I agree. These reforms didn't seem to address a lot of the issues going on in the state. I am actually surprised the props did so well even though they lost. I thought it was going to be a blow-out with all the money that was spent.

Tim,

Is it true that this was one of the costliest elections in the history of CA?

Scott

Since this was the vote no election, what do you think we'll be pushed to vote yes on in June?

I have a feeling there will be some tax/fee increases that will being put forth.

Scott

All I can say about Arnold is that I have never seen anyone with so much, waste it so badly, and get so little in return. I read that Arnold had hired our own local Steve Frank to help him connect with conservatives. So then why did only 15% of conservatives vote in Orange County? In Ventura County the turnout was good but 76 and 77 lost here. 74 passed by only 300 votes in Ventura County and 75 by less than 3,000 votes. Also, Tim can you please post that whoever has been stealing our signs is now free to steal the rest, otherwise we will have to go get them all on Friday.

Thanks for your comments Arleigh. When I took my campaign signs down, I donated them to a local youth sports league and they re-used the backs of them to solicit registrations for their league. Saved them a lot of money and made me feel good that we were able to recycle them for a good purpose.

Tim

Tim,
I will recycle them, but many of them have been ripped and had big holes punched in them, so I don't know if anyone else could use them. Now that the election is over I hope Arnold will look for bi-partisan solutions.

The challenge for all of our "leaders" will be to agree what the problems are in the first place. Only then will they be able to come up with solutions.

I, for one, wish the first order of business would be a "blueprint for world class schools" where:

High school grad requirements closely match the CSU entry requirements...

All schools have librarians, nurses and appropriate class sizes.

Teachers are reimbursed for school supplies they contribute to the classroom, or at least get tax advantages for those contributions.

Districts have to post their bond and other expenditures within 30 days of makign them on a web site.

Waste and overlap is eliminated so more dollars go into the classroom.

Text books are current.

Science & Math teaching is rewarded and those subjects again are taken seriously

Parents are required to take an active role in the education of their kids.

etc... etc...

We need a business plan and finance case for "California's World Class Schools" and then we need to figure out what it costs to build them. Then we need to make it happen.

Tim Keaney

Mr. Keaney,

You say to reward science and math teachers. Do you mean with bonuses for teaching those subjects?

If so, what areas deserve more money and which subjects less?

Also, what about k-5 (or 6) teachers that teach math and science?

Do you think Thursday meeting will have a humbled Arnold? Will the democratic leaders gloat? Will either side really look forward to working together?

What say you?

Hi Brian,

Yes, I support additional income for teachers who take on subjects requiring additional skills, knowledge credentials etc. I also support bringing teachers in from industry, and working with industry to supplement their salaries to teach these subjects.

At the same time, I support, as I have said before, increasing bonuses for teachers who are extraordinary, who work extra long hours, whose kids perform well year after year.

I also support plans to have the majority of kids reading by 6, instead of the goals today of "Reading by 9". 9 years old = the 4th grade. If kids are only beginning to read by the 4th grade, they will be behind forever. It's time to set higher standards, just like the rest of the industrialized world.

As for Tuesday, I am confident that some will be glum, and others will gloat, but I will tell you one thing Brian... they best get to work. They need to set an example now. Leadership and sportsmanship rules apply here. Take the loss (or win) and get over it.

Tim Keaney

Wow! Some great ideas about education! I think, as a teacher and a human being, that education should be taking much more of the attention than what it currently is.
I agree with all of them, even the one about CSU requirements and the grad requirements...only if you give us the means and tools to achieve this.

Today, I subbed in a class for my prep. It was an English one class. There were 10 students. There were two teachers. Great, right? Two to five ratio, not bad. (Considering I have at least 45 in my classes)! Wrong, they were horrible and I ended up sending up 4 of them out to security. Even with six left, it was horrible. They were juniors, all of them. ENGLISH 1 with Juniors????? So, none of them had over 50 credits in their 3 years in high school. Thats not even 25% of what they need to graduate. And that's not the only class like that on campus. We have about 10. That's 100 (at least) just in the 10th grade who are in trouble and are failing, miserably.

