layoffs

Obama's 2nd term plan for education

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In a newly published policy brochure, the President outlines his second term plan for education

President Obama’s plan for America’s future: Highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020 so we can compete and win in the 21st Century economy:

1. Cutting tuition growth in half over the next ten years. We can make college more affordable by continuing tax credits to help middle-class families afford college tuition, doubling the number of work-study jobs and creating incentives for schools to keep tuition down.

2. Recruiting and preparing 100,000 math and science teachers. We can out-compete China and Germany by out-educating them. The STEM Master Teacher Corps and investments in research and innovation into the best ways to teach math and science will help improve math and science education nationwide.

3. Strengthen public schools in every community. Because we can’t compete for jobs of the future without educating our children, we must prevent teacher layoffs. We also must expand Race to the Top to additional school districts willing to take on bold reform. The President will offer states committed to reform relief from the worst mandates of No Child Left Behind, like incentives to teach to the test, so they can craft local solutions.

4. Train 2 million workers for good jobs that actually exist through partnerships between businesses and community colleges.

Education News for 04-20-2012

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Statewide Education News

  • Raising the bar at Ohio pre-K’s (Dispatch)

    • Thousands of poor youngsters start kindergarten unprepared to learn and behind their peers, delays that can cause them to struggle throughout their school years. A proposal being considered by Ohio lawmakers aims to reduce those learning gaps by requiring all tax-funded preschool and childcare programs to participate in a rating system to help guide parents and ensure high standards. Read More…

  • Turn in a bully anonymously (Marietta Times)

    • Anonymous phone lines to report bullying and other behavior could be coming to local school districts. Providing some means to anonymously report bullying, harassment and intimidation is part of House Bill 116, signed into law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich earlier this year. It requires schools to expand their anti-bullying policies and include possible suspension for cyberbullying. Read More…

  • Rallying cry of city students: Do your best on state test (Vindicator)

    • Students at Williamson Elementary School got rousing support as they prepare to take the Ohio Achievement Assessment next week. "We want them to bring on the OAA because we are ready," Principal Wanda Clark shouted at a Thursday morning rally at the school. "Are we ready?" Students shouted back that they are. First- and second-graders marched in the school gymnasium, holding posters and cheering, "Do your best, pass the test." Read More…

  • Cyberbullying Law Now In Place; Students Note Positive Changes (NBC-4)

    • Bullying doesn't stop when your kids leave school, and as many as half of American teenagers said they've been bullied online. But now, there is something schools can do about it. Ohio's new law, The Jessica Logan Act, prohibits cyberbullying whether or not it's on school property, and schools are required to alert students and parents about discipline options if cyberbullying occurs. Anonymous reporting is also part of the act, but are schools changing their policies? Read More…

Local Issues

  • Newark High School to get iPads, laptops

    • Newark City Schools administrators plan to add 400 laptops and 100 iPads to the high school this fall, with the goal of getting them into students' hands as much as possible. Superintendent Doug Ute envisions a time when teachers are more fully integrating technology into their lesson plans and students will carry their devices rather than heavy books in backpacks to and from school. Read More…

  • Oregon Schools working on alternative energy project (WTOL )

    • Oregon City Schools put the massive blades for its 900 kilowatt wind turbine in place on Thursday, and they will help provide more than 80% of the energy for Clay High School. The turbines serves as a working monument to the district's commitment to the environment and taxpayers. Read More…

  • Beavercreek district plans 30 layoffs, extensive cuts (Dayton Daily News)

    • The Beavercreek City School District plans to eliminate more than 50 full- and part-time jobs and cut academic courses across the district following a third-straight levy defeat. About 30 of the job cuts will come through layoffs and the rest through attrition, said Beavercreek Superintendent Nick Verhoff. Read More…

  • Reality Check gives students glimpse of adulthood (Hamilton Journal News)

    • Students at Fairfield Freshman School had kids, bought a car, a house, insurance and other necessities — all within the space of 45 minutes or less. Granted, the children were represented by ping-pong balls. That’s because the students were participating in Reality Check, an annual event coordinated by the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. Read More…

  • CPS busing costs go up, up, ouch! (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Transportation cost overruns are blowing up Cincinnati Public Schools budget. The state’s third-largest school district expects to spend a whopping $29.5 million this year just to transport 21,000 kids to and from school each day. That’s 9 percent, or $2.3 million, more than budgeted and $1.3 million more than last year. Read More…

  • KSU delegation visits Senior High to see Algebra Project work (Mansfield News Journal)

    • A delegation from Kent State University watched this week as Mansfield Senior High School math teacher Amanda Clawson led her Algebra Project junior class in analyzing two equations. "How are they different? How are they the same?" Clawson asked. Read More…

  • Lorain City School layoffs; District cuts 182 positions, notices sent next 2 days (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • Lorain City Schools will be sending layoff notices today and tomorrow as the district cuts 182 positions, according to Interim Superintendent Ed Branham. “Letters are going out to be passed out to (today),” Branham said. The first group receiving the letters today will be secretaries, media clerks and health professional, with teachers and teachers and the remaining people being laid off get notices Friday, he said. Read More…

