CFT In the News: 2/3/12
Millionaires Tax: 2/3

'Millionaires tax' plan to hit streets with nurses union's support  -- Sacramento Bee (blog) -- A "millionaires tax" initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association. CFT spokesman Fred Glass said his group ...

1% Not Delivering on Paying Their Fair Share of Taxes By Refugio Mata 
Good Jobs LA in the California Progress Report - “Why is FedEx not paying its fair share?” That’s what more than 400 activists asked on January 25 as part of a larger national movement to hold big corporations accountable to get our economy back on track. People from struggling

Education: 2/3

Conservatives Use Creationist Playbook to Attack Climate Change Education in School By Bill Walker
 AlterNet in the California Progress Report -- A few years ago, Cheryl Manning assigned a research project on climate change to her high school environmental science class in Evergreen, Colo. She presented the basic facts and data from peer-reviewed studies, then asked the students to look into the issue themselves and report back on what they learned.

Fusd Losing $2.2M After Schools Fail To Improve -- Fresno Unified School District's failure to meet standardized test score requirements will cost the district more than $2 million in state funding next year, according to county and school district officials. HEATHER SOMERVILLE in the Fresno Bee -- 2/3/12

Transitional Kindergarten's Fate In California Is Still Up In The Air -- Sherry Tam doesn't know where her son will go to school next year. The Elk Grove boy, who is 15 days too young to start kindergarten in August, was signed up for transitional kindergarten, a new grade level slated to start in the next school year. LOUIS FREEDBERG EdSource -- 2/3/12

Fensterwald: A Rush Of New Technologies -- A combination of forces is creating an inflection point for technology to redefine the process of learning and the structure of schools, Ted Mitchell, CEO of a venture philanthropy organization and former president of the State Board of Education, told a conference on math and technology at Stanford University on Thursday. “The market is ripe for disruptive innovation.” JOHN FENSTERWALD educatedguess -- 2/3/12

Baron: Doubts Over 8Th Grade Algebra For All -- When it comes to flip-flopping, forget the Republican primary and take a look at California’s vacillation on when students should learn algebra. KATHRYN BARON TopEd -- 2/3/12

Colleges Crack Down On Selling, Sharing Notes -- At least one CSU Chico student recently was reported to judicial affairs for selling notes to a website, while a newly updated UC Berkeley policy restricts how students share their notes with others. ERICA PEREZ California Watch -- 2/3/12

More Questions Than Answers at Education Update Patch.com - ‎3 hours ago‎ -- If it fails, there will be a 5-6 percent ($4.8 billion) cut to education programs and services that are already reeling from a 20 percent reduction in funding over the last several years of budget cuts. The Governor is also proposing the introduction ...

State News: 2/3

Walters: California Democrats Distort Their Majority-Vote Budget Power -- Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets. DAN WALTERS in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/3/12

CFT In the News: 2/2/12

AM Alert: No shortage of money in California's primary battles Sacramento Bee -- Tom Hayden, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers and a whole lot of local officials. Money is flowing to congressional candidates as well, and Michael Doyle reports on spending in California, including the 7th ...

Juan Vargas could cast the deciding vote for California's health care bill -- OB Rag  -  The bill is supported by a broad coalition including California Nurses Association, California Federation of Teachers, Alliance of Retired Americans, League of Women Voters, California Council of Churses, Californai Consumer Federation, and Physicians ...

Millionaires Tax:

California Public Schools Need the Millionaires Tax By Lisa Schiff (Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and the PTA) in the California Progress Report and Beyond ChronCalifornia voters will have the opportunity and responsibility this November to take some of the state’s financial matters into their own hands. The Republican no-tax-do-or-die-pledge strangle-hold over the state legislature that makes it literally impossible to raise revenues is being sidestepped by a handful of tax measures presented to the public on the ballot. If ever there were an example of the initiative process being a check on other branches of government, this is it…

Berman, Sherman among those reporting campaign funding Los Angeles Times -- And the California Federation of Teachers last week spent $500000 on a proposed initiative to raise taxes on millionaires. This week's filing deadline helped end some posturing from would-be candidates. Former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, ...

Late news from: February 1, 2012

California to reap taxes from Facebook IPO, but unclear when California would gain once Facebook insiders sell shares and pay state income taxes on their gains. -- If voters approve Gov. Jerry Brown's tax plan in November to raise income taxes on wealthy earners (in addition to hiking the state sales tax by a half-cent), Facebook employees could pay as much as 12.3 percent to the state on income above $1 million. Tax proposals by the California Federation of Teachers and attorney Molly Munger would impose higher rates than Brown's plan. Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert

Education: 2/2

Students Ask Uc: Why Armed Cops On Campus? -- Why does the University of California employ an armed police force on its campuses? That question, and the anger implied in its wording, was asked repeatedly Wednesday night by UC Berkeley students and faculty of top UC brass. NANETTE ASIMOV in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/2/12

Baron: A Push For Free College Textbooks -- During his nearly four years at UC Berkeley, Lucas Zucker has gone to great lengths to find affordable textbooks. He shopped online for the best deals and often waited weeks into the semester for the books to arrive from across the country; he shared books with classmates; he bought older editions with identical content that was rearranged; and one semester he didn’t buy some books because they were just too expensive. KATHRYN BARON TopEd -- 2/2/12

Challenge To Schools: Embracing Digital Textbooks -- Are hard-bound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools? KIMBERLY HEFLING AP -- 2/2/12

Bill Gates Alum Seeks To Thwart L.A.’S ‘End Of Days’ School Cuts -- Every Thursday at 7:30 a.m., John Deasy huddles with his top aides in the Los Angeles Unified School District to pore over data tracking everything from English language proficiency to attendance. CHRISTOPHER PALMERI Bloomberg -- 2/2/12

Value-added teacher evaluation goes on trial — literally  Washington Post (blog) - ‎34 minutes ago‎  -  He is National Board Certified, and is associate director of the Accomplished California Teachers group. This is part of a post that Cohen wrote on the group's InterACT blog about value-added teacher evaluation in reaction to stories about a possible ...

