Dear Colleagues: Next week, families and friends across Sacramento will gather at dinner tables to celebrate Thanksgiving. And although I like turkey and mashed potatoes as much as the next person, I have to say that the best part of Thanksgiving is, in fact, “giving thanks” – acknowledging with gratitude things that go right in life. There is something reassuring in affirming out loud that, despite our challenges, we have much to rejoice in. Come to think of it, this is a good message for all of us in education. Public schools have taken a thumping this year from movies like “Waiting for Superman” and from those justifiably worried about how well our educational system is preparing

Dear Colleagues: Recently, I attended a screening of a new documentary film that has sparked a conversation across the country about the challenges facing our public education system. I know what you’re thinking, but, no. This isn’t about “Waiting for Superman.”   The movie is called “Race to Nowhere,” and it brings up some important issues about kids and schools. Made by a parent, the film examines what we’re teaching our kids, how we’re teaching them and, perhaps most importantly, why we’re teaching them.   It begs the question: What’s the goal of a K-12 education?   Is the point of our work simply to prepare our children to memorize facts for those stressful days in May when the

Dear Mr. Mayor, I know that you have been busy with the election and all, and then the wedding plans, and  finding a place for Sacramento’s homeless, and keeping the Kings in town, the rail yard deal,etc. etc. etc. But Dude; you gotta proof read the emails your vast media machine puts out. They got some of it wrong. I did a quick Big Education Ape touchup: what do you think? your pal, Mike Correction: Vote for  Community! Dear Neighbor, This email isn't going to bore you with the standard "here's why Election Day is important to democracy" lecture. If you're reading this, you know Election Day matters. What you may not know is why Tuesday means so much down the ticket -- where the sch

COMMUNITY UPDATE FROM THE DESK OF JONATHAN P RAYMOND Last week I had the opportunity to hear Hill Harper speak at an event. Mr. Harper (who attended our own John F. Kennedy High School) is a Brown University and Harvard University graduate, an actor on “CSI: NY” and founder of Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering kids. Hill’s message was that all of us in education need to do a better job of encouraging children to dream big. His point was that we often tell kids they can be anything they dream of being but ignore the fact that many students lack the ability to imagine a different future – much less try to attain it – because their worldview

My Dear Friend, Just yesterday I was at the White House East Room with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, to witness him signing the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. The initiative calls for the expansion of educational opportunities, improvement of education outcomes, and the need to deliver a complete and competitive education for all Hispanics, the Initiative shall, consistent with law, promote, encourage, and undertake efforts designed to meet the goals and objectives set forth in the document signed by President Obama on the 19th day of October in the year 2010. The initiative also calls for us to work across communities in partnership

Dear Colleagues: ―Great moments are born from great opportunities.‖ Some of you may recognize the words of Herb Brooks, who led the US hockey team to gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics. His speech – immortalized in two movies – came just before his team of amateur and collegiate players faced the Soviet Union, which was then considered the best hockey team in the world. His point was that the seemingly overwhelming challenge the team faced was, in fact, a great opportunity to make history. Today, those of us in education are faced with challenges that similarly seem insurmountable: Raising the bar on student learning, closing achievement gaps, engaging parents in our work, preparing

Teaching and Learning Priority School Professional Development: Staffs of the six Superintendent’s Priority Schools gathered at the Serna Center this week for training with Rochelle Herring-Peniston, president of Transformation By Design. Faculty learned the use of Data Wise inquiry protocols, which assist in analyzing student work, and learned how to identify learning goals and teacher learning needs. The sessions used the teachings of Harvard researchers such as Kathryn Boudette, Richard Elmore and Brent Stephens as well as the work of Nancy Love, Linda Darling-Hammond and Walter Doyle. Every Day Counts: Charlotte Chadwick, principal at John Bidwell School, is throwing down the gauntl

 October 8, 2010 Teaching and Learning • Collaborative Leadership: Professional development at the Serna Center this week focused on building effective teamwork and cultivating a culture of shared leadership focused on student learning. Led by Mike Mattos, author of The Collaborative Administrator: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community, sessions were held for school-based and central office leaders. • College Fair: Hundreds of students and their parents –estimates put the number of attendants at 1,500 – learned about a vast array of post-secondary options at the district’s annual _ollege Fair, held last Sunday at C.K. McClatchy High School. Students waited in lines to a

Dear Colleagues: From magazine covers to movie screens to MSNBC’s Education Nation, public schools are a growing topic of national discourse. This interest is understandable. With economic recovery slow, unemployment high and a barrage of data about how American students stack up against their global counterparts, many across the country worry about the status of public education. On Saturday, I attended a screening of the documentary “Waiting for Superman” and participated in a panel discussion that followed. The film tells the story of five families fed-up with low-performing schools in their neighborhoods and their attempts to enroll their children in higher-performing charters. I c

