Building upon the successful State of Emergency Week of Action, CTA members continue to work with education and labor coalition partners in pressuring lawmakers to approve a state budget that protects funding for public education and other essential services by passing the temporary tax extensions. And while there have been some reports of progress, as tomorrow's June 15 budget deadline draws near, even the threat of not getting paid has not yet broken the legislative deadlock and special interest demands of some Republican lawmakers.

 

An estimated 50,000 Californians participated in various actions during May 9-13 as educators held teach-ins and grade-ins, walked neighborhoods and talked to parents, called lawmakers, held five statewide rallies, and took over the Capitol for a week. Some of us even engaged in acts of civil disobedience to stand up for our students and schools. The week and all the actions leading up to it changed the discussion in California and focused the public, the Legislature and the news media on the impact of the state budget cuts on schools, colleges and communities. Thousands of television, radio and newspaper stories ran across the state. Watch all of your great work in action in this video.

 

Earlier this month, State Council approved a second phase of the plan that concentrates actions in targeted legislative districts in hopes of getting the two Republican votes needed in both the Assembly and Senate. Sign up to be a CTA Summer Warrior to stay informed and involved. More than 100 CTA members joined other labor and community activists for precinct walks last weekend and another 300 members in those targeted districts have put up yard signs calling on their lawmakers to do the right thing for students. The Governor has proposed extending the taxes until an election can be held in the fall, but Republicans have again called for draconian reforms on pensions and long-term spending. Keep up the pressure, and keep the phone calls coming. CTA Take Action Hotlines: 1.888.268.4334.

 

It's equally important that we plan for the future and remember that the real goal is long-term, stable funding and a fair taxation system to achieve that. We must continue to educate colleagues and the public about tax fairness and the need for big corporations to pay their fair share.

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission has released draft maps for redrawing the state's legislative and congressional districts. The new boundaries will definitely mean changes. Some predict more competitive races, while others say Democrats could win more seats in Congress, Assembly and Senate - possibly capturing a two-thirds majority in the state Legislature. Meanwhile, Latino organizations say the proposed maps could dilute the power of the state's fastest-growing minority. The maps are subject to change until a final presentation on August 15. The new districts go into effect for the 2012 elections. Because of the many expected changes, State Council modified the candidate recommendation processes for the next election cycle.

 

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and State Board of Education President Michael Kirst announced that California will join the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium as a governing state. The consortium has the task of designing a new assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards. CTA supported the move to SMARTER Balance because the approach is more inclusive of teachers, but remains concerned about timelines and costs of developing the new testing system. The new assessments are supposed to be in place for the 2014-15 school year, which means curriculum, textbooks and professional development must be re-aligned before then.  Yes, this is a very ambitious timeline.

 

Anti-union organizers are gathering signatures for a new initiative that would restrict how teachers and union members participate in the political process. Billed as an initiative that would regulate political donations from both unions and corporations, this is just another "Paycheck Deception" measure that undermines union rights and attempts to silence our voices. Paid signature gatherers are circulating this initiative at local grocery stores. Do not sign the petition and keep it off the ballot.

 

Nearly 1,200 California educators and CTA members are getting ready to attend the National Education Association Representative Assembly in Chi-Town. California will again be the largest delegation at the national convention held over the July 4 weekend. Several issues will be discussed, including a new policy on teacher evaluation and a proposed early endorsement of President Obama. The CTA State Council voted against an early endorsement, citing concerns about Obama's top-down education agenda.

 

The reauthorization of ESEA is still stalled in Congress, with many predicting that if legislation does not move soon, there will be no changes in the federal law again this year. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is pushing his Race to the Top agenda, while Republican leaders support increased flexibility and local control. Many states have filed for ESEA waivers, including waiving the requirement that all students must achieve 100% proficiency on math and reading by the year 2014. Secretary Duncan says he's open to some waivers as long as they come in "exchange for reform." Read more about CTA's and NEA's agenda for ESEA.

