I've Got a Golden Ticket!

Reforms May Pay Off For Schools
By John Ingold - Denver Post

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers unveiled a slate of dramatic education proposals Monday with the goal of bolstering Colorado's school-reform credentials enough to win a $1 billion prize.

Only about 10 states will be selected to win what Sen. Chris Romer called "the golden ticket," an approximately $500 million grant from the federal government's new Race to the Top program that will go to the states making the biggest strides in education reform. Romer and other lawmakers said private foundations are expected to match the federal prize, leading to a one-time windfall that has the potential to remake the Colorado education landscape.

"There's too much money at stake to stand still," said Romer, D-Denver.

The proposed golden-ticket bid comes in two waves. The first hit Monday, when lawmakers introduced the annual school finance act.

Contained within the bill are proposals to tie funding for at-risk students to classroom performance, study creating a charter boarding school for disadvantaged students and requiring freshmen fill out a College in Colorado form, to give them an academic and financial road map for reaching college.

Another proposal in the bill would lift the cap on school district mill levy rates the legislature imposed. (Districts would still need voter approval, though, to raise their mill levies.)

The second wave is expected to hit in the coming weeks, when Romer and Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, introduce a bill creating a Colorado version of Race to the Top. That bill would build a pile of money — contingent upon winning the federal Race to the Top — to give to school districts that hit reform and performance targets.

Details of the bill are still being worked out, but one idea involves a college-readiness exam for students. Those who pass would be eligible for free or subsidized in-state college tuition.

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Flunked at the Burbank International Film Festival!

DOCUMENTARY FLUNKED TO SCREEN AT THE BURBANK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Flunked makes the grade in Los Angeles, featuring real education reform!

Olympia, WA— EFF Productions is pleased to announce that Flunked, narrated by award-winning actor Joe Mantegna, has been selected to screen in the Burbank International Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA.

Friday, March 27th, 2009
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Burbank International Film Festival
Woodbury University: Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510

Flunked takes a realistic view of our failing education system, offering a disturbing look at America’s shameful decline in comparison to other nations. However, instead of complaining and doing nothing, Flunked showcases schools and teachers who have figured out a way to make things better . . . right now.

Flunked highlights the common threads of successful education: strong leadership, high standards, excellent teachers, and solid curricula. By focusing on schools that are successfully applying these principles, Flunked sends a message loud and clear: Parents, students, principals, and teachers do not have to settle for mediocrity in their own schools!

Flunked has won the award for Best Educational Documentary at the Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the San Fernando Valley International Film Festival.

For more information go to http://www.burbankfilmfestival.org/, or www.flunkedthemovie.com

Flunked on YouTube.com

Be sure to check out all the great videos Flunked has at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FlunkedTheMovie

Featured are "All-Stars" Ben Chavis and Bill Proser along with Howard Fuller, and more!

Charter Schools: Stockpiling Money, or Good Stewards of their Finances

In Massachusetts, there is a big problem, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million dollars. It seems that the charter schools in this state have the audacity to have a cash surplus, and they are actually being attacked for it.

Imagine, you work hard to save your money, and spend what you have responsibly. Your friends have not done such a good job. Let's see what the critics say:

Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the report shows charter schools are "stockpiling large reserves" when other public schools are struggling to make ends meet.

"It cries out for reform of the charter school funding system," Koocher said. "If they've got money to give back, why don't they give it back to the people they took it from."

But is there another side to this?

But defenders of charter schools say it's misleading to suggest they are rolling in cash. They say that, unlike traditional public schools, charter schools are barred from accepting money from the state's School Building Assistance fund.

Since they have to rent or lease their buildings, charter schools operators say they need to keep extra money in the bank from year to year.

"It's almost a necessity for a successful charter school to run a surplus," said Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. "We took this report as a very favorable report about how charter schools are managing their finances."

Read more...

Attention Parents! Pick a School at a Community Fair!

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to actually find a school for your child that meets their needs?

Imagine being able to actually shop around...browse through pamphlets and meet the staff.

Well, it's happening in Indianapolis:

"Parents went shopping Monday at Circle Centre mall, but they weren't looking for clothes, shoes or toys.

Their mission was much more fundamental: They were browsing the schools at a Charter School Community Fair at the Indianapolis Artsgarden.

Dozens of parents picked up literature and interviewed staff from the 17 alternative public schools in the city, searching for the best matches for their children for the 2009-10 school year.

Sponsored by Mayor Greg Ballard, the first-of-its-kind fair allowed parents to supplement their research on the schools with one-stop shopping convenience.

And parents were being methodical and particular about making a decision so critical to their children's futures."

Read on here...

Charter School Does Not Recognize Union

KIPP AMP in Crown Heights, Brooklyn has decided not to recognize the union, and is using intimidation tactics?? What defines intimidation you may ask? This:

"The city’s teachers’ union also filed a complaint with the state’s labor board on Thursday, claiming that the administration intimidated employees at KIPP AMP and used staff meetings to discourage them from forming a union.

According to the complaint, Mr. Levin attended a mandatory staff meeting and said that the teachers’ current retirement, maternity and private pension benefits would be “potentially in jeopardy” and “all of that goes away,” if they formed a union. At the meeting, Mr. Levin distributed a letter with instructions on how to revoke their support for a union, union officials said.

George Arzt, a spokesman for KIPP, said that Mr. Levin was simply responding to inquiries from teachers about their options under state law, and added that the same information was available on the Web site of the state’s labor board."

Read on...

No Liquor Stores, Landfills or Charter Schools!!

Does this make anyone angry?

"ST. LOUIS — When leaders of the St. Louis Public Schools prepared to sell a slew of old school buildings a year ago, they moved to ban a few businesses from buying. They barred liquor stores, landfills, distilleries, as well as shops that sell "so-called 'sexual toys.'"

They also blackballed charter schools.

Now, as the school board debates closing as many as 29 more buildings in the shrinking city district, and as new charter schools search desperately for space, a swell of anger is rising up against that restriction.

Legislators have readied resolutions in Jefferson City asking the district to remove the ban. Pro-charter and school-choice groups have sent around press releases. Residents worry about the empty buildings that will rot their neighborhoods."

Or what about this?

"We tried to buy three," said Susan Uchitelle, board member at Confluence Academy, a charter school with three campuses and 2,700 students in St. Louis.

"We finally just gave up," Uchitelle said. "It was made very clear they weren't going to sell to us. They'd show them to us. They'd let us walk through them. But then they'd take them off the market."

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