From neocon Irving Kristol to anti-communist crusader Whittaker Chambers, there’s been a history of true believers turned full-throated denouncers. Now, education has a celebrated convert, Diane Ravitch.

Before an approving audience of union teachers in San Jose on Saturday, the education historian , respected author and blogger (“Bridging Differences) denounced all of what she once believed in: pay for performance, the school accountability movement, standardized tests, public school choice.

The New York University education professor and fellow affiliated with the Hoover and Brookings institutions especially laid into her erstwhile allies: think tanks and foundations  that are “demonizing unions, scape-goating teachers and undermining education.”

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By John Fensterwald on February 28th, 2010

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The Legislative Analyst is proposing that the Legislature raise fees at community colleges by $14 per credit – more than 50 percent from the current $26 per credit (which, in turn was raised last year from $20). It sounds like a whopper, but many  students wouldn’t pay it because of fee waivers for low-income families and new federal income tax credits for the middle class. However, the increase would provide $150 million to the system at a time when enrollments statewide have been falling because many colleges have significantly cut the number of sections they’ve been offering, shutting students out of courses that they need.

Even at $40 – $1,200 for a student taking a fulltime load of 30 credits – fees would remain the lowest in America.

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By John Fensterwald on February 28th, 2010

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State and federal education officials are continuing to haggle over which low-performing schools should be restructured, leading to yet another delay in releasing a much-anticipated list of schools that makes superintendents shudder.

The state Department of Education had planned to release the list of 187 schools when the state submitted its Race to the Top application in January. Then Superintendent of Public Instruction  Jack O’Connell announced it would be today and sent out a letter this week to superintendents whose schools made the list explaining the process. But the feds still disagree on which schools made it, so everything is on hold.

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By John Fensterwald on February 25th, 2010

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Regulations for teacher layoffs are a prime example of how interests of adults are put ahead of those of children, especially minority children. Now, that system, along with state budget cuts that set it in motion, will face a court challenge.

In a case with statewide implications, the ACLU of Southern California and other public interest and pro bono attorneys are suing the state and Los Angeles Unified, charging that teacher layoffs have savaged three low-performing, low-income middle schools. All three have been thrown into turmoil since between half and nearly three quarters of their teachers got layoff notices last year.  Most eventually did lose their jobs because of  rules that dictate that less experienced teachers must be the first to go, regardless of how good they are with students and how well they fit in the school.

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By John Fensterwald on February 25th, 2010

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A six-month stab at school competition with nationwide interest ended Tuesday when Los Angeles Unified school board members turned control of more schools to groups of teachers than Superintendent Ramon Cortines had recommended. There will certainly  be an injection of experimentation in schools organized by unionized teachers as a result– but also fewer quality charter schools than had been predicted in August when the trustees opened up 12 low-performing schools and 18 new schools to bids by outside groups.

United Teachers Los Angeles, which has seen a decline in membership and could lose hundreds more teachers to layoffs next fall, lobbied hard to keep the 30 schools under its control. In the end, board members gave union-affiliated teachers 22 of the 30 campuses, with four new schools turned over to charters and three to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s non-profit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

The board’s decision to shut out three of the city’s respected charter school outfits – Alliance College-Ready Public Schools and  Green Dot Public Schools from sharing five small schools at the new Esteban Torres High School, and ICEF (Inner City Education Foundation Public Schools)  from sharing the campus at the new Barack Obama Global Prep – frustrated  charter advocates. Jed Wallace, CEO of the California Charter Schools Association, said in a statement that “the supporters of the status quo and adult concerns trump(ed) making good decisions on the behalf of children.”

Ben Austin, an organizer for the group Parent Revolution, was more blunt in an e-mail: “Parents are going to take back and transform their schools by any means necessary because they only get one chance to give their kids the education they deserve.”

