Despite cutbacks and more cutbacks and very shaky state funding for public education, teachers in my district continue to offer exceptional learning opportunities for their students. As California voters head to the polls in November, if they have any doubts about the importance of Governor Brown’s proposed Temporary Taxes to Fund Education-Guaranteed Public Safety Funding (a constitutional [...]

For California public schools and their 2012-13 budgets, so much depends on  November, when voters will have the opportunity to step up and support our schools by approving the governor’s proposed budget. Given the tsunami of teacher bashing still sweeping the country, I hope every district in the state – and nation – will make [...]

I certainly understand the pressure teachers and administrators at low-performing schools are under right now to raise test scores. Not surprisingly, not all teachers respond to test-prep mandates in the same way.  Many believe in the power of months of drill to improve scores, and will, accordingly, consider allowing students time for a technology-related project [...]

I have not heard the final tally yet on the number of California teaches who were “pink slipped” this week, but in my district alone the number is over 200! Unless there is a surprise in my mailbox today (5:00 today – the “ides” of March – is the cutoff for notification), I still have [...]