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teacher731
This is just a partial list. Many programs are cut or are increased slightly, not enough to keep up with even the cost of inflation. This is a horrible budget for education.

Administration Unveils FY2006 Budget

The Administration released its proposed spending plan for FY2006 programs to Congress on February 7, and although the Administration is seeking additional funding for the Math and Science Partnerships at the U. S. Department of Education, many K-12 math and science education programs at NSF saw steep cuts.

National Science Foundation: The President requested a cut of 12.4 percent for programs under the Education and Human Resources directorate ($737 million for FY2006, down from $841 million in FY2005, a decrease of $104 million). Funding for programs under the Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (ESIE) was reduced by 22.6 percent ($140 million for FY2006, down from $181 million in FY2005), and the Research, Evaluation, and Communication (REC) budget was cut by more than 43 percent ($33 million, down from $59 million in FY2005). The funding request for the FY2006 NSF Math and Science Partnerships (MSPs) was $60 million, a 24 percent cut. For more information on the NSF budget, go to http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2006.

Department of Education: Total funding for the Department of Education for FY2006 is $56 billion, a one percent increase over FY2005. The funding request for the FY 2006 MSP program at the Department of Education is $269 million, a $90 million increase over FY2005 funding. However the Administration wants $120 million of these funds to stay at the U. S. Department of Education for competitive grants solely to math initiatives at the secondary level as part of the new High School Initiative. Currently all the funds under the ED MSP program go to the states for competitive grants to local science and math initiatives.

Vocational education programs, including the Tech Prep Education state grants, and other programs including Upward Bound, Talent Search, GEAR UP, and Smaller Learning Communities have been eliminated and the funding is being shifted to create a new $1.3 billion High School Initiative which includes incorporating No Child Left Behind (NCLB) testing in grades 9–11 in language arts and math.

Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (Title II A) were level-funded at $2.9 billion, and the President is seeking $12 million to help states establish State Scholars programs that encourage students to complete a rigorous curriculum that includes at least three years of math and science.
Teacher quality enhancement grants under the Higher Education Act (HEA Title II) were eliminated.

Education Technology State Grants (Title II D) and the National Writing Project were also eliminated in the budget proposal; in FY2005 states received $496 million for the state Ed Tech grants initiative. Proposed funding for the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program was reduced by almost half (state grants were eliminated). The Reading First State Grants saw a small increase, as did Title I and IDEA programs. For more information on the Department of Education FY2006 budget go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/education.html.

In related budget and appropriations news, House leaders have announced they have reorganized 13 of the current Appropriations subcommittees down to 10 subcommittees. Although the appropriations subcommittee with oversight of the U.S. Department of Education—the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education chaired by Rep. Ralph Regula—remains intact, the appropriations subcommittee responsible for NSF appropriations (VA/HUD and Independent Agencies) has been eliminated. Appropriations for the NSF (and NASA and OSTP) will now be under the jurisdiction of the Science, State, Justice and Commerce subcommittee, chaired by Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA).
Weneedchange
Our pubic education system gets my blood boiling. I can go on for hours but it won't change GWB goal to eliminate all forms of public education.

This post just proves my case. It's so sad.

When the right or red states finally joins the "My job was out sourced" chant we can only blame the social policies of GWB.
teacher731
QUOTE(Weneedchange @ Feb 21 2005, 08:32 PM)
Our pubic education system gets my blood boiling. I can go on for hours but it won't change GWB goal to eliminate all forms of public education.

This post just proves my case. It's so sad. 

When the right or red states finally joins the "My job was out sourced" chant we can only blame the social policies of GWB.
*

This and NCLB are all you need to know that dumbya wants to outsource public ed- to inferior, unregulated private schools. We're certainly not gonna let that happen!
JILLinaz
That's wonderful blink.gif
Az is already at the bottom of every list, except for teenage drop-outs - there we're close to the top
teacher731
QUOTE(JILLinaz @ Feb 21 2005, 09:57 PM)
That's wonderful blink.gif
Az is already at the bottom of every list, except for teenage drop-outs - there we're close to the top
*

Wow, that's surprising. Usually Mississippi and Alabama are the bottom-feeders, but AZ?! WOW. Depressing.
Inanna
QUOTE(Weneedchange @ Feb 21 2005, 06:32 PM)
Our pubic education system gets my blood boiling. I can go on for hours but it won't change GWB goal to eliminate all forms of public education.

This post just proves my case. It's so sad. 

When the right or red states finally joins the "My job was out sourced" chant we can only blame the social policies of GWB.
*


Actually, last I checked, it still takes Congress and the Senate to actually make the changes happen. Guess the blame falls on more than just Bush now doesn't it?
kleenex
I think some of his education cuts do have to take place. Some do not.