If anyone is worrying about bloodshed on the streets, Austin is talking about the metaphorical “parent trigger” ­– the law that the Legislature passed last month allowing a majority of parents to petition local school trustees  to turn around their struggling school. One option, which some parent groups will demand, is to invite in a charter school, though the board has the final say. Within a few months, Los Angeles may see the first petition.

Los Angeles Unified’s public school choice motion is designed to create innovation through competition. That will happen in some of the 30 schools, where teacher groups, threatened with a loss of jobs, came up with interesting plans. But charter participation is the leverage to make change happen. Whether the board’s vote shutting out some of the charters will discourage more from applying in the next round remains an open question.

By John Fensterwald on February 24th, 2010

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Districts aiming to raise scores of middle school students shouldn’t count on hiring a messianic principal or jiggling the grade configuration of a school or making vague commitments to excellence – or any single tie-it-in-a-bow policy.

The hard work – and success – come from aligning instruction in every grade to state standards, setting measurable goals, committing to see that all students are prepared for the rigors of high school and staying true to the practices that bring results. Lower-income schools that follow these strategies can overcome the drag of demographics and achieve the success of middle schools in middle-income neighborhoods.

That’s among the key findings of an extensive study of 303 California middle schools covering 204,000 students – the most comprehensive survey of those grades – by the non-profit EdSource and Stanford University Professor Michael Kirst, the lead researcher.  With an unusually high 88 percent response rate, 3,572 English language arts and math teachers, including teachers at 27 charter schools, 303 principals and 157 superintendents filled out a survey with 900 specific items on school strategies.

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By John Fensterwald on February 23rd, 2010

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Rae Belisle,  a savvy advocate for change as well as an influential Sacramento insider with the governor’s ear, has resigned as president and CEO of EdVoice, and her bid for a full term on the State Board of Education is in trouble. Her departure from both EdVoice and the board would leave low-income and minority children with one less  strong voice.

Belisle submitted her resignation for health reasons to the non-profit EdVoice board in January, though she  had not made that public until now. Her last day at work is March 1.

Belisle has been taking medication for breast cancer, which is in remission.  She says she stopped the medicine for two months while helping with the state’s Race to the Top application. When she resumed taking it, the side effects were worse.

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By John Fensterwald on February 23rd, 2010

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Knowledge of science and math can make you the next Olympian. At least that’s what I would tell any 12-year-old with dreams of bringing home the gold in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

You, young Sidney Crosby: See why slamming the ice with your stick an instant before you strike the puck adds speed to your slap shot.

Hey, aspiring Kim Yu-na: Study the law of conservation of angular momentum and centripetal force to make you a whirling dervish with a triple toe loop.

Shaun White wanna-be: Learn the physics of angular momentum, drag and torque before you even think about imitating that gravity- and death-defying Double McTwist 1260.

And you, their teachers: Inspire them by going  to Lessonopoly to watch videos on the physics behind Olympic sports and download some hands-on experiments to reinforce what students are watching.

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By John Fensterwald on February 22nd, 2010

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A coalition of education organizations and nearly 100 school districts has called on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to deny Gov. Schwarzenegger’s request for the federal Okay to cut K-12 spending as much as he proposes. If Ducan buys their argument, the governor would have to come up with an additional $850 million for schools.

The ed groups appear to make a strong case.

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By John Fensterwald on February 21st, 2010

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School districts can continue to upload data to CALPADS, the beleaguered student longitudinal data system.

That’s the word from the Department of Education, which says CALPADS will continue to accept information during the next two months, when the system is being overhauled and fixed.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell took the unusual step earlier this month of calling in a technical team to find defects in the system that have caused outages, errors and slowness in the system since CALPADS started up in October. As I reported on Friday, a consultant warned of system failure unless comprehensive fixes were made.

Districts have been uploading enrollment and dropout information, known as Fall 1 data. Recognizing that districts have faced headaches with CALPADS, O’Connell has extended the submission deadline indefinitely at this point. And he has said districts should not upload other types of information required under the Fall 2 and  Spring 1 submissions via CALPADS this year.

By John Fensterwald on February 20th, 2010

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