Editorial: Shoddy college rating system breeds cheating Published: 12:00 am 2/2/12 Sacramento Bee - Claremont McKenna College, an expensive, 1,300-student private school in Southern California, has been falsifying SAT scores since 2005 to get better rankings from for-profit ranking companies such as U.S. News & World Report.

Capital Public Radio: 2/1/12  -  CSUS Salary Cap Last week the California State University board of trustees voted unanimously to cap executive pay at 10 percent of the predecessor's earnings or $375 thousand a year in public funds (additional private funds can be added.)  But some say the salary cap isn't enough.  Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco wants to cap the president's pay at 5 percent and the Legislative Analyst, Mac Taylor, has criticized the board of trustees for boosting executive pay by unfairly comparing Cal State Universities to out-of-state schools plush with research funding.

State News: 2/2

California Sees Record Lobbying -- More Than $285 Million Spent -- Education, healthcare, assistance to a proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles and a proposal to dissolve the troubled city of Vernon were among the top issues drawing attention from lobbyists in 2011. PATRICK MCGREEVY in the Los Angeles Times DAN SMITH in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/2/12

California Government Payroll Grew By $500 Million In 2011 As Furloughs Eased -- State government payroll increased by half a billion dollars last year, even as California cut thousands of state worker jobs, according to a Bee analysis of new data from the Controller's Office. PHILLIP REESE in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/2/12

CFT In the News: 2/1/12 

Jerry Brown's tax initiative rivals not backing down Los Angeles Times - And the teachers federation on Jan. 27 gave $500000 to the millionaire's tax committee, Educators and Working Families To Restore California. The California Federation of Teachers' donation came just before the state's largest teacher's union, ...

From 1/30:

Our Tax The Rich Rallies--An Instant Protest Success By Harry Brill - Monday January 30, 2012 - 09:39:00 AM -Berkeley Planet -- In early September, Evelyn Glaubman, who is a local artist, expressed her outrage to several of us about the unjustifiably low taxes paid by the rich and major corporations. She made a bunch of nicely designed posters and proposed that we publicize our concerns on Solano Avenue.

Education: 2/1

Mercury News editorial: Don't cut funding for kindergarten, preschool
Posted:   01/31/2012 08:00:00 PM PST
California's preschool and kindergarten set are targeted to take some of the biggest hits to funding in the state budget proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor should withdraw his plan before it undercuts the critical years of education for some of California's most vulnerable children…

Jerry Brown, Lawmakers Back Bill Protecting School Bus Money -- Rural and urban school districts in California that make heavy use of buses appear safe -- for now. KEVIN YAMAMURA SacBee Capitol Alert -- 2/1/12

Will UCLA And a Professor Be Punished For Causing the Death Of a Lab Tech, Or Is UC Above The Law? By Joan Lichterman 
UPTE-CWA 9119 in the California Progress Report -- UC attorneys and spinmeisters are working overtime to defend the regents, UCLA, and a UCLA chemistry professor in Superior Court against felony charges for willfully violating workplace health and safety standards resulting in the death of a 23-year-old lab assistant. The arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, February 2, and safety advocates fear that a plea bargain will be entered at that time with an inappropriate sentence.

UC Police Response to Protests Discussed UC police sparked public outrage over the way they handled Occupy protesters on the Berkeley and Davis campuses late last year. The UC president's office set up a series of public meetings to advise a panel charged with advising campus police ahead of future protests. The first was last night in Berkeley. Reporter: Mina Kim. KQED California Report

California Steps Up Focus on English-Language Learners -- State chief taps an ELL expert to head new special division  By Lesli A. Maxwell Education Week -- California's schools chief has assigned a team of experts to focus exclusively on the needs of California's estimated 1.5 million English-language learners as the state embarks on numerous initiatives to improve the achievement of students who are learning English in public schools.

California State Legislature Investigates Escalating College Textbook PricesBy The 20 Million Minds Foundation -- SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2012 -- On heels of Apple announcement re-inventing textbooks, Assembly and Senate examine potential for open-source books to cut costsSACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by the 20 Million Minds Foundation:The California Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC), chaired by Assembly Member Ricardo Lara (D – Bell Gardens), will hold a hearing Wednesday to investigate the high cost of college textbooks and the potential for e-textbooks to cut costs and increase access to higher education.

State News: 2/1

State Budget Continues to Baffle Sacramento  Governor Jerry Brown's new motto is that California is "on the mend." But when it comes to the state budget, the wounds are proving hard to heal. On Tuesday, Controller John Chiang told lawmakers the state's bank account will be overdrawn starting on March 1 without quick action. That cash crisis is likely to be resolved, but other budget decisions will not be so speedy. Reporter: John Myers. KQED California Report

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