He does want to spend some money on some new stuff though.
teacher731
QUOTE(kleenex @ Feb 23 2005, 06:36 PM)
I think some of his education cuts do have to take place.  Some do not.

He does want to spend some money on some new stuff though.
*



What exactly are you asking to cut??? Cutting education isn't like cutting an unneeded weapons system(Star Wars, et al)- you're dealing with kids' futures here. And if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. We spend more on a prisioner than we do on a kid in school- what message does that say? Out of every dollar, the feds contribute a paltry 3 cents to public ed- that tells me there's other areas that should be targeted first. But, then again, we don't give a f about kids in this country- they don't vote, shrub knows the teachers are mostly against him because of his disasterous policies(what do you expect from a C- student who flubs his native tongue?!) If he wants to gut education, which is his priority since he ultimately wants to kill public ed, then he can't go around claiming to be the education prez. ANd, we as concerned educators, parents, students, administrators, don't have to take this lying down- we must fight back! Our future is at stake here.
kleenex
Bush wants to make cuts in the Department of Education.

The Even start program gets a 100% cut. Bush says it is not doing what it is supposed to do.
teacher731
QUOTE(kleenex @ Feb 24 2005, 06:21 PM)
Bush wants to make cuts in the Department of Education.

The Even start program gets a 100% cut.  Bush says it is not doing what it is supposed to do.
*



Even Start??? No such program exists. You must be a bush appointee lol.gif Or, you're a "journalist" like "Jeff Gannon!"If you believe like the inept prez does that education needs to be cut, you better do your research. You haven't learned from the Kerry forum.
Indianhead
Ya know the pretzel logic has a point.

When the educational impossibility is viewed
alongside the juvenile justice labyrinth it might make sense.

You see, there is a mandate that Disporportionate
Minority Contact be addressed in JJ formula grants.

We must take the at-risk population of each race
and compare the catagories (such as arrest) as
a factor of population by the thousand. Then compare the
population of whites as a factor (the denominator) of the
minority (the numerator).

In other words, if the at-risk (police contacted) white
population of a race is 90,000 and the arrested total
30, then 90/30= an index of 3. Do the same with the
minority (black) population, say it's the same and the index
is also 3, then dividing the minority by the majority
gives and index factor of 1.0.

According to federal JJ guidelines if the total index factor is greater
1.0 then there is disporportionate contact and grants are endangered.

It's a joke. So many facotrs, mainly poverty, enter in, the
exercise is futile and therefore confusing and exhausting.

The idea, I believe, is to exhaust us, and therefore drive us
away from federal funding for just programs.

It's a neo-con game that causes the needy to suffer
because impossible formulas drive reasonable people away.

That leaves funds to be transferred to weapons.
Salute_Liberty
The most irresposibly immoral deed of any President, Law Maker or Congress Person is to prevent equal opportunities of education for a nation's citizens.

The funds wasted in stadiums (that enrich only a certain group) should be used to educate America's children. We need educated people, not gorilla-shaped weirdos with crazy brawn and ingested steroids!
teacher731
QUOTE(Salute_Liberty @ Feb 25 2005, 12:37 AM)
The most irresposibly immoral deed of any President, Law Maker or Congress Person is to prevent equal opportunities of education for a nation's citizens.

The funds wasted in stadiums (that enrich only a certain group) should be used to educate America's children.  We need educated people, not gorilla-shaped weirdos with crazy brawn and ingested steroids!
*

exactly! not just stadiums, but if you were to look at the budget as a whole, you'd see as a nation, we fund education at one of the lowest levels of any western nation. And it's a fact that kleenex and other ed busters don't want to address- when you gut from education, it takes years to catch up. And no one can afford that.
teacher731
one other thing...when the feds cut their portion, it has a domino effect...states start cutting, then we get cuts at the local level. Usuallu what suffers the most severe cuts are the three non-mandated curricula- phys ed, music and art. then we wonder why we have a generation of fat, lazy, uncreative kids.
kleenex
QUOTE(teacher731 @ Feb 24 2005, 07:12 PM)
Even Start???  No such program exists.  You must be a bush appointee lol.gif Or, you're a "journalist" like "Jeff Gannon!"If you believe like the inept prez does that education needs to be cut, you better do your research.  You haven't learned from the Kerry forum.
*



Check out these links:

http://www.evenstart.org/about.htm

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/02/...get-s1.h24.html

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdecare/evenstart.htm

http://www.nde.state.ne.us/ECH/EVEN.html

Should I post more????
teacher731
your sarcasm is duly noted, same as it was on the kerry forum. likewise, you're on my ignore list, because you add nothing to the debate, you just agitate. Seems like a worthwhile program, maybe shrub and people like you want to raise a generation of ignorant youth; I won't. Calling for cuts in ed when it makes up a paltry portion of the budget is unwise and foolish and damns a generation. There's plenty of other places to cut, and for one thing, let's start with ending the rich man's tax cut- roll it back! About time that group makes a "sacrifice," there the ones supporting the war in Iraq, making a huge profit, but they'll never send one of their own to fight the fight.
TammyJo58
Hi!

