RandySF
RandySF's JournalWolf Blitzer and John King look so disappointed.
They were all geared up to see the ACA struck down.
ACA essentially upheld
They knocked down the individual mandate, but the tax on the uninsured is upheld.
CA bill would allow school districts to cut three additional weeks of class.
Call it a last-minute clarification or a June surprise, another piece of bad news: A trailer bill that the Legislature will vote on Wednesday permits districts to slash the school year by an additional three weeks for the next two years, if voters reject Gov. Brown’s tax increase in November. That’s twice what Gov. Jerry Brown seemed to suggest in the May budget revise when he proposed the elimination of 15 days divided over a two-year period. Instead, the Legislature is prepared to authorize a 160-day year, likely the lowest in the nation and far behind other advanced nations; nearly all states have a 180-day year, which California also required before 2010.
In one sense, nothing has changed. Brown hasn’t suggested less funding for schools than the $53.6 billion for 2012-13 that the Legislature approved in passing the budget last week. Districts will have to negotiate a shorter year with their unions; they can’t declare it unilaterally, and most districts won’t go that low.
But the language in AB 1476 (section 50, midway through a very long bill) is a stark message that a defeat of the tax increase will create more than a one-year revenue crisis for schools.
Brown basically spared K-12 schools cuts in this year’s state budget but is promising to slash school funding by $5.5 billion if voters reject the income tax/sales tax increase. That translates to $441 per student, about an 8.4 percent cut in funding. Eliminating 15 days out of a minimum 175 days would be an 8.6 percent cut in the calendar. So cutting 7.5 days each of the next two years would solve only half of the gap, leaving districts to make other cuts through layoffs, benefits, or non-pay areas.
http://toped.svefoundation.org/2012/06/26/not-one-but-two-160-day-minimum-years/
Multiple bills to reform school discipline laws get hearing in California
A major legislative push is underway to reform California’s laws governing school discipline. A half dozen bills intended to do just that will be heard today in the state Senate and Assembly education committees.
The bills have been introduced against a backdrop of recent research that shows that African American and Latino students are disproportionately suspended or expelled. Some districts have introduced alternative approaches to school discipline and have reduced suspension rates, but these strategies have not been universally adopted. The flurry of bills is an attempt to make such practices part of California law, as well as to clarify aspects of school discipline policies.
In a sign that some reforms might emerge from this legislative session on the issue, two key school organizations are now supporting three of the measures they had previously opposed after the bills’ authors accepted a range of amendments.
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) are no longer opposing Assembly Bill (AB) 1729, introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco. The bill had required school officials to use suspensions as a last resort. Schools would have had to document alternatives to suspension they had implemented before the student was suspended, such as a restorative justice program or a “positive behavioral approach.” The purpose of such programs, the bill explains, would be to address the “root causes of the pupil’s specific misbehavior.”
http://www.edsource.org/extra/2012/multiple-bills-to-reform-school-discipline-laws-get-hearing-in-sacramento/9079
Proof that your 22-year old kid doesn't need to phone in to be safe.
(06-26) 09:30 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man reported missing last week was found safe Monday night, his family said.
Evan Flanary, 22, hadn't been seen since June 19, when he went to meet up with a stranger he had met over a social-networking app.
Flanary's mother, Deborah Berlingeri, reported him missing Friday. Late Monday, she posted an update on her Facebook page that said he had seen media reports of the search and called her.
"He had met a person, they hit it off fabulously, they were downtown enjoying all the week's festivities," the post said. "The battery in his cell phone died and although he had a charger, it just wouldn't take the charge. He never noticed the flyers, but (Monday) he saw his image on a television screen and could NOT believe it."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-man-reported-missing-is-found-safe-3663621.php
True Blood Season 5: So far, not bad.
I'm enjoying Pam's elevated role and the new character Salome (yum yum). On the other hand, Jessica is too jaded too quickly. I prefer the sweet, naive teenage vamp she used to be.
S.F. schools face big cuts, furloughs under budget
District officials say they'll need $30 million more than they'll get from local, state and federal sources to cover the $597 million needed for payroll, student programs and administrative costs.
The district will use some of its reserve funds and $6 million from the city's Rainy Day Fund to help cover costs. But there will still be cuts - and a lot of them.
While $597 million might sound like a lot of money, the proposed budget up for a school board vote Tuesday night is austere, district officials said.
It includes a shorter school year, 176 days instead of 180, with teachers taking four furlough days. Other district staff would take five.
It increases third-grade class sizes from 20 to 22.
Raises are almost nonexistent.
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/S-F-schools-face-big-cuts-furloughs-under-budget-3662143.php
Feds: For-profits could lose federal student aid
Former students in career-training programs at dozens of for-profit institutions have had so much trouble paying off their loans that the schools could lose access to federal student aid if they don't improve, new data from the U.S. Department of Education finds.
The Education Department reported that at 193 programs at 93 schools, students were unable to meet any of three measures under the agency's new "gainful employment" rule. The new regulations, announced by the Obama administration last year, are aimed at making sure students in career-training programs at for-profit, nonprofit and public institutions are able to get a job and pay off their student loans when they graduate.
The programs include Everest College's paralegal training in Salt Lake City and more than 40 other programs operated by Corinthian Colleges, one of the nation's largest higher education companies; chef training at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas; and the medical assistant program at Sanford-Brown College in McLean, Va.
"Career colleges have a responsibility to prepare people for jobs at a price they can afford," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "Schools that cannot meet these very reasonable standards are on notice: invest in your students' success, or taxpayers can no longer invest in you."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Feds-For-profits-could-lose-federal-student-aid-3662115.php
Calif. teacher, 4 students arrested in hazing case
FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California high school teacher has been arrested on suspicion of directing students to assault another student in a classroom hazing incident.
Fontana police said Sunday that 27-year-old Emmanuel De La Rosa, along with four students, were arrested on Saturday.
Police alleged that De La Rosa facilitated some students to carry out the hazing to curb behavioral problems in the classroom at AB Miller High School. Police declined to describe the nature of the hazing, citing the ongoing investigation. At least one student suffered minor injuries.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (http://bit.ly/Ocffl5) that an 18-year-old student arrested in the case faces charges of assault, child cruelty and attempted sodomy.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Calif-teacher-4-students-arrested-in-hazing-case-3659293.php
Prop. 8's chief witness changes mind, now supports same-sex marriage.
The chief witness in favor of California's same-sex marriage ban at a landmark federal trial in San Francisco two years ago announced Friday he has changed his position.
David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, asserted in an opinion essay published in the New York Times today that he now supports allowing gay and lesbian marriage.
"Whatever one's definition of marriage," Blankenhorn wrote, "legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness."
Blankenhorn was the main witness called by supporters of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, at a trial in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in 2010.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2012/06/prop-8-supporting-witness-says-he-now-supports-same-sex-marriage#ixzz1yjZD3QDy
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
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Current location: San Francisco, CA
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