California Schools- not in compliance????

Update on Education Jobs Money

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is urging governors to act quickly and submit their state applications for their share of the $10 billion education jobs funding as soon possible so that the emergency aid can begin flowing to districts. So far, 17 states have had their funding requests approved:

	Funds	Estimated Number of            Teaching Positions              Created/Saved*
Alabama	$149.5 million	2,250
California	$1.2 billion	13,318
Colorado	$159.5 million	2,393
Connecticut	$110.5 million	1,251
Georgia	$322.3 million	4,397
Illinois	$415.4 million	5,118
Iowa	$96.5 million	1,503
Kansas	$92.5 million	1,572
Maine	$39 million	614
Massachusetts	$204 million	2,083
Nebraska	$58.9 million	966
Nevada	$83.1 million	1,184
New Mexico	$64.9 million	1,077
New York	$607.6 million	6,263
South Dakota	$26.3 million	574
Tennessee	$195.9 million	3,279
Wisconsin	$179.7 million	2,329

The $10 billion education fund was created to support education jobs in the 2010–11 school year and will be distributed to states by a formula based on population figures. States can then distribute their funding to school districts using their funding formulas or districts' relative share of federal Title I funds.

However, a provision in the bill requires states to have maintained their level of higher education spending this year, something many of the states have not been able to do. And the bill does not offer waivers for states to opt out of this requirement, which means that those states that have made drastic cuts to higher education could miss out on the windfall. Some states—such as California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island—are believed to be caught in this noncompliance situation.

Only Congress can rectify this issue by repealing this provision.

Despite the uncertainty, and given the general budget emergency at the state level, money has already started to flow because the Obama administration has been willing to send the funds out now and wait for administrators to prove their eligibility later. It remains to be seen, however, if states that are found to fail the requirements will have to return the money.

If you have any suggestions or feedback about the planned uses of edujobs funding, please e-mailpolicy@ascd.org. Read the letter from Duncan to governors accompanying application information. 

Fix school funding -Schrag

Fixing funding for schools -- and colleges, and all the rest

By Peter Schrag

CSBA, the California School Boards Association, and other major education groups have been talking for years about suing the state to bring California’s dismally low school funding up to something approaching adequate levels.

[This is an important opinion piece by Peter Schrag. You can read the entire piece by clicking on the title above.]

Six years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, much to his credit, settled the Williams v. California, a suit demanding that the state provide the materials, decent facilities and competent teachers – or indeed any regular teachers – that tens of thousands of poor and minority California school children weren’t getting.

But the settlement, which promised a book for every student, better facilities and the eventual end of truncated, broken-up school calendars and fractured school years, covered only part of the inequities.

The issue of bringing better teachers into schools serving disadvantaged students was left to the meaningless definitions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Under it, any person making “satisfactory progress toward full certification as prescribed by the State” is regarded as “highly qualified.”

…Given the damage inflicted by budget cuts both to the formal institutions of education and to major ancillary programs in health and children’s services both the suit and the protests are hardly surprising and, where they’re directed at voters and their representatives in Sacramento, long overdue.

The planners at CSBA understand that, as their draft memo puts it, “successful litigation by itself will not resolve the problem, and that a political solution is necessary as well.” The organization thus plans to follow up its suit with a public relations campaign “that utilizes the litigation to highlight problems and potential solutions to California’s school funding system.”

But that, too, would be better conducted beyond the silo of the K-12 system. The parts – higher education, the public schools, pre-school, health, child care, parents counseling – are all inseparably linked, both in their costs and their benefits.

Right now Sacramento robs one to “protect” another, even as the voters are still clutching the illusion that it can all be done without more revenues and as the campus demonstrators still think that everything could be fixed if only administrators got paid less. It just ain’t so.

Read the  entire article on the California Progress Report:

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=print/7451

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Peter Schrag, whose exclusive weekly column appears every Monday in the California Progress Report, is the former editorial page editor and columnist of the Sacramento Bee. He is the author of Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future and California: America’s High Stakes Experiment. His new book, Not Fit for Our Society: Immigration and Nativism in America will be published in 2010.


One way to fix the funding is through the elimination of the 2/3 rule for budget and revenue.
See the California Democracy Act post on this page.

The economic crisis, the budget, and our schools

DSA Talk: The Economic Crisis:

Economic Crisis, The Budget, Our Schools, and Your Students. This session will focus on the causes and consequences of the Great Recession, and its impact on education. Speaker will focus on explaining the crisis, available resources, and strategies for resistance.

Duane Campbell, DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)

12:30 P.M. The Redwood Room. Nov.14. 2009. 

 Sac State hosts

Multicultural Education Conference 

Social justice educator Brian D. Schultz is the keynote speaker for the 16^th annual Multicultural Education Conference, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 14, in Sacramento State’s University Union.

Titled, “Social Justice Through Civic Engagement and Action,” the free conference is sponsored by Sacramento State’s Bilingual/Multicultural Education Department (BMED) and co-sponsored by the Serna Center and Project Citizen. The conference provides an opportunity for university faculty and local educators to promote multicultural education in K-12 public schools in the Sacramento region

Schultz is the author of Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way: Lessons from an Urban Classroom. A panel discussion by candidates for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction will follow Shultz’ talk. The rest of the day will be filled with 30 break-out sessions on a range of topics including Peace and Conflict Resolution, Technology Integration and Anti-Bias Media Analysis, and Impact of Educational Reform Polices on English Learners.

For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.edweb.csus.edu/bmed, e-mail Maggie Beddow at beddow@csus.edu, or call the BMED Office at (916) 278-5942.

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The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.  Steve Biko.

Water bonds and school funding

A major water bill has been passed by the California  Legislature, led by local leader Darrell Steinberg.  It includes a 10.1 Billion water bond. We will vote on this bond proposal  in 2010.

Bonds are sold, and then  they must be repaid.  That is, in a future year, we will be paying billion for the bonds, plus interest.

This will come out of the budget before we pay for schools, health care, etc.

I see that major Republicans voted for this Water Bill. And, I recall that they voted against adequately funding the schools. So, I will vote against the water bonds.

Now, Democrats too voted for this bill - including Steinberg.

Well- they have a 13 % approval rating by the public.

That is about right. I don't find their opinion very convincing.

Perhaps we should start a campaign;

If they will not support  quality education for the children, I will not vote for their subsidized water.

No money for schools- no money for water bonds.

What do others think ? Is this  viable position?