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September 30, 2005
Equal Opportunity Idiocy
Otherwise known as "Your tax dollars at work"..
GAO: Education Department broke rules
By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated 1:01 pm PDT Friday, September 30, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Education Department violated a ban on covert propaganda when it paid a columnist to tout government policies and produced a video that seemed like a news story, congressional investigators said Friday.
The public relations efforts violated the government's "publicity or propaganda prohibition" because the Education Department contracts did not ensure that the department's role was clearly disclosed, the Government Accountability Office said.
The investigation had been requested by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., after it was revealed that the department had hired Armstrong Williams, a syndicated conservative columnist and TV personality, to promote Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law.
The department approved spending $240,000 to have Williams, who is black, inform minorities about Bush's law by producing ads with then-Education Secretary Rod Paige. Williams also was to provide media time to Paige and to persuade other blacks in the media to talk about the law.
The GAO also looked at a broader Education Department contract with Ketchum, a public relations firm, to publicize the Bush education agenda. This effort included production of a "video news release" promoting the education law that looked and sounded like a news story.
The firm also rated various news stories and individual reporters on how favorable their education reporting was to Bush and the Republican Party.
"The Bush administration took taxpayer funds that should have gone towards helping kids learn and diverted it to a political propaganda campaign," Lautenberg said in a statement. "The administration needs to return these funds to the treasury."
Kennedy added: "The taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign coming from the White House is another sign of the culture of corruption that pervades the White House and Republican leadership."
The PR efforts came to light shortly before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings took the helm of the department early this year. Her spokeswoman, Susan Aspey, said, "Under Secretary Spellings' leadership, stringent processes have been instituted to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."
"We've said for the past six months that this was stupid, wrong and ill-advised," Aspey said. "There's nothing in today's action that changes our opinion."
In a related matter, the GAO also looked into a Health and Human Services Department contract with syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher to help promote a marriage initiative. The GAO said the Gallagher contract did not violate the propaganda ban "because the services provided were not covert, self-aggrandizing or purely partisan."
Source: Sac Bee
Posted by Tim Keaney at 02:16 PM
September 29, 2005
Appalling
The fires surrounding Oak Park, Agoura & Simi Valley are tragic and terrifying. Oak Park School District has updated their web site with emergency information related to the fires, and school closings.
Las Virgenes the same - Updated with school closings and related information. They also used auto-dialer systems to call all homes.
Simi Valley has two closed schools, and is evacuating Wood Ranch Elementary to Royal High School. You can't find anything related to this on their web site though (But you did approve C4 apparently!). You heard it here first.
Tim
Posted by Tim Keaney at 12:59 PM
September 28, 2005
Fire the Superintendent??
I was shocked to read the article/op-ed in the Star this morning from a parent in Conejo demanding Child Care for their child at Lang Ranch school. Because this blog covers everything VC in the way of educational matters, I am going to post the web site and ask for opinions and solutions to the matter.
I, for one, don't like the tactics, and if you visit the web site, I think this parent is "over the top" in their demands. But, it's just my opinion. Read for yourself at Firethesuperintendent.com
If you've got an opinion, or want to respond to the web site, I invite you to.
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 11:40 AM
From The SAC BEE
I like Dan Wientraub's writing. Here is this morning's article in it's entirety...
It's not how much money, but how it is used on schools
By Daniel Weintraub
September 28, 2005
When a couple of dozen students from the leadership class at Sutter Middle School near downtown Sacramento gathered in the library the other day for a glimpse at a grown-up press conference, they probably had no idea they were going to see a modern demonstration of one of the oldest tactics in political propaganda: the big lie.
The occasion was the endorsement of Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is running for governor, by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. The two Democrats used the moment to bash Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his policies.
"He said he wouldn't cut education," Angelides told the students, "but he did."
The treasurer's statement was the latest attempt by Democratic leaders and their allies in the teachers unions to persuade voters that the budget proposed by Schwarzenegger earlier this year and approved by the Legislature reduced funding for the schools. The governor's opponents think that if they repeat this lie often enough, people will believe it. So far, they have been right.
The truth, however, is that while Schwarzenegger did not give the schools as much as he once promised he would, his budget this year increased funding for education, and not by just a little. It provided $3 billion more for kindergarten through community colleges, including a $2.5 billion increase for K-12 alone. That was a 5 percent boost from the year before.