I don't know how it is in your Counties, but whenever there are big cuts that filter from the Federal to the State and local levels, the last things to get cut are extracurricular sports. Forget your educational fieldtrip, if there is a sports team that has to go somewhere, that's where the money is spent. Cuts wouldn't bother me so much if they were shared by everyone. In politics though, there is always a winner and always a loser.

God Bless,
TammyJo58
teacher731
QUOTE(TammyJo58 @ Feb 25 2005, 07:43 PM)
Hi!

I don't know how it is in your Counties, but whenever there are big cuts that filter from the Federal to the State and local levels, the last things to get cut are extracurricular sports.  Forget your educational fieldtrip, if there is a sports team that has to go somewhere, that's where the money is spent.  Cuts wouldn't bother me so much if they were shared by everyone.  In politics though, there is always a winner and always a loser.

God Bless,
TammyJo58
*


It varies, but when I taught in Fairfax, VA, sports wouldn't recieve the cuts, always something not mandated like phys ed, music, art, and reading. Kids aren't required to take phys ed after 10th grade, which is criminal. Here in CT and elsewhere where a portion of the budget is voted on, the moment the Board announces taxes will be raised in order to keep extracurricular activities and music progreams funded, generally, the budget gets passed. There have been some exceptions, but parents of kids on sports teams and band, chorus, et al, tend to be vocal and active.
lazyboy
Mr Bush thinks that guns and jetfighters are the way to get terrorists. What could have prevented 911

1. More communication between the intelligence agencies. Which proves that sports training at school did not pass on to attitudes of cooperation at work, only competition and rivalry between agencies.

2. More imagination. This is not something that we learn after school. School is where we are supposed to use all our skills and talents and to learn from history, and to study literature. This is going to suffer under any education cuts.

3. More language speakers. If one person had translated one item of communication early enough from Arabic to English, perhaps he could have alerted the appropriate people in time. That is, if they were not all determined to get a good nights sleep and deal with it in the morning when it would be far too late to stop.

Mr B still does not get it.
kleenex
Imagination and fun is all getting ZAPPED out of the educational system and that just sucks.

We do need more people taking Arabic language, but you just can't force people to take it.
kboun
I see the "we should cut this" attitude is infiltrating the thread. I hate reading and hearing that—especially from other educators. I never want to see any traditional programs cut.

We really need to be united as educators—not looking to bash athletics, music, art, and any other traditional program that exists. As for you Kleenex, until you spend one day as a certified teacher, I expect you will always be hopelessly ignorant to the facts. We have students that are struggling to graduate because they cannot pass algebra II, and you want them doing calculus.

As I have stated in the past, today’s students deserve the same opportunities that past generations have received. Education is not something that can be done cheaply—it should be expensive. The biggest problem with education: Cheap people always wanting to carve into the budget and axe programs.
teacher731
QUOTE(kleenex @ Feb 26 2005, 05:38 PM)
Imagination and fun is all getting ZAPPED out of the educational system and that just sucks.

We do need more people taking Arabic language, but you just can't force people to take it.
*



How'd you know? Are you a teacher??? I doubt it since you are calliing for cuts in education. mad.gif
teacher731
QUOTE(kboun @ Feb 26 2005, 08:18 PM)
I see the "we should cut this" attitude is infiltrating the thread. I hate reading and hearing that—especially from other educators. I never want to see any traditional programs cut.

We really need to be united as educators—not looking to bash athletics, music, art, and any other traditional program that exists. As for you Kleenex, until you spend one day as a certified teacher, I expect you will always be hopelessly ignorant to the facts. We have students that are struggling to graduate because they cannot pass algebra II, and you want them doing calculus.

As I have stated in the past, today’s students deserve the same opportunities that past generations have received. Education is not something that can be done cheaply—it should be expensive. The biggest problem with education: Cheap people always wanting to carve into the budget and axe programs.
*