 

Registration is now open for CTA's summer leadership conferences. The Chapter Presidents Conference is July 18-22 at Asilomar in Monterey. All local presidents are encouraged to attend. That conference is followed by CTA's Summer Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles from July 31-August 5. Summer Institute offers a variety of trainings to help members build leadership skills and improve teaching and learning. Strands include professional development, school finance, essential bargaining, communications, health care and much more. Register today.

 

I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your commitment to California students, the goals of public education and to CTA. Let me say, from the bottom of my heart, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your CTA president. The last four years have been some of the most rewarding in my life. I could not have done it without your commitment and support. I have made so many wonderful friends from my work with CTA and I treasure you all. The future is YOURS! Go out there and continue the work of making it great.

Teacher Furlough Bill Advances In Texas Senate.

The Dallas Morning News (6/7, Stutz) reports that a measure to "allow school districts to furlough teachers and cut their salaries to save money" has won preliminary approval in the Texas state Senate. The bill "is aimed at helping school districts deal with funding reductions of $4 billion over the next two years - although teacher groups vigorously oppose the bill. The Senate split along partisan lines in approving the legislation 18-12. All Democrats voted no." An amendment to the bill "would give teachers some voice in the furlough and pay reduction plans adopted by their school districts."

        The AP (6/7) adds that the bill would allow "administrators to move quicker to dismiss teachers to help ease budget strains" and "must now pass the House. ... Republican Sen. Florence Shapiro said the bill passed Monday would give school administrators more flexibility in adjusting to the budget cuts. Among other things, it changes the deadline for when administrators tell teachers whether or not their contract will be renewed. It also allows districts to put teachers on furloughs to save money."

        The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (6/7, Montgomery, Jinkins), the Austin American Statesman (6/7, Alexander), and the San Antonio Express-News (6/7, Scharrer) also cover this story.

Florida DOE Releases FCAT Data.

A number of Florida papers report on the release of state standardized testing figures, covering both statewide results and those of local students. The Miami Herald (6/7, McGrory) reports that according to data released by the Florida Department of Education, "Miami-Dade students made strong gains in science and matched last year's performance in reading and math" on this year's "new, more challenging" iteration of the state's standardized FCAT tests. Noting that the science portion is "considered the most challenging of the FCATs," the Herald adds that "in Miami-Dade, the percentage of eighth-graders at or above grade level jumped from 34 percent to 41 percent. The percentage of juniors hitting the mark soared from 30 percent to 37 percent."

        The Orlando Sentinel (6/7) reports that the results indicate that "students did better this year on the FCAT science exams, though fewer than half of those tested scored at grade level, results released this morning showed. 'I'm very encouraged by the continued progress we are seeing in science, but the overall performance of our students is still far too low,' said Education Commissioner Eric Smith." The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (6/7, Matus) and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (6/7) also cover this story.

Ohio Audits Columbus Schools' NCLB Tutoring Program.

The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (6/7, Bush) reports, "Auditor of State Dave Yost has launched a special audit of a federally funded tutoring program used by Columbus City Schools students" after superintendent Gene Harris related reports of alleged "misconduct by private vendors who provide tutoring under the Supplemental Educational Services program, paid for by the federal No Child Left Behind Act." Yost's office said it will investigate "whether public funds have been misused." The article adds that in recent months, "the school district had stepped up its oversight of the independent tutors, terminating eight contracts this school year. The problems have ranged from students' signatures being falsified to employees who weren't paid, according to district documents." WSYX-TV Columbus, Ohio (6/7) uses similar language to report this story.

        WBNS-TV Columbus, OH (6/7) also covers this story, noting that "the district gets millions of dollars for the program, which provides tutoring to children whose parents cannot afford to pay for the services on their own. ... 'We just didn't find anything that resembled a tutoring center for students,' said Bob Fitrakis, part of Parent Advocates for Students and Services," which "has been following the alleged fraud for years and Fitrakis said that it found several other vendors. 'There's no tutoring center there,' Fitrakis said. 'The money is going to questionable mail drops. All of the student names seem to be written in the same hand.'" WCMH-TV Columbus, OH (6/7) also covers this story.

Stakeholders Call On California Governor To Fund Student/Teacher Performance Database.