  • State admonishes teacher fired for viewing porn on school laptop (New Philadelphia Times Reporter)

    • Howard “Mike” Winland, a former Strasburg elementary teacher, has been admonished by the State Board of Education for viewing pornographic images on a district laptop computer. Unless he engages in additional conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession, however, Winland will retain his teaching license. Read More…

  • Unioto, ACLU near deal to avert bullying lawsuit (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • Five months after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio threatened legal action against Union-Scioto Local Schools for allegedly not doing enough to address anti-gay bullying, the two sides are said to be close to an agreement that would stave off a lawsuit. What began as an incident Oct. 17 between two Unioto High School students flared into national news this past fall after a video of the attack went viral online. The mother of the victim, a 15-year-old freshman, said her son was attacked because he's gay and that the school had not done enough to protect him. Read More…

  • Updated academic plan approved for Youngstown schools (Vindicator)

    • State Superintendent Stan Heffner has approved an updated plan to get the city school district out of academic distress. Though the plan in place since July 2010 focused on elementary schools, the updated document aims more at the district’s high schools. The plan was approved last month by the city schools’ academic-distress commission and submitted to Heffner, state superintendent of public instruction. Read More…

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT: IMPACT FOR OHIO

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Here's some details from the Presidents recently announced "THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT", and how it will impact Ohio's education system specifically. The entire Docuent can be found here.

The President is proposing to invest $35 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers, while supporting the hiring of tens of thousands more and keeping cops and firefighters on the job. These funds would help states and localities avoid and reverse layoffs now, and will provide $1,093,800,000 in funds to Ohio to support up to 14,200 educator and first responder jobs.

The President is proposing a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools – investments that will create jobs, while improving classrooms and upgrading our schools to meet 21st century needs. Ohio will receive $985,500,000 in funding to support as many as 12,800 jobs.

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT

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Last night the President gave a speech and outlined his proposal to deal with the countries high unemployment. His plan is titled "THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT". You can read it all here, but we just wanted to highlight the sections dealing with education.

Putting Workers Back on the Job While Rebuilding and Modernizing America

Preventing Layoffs of Teachers, Cops and Firefighters: The President is proposing to invest $35 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers, while supporting the hiring of tens of thousands more and keeping cops and firefighters on the job. These funds would help states and localities avoid and reverse layoffs now, requiring that funds be drawn down quickly. Under the President’s proposal, $30 billion be directed towards educators and $5 billion would support the hiring and retention of public safety and first responder personnel.

Modernizing Over 35,000 Schools – From Science Labs and Internet-Ready Classrooms to Renovated Facilities: The President is proposing a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools – investments that will create jobs, while improving classrooms and upgrading our schools to meet 21st century needs. This includes a priority for rural schools and dedicated funding for Bureau of Indian Education funded schools. Funds could be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade technology in our schools. The President is also proposing a $5 billion investment in modernizing community colleges (including tribal colleges), bolstering their infrastructure in this time of need while ensuring their ability to serve future generations of students and communities.

Given the crippling impact of the recently passed budget on Ohio's public education system, this asistance would provide tremndous benefit to Ohio's students and teachers.

The Dispatch should read its own paper

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In an Op-ed today titled "Don't miss the chance" - the Disptach doesn't miss a chance to take yet another swipe at teachers. As usual, it is deeply uninformed and filled with the common corporate reform message

Kasich and the House have proposed merit-based systems for evaluating and rewarding teachers, but the Senate declined to include any merit-based system. A system that evaluates teacher effectiveness and uses such evaluations to determine staffing, layoffs and pay is vital reform. The current system rewards teachers for seniority, tying administrators' hands when it comes to staffing and pay decisions. The recent example of the Pickerington Local School District shows the problem with this: Of the 14 "teacher of the year" winners for 2010-11 in the district, five are losing their jobs in a round of layoffs that will hit 120 teachers. This is a system that punishes outstanding teachers and the students who will be deprived of their services. Development of merit-based systems already is part of Ohio's federally sponsored Race to the Top education-reform program, which includes 300 Ohio school districts. It should be made the policy of the entire state.

Perhaps the editors and publisher of the Dispatch should read their own paper, just once in a while, because yesterday was one of the best pieces written on this merit pay subject in a long, long time.

First, very few teachers have tenure, where they may be fired only for cause. Most teachers serve on a yearly basis, and for those, it is as simple as the superintendent not recommending a teacher for renewal by April 30. Voila, that teacher is gone. No cause needed. For teachers who have continuing contracts, it is within management's authority and control to determine whether the teacher is performing adequately. No union contract prohibits a teacher from being fired for cause. Among other things, principals can observe teachers and make recommendations, but it is generally easier to ignore problem teachers.

From a human-resources perspective, there are T's to cross and I's to dot and paperwork to process to get rid of a teacher. Then there's the process to interview and hire a new teacher. Those are bureaucratic problems, not teacher problems. The so-called bad teachers often continue to teach because management does not want to make the effort to get rid of them.

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