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Life expectancy plummets for whites without a high school diploma
New research dramatically shows the value of an education: The more you have, the longer you are likely to live. Research has shown that people without a high school diploma have higher mortality rates than those who graduate from high school. That was particularly the case for African Americans, whose life expectancy has lagged far behind both whites and Hispanics. But a compelling new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago, reported in the New York Times, shows that the life expectancy of whites without a high school diploma has plummeted by four years between 1990 and 2008. The decrease in life expectancy was greatest among women: an extraordinary five years. As the Times article noted: The latest estimate shows life expectancy for white women without a high school diploma was 73.5 years, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Health, Nutrition, Fitness, Quick Hits
California leads effort to boost English learner success
UPDATE: Sept. 21, 2012: Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 2193 into law. Anyone who studied French all through high school and still ended up hiring an avocado (avocat) instead of an attorney (avocat) understands that learning a foreign language is complicated, and isn’t a strong suit for U.S. schools. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the same is true when it comes to bilingual education. About 59 percent of California’s English learners in grades 6-12 … Read entire article »
Filed under: CELDT, Data, English learners, Featured, Languages, Legislature, Bills, Reporting & Analysis, Students
Skeptical unions pose challenge to districts’ Race to the Top
Nearly 900 districts nationwide, including 76 districts and charter schools in California, have told the federal government that they plan to compete for the final $400 million Race to the Top district competition. But with local unions having in effect a veto over their districts’ application, that number could dwindle. It’s already starting. The executive board of Sacramento City Teachers Association voted last week to decline to participate, putting the kibosh on the district’s hope to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Race to the Top, Reporting & Analysis
Brown kills bill establishing study committee on school finance
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have created a task force to explore options for school finance reform, thus ensuring that his own weighted student formula won’t be drowned out in a marketplace of ideas when the Legislature convenes in January. “I agree that California’s complex school finance laws need urgent attention. Creating a task force, however, may actually delay action on reforms,” Brown wrote in a terse message. “Rather than create a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Jerry Brown, Reporting & Analysis, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula)
Why 21st century education is not just about technology
Our district, like many others, has been having lots of conversations about “21st Century Education” and what it means for us. There are many books and articles written on the subject, but I think the big picture tends to get lost in the discussion, particularly at the local level. When one speaks of “21st Century Learning,” many people just assume it means adding iPads or other technology into the classroom. It’s much more than that, and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Featured, Twenty-first Century Learning
Agency prescribes SF City College trustees tough medicine
San Francisco City College trustees appeared grateful, albeit somber, last night as they listened to a lengthy assessment of the college district’s finances and heard tough recommendations on how to stave off insolvency and keep from losing its accreditation. “Thank you for an extremely comprehensive and extremely depressing report,” said trustee Rodrigo Santos, just half-heartedly in jest. In a 150-page report, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) warned that CCSF is in “a perilous financial position,” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Community Colleges, Featured, Reporting & Analysis
Report finds San Francisco City College in financial peril
City College of San Francisco, is in a “perilous financial position,” according to an independent analysis conducted by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) and released today by City College. FCMAT, a state agency that provides emergency oversight, criticized City College’s financial and management decisions, including “granting salary increases and generous benefits with no discernible means to pay for them” and using “temporary one-time measures to mitigate its operating deficits, thus deferring difficult decisions to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Community Colleges, Featured, Reporting & Analysis
11 parcel taxes, 44 school bonds on November ballot
Gov. Jerry Brown and attorney Molly Munger aren’t the only ones asking voters for more money for schools in November. Eleven districts are asking for parcel taxes and 44 districts have put school construction bonds on the ballot, according to Mike McMahon, a school consultant and Alameda Unified trustee who tracks local ballots. Six are new parcel tax requests, four are renewals, and one proposal asks for an additional parcel tax, McMahon says. They range from a low of $39 per parcel to $199 per parcel in the San Bruno Park School District. Update: As reader Michael Coleman notes in a comment below, there is a more extensive list of bond measures and parcel taxes. Here is a snapshot of the full list of parcel taxes, at left. Parcel taxes have been common … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Funding and Taxation, Parcel Tax, Quick Hits
Residue of once-promising finance reform bill in Brown’s hands
Introduced as a comprehensive plan for K-12 finance reform, Assembly Bill 18 is a shell of its former self. The bill that the Legislature ended up passing last month would merely create a 21-member task force to explore various options and formulas for fairer and simpler school funding and make recommendations to the Legislature by April 1. But even this seemingly non-controversial rewrite of the bill, with amendments intended to mollify Gov. Brown, may not escape … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Finance, Legislature, Bills, Reporting & Analysis, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula)
Undiscussed in Chicago: Recruiting the best to teach the poorest
September 23rd, 2012 | 13 Comments
By Benjamin Riley ~ EdSource Extra
“Our most glaring problem is still recruitment/preparation of good teachers & principals and that’s no closer to being solved.” So tweeted Seth Lavin (@SethLavin), a teacher in Chicago, in reaction to the recent settlement of the high-profile teachers strike in that same city (a strike he supported). Not only do I wholeheartedly agree with Seth, but I believe the entire political-spectacle-slash-debacle we just watched unfold in the Windy City illustrates everything, and I mean everything, that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Evaluations, Featured, Teacher Pay, Teacher Unions, Tenure