Well said, kboun. No sense dividng amongst ourselves and trying to pit the worthiness of one program against another. I for one think ALL subjects are important- the core academics and phys ed, art, music. All contribute to a well-educated, balanced child. Fact is, those last 3 are where the budget slashing zombies cut first, so many areas, especially urban schools, don't have kids taking phys ed, art and music until 3rd grade, by then imagine how many students have been lost due to lack of exposure. And let's not forget that we have a genration of morbidly obese kids (increases in urban areas are greates, see a connection?) and that juvenile diabetes is at near-epidemic levels. i also lament the cuts in vocational ed- I work with 8th graders and some will never learn, no matter how many different methods you try, how to add and reduce fractions. To them, it's meaningless. Yet, these same students can go into our faculty room and fix a complicated machine like a copier. However, with this diversion known as NCLB, everyone regardless of ability has to reach high standards. that's great and we teachers have always done that since the beginning of time. However, not everyone is cut for college, nor should they be. We need carpenters, mechanics, et al. So, we deny these kids who have mechanical intelligence a fair opportunity and we tune them out of learning altogether. There's gotta be a balance and the bureaucrats in DC and shrub and the other idiots that wrote this law and have no idea what school is like, need to understand. You can't apply a single rule to a group of unique individuals- this isn't an assembly line. This, rather, is life.
kindergarten teacher
Teachers and allies start organizing as governor betrays public education

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Stand_1.htm

"...The governor may have 'star' power, but we have the force of 335,000 members in every community, and the force is with us."

CTA President Barbara E. Kerr
kindergarten teacher
California's school funding went from first...to among the worst. What went wrong?

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5...htm#ReturnToTop
Salute_Liberty
The Bushies are helping to lower the standard of the children's education to bring the gap between any groups closer!

Know how American kids rank against their international peers in science and maths?

http://www.azcentral.com/families/educatio...cores14-ON.html

U.S. pupils turn in mixed performance against peers

Ben Feller
Associated Press
Dec. 14, 2004 12:55 PM

WASHINGTON - U.S. eighth-graders are gaining on their peers across the globe in science and math, but fourth-graders are being passed as their test scores remain stagnant, according to an international review of school performance.

The 2003 test results released Tuesday offer some hope and relief to the United States, coming just a week after its 15-year-olds did poorly in math in another prominent comparison.

The achievement gap between black and white children is shrinking, the new scores show, a central goal of the government's education policies under President Bush.

Yet several countries, particularly in Asia, continue to outperform the United States in science and math, fields at the heart of research, innovation and economic competitiveness.

Given this country's recent emphasis on achievement in the early grades, the flat performance by fourth-graders drew concern, and some playing down, from U.S. officials.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, is a test of curriculum taught in all participating countries, from chemistry and physics to geometry and algebra. It is a respected benchmark of a country's performance in primary and middle grades.

"It's really the only way we have to determine how the United States as a nation is doing in preparing its children and its students in math and science," said Russ Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences at the Education Department.

Federal officials also suggested Tuesday that a better measure of U.S. achievement would be how students do on the test known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. On that U.S. test, more closely aligned to standards and content taught in schools here, fourth-graders and eighth-graders made sizable gains at every level in math in 2003.

In the new study, the United States is compared with other industrialized countries and many poorer ones. Given that range, the United States was above average across the board.

Forty-five countries took part at eighth grade and 25 countries at fourth grade when representative samples of students took the test. Among major findings for the U.S. students:

-Eighth-graders improved their scores in science and math since 1995, when the test first was given. While the science progress has come largely since the last test, in 1999, the math rise came mainly between 1995 and 1999 and not in recent years. The rising scores of eighth-graders also gave the United States a higher ranking relative to other countries.

-Fourth-graders did not improve or decline in science or math since 1995, and as a result, they slipped in the international rankings as other countries made gains.

-In both grades and both subjects, black students closed their test-score gap with whites. Hispanic students also closed the learning gap with whites in eighth-grade science.

Donald Thompson, an education leader at the National Science Foundation, said schools have made noticeable gains in eighth-grade algebra since the last version of the test. "When concentrated attention is brought to bear on the nation's education problems, our school systems have the capacity to take action and to get extremely positive results," he said.

Business and academic leaders have been clamoring for such attention on science and math so that students will be ready for college and careers demanding technical knowledge.

"Every caring parent in America knows that reading to a young child promotes literacy. But how many parents know the fundamental building blocks of math?" said Joseph Tucci, education task force chairman at the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives.

Asian countries are setting the pace in advanced science and math, said Ina Mullis, co-director of the International Study Center at Boston College, which manages the study.

As one example, 44 percent of eighth-graders in Singapore scored at the most advanced level in math, as did 38 percent in Taiwan. Only 7 percent in the United States did.

"We have to keep at it, and maybe even step up the pace," Mullis said. "Even though a lot of people are working very hard on reforms, we don't seem to reap commensurate benefits."

Education Department leaders framed the results a bit differently, saying that U.S. children are holding their ground in fourth grade and making gains in eighth grade.

Just a week ago, results from the Program for International Student Assessment showed U.S. 15-year-olds are below average when it comes to applying math skills to real-life tasks.

Yet U.S. eighth-graders, typically 13 or 14 years old, did well on TIMSS, which covers grade-level curriculum instead of daily applications. TIMSS is run by the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement, a coalition of research institutions.
lazyboy
Yes, for the fight against terror more Arabic fluency is essential. Maybe they should send the intelligence agencies to study Arabic - or would that money come from the Education budget again.