So, its fine with me if we're teaching all of them at the same level, heck, it keeps French going on!!! But at least realise that with students who DON'T CARE, we do need some help every now and then. With more F bombs and S bombs, grafitti on the walls and papers, they couldn't read at a 2nd grade level. Well, if we're teaching them at CSU level, we've got another 10 or 12 years with those 16 year olds! Sad, huh?

Mr. Keaney,

I was trying to clarify your idea. I don't know if I'd label it additional skills, ( BA or BS plus credential reqs) for science or math over say...foreign language ( figure Julie would like that).

How do you think others would react to your idea of paying people per subject based off of supply and demand?

And you blew my cover. Thanks Lewis Libby, I mean Tim. ( Just pulling your chain)

zzzbrianzzz

I'd just like to point out that in the chart at the top of page A8 of Thursday, November 10th's Star newspaper, all four of Arnold's propositions (74-77) received more "yes" than "no" votes in Simi Valley.

In TO, all but 76 received more "yes" than "no" (only 39 more!) and in Moorpark, 76 and 77 narrowly received more "no" than "yes" votes (with 77 getting just 12 more "no" votes!).

I think the governor has put himself in kind of a straight-jacket. He's angered the left and the unions with the special election and the right thinks that he's under-reached and or worse was incompetant in the execution of his campaign plans.

With the legislature not scheduled to open until January, he will need to look at a different way of doing things to get his way. The Governor usually enjoys popular support and name-recognition and uses this effectively to persuade the legislature to move in his direction.

Unfortunately, his political capital was just spent, so really his only real power is the power of the governor's office. Its institutional power, not the power of the bully pupit. I would compare his situation to that of Clinton 94 right after he just lost both houses in congress and was asked by reporters if he still mattered.

Does Arnold still matter?

Arnold will have to move left in order to gain political capital again. And, yes this failed shift to move voters to the right this past week, will result in fees and tax increases, particularly, if Arnold is not challenged in the June primary.

With no republican challenging arnold from the right, it will enable Arnold to capture the central position and balance the budget by working with democrats.

I also think he will have to interfere into the Democratic primary for Governor in order to redefine himself as more of a centrist. As Westly and Angelides beat up on each other and creep left to lockdown the base, Arnold must go after independents to even have a chance at reelection.

Bottom line, Arnold has to balance the structural deficit by June or he'll look like he's had a few years and still can't solve problems...

Scott

I would say the Governor needs to, upon his return from his trip to China, come back to Sacramento, and along with the legislative leaders, develop a long-term restorative vision for the state, and what elements need to be included in order for California to have:

Better Roads & Infrastructure
Housing Alternatives
World Class Schools
A balanced budget

It's a tall order, but they need to get to work, get the legislation in order and get it done.

Everything else is just a distraction.

Tim Keaney

Tim:

I think there will need to be some sort of reconciliation here before the citizens will get the leadership you are talking about. As Governor, you can't run around the state telling everyone how screwed up Sacramento is and blasting elected state elected leaders, then go around them in the special election and expect relations to be good.

Doesn't it look funny that Arnold is now saying we need to work together and have meetings with legislative leaders when a week ago he was blasting these same people?

Arnold needs to start the process of a reconciliation... The public doesn't want a special election, they want them to work together on issues that matter to us.

Does Arnold even matter?

It's on my mind. The bottom line is a democratic legislature is going to pass democratic legislation and he either needs to start working with them and coming up with some compromises that benefit all California.

