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CFT In the News: 4/2-4
CFT Releases Poll finding support for new taxes:
Calbuzz: Why Tax-On-Millionaires Measure Is A Slam Dunk -- Vanity Fair, the monthly organ of opulence that chronicles, celebrates and caters to the self-indulgence of the uber rich, seems a strange place to encounter a learned and astute analysis of wealth inequality in America. JERRY ROBERTS and PHIL TROUNSTINE CalBuzz -- 4/4/11
State Republicans flex for reforms; GOP outlines agenda, jury out ...
Times-Standard
A recent survey sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers found that a lot of Californians -- 78 percent -- agree with Silvernale and would supp
Gallup poll finds more support for unions than the governors seeking to curb them
Los Angeles Times - Michael Muskal - Apr 1, 2011
According to Gallup, which surveyed 1027 people from March 25 to Sunday, almost a majority backs the overall union position, though 13% said they have no opinion or blame both groups. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage ...
Voters: Tax someone else
Record-Searchlight (blog) - Apr 1, 2011
The Chronicle reports on a poll commissioned by a teachers' union that finds strong support for new taxes --- but those are taxes that most of us won't pay. With negotiations over how to solve California's $26.6 billion state budget deficit stalled, ...
4/2:
The Buzz: Teachers union calls for tax hike on high-income earners
Sacramento Bee - Fresno Bee
As Democrats scramble to chart a new state budget course after talks
collapsed this week, the California Federation of Teachers is calling for a
1 percent tax hike on high-income earners. The state still faces a $15.4
billion deficit, and the union ...
Education News:
4/4:
Public schools woo foreign students to boost ranks
The Associated Press - 7 hours ago
Faced with declining enrollments and shrinking revenues, public school districts from Maine to California are seeking out students from overseas, particularly China, to attend their high schools.
System Aims to Improve Teachers and Teacher Training Programs
UC Riverside - 4 hours ago
(www.ucr.edu) -- A system that aims to compare, assess and improve teacher candidates and teacher training programs will be the subject of three papers presented by the University of California, Riverside's director of teacher education at a national ...
An average grade on tenure reform
Sacramento Bee - 5 hours ago
It's more than California has managed; the Legislature has resisted even the mildest tenure reforms. Yet we don't hope to repeat the Florida experience here, and we're not fans of the current "It's all the teachers' fault" thinking.
Today's Teacher Layoffs Threaten Tomorrow's College Classrooms -- Teacher layoffs and other education spending cuts are thinning more than the current ranks of California's classroom instructors. The number of people training to be teachers also is plummeting, and that trend is likely to continue. LARRY GORDON in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/4/11
Fensterwald: Brown’s CalSTRS Problem -- Gov. Jerry Brown last week made a down payment on pension reform in the form of seven specific recommendations to slow the growth in pensions for public employees, including teachers. JOHN FENSTERWALD educatedguess -- 4/4/11
Schrag: Even With All Of Its Faults, I’m Sticking With The Union -- Given the national wave of public sector union bashing, it’s not surprising that people like Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, is out making speeches about the virtues of collective bargaining in public education. PETER SCHRAG TopEd -- 4/4/11
4/3:
Mercury News editorial: No Child Left Behind needs major reforms
San Jose Mercury News - Apr 2, 2011
All over California, students are preparing for and taking their annual standardized tests. So all over California, parents and educators are reminded daily of the flaws in the nation's primary education law, No Child Left Behind.
Singled-Out L.A. Unified Teacher Shares Skills With Colleagues -- Miguel Aguilar was cited as among L.A. Unified's most effective in an L.A. Times article on the 'value-added' evaluation method. Since then, many at his Pacoima school have adopted his methods. But budget cuts threaten his job. JASON FELCH in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/3/11
Budget Cuts Could Hurt LB Preschools -- When Maria Almeida realized she couldn't afford day care for her 6-month-old son, the then 20-year-old thought her prospects for finding work and going back to school were slim. KELLY PUENTE in the Long Beach Press -- 4/3/11
Schools Prepare For Cuts -- Gov. Jerry Brown's promise not to cut school budgets will soon be broken. The governor's budget proposal earlier this year to close a $25 billion budget gap without cutting funding to K-12 schools was contingent upon voters approving a five-year extension of temporary taxes in a special election in June. CANAN TASCI in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 4/3/11
4/2:
Gallup Poll: Americans back unions over governors in labor disputes USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/04/gallup-poll-governors-unions-wisconsin-ohio-/1
State News:
4/4:
Sac Bee AM Alert: 'The greatness of America'
The California Labor Federation and other unions have called for a nationwide day of action today to highlight what they see as attacks on workers rights in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and other states.
The Politics of Pensions for Gov. Brown
Apr 4, 2011 Capitol Public Radio
California Governor Jerry Brown is taking hits from all sides for the pension proposals he released late last week after he declared budget talks a lost cause.
4/3:
Calif. budget list a byproduct of GOP frustration
San Jose Mercury News - Juliet Williams - Apr 3, 2011
Most California teachers work under contracts reached through collective bargaining with powerful teachers' unions. The GOP wish list included allowing teacher layoffs, transfers and reassignments to be "based on teacher performance instead of ...