The Los Angeles Times (6/7, Song) reports that California state Sen. Joe Simitian (D) and a group of educators are "calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to restore funding to two computer databases that track the performance of students and teachers and could provide insight into the effectiveness of key academic programs." Brown has called for cutting some $3.5 million from the programs. "The student database, known as CalPADS, went online almost two years ago and was about to start producing statistics on the number of students who dropped out over the last four years. The teacher database, known as CalTIDES, had been scheduled to go online this year but has been delayed."

        The AP (6/7) adds that in addition to Simitian, "prominent business advocacy group" the Bay Area Council was calling on Brown "to restore funding to develop statewide data systems to track student and teacher performance." The AP explains that the NCLB-prompted CalPADS "is designed to collect information about each of the state's 6.2 million students in kindergarten through 12th grade and track their academic progress over time." Simitian "said the two systems are needed to improve California's public schools, which rank near the bottom among 50 states in many measures of student achievement."

California PreK-3 Movement Seeking To Overhaul Early Education Nationwide.

McClatchy (6/7, Garland) profiles the PreK-3 movement, which began in Santa Maria, California, when a group of preschool teacher there "attended a series of meetings with kindergarten teachers in the district" and shared information on teaching. "Among the revelations: The kindergarten teachers told the preschool teachers that their 5-year-olds, many of them immigrants, struggled with stories covered in the kindergarten reading curriculum. They weren't hearing American classics like 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' or 'Humpty Dumpty' at home. So the preschools began incorporating those stories into their classrooms." The piece describes other ways in which the teachers collaborated, and notes that their resultant movement "wants to revolutionize early education through an ambitious list of connected initiatives, including universal access to free public preschool, mandatory full-day kindergarten and a curriculum that is seamlessly connected from preschool to third grade. Increasing parental involvement is also a major focus."

DC School Experiences Snags In Implementing Singapore-Style Math Curriculum.

The Washington Post (6/7, Turque) profiles Bruce-Monroe Elementary third-grade teacher Katrina Abdussalaam, who is shepherding her class through a mathematics curriculum designed to conform to that used in Singapore, which is "known as a world leader in math." The Post describes some of the exercises students perform, adding that "Bruce-Monroe is one of about 2,000 US schools in the past decade that have adopted the Singapore approach to math, which stresses mastery of basic skills and a few essential ideas, such as place value and part-whole relationships." However, the school is finding "challenges involved in transplanting a 'math miracle' from Asia. These include high levels of student mobility, instructor turnover and a curriculum that proponents say requires a depth of understanding most US elementary teachers don't acquire in their math training."

Virginia DOE Approves Online Instruction Vendors For Public Schools.

The AP (6/7) reports that the Virginia Department of Education has "approved 13 vendors that can provide online instruction to public school students," saying that districts "can contract with the approved providers to expand course offerings through virtual-school programs. The agency's list of 'multidivisional online providers' includes corporate vendors, school division-based programs and nonprofit groups that can provide full-time online instruction, supplemental learning or blended instruction in which students have an online teacher as well as an on-site mentor." The AP lists a number of the entities, noting that the move was based on a 2010 law "that required the state to establish a framework for the operation of virtual schools and set guidelines for such programs."

Progress At Kentucky Turnaround School Noted.

Education Week (6/7, Klein) reports on the turnaround efforts over the past year at the Academy @ Shawnee in Shawnee, Kentucky, where Principal Keith Look "had to replace half his staff, cope with unprecedented scrutiny from his district, and learn to work with a trio of turnaround specialists sent in by the state of Kentucky-all the while knowing his job was on the line if the school failed to make academic progress." The piece notes that though test results are pending, "by many measures the school...is on the right track toward its goals under the $3.5 billion federal School Improvement Grant program. Attendance is up. Suspensions, for the most part, are down. Nearly all the teachers will be back next year, reversing a longtime trend of high staff turnover. And Mr. Look's own contract is slated to be renewed for at least another year."