Scott

I'd hate to beat a dead horse but it does hurt me that they'd pay other teachers more money than me just because of the subject matter. It took me 8 years and more than $75,000 to graduate with a BA, Credential, and a MA, so why is my subject area so ignored? I speak 4 languages and I studied in Switzerland. Am I not good enough to deserve a raise? Its kind of unfair. If I could afford to go back to school, I would get a math or science degree but because of the new NCLB stuff, you can't just have a supplement, you need EVERYTHING! (And to pass 2 tests that most people can't). I know that sounds so bad but after working my butt off for so long and then to work myself into the ground every day, just to hear that other teachers are getting more pay just because they have different subjects than I do...it sucks. I have the same students, most of whom have no first language literacy, so I spend more time teaching English than French. Hey, I'm actually teaching two subjects! Can I have a raise? Or at least some books? I do the same amount of work, I spend the same amount of money on my classroom, if not more because the budget is 10% of what the science and math depts budgets are and I don't even get text books. I spend every weekday writing new curriculum. I have less time to help students and more time to make up stuff for them to do in class because I have no text, no activities, no tests, no quizzes, or homework to send home as independent practice.
I think its ridiculous! I also want world class schools but I don't think it has anything to do with teachers. It has a lot to do with class size and class atmosphere. With 46 of us in one classroom, with a fire hazard limit of 40, I can't possibly teach properly. I think its unfair for me but I could care less about me, its my students that I want this betterment. I will survive - even when I'm paying student loans when I'm 80!
If you want good teachers at the low income schools, make them more inviting! Let them know that instead of a raise, they'd have more support, more technology, and more time to work with collegues. Have admin do their jobs and help out with discipline! Have parents be responsible for their child's behavior (another subject all together)! I'm embarassed for parents to see how their children behave. I wonder if they really know what goes on!

Hi Julie:

Check out the Parental Involvement Act. It gives parents the right to:

1. Observe a child's class.
2. Meet a child's teacher and principal.
3. Refuse psychological testing.
4. Have a safe school environment for their child.

How many parents observe your class and how many parent/teacher conferences do you normally do for the students that have behavioral problems?

Also, check out Ed Code 48904, which oulines parent's liability for their children.

"Parents can be liable up to 10,000 for willful misconduct of their child resulting in injury or death to public school students, school personnel, or volunteers as well as damages caused by their child to property belonging to school or school personnel."

Can you believe the death of a teacher, school personnel, or volunteer is only worth 10,000 liability to a parent? That doesn't even begin to cover future earnings for spouses married to teachers, not to mention the loss and heartache to a loved one. 10,000 isn't enough...

How much damage is actually being done to property or persons and what response is the school's principal taking to ensure parents whose children get out of line are becoming liable.

If your principal is not taking proper disciplinary action, have you begun the uniform complaint procedure with your district as principals' suspending powers are determined at the school district level with very little statutory law coming from the state. Basically, school district can tie a principal's hands or not and maybe if teachers began to file uniform complaints forcing 30 working days to correction and response, it'll get better.

If the students are also creating a "hostile environment" undrmining a safe school learning environment, have you filed grievances for better working conditions with your union representation?

Also, if your books and materials are inadequate, your district could be subject to the precedents established in the Williams settlement.

Scott

Hi Tim:

Jerre and you are very interested in incentives in public schools. Take a look at the Ed Code 44650 known as the Incentive Act.

"44650. (a) The Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Act is hereby established for the purpose of awarding one-time performance
awards to teachers and other certificated staff in underachieving schools, where the academic performance of pupils significantly improves beyond the minimum percentage growth target established pursuant to Section 52052.
(b) The State Board of Education shall establish criteria for determining the eligibility of schools to receive the awards and
shall determine the amount to be allocated to a school, based on the number of teachers and other certificated staff eligible to receive
an award. The maximum award allocated to a school per full-time equivalent certificated staff shall not exceed twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000). The total amount of the awards allocated under this article shall not exceed the total amount appropriated for the
purposes of this article.
(c) This article shall be implemented subject to the appropriation of funds for the purpose of this article in the annual Budget Act."