If the war with terror is a serious thing and not just an excuse to cut peoples' civil liberties, then students of Arabic in the services are going to be essential.

I noticed when Notre Dame University had a professor who is ethnic Arabian due to join them for this academic year - he was denied a visa. What kind of message this sends is that Arabic speakers are neither needed nor wanted in the U S A? (Just in case any republicans are reading this.) It also sends the same message to the students. This is the opposite of the direction he should be taking the next generation, if he wants good intelligent agents.
kleenex
QUOTE(kindergarten teacher @ Feb 26 2005, 09:33 PM)
California's school funding went from first...to among the worst.  What went wrong?

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5...htm#ReturnToTop
*



I saw the "First to Worst" documentary on PBS. I thought it was good piece on the California school system.

I do think that if a program is not doing what it is supposed to be doing, we either need to change it or cut it.

The Department of Education needs MASSIVE changes and a whole new role in the educational system.

If you don't give students a proper curriculum they are not going to be ready for real world.
teacher731
QUOTE(kleenex @ Feb 27 2005, 11:21 AM)
I saw the "First to Worst" documentary on PBS.  I thought it was good piece on the California school system.

I do think that if a program is not doing what it is supposed to be doing, we either need to change it or cut it.

The Department of Education needs MASSIVE changes and a whole new role in the educational system. 

If you don't give students a proper curriculum they are not going to be ready for real world.
*

and what are your credentials to make this judgment? if memory serves correct, you aren't a certified educator. Last I looked, people with no education credentials or ones that were involved in the Texas Mirage, created the monster known as NCLB, the single biggest disaster to hit education since Reagan said ketchup was a vegetable.
kindergarten teacher
Shortchanged by the system


http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Feature_2.htm

(click on link for entire article)

Decades ago, the idea of year-round, multitrack schools with 3,000 to 5,000 students would have seemed far-fetched. But today, especially in poor and minority communities, the unthinkable is happening. It is not unusual for students to attend dilapidated, overcrowded schools that accommodate populations as large as some towns.
...................................................
...............................................................
....................................................................


While teachers like Alva care deeply, students in overcrowded, underfunded schools such as Roosevelt may feel that society does not value them, says Tamayose. "Because of the crowding, they feel they are on the outside looking in and that most of society doesn't care that much about what happens to them. They don't feel that they are part of the mainstream."
 
And she wonders whether they might be right. "In the United States, we always talk about the importance of education, but we don't value education as much as other cultures when our schools are like this.
 
"I'm very concerned. Our middle class is dwindling and democracy has always relied strongly upon the middle class. We are gradually becoming a two-tiered society of those who are educated and those who are not. It scares me to think of the future."
EvelyninTexas
QUOTE(teacher731 @ Feb 27 2005, 06:28 PM)
and what are your credentials to make this judgment?  if memory serves correct, you aren't a certified educator.  Last I looked, people with no education credentials or ones that were involved in the Texas Mirage, created the monster known as NCLB, the single biggest disaster to hit education since Reagan said ketchup was a vegetable.
*


I think we all know that public education needs some changes, especially those of us who work there (30 years for me, 18 in the classroom, 12 in administration).
But the changes we need should be funded, not cuts. No program will work without adequate funding. For instance, here in Texas, we have a constant drain of experienced teachers leaving the field due to poor working conditions, our best and brightest minority students from the universities avoid teaching like the plague, a very high burn out rate, and NCLB decrees "highly qualified" teachers in the classroom. With pay in the bottom quarter nationally, we are stuck with the alternative teacher certification programs. I do part time instructor work for one of those programs, and I can promise you they aren't "highly qualified". We try to teach them enough to pass the TExES (state teacher qualification exam), but without college coursework in the theories of education, without practice teaching to learn from a master teacher (the old way), they usually crash and burn pretty quickly. All the while, good teachers and administrators in the schools are doing their own jobs and trying to train these people on the side. The miracle is that kids continue to learn as well as they do.
kindergarten teacher
Budget, enrollment cuts present double whammy


http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Feature_3.htm

(click on the above link for entire article)


 
"California is in such a sorry state, or should I say is just a sorry state for handling its budgeting affairs so poorly that something as basic as music education is considered expendable," she says. "And I know it's not just music; it's education in general. We are just a few billion dollars short when it comes to providing something every child should have a right to expect, in my opinion. We are not moving forward - we are moving backward. We may have come a long way technologically, but in matters that are truly important to the development of well-rounded human beings, we are way behind."
kleenex
I have always stated at this place that NCLB has to be junked.

I do not even know how the states of California and Alaska are going to meet "highly Qualified Teacher" status Rules.

Why is that that in the state of Texas they have to care more for Coaches than they do the teachers???
kindergarten teacher
Is it time to change how funds are allocated?