Georgia DOE Contracts With Outside Firm To Develop Teacher Evaluation Rubrics.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/7, Badertscher) reports that the Georgia Department of Education "plans to spend $758,000 to bring in outside help to develop a system for evaluating teachers and administrators based on how their students perform academically," saying it "wants a team of experts on teacher quality and evaluations to take the lead on creating the new and uniform system for evaluating Georgia's 143,000 teachers and school administrators. The team will be headed by James Stronge, professor of educational policy, planning and leadership at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va." Georgia DOE officials say they lack the internal expertise for developing such a scheme. The piece notes parenthetically that linking teacher evaluations "to student performance is a popular trend in education that's touted by President Barack Obama and US Education Secretary Arne Duncan."

        The AP (6/7) also covers this story, noting that the effort would be funded with "federal grant money." The effort "would pay for a team of up to 12 researchers to spend 18 months creating and implementing the system. The new system will be piloted next year in 26 districts as part of the state's 'Race to the Top' program. Georgia won $400 million in federal money last year as part of the grant competition."

Pennsylvania Teachers Union Backing Student-Based Teacher Evaluations.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (6/7, Hardy) reports that the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's leading teachers' union, has "issued its strongest endorsement to date for using student test scores in evaluating teachers, and proposed a streamlined dismissal process for educators and principals" as part of its "Solutions That Work" proposal, which "also includes pitches for longtime union goals such as a focus on struggling schools, more parental involvement, and enhanced school safety. No uniform statewide teacher-evaluation process exists. Most districts judge teacher effectiveness through classroom observations by school officials." The Inquirer notes that Gov. Tom Corbett (R) "wants to institute statewide evaluation procedures that would start by the 2012-13 school year."

Wyoming Districts Working To Prepare For New Class Size Limits.

The Billings Gazette (6/7, Borchardt) reports that districts in Wyoming are working to comply with a "revised state law" Mandating that next year, "each of the state's 48 districts must average 16 students per class in kindergarten through third grades, if they wish to be eligible for state funding in 2012-13. The school funding formula allocates state money in a block grant based on the previous year's student population for everything from teachers to principals to technology costs."

Study: School Bullies More Likely To Abuse Partners In Adult Life.

Reuters (6/7) reports that according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, boys who are bullies during their school years are more likely to abuse their partners when they are adults, suggesting that addressing bullying during youth could help efforts to combat domestic violence. The piece quotes research leader Jay Silverman of Harvard School of Public Health, "We need to do a far better job at recognizing bullying in schools, particularly the harassment of girls by boys. For adolescents, the school context is very much a practice ground for behaviors as adults."

New Orleans IG Steps Up Efforts To Collaborate With State On Construction Fraud Probe.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune (6/6, Vanacore) reports that New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux "has taken another step toward cementing a contract with the state to help look out for cases of fraud in the $1.8 billion construction program aimed at rebuilding or renovating school buildings across the city over the next few years." The plan also advanced in the city council, and would "set aside $800,000 a year from a $1.8 billion FEMA construction grant to cover the inspector general's costs. As they have in the past, city council members lauded the agreement for taking a forward-looking approach to protecting that cash from fraud, but they lamented that the deal doesn't go further and allow the inspector general to also place a check on waste caused by simple bad decisions rather than outright crime."

Pennsylvania Students Host Celebration For "Green" School.

PhillyBurbs.com (6/7, Hellyer) reports, "Makefield Elementary School students celebrated their old school becoming new again on Friday. The community celebration on the front steps of the Pennsbury school was to mark the completion of the $12.7 million renovation and construction project on the district's oldest operating facility." The article describes the ceremony touting the school's new eco-friendly features, including "solar panels, a 'green' roof, energy-efficient windows, new mechanical, electrical and plumbing system upgrades to improve energy efficiency and porous pavements in the school parking lots."

Charter Schools Linked To Turkish Cleric's Movement Grow In Texas.

In a 4,300-word article on its front page, the New York Times (6/7, Saul, Subscription Publication) reports on the "meteoric rise and financial clout of the Cosmos Foundation, a charter school operator founded a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey." The group's Harmony Schools unit has become "the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds." The piece notes that the many of the vendors for the group's schools are also "run by Turkish immigrants," adding that "some of the schools' operators and founders, and many of their suppliers, are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic Turkish preacher of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name." The Times continues to describe the "backlash" against this movement, including questions about its using public funds "to benefit the Gulen movement."