Since 2000, the numbers are even more dramatic. State and local funding for the schools has grown by nearly $10 billion in this decade, despite an almost constant budget crunch in Sacramento. Per-student funding has grown from $6,266 in 2000 to $7,402 today, an increase of 18 percent.
The growth in education spending during those years has been worth about $34,000 for every class of 30 students.
So while it is true California schools get less than the national average, and less than they would like, they have not been cut in recent years and certainly not starved, as some suggest.
The increase this year is all the more remarkable because it came at a time when the state was facing -- and still faces -- a $6 billion gap between projected spending and tax revenues. The budget for the schools was almost exactly what was recommended by the state's nonpartisan and widely respected legislative analyst, Elizabeth Hill, and was supported by almost every Democrat in the Legislature, including Nunez.
Projections suggest that school budgets will continue to at least keep pace with enrollment and inflation in the coming years, and probably do better. The real question will be not how much money should the state's taxpayers spend on the schools, but how should that money be spent?
In that regard, Sutter Middle School is a strange place for Democrats to choose as an icon for their education policy because its success contradicts their message that money is the pre-eminent issue. The school represents just the opposite, a testament to the idea that money is not the crucial factor in producing high achievement.
Once nearly shut down by the local district due to dwindling enrollment, Sutter now holds an admissions lottery because it gets so many applications from students throughout the city. The difference between then and now is not a big budget, but a big-hearted principal, Greg Purcell.
Purcell's attention to detail includes learning every child's name, personally walking the hallways during every class break and policing any litter that falls on the ground. He sets high standards that start with the assumption that every child can learn, and he backs up his staff when they report discipline problems in their classrooms.
Purcell also makes it a practice to hire only teachers who commit to going the extra mile for their kids.
I saw Purcell during the treasurer's press conference and asked him how the school's budget fared this year. He said his campus suffered no cuts and benefited from the cost-of-living adjustment that all California schools received.
"We're surviving," he said.
Now that's an honest answer.
-- Daniel Weintraub writers for the Sacramento Bee.
Posted by Tim Keaney at 11:27 AM
September 23, 2005
How do you say "stupid" in Austrian?
The year of reform was beginning to look like a year-long lack of leadership and/or reform. Now, it has turned into a bad movie, with this, the ultimate Inspector Clouseau moment:
http://www2.dailynews.com/news/ci_3050328
Web site pulls form ripping bad teachers
By Juliet Williams, Associated Press
--Tim's Comments--
Yes, the Governor's campaign web site was indeed collecting stories from Californians about bad teachers, to use them in future campaign material. This is the stupidest, most moronic, Did I Say STUPID thing I have ever seen in politics (and, well, that's HUGE!)
There are certainly bad teachers. Teachers who are failing and teachers who should have retired long ago or who should not have been given tenure. We've all had them (I once had a teacher tell me Ben Franklin had been President of the United States). Those teachers should be eased out of the system.
But the amount of teachers who are of the highest character, who are creative, who tie kids shoes because parents are too lazy or too drunk to teach them; teachers who stand in front (or in many cases, sit on the floor) of the class every day to hopefully make a difference. Those are the teachers that should be revered.
To post a form on a web site to collect ugly teacher stories is not just stupid, it's unwise, unhelpful, un-creative and unproductive. Listen to the insulting quote from Arnold's advisor:
"We never even accessed it," said Todd Harris, a spokesman for California's Recovery Team. "There are so many egregious examples of this we never even needed to."
Message to Todd - do you think we are morons? Form content is typically dumped into a database (like this blog material) for later reference. To say "we never accessed it" is an insult to the intelligence of voters, and bloggers alike. And Todd, what exactly was the point of having it there in the first place? How, exactly, would this "reform" (your word) California's education system?
To invite these kinds of stories is to invite every parent who ever had a grudge to come up with something. Every parent who's kid sat out band because of a D+ average, or who got their kid in trouble because they dropped them off at 8:20 in the morning when school starts at 8, without breakfast down them or the ability to eat lunch. To quote my friend Jerre - "when a kid is doing well in school, they're brilliant - When they aren't, the teacher is an idiot". THESE are the stories the Governor wants to make hay with.
Say what you will about the union (and I have) or disagree with their politics (and I certainly do) and fight the fact they continue to raid teacher pay checks to play politics (which isn't right)...but don't insult them, and us by playing the game even worse than the union does. That's not leadership, that's amateur hour, game show crap.