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Feature_4.htm

(see link above for entire article)


The majority of Californians believe that improving the state school system is the most important issue facing the state - more important than fixing the economy or reducing crime, reports the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, based at UC Santa Cruz. Improving schools is seen as the most important issue by all the people who were interviewed. But while everyone pays lip service to improving schools, there is reluctance for some to put their money where their mouth is.
 
Mockler believes that SUBTLE RACISM plays a part in this reluctance. "Years ago, Californians would see schoolchildren who looked like them. Now, Californians see Latinos, African Americans, Asians and other minorities who don't look like them in public schools. Some Californians don't believe they are 'our' children and think that we shouldn't support them. Our politicians always say that public schools are our first priority. But they spend money in other places."
 
Williams v. California: Schools attended by poor and minority students tend to have fewer experienced teachers and less in the way of programs and resources. Recently a settlement was reached between Gov. Schwarzenegger's administration and the American Civil Liberties Union on a lawsuit - Williams v. California - that accused the state of denying poor children adequate textbooks, trained teachers and safe classrooms. The proposed agreement would require the state to devote as much as $1 billion over a period of several years for 2,400 low-performing schools to repair deteriorating facilities and $50 million to assess such needs. It would also provide nearly $139 million for textbooks.
 
Most education experts agree it was a step in the right direction, but far from enough money to solve the chronic underfunding of schools.
 
"Does the Williams settlement mean anything? It means that the governor is a great politician," says Mockler. "We have a $48 billion K-12 system and the governor allocated this amount and said it solved the problem. If you think that solves the problem, well, God bless you."
 
"I was so sorry when they settled Williams v. California the way they did, because a lot of the terms of the settlement were marginal," says Peter Schrag. "The ACLU settled for a little bit of funding, went away and said it was a great victory. I don't think it was a victory at all."
kindergarten teacher
CTA radio spots fire first volley against funding cuts

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Stand_2.htm

(click above for entire article)


Kerr says in her ad. "It's time for lawmakers to keep their word and provide our schools the resources our kids need to succeed."
 
The ads aired for three weeks on 56 radio stations in all major media markets, including Spanish and Asian-language stations.
 
The version airing on Spanish-language stations was taped in Spanish by CTA Vice President David A. Sanchez.
 
"Starving our schools starves the future for our kids," Sanchez warns. "Overcrowded classrooms and underpaid teachers hurt a child's chance to succeed. We must tell the governor and the Legislature to stop balancing the state budget by taking money from schoolchildren."




In announcing his proposed budget in January, Gov. Schwarzenegger broke his promise to give schools all the funding they are owed under voter-approved Proposition 98 when they took a $2 billion cut to help balance the budget last year, said Kerr in a media interview.
 
"California voters approved Prop. 98 to guarantee that our public schools received at least minimum funding. Now, the governor wants to ignore the constitutional requirement and go against the will of the people. Our students deserve a better chance to succeed."
kindergarten teacher
Simi educators express anger over broken promise

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Stand_3.htm

(click on link for entire article)



Carrying signs that said "Rich State, Poor Schools" and "Make Children a Priority," more than 100 Ventura area educators gathered at the county office of education in Camarillo Jan. 18 to protest education budget cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.



(This is the county where I teach, Ventura County. KT)

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kindergarten teacher
Reconstitution rears its ugly head again as part of San Francisco school reform

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Stand_6.htm

(click above for entire story)

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Educators of San Francisco (UESF), the union that represents more than 6,000 school district employees, supports the goals of the "Dream Schools" initiative, it questions the methods that have excluded both parents and teachers. The plan is reminiscent of a program introduced a decade ago by former Superintendent Bill Rohas that changed several schools by replacing their staffs entirely. The previous plan, known as reconstitution, destabilized staff and caused a bitterness that went on for years. Now teachers are worried the new plan will do the same thing.
 
"It's a well-intentioned effort to address the achievement gap of African American and Latino students, but it uses reconstitution as a process for doing that instead of involving teachers and students," says UESF President Dennis Kelly. "That's what we're objecting to."
 
The union has conducted several rallies at school sites as well as demonstrations at school board meetings to protest the way the plan has been handled. In January, UESF filed two class action grievances and an unfair labor practice charge that the implementation of the program violates the teachers' bargaining agreement with the district.
 
In all, 10 elementary, middle and high schools have been targeted for the "dream school" treatment. Three have already been converted and seven more are slated to open in the fall. Teachers at the remaining schools say they are worried not just for their own future, but also for their students.
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REFORM WITH RESPECT!


KT

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kboun
QUOTE(kleenex @ Feb 27 2005, 07:54 PM)
I have always stated at this place that NCLB has to be junked.

I do not even know how the states of California and Alaska are going to meet "highly Qualified Teacher" status Rules.

