The EdVocate West

Big Weeks in Ed. Reform in California (after an eventful weekend)

July 26, 2010 at 11:49 pm arunramanathan Leave a comment

It was certainly an eventful weekend. There was the news from California School Boards Association, where the longtime head of the organization was asked to step down because of financial improprieties. It’s interesting when you have the head of an organization suing the state for inadequately funding schools using the taxpayer funded dues of local school districts to pay for 1/2 million dollar salary of its President and his thousand dollar spending sprees in casinos. Makes you also wonder what else might be happening with some of these dues-dependent organizations in Sacramento. Who do they represent again?

Tomorrow, we will hear whether California is one of the finalists for Round II of Race to the Top. We supported the state’s second round application. It was a vast improvement over the first round application, particularly in the area of great teachers and leaders. It was also forward-thinking in its use of a collaborative of reform-minded districts, rather than the state department of education, to establish the MOU and put together the application. The result was a far more reform-oriented document than the first round application. Edwatch has California on its potential finalist list.

And next week – the State Board of Education, will make a decision on whether to adopt the Common Core standards, with a few California twists. Given the Governor’s support for the Core, we are hopeful that the board will vote yes. But as we know, anything can happen in CA.

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