The governor has a responsibility to do the following:
Denounce this tactic
Purge the stories from the database
Fire his advisors who posted it
Fight these issues with legitimate and intelligent arguments. Do it well, do it right and tell us why we should vote your way.
Do you think this will happen? I don't. It would be called Leadership. I guess that's just something for girlie-men.
What do you think? How DO you say Stupid in Austrian?
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 03:20 PM
September 20, 2005
Westlake vs. Westlake Story - WESTLAKE WINS!
In case you missed Sunday's Star Sports section, there was a huge article comparing the football programs of Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, CA and Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.
There is an old adage in sports. When you're done comparing players, stats, coaches, fans etc.. there is really only one thing that matters at the end of the game - The scoreboard, and what it says the final score is.
You see, most people reading the article would have thought it was about football. But to me, the article was about priorities. Check out the tale of the tape:
The two Westlakes
September 18, 2005
Comparing Westlake High with Westlake of Austin, Texas:
WESTLAKE, Austin
Year opened: 1969.
Enrollment: 2,400, grades 9-12.
Principal: Kathleen Sullivan (first year)
Academics: 86 percent of seniors
(2003-04 attended four-year college;
statistics) average SAT score, 1,185;
national average, 1,026)
AP courses: 23 offered
WESTLAKE, Thousand Oaks
GENERAL INFORMATION
Year opened: 1978.
Enrollment: 2,168, grades 9-12.
Principal: Ron Lippari (sixth year)
Academics: 64 percent of seniors
(2003-04 attend four-year college;
statistics) average SAT score, 1,154;
national average 1,026
AP courses: 13 offered.
So the final score?
Westlake Austin has 86% of seniors going on to four-year college, vs. 64% for Westlake Thousand Oaks. Austin offers 23 AP classes instead of 13 for T.O. Average SAT scores are higher in Austin. And, lest we think it's a jock school down there, a smaller % of kids are participating in athletics in Austin vs. T.O. (33% to 41.5% in T.O.)
Speaking of scoreboards, check this out: Austin Westlake has a video scoreboard, and the video presentations are created by the high school graphics department for school credit, and it leads kids into good paying jobs during college later in life.
While this was a story comparing the two football programs, it was a very telling story about the depth and bench-strengths of the schools themselves.
So on your scoreboard, which Westlake wins?
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 02:24 PM
September 16, 2005
Are we ready to rumble?
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, government agencies at all levels have a lot of explaining to do about failures and inaction. There was wholesale failure, from Presidential leadership, to the Mayor not ordering enough busses to evacuate those who couldn't. Systemic failures were exposed for what they were.
And now we, as "the people" have two resposibilites: Hold those who failed accountable (with our voices, actions, donations, votes etc...) - and assure it doesn't happen again.
Across the country, people need to make sure that if there is an emergency, that they are prepared in case the first responders are busy, or god forbid, not called to action.
In Ventura County, we are obviously prone to natural disaster. Fires, Mudslides, and the BIG ONE - Earthquakes. We all have a personal responsibility to be ready at home and business, to make sure those we are responsible for are taken care of. But what is the responsibility of our local governments?
Questions...
What happens if San Andreas let's go? What happens if it's the middle of the day?
1. Are there enough cops on the beat, and what is the procedure for making sure there are?
2. How will you get to your kids school and pick them up if the freeways and phone lines are down?
3. Are the schools prepared with food, water, emergency medical supplies?
4. We have one hospital in town, and it's under construction?
5. Do our local governmental agencies all have emegergency preparedness plans in place? Is it posted where we can read it? How often are there drills? Do kids know what to do in an earthquake?
6. As we saw in Katrina, do we know who's in charge? Does someone have the job because of political patronage, or do they have a level head and know what they're doing.
7. If kids have to spend the night at their school, how will they be provided for? If kids are seperated from their parents for an extended period, what are the procedures in place if emegency contacts can't be contacted?
8. How fresh are the emergency supplies and water?
9. Simi Valley has a CERT (community emergency response team) - does it have jurisdiction over schools and parks? Do other communities?
THIS is a disaster (or not) waiting to happen. Should there be a local task force to make sure it's all ready to go and in gear?
I am interested in getting your perspective.