Why is that that in the state of Texas they have to care more for Coaches than they do the teachers???
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Why is it that you must attack certain programs to promote your own plan? As I recall, your plan calls for or suggests each school should have its own swimming pool. blink.gif We have one, but it has been empty all year because misers will not provide the $ to repair it. <_<

At the school I work at, we had no funding for our stadium provided for through the school board. We, the stupid football coaches you despise so much, worked with the players with fundraising. One citizen donated a ton of money just for our cause. In the end, we have a great new stadium that did not cost the district one bloody cent.

Instead of lashing out at sport programs, you should investigate your claims with more vigor before you plaster them on various forums. You'll find that teachers will agree with you more often when you are correctly reporting matters of importance. Simply finding URLs to post does not cut it. This may come as a shock to you, but not every district in the nation suffers from the exact same problems.
teacher731
QUOTE(kboun @ Feb 28 2005, 04:50 AM)
Why is it that you must attack certain programs to promote your own plan? As I recall, your plan calls for or suggests each school should have its own swimming pool.  blink.gif We have one, but it has been empty all year because misers will not provide the $ to repair it.  <_<

At the school I work at, we had no funding for our stadium provided for through the school board. We, the stupid football coaches you despise so much, worked with the players with fundraising. One citizen donated a ton of money just for our cause. In the end, we have a great new stadium that did not cost the district one bloody cent.

Instead of lashing out at sport programs, you should investigate your claims with more vigor before you plaster them on various forums. You'll find that teachers will agree with you more often when you are correctly reporting matters of importance. Simply finding URLs to post does not cut it. This may come as a shock to you, but not every district in the nation suffers from the exact same problems.
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this poster obviously doesn't realize that all work and no play makes Johnny and Shanita dull. Its important for students to have a well-rounded education, which includes teh core subjects and art, music, and phys ed. Maybe kleenex doesn't realize it, but we have an obesity epidemic inthis country; juvenile diabetes is at an all-time high. At the same time, PE and art and music keep getting slashed and cut in this misguided teach to the test shrub doctrine. I suggest thatthis poster isn't clear on things and it may have to do withthe screen name- who names himself after something in which you blow snot into??!!! lol.gif lol.gif
Buster0001
My poor little 8 year old told some Bushwhacked kid at school
that Bush was cutting education. The kid told her it was a lie.
I wanted to tell her to tell the kid that his parents need to quit
watching Fox and get informed but my daughter is isolated enough
for not supporting Bush. But I did tell her it wasn't a lie. In fact,
on March 9, several performers are presenting a petition to
Congress to save music in schools. Here's an article:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050211/nyf008_1.html
kleenex
QUOTE(teacher731 @ Feb 28 2005, 10:14 AM)
this poster obviously doesn't realize that all work and no play makes Johnny and Shanita dull.  Its important for students to have a well-rounded education, which includes teh core subjects and art, music, and phys ed.  Maybe kleenex doesn't realize it, but we have an obesity epidemic inthis country; juvenile diabetes is at an all-time high.  At the same time, PE and art and music keep getting slashed and cut in this misguided teach to the test shrub doctrine.  I suggest thatthis poster isn't clear on things and it may have to do withthe screen name- who names himself after something in which you blow snot into??!!! lol.gif  lol.gif
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I want Gym as a mandatory requirement, you can't cut this vital class. Swimming pools are optional but I would not mind seeing them in all schools.

You have to have a curriculum that gets people ready for the 21st century and the current curriculum does not do it.
teacher731
.

You have to have a curriculum that gets people ready for the 21st century and the current curriculum does not do it.
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[/quote]
And how would you know this????? You sure provide wild statements but you lack backing. When you become a teacher, and actually work in a legitimate school, I think then you might be able to make a significant comment on education. Right now, your ignorance really shines. lol.gif
kleenex
[quote=teacher731,Feb 28 2005, 05:31 PM]
.

You have to have a curriculum that gets people ready for the 21st century and the current curriculum does not do it.
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[/quote]
And how would you know this????? You sure provide wild statements but you lack backing. When you become a teacher, and actually work in a legitimate school, I think then you might be able to make a significant comment on education. Right now, your ignorance really shines. lol.gif
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[/quote]


So you really think that todays outdated curriculum really gets students ready for the 21st century and the job market that it has????

The people in the Business community will say differently.

You did read this report:

http://www.achieve.org/dstore.nsf/Lookup/p.../pollreport.pdf
teacher731
[quote=kleenex,Feb 28 2005, 06:47 PM]
And how would you know this????? You sure provide wild statements but you lack backing. When you become a teacher, and actually work in a legitimate school, I think then you might be able to make a significant comment on education. Right now, your ignorance really shines. lol.gif
*

[/quote]
So you really think that todays outdated curriculum really gets students ready for the 21st century and the job market that it has????