What do you think of this system? Are schools getting the cash rewards in the law? Is it enough? Do you think it motivates schools to do better on API?

Scott

Thanks for the info, I had no idea. But, unfortunatly, I'm not tenured, so I have no rights! No union representation for me! Even after I pay $75 a month! So, I'm left all by myself. And I don't want to make any waves especially because of what I teach and how its not a requirement to graduate from high school in Palm Springs - I'm afraid I'd lose my job if I make a big deal out of anything.
Yes, parents have those rights but do nothing to take advantage of it. I've talked to about 35 so far this year. None of them have asked to come in and the ones that do are AVID students. They're good already. When the parents come in, the kids are on their best behavior. I've had three parent conferences and only one has helped the other two are worse off.
The principal is brand new. I'm sure that once he gets his feet wet, he'll start helping out more. We've been through so many changes this year but with a school built for 1700 and attendance of nearly 3000 this year, everything is hard.
I try my best to teach, keep my job, and stay quite so I can do both. I've already lost jobs in the past, it sucks!

API scores? I have to add that my school went up 60% on ours but because we're still under 700, we got no congratulations or recognition. We went up the most points of any school in the valley. We worked our tails off and I spent $25 a day getting my kids snacks and candy to reward them for coming. We won a pizza party for our attendance but no one else said a thing.

Julie,

I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your comments, and your candor. I would be very interested in knowing the name of the school you teach at, or at least the district. I know your in Palm Springs, but the school or district would be great.

I think it's really unfortunate that you have to put up with so much, and you still have to fear for your job if you speak out.

I also think it's terrible that your school is really improving, and yet no one notices. Good PR is really missing from schools these days.

I agree with you whole heartedly on class size and atmosphere. What would you do to fix these problems statewide, and do you think there is a lot of waste and inefficiencies that could be eliminated to put more dollars into the classroon?

Scott - I am pretty sure The Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Act is suspended because of the budget. Arleigh, can you confirm?

Tim

Tim:

Do you think the Incentive Act should be suspended because of the structural deficit?

Doesn't our current system kind of just keep moving the "goal posts" on student performance and over-rely on punitive measures to improve perofrmance? Where are the rewards?

We want teachers and students to be incentivised to do great things and accountable, than we suspend the programs for rewards improvement.

In international relations there is the "stick" and the "carrot" to get nation-states to move in our direction. I would say government is using the stick a great deal more than the carrot in education. What about you?

I like the concept of "continuous improvement" in business where you try to beat each day's productivity ratios. However, let's look at NCLB's adequate yearly prograss (AYP) for a moment. It measures the grade level's test scores and compares it to how the class did the year before. It doesn't take into effect that previous year's class might be different or less or more educated. Yet, success or failure of the school relies on this model to gauge success or failure.

If teachers work efficiently and improve test scores for their current class, then they have to beat it the next year with their new class or face the wrath punitive measures. Doesn't this incentivise the teacher to just improve her class' test scores enough to beat them the next year. I don't think a teacher would want to see a 30% improvement because it might be tough to beat the follwing year. So, it's really about just enough to get by... Isn't it?

This is NCLB title I in a nutshell? NCLB has shown improvements in minority communities, but I'm not sure this moving of the yearly "goal posts" is fair because it assumes all student aptitude to retain the curriculum and improve are the same. I can tell you not all students are equal in knowledge or ability.

Let's say all teachers at one school improve 4th grade by 30% from year to year. Well, they get to start with a class that is less skilled and beat that 30% or be labeled inadequate and be forced to bus students to another school on the district's dime. It seems like your punishing teachers for being succesful a bit if your saying you have to beat last year's scores with a less capable class.

I'd like to see NCLB use more rewards for good performances.

Thoughts?

Scott

Julie:

That sucs. I've got about 16K in student loans too and love writing that stupid check each month. But, It helped get me through school so, I gotta pay it.