Tim
Posted by Tim Keaney at 03:49 PM
Big Blue - Understanding the need
From the Wall Street Journal this morning. an unbelievable example of a public company doing good things, and understanding the need for an educated work force in our country. IBM - Putting it's money (and employees) where it's mouth is:
IBM to Pay for Employees To Become Math Teachers
Associated Press
September 16, 2005 1:18 p.m.
NEW YORK -- International Business Machines Corp., worried the U.S. is losing its competitive edge, will financially back employees who want to leave the company to become math and science teachers.
The new program, being announced Friday in concert with city and state education officials, reflects technology-industry fears that U.S. students are falling behind peers from other countries such as India and China in the sciences.
Up to 100 IBM employees will be eligible for the program in its trial phase. Eventually, Big Blue hopes many more of its tech-savvy employees -- and those in other companies -- will follow suit. The goal is to help fill shortfalls in the nation's teaching ranks, a problem expected to grow with the retirement of today's educators.
Math and science are of particular concern to companies in many U.S. industries that expect to need technical workers but see low test scores in those subjects and waning interest in science careers.
"Over a quarter-million math and science teachers are needed, and it's hard to tell where the pipeline is," said Stanley Litow, head of the IBM Foundation, the Armonk, N.Y., company's community-service wing. "That is like a ticking time bomb not just for technology companies, but for business and the U.S. economy."
While many companies encourage their employees to tutor schoolchildren or do other things to get involved in education, IBM believes it is the first to guide workers toward switching into a teaching career.
The company expects older workers nearing retirement to be the most likely candidates, partly because they would have more financial wherewithal to take the pay cut that becoming a teacher likely would entail.
The workers would have to get approval from their managers to participate. If selected, the employees would be allowed to take a leave of absence from the company, which includes full benefits and up to half their salary, depending on length of service.
In addition, the employees could get up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursements and stipends while they seek teaching credentials and begin student-teaching.
From then on, the IBM people would become school employees -- the program will encourage them to work in public schools but they can go private if they wish -- and leave Big Blue's payroll. But IBM plans to offer a mentoring program that would give its former workers guidance and teaching materials over the Internet.
"It's not an easy transition to make," said Mr. Litow, a former deputy schools chancellor in New York City
What do you think???
Tim
Posted by Tim Keaney at 10:46 AM
September 13, 2005
Prop 76 - It's time to get educated
In this, the so-called "Year of reform", there is an important measure on the ballot called Proposition 76. It affects State Spending and Prop 98 guarantees. If you're interested in schools, funding and the rest, it's a must read:
Instead of copying it here - I have given you a link to the Legislative Analyst's take on this measure
In my view, the other measures on the ballot are not worthy of a special election, and this measure should really have been negotiated with the legislature before heading to the ballot (of course, had we allowed the governor and legislature to negotiate, the budget might be $150 billion)...
Tim
Posted by Tim Keaney at 04:10 PM
September 12, 2005
No Law Suits Left Behind...
Is it me? First, the state legislature can't get anything of substance done, so we throw an election with initiatives no one wil understand, and fewer will vote for. But now, have you noticed that everyone in Sacramento is also Lawsuit happy?
Lining up for his second suit of the year is State Superintendant of Public Instuction Jack O'Connell - suing to stop legislation that would slow the testing of special needs kids for the State Exit Exam.
The problem is - I COMPLETELY agree with Superintendant O'Connell. Read this article:
The state had agreed, and settled the matter that only this years seniors with special needs would be exempt from the State High School Exit Exam. This was the result of a law suit settled last month with the Disability Right Advocates, an Oakland Based Group representing 25,000 special needs kids in the 2006 class.
Now, legislation by Molina (D) Los Angeles throws the whole thing into question. Molina wants all seniors and juniors exempted - expanding what the state agreed to in the settlement, and forcing the hands of both the Governor (who will veto it) and Superintendant O'Connell, who is against it as well (Are they EVEN speaking?) -
The thing you need to consider is not what Ms. Molina thinks is right, or what she wants, but what the parents of the actual kids in question want. For example: "I wish (the Legislature) would have stuck with the settlement so it could have gone through," Dobek said. "For my family, it creates worry. ... We aren't sure what the future entails."
Can you imagine being such a parent - not that their may be no solution at all?
Also interesting, is that it seems like Mr. O'Connel is finally getting in line with NCLB. He says:
All students must be held to the same expectations to assure teachers give them the best education...
