculate right now," he said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest budget plan to close a staggering $42 billion state deficit during the next 18 months includes imposing a temporary 1.5-cent sales tax hike. The governor's plan would also cut more than $5 billion from K-14 education and allow districts to shorten their 180-day academic calendar by five days in 2009-10 for a savings of $1.1 billion. But students today need more instructional time to be globally competitive, Rogers said. "We are not going to succeed by cutting school days." For more information about the CTA's initiative, visit the Web site www.cta.org.
San Jose Mercury News
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