I'm young too, so I don't get many props either. I graduated in 2000 at the beginning of the 2001 recession and got my masters in public administration at the beginning of the state budget cuts and hiring freeze. Pretty cool, huh? I guess I could have planned better, but government/politcs was really the only thing I was ever interested in. Everyone told me I should go into business, but I enjoyed government/politics/campaigns... all of it.

I volunteer a lot of my time to various causes and concerns. It keeps my mind off feeling like I wasted my degrees. Some day it will pay off in helping others, I've already started that...

Everyone who blogs here I consider close friends and all have various issues with schools. The key for me is to keep on learning from everyone here. I value everything you have to say.

Just think, you could be educating the next President of the United States or a scientist that will cure cancer... I'm sure you have reached many students. The problem as I see it, is the really lousy ones take center stage while the quiet capable students who are going places don't get the main focus.

Basically, I just ignore whatever shortcomings I have and keep a forward view on the world. Soon, all the baby-boomers will retire and we'll have the pick of the litter on jobs out there and because of the premium on knowledge workers in the future, salaries will go up due to labor scarcity.

It'll make those student loans seem a miniscule cost when compared to the long-term financial health we find ourselves in. Hang in there.

I think a concern for your school is, how are they going to keep you there in ten years when there are all these great jobs out there that can pay you twice as much without the daily routine of screaming students.

Scott

Thanks for your comments and I must say, you have such a great outlook. I think, and as horrible as it sounds, I've been feeling as if the world owes me something. I guess that's not the best feeling, especially since I complain like crazy about my students feeling this way...so I guess I'd better stop the "woe is me" crap and move on.

I also think that I'll try anything to better any amount of anything at school. So, as at my last school, I lost my job to get them better API scores. I guess you could say that I care too much. I have such strong opinions and beliefs about things but at the same time, I'm open to trying anything.

Being just a French teacher has advantages and disadvantages in Palm Springs Unified. Languages are not a requirement to graduate (ridiculous in this day and age) so we don't see every student on campus but at the same time, I'm never sure of my class sizes or if I'll have one. We have two teachers on campus and the other teacher has been there for 12 years. I'm sure the program isn't going anywhere but with my last experience of not being rehired, I'm salavating for tenure! This past summer was my first summer of knowing in June that I'd have a job in September. I've had a credential for 7 years. It was great, I really felt like a real teacher.

All in all, I think that education needs to take first seat nationally as well as locally and state wide. I think that Arnold's ideas for reform were pathetic. I think that they were such an underestimation of what really needs to go on. I hope that the next few years and ideas from him don't reflect those kinds of reforms. Maybe something that focuses on students and parental involvement which is where the focus should be.

Julie:

Do you think teachers generally feel they can't effect changes in their own schools?

Scott

Brian and Julie:

What are the content standards for your classes? How do administrators discuss these standards with you?

How do you know if your teaching has been successful?

Scott

First question: I don't think that teachers as individuals feel that they can do much. Maybe as a group of teachers we can. I know that I personally have never felt that I had any control over anything except my clasroom and students, and sometimes I doubt that.
Last year, for example, a group of teachers on campus had a parent open house night where we invited all of the parents of the highest levels -language and AP students (they're usually the same kids) because we're losing kids like crazy to the other high school in the district. We're having so many problems on campus that all of the smart "college bound" students are getting cleared to go to other schools other than ours. We have all of the problems in the district and no one wants to attend any more. So, now our scores could go down because of this. The district has given us no support and has turned down our requests for figuring out why this is happening. So, we formed this alliance to let parents see that we're doing just as much as the other high school is. Unfortunatly, with all these problems, plus getting 3 new administrators and a WASC year, we've dropped the ball with that groupthis school year. But I can't say that its our fault. We invited people from the DO and board members and not one person showed up to support us. That was a blow. We put the whole thing together, gave up about 15 hours of planning time, bought food and snacks, dressed up, and organized proof that we taught to the standards. It was a fun and informative night but now we've not had one meeting. We've got WASC and the daily work to do but wouldn't you think that staff development could include something like that? Seems to me that keeping our smart kids (the ones that can study and concentrate in class) at our school would benefit everyone. Instead, the DO does nothing. Its very unfair and the deal is stacked very much not in our favor. The other school has an attendance policy, we don't, they use a 5.0 gpa scale, we can't. Its truly been unfair. Now, we're trying to fix some of these problems but we've got an uphill climb especially during a WASC year.

