Gov. Jerry Brown’s hopes of enacting a multibillion-dollar tax increase received a big boost over the weekend from a poll showing that his revised tax plan is favored by nearly two-thirds of voters, having picked up strong support from independents.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Legislative Analyst’s Office: A Review of the Teacher Layoff Process in California
Legislative Analyst’s Office: Recent K-12 Education Publications, Handouts and Budget Recommendations
Legislative Analyst’s Office: The Weighted Student Funding Formula and English Learner Students
Legislative Analyst’s Office: Recent K-12 Education Publications, Handouts and Budget Recommendations
via The Weighted Student Funding Formula and English Learner Students.
The Reporter: Born disabled, Fairfield teen prepares to head to college
When he was young, Isac Rangel used to sit and watch the other kids run and play. He wanted to run with them, to jump and skip and leap. He would have loved to chase after his classmates in a friendly game of tag or simply to hop, climb and play alongside them at recess.
via Born disabled, Fairfield teen prepares to head to college.
Vallejo Times-Herald: Vallejo teen overcomes obstacles, named ‘Youth of the Year’
When Kelvin Jones crossed bridges and bays last week to reach Apple headquarters and claim his medal, it was one of the farthest trips he’s ever taken from Vallejo.In a way, the trip was symbolic of the long journey the 17-year-old Vallejo man took from being just another kid in juvenile hall to a young man on track to graduate early — and who was last week named Youth of the Year for the Continentals of Omega Boys and Girls Club.
via Vallejo teen overcomes obstacles, named ‘Youth of the Year’.
Daily Republic: Travis School District set leaders to talk budget
FAIRFIELD — Budget talks continue Tuesday for the Travis School District.
School district officials earlier this month said the district is facing a deficit of $1.1 million to $1.4 million for the next school year. In addition, the district is facing a $2 million structural deficit.
CA Dept of Education: Model SARBs for 2012
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that 11 districts have been designated as models of attendance improvement and dropout prevention by the State School Attendance Review Board.
via Model SARBs for 2012.
The Educated Guess: Polling looks good for Brown
By
It was a fine weekend for Jerry Brown. He should be elated with the first polling on his revised tax initiative. And the California Teachers Assn., a strong supporter of his first initiative, has come around to back the new version, too, and committed $9 million for the June and November elections. At least a piece of that’s expected to help Brown round up signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, though how much has yet to be disclosed.
via Polling looks good for Brown – by John Fensterwald – Educated Guess.
Vallejo Times Herald: North Vallejo community forum on youth issues planned
Several Vallejo organizations have planned a joint forum to delve into youth issues, ranging from crime to education.
The North Vallejo Together Forum, scheduled for April 10, will break the evening event into four topics. Those include the Vallejo City Unified School District’s progress and current issues, student tutoring and volunteer opportunities, student truancy issues and other issues raised by participants.
The Reporter Editorial: With more homeless students, Solano schools face tough task
It’s stunning to realize the increasing number of homeless students that Solano County school districts are trying to teach.
From Dixon to Vallejo, more than 1,200 students don’t have a permanent place to call home this school year — three times as many as last year. Fairfield and Vallejo have been hardest hit. Perhaps not coincidentally, those communities are also recording some of the highest home foreclosure rates in the nation.
via Editorial: With more homeless students, Solano schools face tough task.
The Reporter: Top Vaca-area student spellers to square off
Thirteen Vacaville-area students on Wednesday will vie for honors at the Solano County Elementary Spelling Bee in Suisun City.
The showdown begins at 6 p.m. in the Joseph A. Nelson Community Center, 611 Village Drive. The event is free and open to the public.
Education Week: Ed. Dept. to Split Race to Top Money Between Districts, Early Education
A new $550 million pot of money for another Race to the Top contest will have to be split between two education-policy worlds: early education and district-level reform. But just how the Education Department will take a relatively small slice of money to leverage big change in both arenas remains to be seen.
via Ed. Dept. to Split Race to Top Money Between Districts, Early Ed..
Daily Republic: Students hope to spell victory
FAIRFIELD — In many ways, Stevenson Linder is your average fourth-grader. He plays hide-and-seek, takes judo and says words like “stink.” But in one way he is not: without a flinch, he can spell words like “antimacassar,” which is a piece of cloth put over the back of a chair to protect it from grime.
Daily Republic: Rodriguez High School senior meets Desmond Tutu
FAIRFIELD — Rodriguez High School senior Claybon Lea had the opportunity of a lifetime when he and his father met the world-renowned Desmond Tutu during a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, last fall.
Daily Republic: Sullivan Middle School going to state science meet
FAIRFIELD — Sullivan Middle School’s Science Olympiad team placed fourth at the Regional Science Olympiad tournament at California State University, Sacramento, Saturday.
Daily Republic: Aspiring young chefs cook-off at Golden West Middle School
FAIRFIELD — Like a scene from “Iron Chef,” six seventh- and eighth-graders at Golden West Middle School participated in the school’s very first “Future Chefs Competition” Friday afternoon.
via Aspiring young chefs cook-off at Golden West Middle School.
California Progress Report: That Tax Plan: Can’t We Do Better Than The Status Quo?
By Peter Schrag
The convoluted jockeying among the proponents of California’s various ballot-box tax measures and the incessant lip flapping about which has the best chance with voters must make citizens of any normal democracy think we’re nuts. Which has the best shot? The Jerry Brown version (of a four-year increase in sales tax rates and five years in upper-bracket marginal income tax rates) vs. the millionaires’ tax increase proposed by the California Federation of Teachers (for schools) vs. millionaire lawyer Molly Munger’s progressively-scaled 12-year across-the-board income tax increase? What screwy system brought us to this?
The Educated Guess: Losing experience in teacher layoffs
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California school districts should not be bound by seniority when budget cuts force them to lay off teachers, according to far-reaching report released yesterday by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.
via Losing experience in teacher layoffs – by Kathryn Baron.
The Educated Guess: Weighted student formula is already working well in Twin Rivers Unified
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Last Tuesday morning, I sat in the superintendent’s conference room at Twin Rivers Unified School District and listened to four principals tell their stories about how a need-based approach to budgeting – through a weighted student formula – has provided them flexibility to make better decisions for their schools, and has dramatically improved the way they plan, budget, and engage with their communities. At the same time and just a few miles away in downtown Sacramento, other California districts – not unlike Twin Rivers – spoke to a subcommittee of the Assembly Budget Committee about the potential risks and rewards of the governor’s school funding proposal. Their perception and the reality in Twin Rivers could not be more different.
via Weighted student formula is already working well in Twin Rivers Unified – by Cristin Quealy.
Legislative Analyst’s Office: A Review of the Teacher Layoff Process in California
Reductions to school district budgets over the past five years have resulted in a sharp decline in the teacher workforce, with the number of full–time teachers decreasing by 32,000 since 2007–08. This has led to an increased focus on how the teacher layoff process works. This report gives an overview of the existing layoff process, evaluates how well the process is working, and makes recommendations for improving its effectiveness. For our analysis, we distributed a survey to all public school districts in the state asking them about their implementation of the teacher layoff process, used information provided by two state agencies–the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH)–and included information from the California Teachers Association (CTA).