The people in the Business community will say differently.

You did read this report:

http://www.achieve.org/dstore.nsf/Lookup/p.../pollreport.pdf
*

[/quote]


why can't you answer a simple question? are you or are you not a certified, working teacher???? the business community has no idea what schools are like- when they takeover, like edison etal and all those other evil for profit swindlers, they leave a trail of misery behind. Again, are you a CERTIFIED WORKING TEACHER????
teacher731
QUOTE(kindergarten teacher @ Feb 26 2005, 10:07 PM)
Teachers and allies start organizing as governor betrays public education

http://www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v9i5/Stand_1.htm

"...The governor may have 'star' power, but we have the force of 335,000 members in every community, and the force is with us."

CTA President Barbara E. Kerr
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time to terminate "The Terminator!" His last movie sucked. When's he due for reelection, I mean elected? Who's gonna oppose him? Is it still Meathead from All in the Family? God help California.
kleenex
[quote=teacher731,Feb 28 2005, 06:23 PM]
So you really think that todays outdated curriculum really gets students ready for the 21st century and the job market that it has????

The people in the Business community will say differently.

You did read this report:

http://www.achieve.org/dstore.nsf/Lookup/p.../pollreport.pdf
*

[/quote]
why can't you answer a simple question? are you or are you not a certified, working teacher???? the business community has no idea what schools are like- when they takeover, like edison etal and all those other evil for profit swindlers, they leave a trail of misery behind. Again, are you a CERTIFIED WORKING TEACHER????
*

[/quote]

Even If I was a certified working teacher I would still say that the curriculum we have is out of date and needs some changing. The business community does have some knowledge of the education system. They are the one that hire the people that come from it.
teacher731
[quote=Salute_Liberty,Feb 27 2005, 12:36 AM]
The Bushies are helping to lower the standard of the children's education to bring the gap between any groups closer!

Know how American kids rank against their international peers in science and maths?

now that's NCLB in action! take away actual learning, replace it with teaching to the test, gut education, force states to terminate teh school year early because of foolish federal spending policies, slash programs that work like shrub has (fed funds for smaller class sizes which experts agree is a proven method to increase achievement amongst others that dumbya cut while claiming to be for education), the list goes on and on. but shrub and his neo con artist buddies will somehow blame it all on schools. Their real agenda is to end public education as we know it, much like what they want to do to Social Security. They just don't like federal (and other public) programs that WORK. And as we all know, bush is a true bushie- a pathological, dysfunctional liar. Anyone who believes him and is for his cuts is just as foolish, if not more so .
teacher731
[quote=kleenex,Feb 28 2005, 07:27 PM]
why can't you answer a simple question? are you or are you not a certified, working teacher???? the business community has no idea what schools are like- when they takeover, like edison etal and all those other evil for profit swindlers, they leave a trail of misery behind. Again, are you a CERTIFIED WORKING TEACHER????
*

[/quote]

Even If I was a certified working teacher I would still say that the curriculum we have is out of date and needs some changing. The business community does have some knowledge of the education system. They are the one that hire the people that come from it.
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[/quote]
until you spend a day in our shoes, you really aren't qualified to comment on what counts as relevant in curriculum. And all the obscure links you provide don't make it so. Just like in the kerry forum, you add nothing to the debate except to detract.
teacher731
and one other thhing, just because the business community thinks it knows what needs to be taught, doesn't mean it's so. In college, you learn about principles in business, then you have CEOS taking everyone to the cleaners, jumping with their golden parachutes. Education needs to be in the hands of those in the know- parents, teachers, administrators, staff, students- the business community is so far removed from education. All they care about is exploiting our teenageers to buy their burgers, sodas, expensive sneakers, et al. they could care less about ed, otherwise they'd be pushing for the removal of NCLB which emphasizes individualism and rote thinking, not group cooperation and thinking out of the box, which the business community wants. Once again, you are sadly mistaken.
kleenex
[quote=teacher731,Feb 28 2005, 06:36 PM]
Even If I was a certified working teacher I would still say that the curriculum we have is out of date and needs some changing. The business community does have some knowledge of the education system. They are the one that hire the people that come from it.
*

[/quote]
until you spend a day in our shoes, you really aren't qualified to comment on what counts as relevant in curriculum. And all the obscure links you provide don't make it so. Just like in the kerry forum, you add nothing to the debate except to detract.
*

[/quote]


I do not think so. If Alan Greenspan was elected president of the USA he would have to tackle the problem of the educational system and I do not think he never taught a day in his life. Same goes for Steve Forbes. A lot of the senators and congressmen never taught a day in their life too.

To say that only teachers are the only one that can solve the educational mess is BAD decmocracy and BAD thinking.

My links that I post are not obsucre, they are from major groups that do research on the educational system.
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