Standards? Foreign Language doesn't have state standards. We have national standards but CA doesn't recognize the five C's as standards. So, I guess that we're supposd to use the national standards, I've never been told. We have no benchmarks, framework, so what is discussed with me is that I've got to teach to the standards...which ones, no idea.

I know my teaching has been successful when students continue on to AP and pass the test. I know that I'm teaching well when I get tests with 100%. I know that I'm doing well when I can have a converstaion with a student and they understand and can answer back. There are many ways that I know that my teaching is a success, infact our standards are so broad that anything I do is teaching to the standards. I don't think that's a problem for me. Its quite a pain to take 15 minutes out of my teaching to explain the standards - but I'm a teacher so I'll do it. I just don't think that we get as much teaching done as we used to. With taking role on line (it has to be done within the first 10 minutes of each class) and then with the ESLRs and standards and discipline...

Julie:

I think its a real challenge to get administrators who can effectively the content standards and align them with the tests.

One challenge for principals is that they must have the depth of knowledge and credibility with the teachers to be able to focus the campus around improving test scores.

I think it's troubling that the standards for your program have never been discussed between the leadership and the teachers.

It seems that schools and districts that have been successful tend to do a great job of aligning standards with tests and curriculum.

I think it's highly important to be able to gauge success in some fashion otherwise, how do we all know we have been successful?

Scott

Julie:

Since you deal with languages, do you think our english immersion programs have worked better than the previous system where students were taught in their own language?

Scott

Scott,

I do indeed think that the goal posts keep moving, because educational and legislative leaders would rather debate the gorvernor, and "per pupil funding" than admit the sad truth that Johnny and Jane can't read.

That kids enter kindergarten full of hope, and that by High School, large % have either dropped out or started taking drugs or alcohol.

Like Julie says, it's pretty tough to learn with all of the disturbances in the classroom.

In today's tatoo generation, Parents need to get it together and decide if education is about education, or child care.

Tim

Yes! Its mostly parents' decision to have children who care, enjoy, want to learn. It has to do, I think, a lot with how you're raised. I don't think that a child who is raised with no values of learning and the love to learn, they probably won't care. Just as if a child was raised that saying bad words is ok. If a parent says the S word all the time, why is the kid not going to? If parents talk about the importance of doing well in school, the child will pick that up. I'm not saying that's true 100% of the time but for the most part that's what I see at school.

Immersion vs. ELL are both valuable systems of learning/teaching English. The only thing that truly matters, in my opinion, is first language literacy. Just as I learned English through learning French, other people have to make connections between their own language and the one that they're learning. Immersion works GREAT for people who want to learn! Like the military trains their language people through 5 month immersion classes. It works great but those people are getting paid and have some interest in being there. I'm sure I'd absolutly love it! But for people who don't care, don't want to learn, and don't think that they need to learn are a different story. But the bad side is that its just as easy to tune it out as it is to listen.

My question is why not do something about this problem? Why not figure out why kids aren't motivated (besides parents who don't care) and do something about that! I've got so many on both sides of the coin and I wonder why there are kids out there that think that they can be a 8th year senior with 50 credits and thats ok...who told them that thats ok?

Administrators at all 8 schools that I've worked for have never really been the ones to align curriculum for us. Its always been more of the teachers jobs. I wasn't aware that it was the admins job to write tests for our standards. Plus, we have none. State of Ca doesn't recognize the national standards. How can we align to nothing? I just use the national standards anyway but who knows...we're always the last to know!