Education News: May 15, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending May 15, 2009.

California to Lose Stimulus Funds if it Cuts Deeply into Health Care and Education
(San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2009)  California officials, who are facing a $21.3 billion spending deficit, can’t cut funding for education and health care if they hope to receive as much as $20 billion of economic stimulus money.  This is due to a requirement from Washington that states maintain a minimum amount of spending and services in order to receive the funds.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that the state would have to make drastic cuts to public safety, education and social services if voters didn’t accept his revised spending plans.  California has already reduced its spending to near the minimum allowed in order to receive federal funds.  Most sources agree that it will be nearly impossible to close the deficit without finding additional revenue.
Article on Proposed Revised Spending Plans

Cleveland Schools CEO’s Intended Use for Stimulus Funds Causes Fears of Buyout
(Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 15, 2009)  Schools CEO Eugene Sanders revealed a plan this week to use federal stimulus funds to pay 200 older teachers to work full time as substitutes and tutors.  In turn, the teachers would have to agree to retire in two years, when the stimulus program ends.  Sanders says his plan will help students learn, avoid layoffs, reduce the $22 million deficit forecast for the 2009-10 school year by two thirds.  Many school board members, however, see this as a buyout.  Additionally, if all of the substitutes and tutors leave in two years, the district will have nothing to show for its investment.  Teachers union President David Quolke says the plan is nothing like a buyout, as it will be voluntary and require service.

Vocational School Graduates Must Rethink Career Plans
(Boston Globe, May 14, 2009)  Many graduates of vocational schools, who have spent years training for specialized occupations, are finding the economy has left them out of school and out of work.  Youth employment levels are lower than ever, and job openings have evaporated with so many workers with more skills already without jobs.  Other options that many vocational school graduates are pursuing are to attend a two- or four-year college, temporarily take lower-paying jobs outside their fields, or join the military.  Many vocational schools plan to add training in growth industries such as barbering, hospitality, criminal justice, and preveterinary science.

Website Seeks to Quantify Benefits of Education
(USA Today, May 13, 2009)  The Common Good Forecaster will use U.S. census data to calculate education’s influence on various other statistical indicators.  Examples of these Indicators include life expectancy, median income, and murder rate.  The forecaster is a joint project of the United Way of America and the American Human Development Project, a New York-based non-profit.  The site allows users to alter state and county high school graduation rates, college attendance and college graduation rates, and see what the predicted outcomes would be.
Link to The Common Good Forecaster

LA School Board Members Say Reform is Needed to Remove Underperforming Teachers
(Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2009)  A majority of school board members in the L.A. Unified School District have acknowledged the need for revisions of the laws governing teacher discipline.  They say the laws need to allow for swifter and more effective removal of substandard educators and other employees.  They added, however, that any changes were unlikely to be made this year.  Currently, firing a teacher can take years of paperwork and hearings, with over one third of firings being overturned after appeals to the state board.  District employees continue to receive their salaries until their fate is final, though often with any job responsibilities.  State Sen. Gloria Romero, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, accuses the L.A. Unified board of not standing up to the teachers union, which has compounded the problem.

Video on Effects of Human Consumption Gains Popularity Across the Nation
(New York Times, May 10, 2009)  “The Story of Stuff,” a 20-minute video about the effects of human consumption, has become a hit in classrooms all over America.  The video is straightforward and child-friendly, but is brutal in its assessment of how much Americans waste.  Teachers have embraced it in place of textbooks, which often lag behind on topics such as climate change and pollution.  The video was created by Annie Leonard, a former Greenpeace employee and an independent lecturer.  Ms. Leonard describes herself as an “unapologetic activist,” and is critical of corporations and the federal government.  Many teachers find that the directness and the length of the video make it perfect to show in class and segue into a discussion.  Several replies have been posted on youtube.com by other classrooms.
Check out storyofstuff.com to watch “The Story of Stuff”

Violence in School Continues to Decline, But Bullying and Theft Remain Problems
(Washington Post, May 11, 2009)  A federal report published last month claimed that 86% of public schools in 2005-06 reported a rate of 46 crimes for every 1,000 students.  Additionally, one third of students reported being bullied and one quarter reported the presence of gangs at their schools.  Some attribute the decline to a dip in crime in the overall population.  Others attribute it to many small factors such as cameras and anti-bullying programs, which have led to new attitudes that students have towards their schools.  The annual reports, a combined effort of the Education and Justice departments, rely on an amalgamation of surveys and studies.  Data was compiled for the 2006-7 school year, when an estimated 55.5 million students were enrolled from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve.  No data was given for previous crime rates in schools.