http://www.siacabinetreport.com Stay up to date with what is going on in today's school system. Curriculum & Instruction With limited resources but an ever-expanding portfolio, state education officials announced Tuesday receipt of $850,000 in foundation grants that will be used to help implement the common core, update STEM curriculum and improve school fiscal analysis. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2210 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:48:00 -0800 Special Education The White House has been aggressive in recent weeks laying out an agenda for national education efforts, saying it will “help all Americans gain the skills and knowledge they need to help rebuild the country.” But not everybody’s buying it. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2209 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:39:00 -0800 Curriculum & Instruction California State University system, already one of the nation’s largest producers of new teachers, is set to partner with the Obama administration on one of the president’s most ambitious educational goals – preparing 100,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers over the next decade. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2208 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:51:00 -0800 Politics & Education Encouraging and helping school districts to develop programs that prepare students for a career after high school graduation is the focus of a campaign unveiled by the state’s Department of Education last week. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2207 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:40:00 -0800 Budget & Finance The governor’s Department of Finance released Thursday a district-by-district breakdown of how each would fare under his proposed ‘weighted’ school funding formula. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2206 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:50:00 -0800 Politics & Education While supportive of the concept of overhauling the state’s education funding system, members of the Senate budget committee on Thursday signaled their intent to send Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping school finance reform plan back through the full committee process for public review and debate. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2205 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:47:00 -0800 Budget & Finance Lawmakers in Utah delayed adoption this week of a novel proposal that would provide each of the state's 167,000 high school students with an individual education account with funds on deposit to cover classroom costs and school fees. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2204 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:42:00 -0800 Facilities With school construction funds set to run dry as early as April and no hope of seeking new voter-approved financing until 2014, an oversight panel is recommending the State Allocation Board slow its rate of appropriations to school districts to keep its facilities program running. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2203 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:44:00 -0800 Politics & Education The Obama administration’s new Race to the Top competition – aimed at improving teacher quality – sets aside $5 billion and a set of six underlying goals, one of which would have winning states fulfill the president’s long-held ambition for new evaluation systems. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2202 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:33:00 -0800 Curriculum & Instruction Last October, the California Department of Education legal counsel clarified their initial interpretation of the revised Title 5, California Code of Regulations governing Supplemental Educational Services that became law on June 22, 2011. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2201 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:55:00 -0800 Politics & Education A bill pending in the state Assembly would grant charter schools the same borrowing opportunities as their traditional school counterparts by providing them access to publicly-funded, low-interest loans. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2200 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:51:00 -0800 Budget & Finance School officials are looking carefully at Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised plan for imposing a weighted formula to school financing including disclosure of a base funding grant of $4,920 per pupil multiplied by average daily attendance. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2199 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:44:00 -0800 Budget & Finance A revision of the governor’s new weighted formula for funding schools provides districts with a hold-harmless provision for the 2012-13 fiscal year and a phase-in process over six years beginning with 5 percent of state support. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2198 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:24:00 -0800 Politics & Education Part of President Barack Obama’s proposed nearly-$70 billion in discretionary education spending next year is support for helping states develop teacher evaluation systems based in part on student test scores. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2197 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:40:00 -0800 Special Education An exemption that allows students with disabilities from meeting the state’s high school exit exam requirements is set to expire in June – but officials at the California Department of Education are taking steps to extend the waiver another three years. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2196 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:36:00 -0800 Special Education One out of every 20 school-age children nationally have some form of disability, according to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau – with speech and language impairment representing one of the fastest-growing segments of the population. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2195 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:02:00 -0800 Politics & Education A bill mandating that high school coaches be trained to recognize and treat potentially catastrophic injuries is among the many education-related proposals now pending before lawmakers this session. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2194 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:50:00 -0800 Budget & Finance Complications in transferring tax increment money from dissolved redevelopment agencies to schools have created an unanticipated three-month delay and a $900 million funding gap for districts. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2193 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:44:00 -0800 Politics & Education A week has passed since the Legislature passed on to Gov. Jerry Brown SB 81 – the home-to-school funding swap bill that many districts and education groups had lobbied vigorously in support last month. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2192 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:52:00 -0800 Politics & Education A number of states awarded No Child Left Behind waivers Thursday by the Obama administration still have significant parts of their reform package pending before their state legislature or policy officials. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2191 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:40:00 -0800 Budget & Finance Growing concerns in the field that lawmakers are poised to back Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to remove all spending restrictions on most of the remaining categorical program may be premature. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2190 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:43:00 -0800 Politics & Education Early childhood education advocates, faced with program cuts and performance demands, are convening in Sacramento today to continue discussions about coping with spending setbacks, even as a new federal program offers new opportunity to bring preschool issues to the forefront of state policy decisions. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2189 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:35:00 -0800 Human Resources The public’s right to know about substantial and well-founded complaints against public employees outweighs the worker’s right to privacy, according to a ruling from the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2188 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:39:00 -0800 Curriculum & Instruction Interactive teaching tools are the future of teaching, and the state’s impending transition to a new set of math standards offers California policy makers the perfect opportunity to proliferate the use of technology programs in schools, according to a recent report from Stanford’s Policy Analysis for California Education. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2187 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:32:00 -0800 Budget & Finance Los Angeles civil rights attorney Molly Munger said Monday her initiative to raise taxes for education is fair and resonates with a majority of Californians – who may be forced to choose between several similar proposals come November. http://www.siacabinetreport.com/articles/viewarticle.aspx?article=2186 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:13:00 -0800