He wants kids who are exempt to take supplemental classes, while Romero's bill doesn't require that...
What do you think? Should kids with learning disabilities be required to take the test? Should this year's juniors be exempt? Does California have a clue what it's doing in education?
Or should we sue for a redress of our grievances?
Tim
Posted by Tim Keaney at 07:36 PM
September 10, 2005
Looks like more of C4 to me...
There has been a lot of talk lately about the SVUSD and the ICOC (their own, appointed Independant Citizens Oversight Committee) making nice, including an article in the Acorn this week. But it doesn't look like anyone is making nice, indeed, it seems to be blowing up for the district. Here is a press release from the ICOC (in charge of watchdogging your tax dollars):
PREPARED STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2005
Contact: Chris Hamilton, Chairman
Independent Citizens Oversight Committee: SVUSD C4 Bond Project
There has been speculation by elected officials and others that statements made in the media by Eric Cohen and other members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) are not representative of the position of the ICOC. In particular, recent statements made by Simi Valley Unified School District trustees in the context of ICOC discussions about the $1.5 million dollar transfer were both inaccurate and misinformed.
Eric Cohen, an unpaid volunteer, is the appointed spokesman of the ICOC. This role was established to simplify the process for media to obtain reliable information in a timely manner. The committee, along with Mr. Cohen, expected this would be a low profile role,
and did not anticipate the ongoing serious issues that we have been forced to address regarding the 1.5 million dollar transfer. The resulting media attention has been necessary and, consequently, it has at times created an overwhelming time commitment for Mr. Cohen.
The committee extends its appreciation to Mr. Cohen and, further, ratifies the statements made by him and others on behalf of the ICOC. Assertions made by elected officials in public forums challenging his motives and accuracy are unfortunate and misinformed.
When statements are made about Mr. Cohen, the statements are really speaking to and about the entire ICOC. This is particularly regrettable when individuals make accusations or offer criticisms about Mr. Cohen and the ICOC, all the while knowing that what they are
saying is misleading, at best.
Eric Cohen continues to be the trusted spokesman for the ICOC. He will carry on in this capacity with the full and complete support of the ICOC for the foreseeable future.
---end press release---
What do YOU think of this?
Why do you think the ICOC had to make such a statement?
How is the progress of construction going at your school?
If you are in another community, what is happening with your bond funds (if they'be been voted on and approved?
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 08:41 AM
September 05, 2005
Supplying the Hurricane Victims
In cities across the country, especially in the south in the areas of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and others, thousands of displaced children from Hurricane Katrina will wake up tomorrow (and for the foreseeable future) in shelters. They have none of their belongings, no sense of normalcy and no schools to go to, because theirs have been destroyed.
Hundreds of school districts are opening their doors to these kids, and offering them schools to go to in order to help them focus on the future, instead of this disaster. Getting these kids back to school and learning should be a high priority for our nation.
In many cases though, while districts will make room for these kids, the influx is going to cause a huge drain on already scarce recources. That's why I am asking you to help them, by joining with me to collect school supplies that these districts and kids need to help them learn.
I am asking all local districts, PTA's, school organizations, parents and businesses to join with us to collect school supplies and backpacks, and I am also calling on local business to donate supplies, as well as pick up some of the cost of shipping them to districts in the south. The Humble, Texas School District has been kind enough to even post a list of needed supplies on their web site - click here to see the lists.
This is a time to put politics aside, and help Americans in need. These kids are literally going to go to new schools (hard enough) without knowing anyone, with quite literally nothing but the shirts on their backs.
Can you help? My office phone # is (805) 306-0024 and we will begin collecting supplies on Tuesday the 6th. Please help these kids get back to school.
Sincerely,
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 04:30 PM
September 01, 2005
Hurricane
School districts across the south, particularly in Texas, should be commended for taking in the children of refugees from Hurricane Katrina. Many districts are enrolling children, without required birth certificates and related documentation, because it's more important that kids be in school, than in a shelter.
That is a true sign of compassion.
If you haven't done so yet, please make a donation to a charity offering disaster relief. Here is a link to the American Red Cross.
Please keep the Hurricane victims in your thoughts, as well as the first responders in this unprecendented national tragedy.
Tim Keaney
Posted by Tim Keaney at 03:55 PM