Governor Isn't Giving Up On Budget -- He posted a message on YouTube, then laid low for a few days. The collapse of state budget talks last week represented the first major setback of Gov. Jerry Brown's administration, to which he responded with relative calm. DAVID SIDERS in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/3/11
4/2:
Lopez: It's Time To Tinker With 'Untouchable' Prop. 13 -- No, older homeowners don't have to be put on the street. The most obvious thing to do, an analyst argues, would be to quit giving owners of commercial property the windfall break they've gotten under the proposition. STEVE LOPEZ in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/2/11
CFT In the News: 4/1
Teachers Union Calling For Tax Hike On Top 1 Percent Of Earners -- As Democrats scramble to find a new budget course after talks collapsed this week, the California Federation of Teachers is calling for a 1 percent tax hike on the top 1 percent of earners as part of a state budget solution. KEVIN YAMAMURA SacBee Capitol Alert JOE GAROFOLI in the San Francisco Chronicle-- 3/31/11
Californians back raising taxes on state's wealthy
San Francisco Chronicle - Joe Garofoli - 11 hours ago
With negotiations over how to solve California's $26.6 billion state budget deficit stalled, a new poll released today shows strong bipartisan support for something Sacramento lawmakers this year haven't seriously debated: raising taxes on the ... .. voters support a 1 percent increase in the income tax rate for Californians earning more than $500000 a year, according to the poll, which was conducted by Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin and sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers. ...
Huge bi-partisan support for taxing the rich to fix budget. Plan B?
San Francisco Chronicle (blog) - 15 hours ago
Think the budget negotiations are dead? Get ready for something that could contribute to a Plan B: Tax the rich. We just got our hands on a new poll due out Friday that shows blow-the-roof-off support for something that has only been mumbled about in ... The poll, conducted by Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin and sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers, is opening eyes as part of a potential Plan B for solving the budget deficit with its bi-partisan support. The survey found that 53 percent ...
Voters: Tax someone else
Record-Searchlight (blog) - 1 hour ago
... voters support a 1 percent increase in the income tax rate for Californians earning more than $500000 a year, according to the poll, which was conducted by Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin and sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers.
East Bay Express - 4/1 3 hours ago
A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Californians would support a ballot measure to raise taxes on the state's wealthiest residents as a way to help balance the budget, the Chron reports. The poll, commissioned by a state teacher's union, ...
Progress! California Federation of Teachers Stands Against Methyl Iodide
Change.org (blog)
The California Federation of Teachers recently concluded its 2011 Convention, releasing a number of resolutions and constitutional amendments (pdf). One of the biggest resolutions deals with a topic not typically covered in the education sector ...
The State of the Unions in Moorpark
Patch.com
And Moorpark College faculty are members of the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, Local AFT 1828, which is part of the California Federation of Teachers through the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFL-CIO. ...
Education News: 4/1
If Schools Didn't Bank on Taxes, Why Are They Flipping Out?
Voice of San Diego - Emily Alpert - 15 hours ago
They assumed that schools would still get their minimum share of the state funding required by a California law. That would still mean a financial hit of $2.1 billion - or about $349 less per student.
Fensterwald: Fixing Open Enrollment -- Although it is not as well known yet as its fraternal twin, the Parent Trigger, Open Enrollment was the other reform that the Legislature rushed into law last year to jazz up the state’s application to the Race to the Top competition. And like the Parent Trigger, it’s a fine idea whose passage in haste has created unexpected consequences that legislation this year is attempting to fix. JOHN FENSTERWALD educatedguess -- 4/1/11
School Lunches As Profit Engines -- Some affluent districts raise money by charging extra for healthy, custom meals. ANNETTE FUENTES Bay Citizen -- 4/1/11
Multi-State Curriculum To Yield More Textbook Choices -- An unexpected byproduct of 41 states adopting common curriculum standards is that California schools won't be limited to textbooks and other instructional materials developed specifically for the state. LOUIS FREEDBERG California Watch -- 4/1/11
Lucia Mar school district prepares teachers for TAP
Adobe Press - Gina Potthoff - 2 hours ago
No other public school district in California is doing it, which puts Lucia Mar at the forefront of implementing and fully understanding how a teacher incentive-based pay program will work.
Boards back using test scores to evaluate teachers
San Francisco Chronicle - Jill Tucker - 11 hours ago
Yet critics say evaluations that take into account a teacher's impact on student test scores are inherently flawed. "The tests that we use in California were not designed to measure teacher effectiveness," said Eric Heins, a California Teachers ...
Gun Fears Divide Berkeley High School -- Berkeley High School, a high-achieving institution that embodies the city’s liberal politics, is seeing those values tested at gunpoint. SHOSHANA WALTER Bay Citizen -- 4/1/11
Estimated CalSTRS Funding Gap Increases By $15.5 Billion -- CalSTRS' pension funding shortfall has ballooned to $56 billion, a development likely to intensify the political debate over public employee retirement costs. DALE KASLER in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/1/11http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/01/3519100/estimated-calstrs-funding-gap.html#mi_rss=State%20Politics
State News: 4/1
Negotiation 101 for Dems: The Right Policies Are The Right Politics
By Dave Johnson in the California Progress Report
Bloggers always wonder why Democrats couldn’t get anything done even when they had a solid majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate, while Republicans get everything they want even when they are in the minority. Take the current budget negotiations, for example.
Republicans, Not Democrats, Ended Budget Negotiations
Posted on 01 April 2011 By Noreen Evans in the California Progress Report
Senator Bob Huff (R – Diamond Bar) engaged in a cringe-inducing psychological projection when he accused Democrats of having signed a labor pledge to “spend ‘til it hurts.” The irony couldn’t be more astounding, as nearly every Republican California legislator has signed a written promise to Washington, DC lobbyist Grover Norquist to not support taxes regardless of how great the need.
New Report Says Public Employees Aren't Overpaid -- A new report concludes that public-sector employees' compensation lags that of private-sector workers when education and experience are factored in. The trade-off: Public-sector jobs remain more secure, and health and pension benefits are generally better than in the private sector. Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee -- 4/1/1
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