By Deb McCurdy, Special to K12NN On March 18, 2013, public education advocates, administrators, school board members, school administrators, non-profit organizations and philanthropists convened at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles. The event followed from a discussion a group of First District CA PTA delegates had with State Senator Carol Liu’s staff on state [...]
The California PTA Legislative Conference is an excellent gathering orchestrated by the state PTA and usually happens every spring after everyone’s had a chance to digest the governor’s January budget announcement and State of the State address. (KQED has provided 7, 15, and full 30 minute versions of the State of the State here.) We [...]
A recent survey from the California Endowment asked parents of school-aged children and other voters in the state what school safety measures were most important to them, and they overwhelmingly chose a school counselor or psychologist in every school as opposed to an armed officer or other security personnel. The LA Times reported additionally that [...]
In case you missed the #kidsnotcuts Twitter party with our expert Lily Eskelsen (@NEAToday) as the featured guest, I’ve collected some of the tweet highlights. Good morning, all! Let’s get #kidsnotcuts Twitter Party started! Thanks for joining us Lily. Use @neatoday 2 any Qs u have re fed school $ — K-12 News Network (@K12NN) [...]
My home state is California, and we just successfully survived our own state version of the “fiscal cliff” when it comes to education. Here, they were called the “trigger cuts.” If Proposition 30 — essentially part of the June 30, 2012 budget passed by the legislature that needed the people’s thumbs up at the ballot [...]
This one’s from EdSource, a very reliable non-profit education news outlet. EdSource: Proposition 30 | Proposition 38 Comparisons This one’s from the California Budget Project, also a very reliable non-profit state budget watchdog outlet that has excellent information on education. California Budget Project: How Do Propositions 30 & 38 Compare?
These are reproduced from pdfs found on the California Secretary of State’s website and are the official titles and summaries of Propositions 30 and 38. Proposition 30: Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. CA Proposition 30: TEMPORARY TAXES TO FUND EDUCATION. GUARANTEED LOCAL PUBLIC SAFETY FUNDING. INITIATIVE CO… [...]
This is a must-read from The Nation on why the Chicago teacher’s strike is much more than a local issue. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel share roots in the city that was Obama’s training ground as a politician, and so they’re deserved targets as well as proxies for all that [...]
While at the DNC, I was lucky enough to be invited to a small gathering of public education supporters with Governor Dean and Randi Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). I’m a tremendous fan of Governor Dean — in fact, I was a Deaniac before there was a netroots. I still think [...]
Around the country, REAL parent heroes are putting the lie to the version of the story told in the movie Won’t Back Down. The “parent trigger”, or “parent tricker” law is in the news again, this time with a glossy film starring popular actors Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The heart-string-tugging movie is called Won’t [...]