A Parents Guide to Student Assessments

(10/16/13)  Today, the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education (CFHE) released a report that exposes the false promises online education providers are making about costs savings for students and higher education institutions.  Click here for a summary and a link to the full article.

The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education was launched to guarantee that affordable quality higher education is accessible to all sectors of our society in the coming decades; and to include the voices of the faculty, staff, students and our communities—not just administrators, politicians, foundations and think tanks—in the process of making change. The campaign seeks to ensure that the emphasis, curriculum, pricing, and structure of our nation’s higher education systems are good for our students and the quality of education they receive.

(10/14/13)  Our state affiliate, CFT, the California Federation of Teachers, issued a press announcement after Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 955 into law.  This misguided law is designed to help increase access for California citizens to community college classes, but instead creates a two-tiered system where the wealthy can more quickly achieve their educational goals while the middle class and poor are left behind.  This legislation was opposed by nearly all faculty groups throughout the state as well as the State Chancellor’s Office.

The law provides that during summer and winter intersession, classes may be provided that charge the full-cost of offering the class section.  No state apportionment will be granted to the college for providing such courses.  The goal is that such classes be self-sufficient but not money-makers for the college. 

The good news is that lobbying by CFT and other educational groups, reduced this law to an experiment that is likely to only happen at Long Beach City College, so the pros and cons of this idea can be evaluated before spreading it to all of our colleges.

Download the attached press release from CFT. CFT Press Release - AB 955

(Baton Rouge – October 14, 2013) The teacher evaluation system known as the Value Added Model is dangerously flawed, and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education should seriously consider three items on its Educator Effectiveness Committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, according to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

(Baton Rouge – October 14, 2013) The state’s highest education board should seriously consider delaying the full, consequential implementation of Common Core State Standards until problems threatening the success of our children and educators are addressed, according to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

On September 19, 2013, eight educational assistants traveled to Clovis, New Mexico to testify to the Legislative Educational Study Council (LESC).  They were invited to tell their stories about the work that they do in the classroom and the need for living wages for classified employees.

‘I work as a nursing assistant...the work I do matters to the students who depend on my care and I do it because I love it but it is unfair that after 15 years of employment I earn only $15,000 a year,” said Kathy Sanchez a health assistant for APS.

Education Central Minnesota Services is offering three different training opportunities for local presidents, treasurers, negotiators and newer teachers on Wednesday, October 23^rd, at K-Bob’s Café, 109 Rum River Dr, in Princeton. We will start with a delicious meal paid for by ECMS at 5:00 p.m. There will be door prizes and we will be done by 7:30 p.m.