Teaching and Learning New families welcomed: John Cabrillo Elementary School’s Back to School Night on September 29 was well attended and included an announcement of new Student Leadership Representatives for the year. Families new to the school were welcomed with a rose presented by the student leaders. Additionally, each classroom teacher gave a presentation to parents establishing the learning goals, student expectations and ways parents may help support student success at school this year. Achievement celebrated: More than 95 percent of parents attended Hollywood Park Elementary School’s Back to School Night. During the event principal Hamed Razawi shared the school’s 13 percent incr

     Greetings to all of the candidates:    My name is Lourdes Jimenez-Price, and I am the President of the District Advisory Council (DAC) for the Sacramento City Unified School District.  Please accept this e-mail as an invitation to join us this coming Tuesday, September 14, 2010, for the DAC General Meeting at the Serna Center.  I have attached a copy of our agenda. For those of you unfamiliar with the DAC, the purpose of the DAC is to advise the SCUSD Board of Education, Administration and the School Site Councils (SSC) on issues affecting the education of the students in SCUSD including, but not limited to, all matters pertaining to parental involvement in the review, planning a

 Vote for Community Vote for Patrick and Ray! Sacramento City Council 2010 Hi I am the Big Education Ape-A. P.arent E.ngaged. I am also known as Mike Simpson. I have been a Sacramento area resident since 1982. I have had the good fortune to live, work and to be a part of this wonderful community. I think it is called being blessed. In my years in this community I have had the honor of working with some of the most excellent leaders in government, education and the private sector.  I have the special privilege to call two of these excellent leaders, Ray Tretheway and Patrick Kennedy, my friend.  I worked for Ray Tretheway at the Sacramento Tree Foundation. It was Ray that taught me how

 150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps Students, parents, teachers and supporters who ran a 150-mile non-stop day-and-night relay from San Carlos to Sacramento to invite lawmakers to spend a day in a public school finished their journey yesterday, Monday, May 17, with a rally on the steps of the California State Capitol Building.  Event participants included Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, State Senator Gloria Romero, and Assemblymember Tom Torlakson; the latter two are candidates for California Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Following the rally, the group fanned out to deliver their invitation letters to the state’s lawmakers.  Participants in the “Spend 1

 150-Mile Citizen Run to Invite Calif. Lawmakers to Schools Culminates in Sacramento May 17   Students, teachers, parents and supporters who are running a 150-mile relay day and night to Sacramento to invite state lawmakers to spend a day in a public school will finish their journey with a rally at 12 p.m., Monday, May 17, at the California State Capitol Building.  The runners are carrying letters written by the youngsters, who are asking that politicians visit a school for a day to see the impact of their spending choices on education.  Speakers at the rally will include Don Shalvey, senior program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Assemblymember and candidate for State

Can a simple strawberry be a catalyst for change? This week, as our students take the California Standards Test, I want to once again thank our dedicated employees for all you do to put children first. These tests are a crucial component in the federal and state accountability models by which we are judged as a district. Test scores are used to track student achievement, and therefore are vital to assessing our services. But we cannot forget that the tests are just one measurement of our work with children. We should also be assessing ourselves on our much larger goal: To take a holistic approach to education. Which brings me to the strawberry. Starting May 10, our nutrition services st

 Sacramento, Calif. – Two Sacramento City Unified School District elementary schools – Matsuyama and David Lubin – were named 2010 California Distinguished Schools by the California Department of Education on Monday. The award recognizes academic excellence and efforts to narrow achievement gaps. Schools are identified for eligibility on the basis of state and federal accountability program test scores. Applicants are then required to describe two “signature practices” that have led to an increase in student achievement and a reduction in test score disparity between ethnic, racial and socio-economic groups. At David Lubin, Principal Lynne Soto and her team have raised the test scores o

 SCUSD to create ‘Superintendent’s Priority Schools’ for six most academically troubled schools Bold leadership, effective teachers, additional resources for more than 4,600 students By Gabe Ross March 16, 2010 – Sacramento’s six most academically troubled schools will be put into a special grouping of schools—the Superintendent’s Priority Schools—with innovative principals, additional assistance and resources Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond announced today. In a first-of-its-kind effort in Sacramento to intensely focus on improving underperforming schools, the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) will create the Priority Schools to help more than 4,600 students in six

On Friday, March 12, 2010 Bill Maher did one of his signature New Rules bits in the Huffington Post as well as on his weekly show Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. The title of the piece was New Rule: Let's Not Fire the Teachers When Students Don't Learn -- Let's Fire the Parents which in my mind really nails the essence of the Public School Debate. Mr. Maher said, “According to all the studies, it doesn't matter what teachers do. …. What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement. It doesn't even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away fro

 Dear Friends, The Haitian relief effort has been historic— a moving example of nations coming together to help a neighbor in need. As Americans, we should carry immense pride in our hearts of how our country, and particularly how the men and women of the U.S. Military, have answered the call to help Haiti rise from the rubble. As things stand today, the U.S. military presence is being phased out significantly for a number of political and strategic reasons. The medical and food aid that was responsive to the after-effects of the earthquake has transitioned into preparation for the inevitable rainy season that could start at any moment and ultimately the threat of hurricanes come June. T

Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit About 430 teachers and other school staff, 125 central office workers would lose jobs By Maria L. Lopez March 4, 2010 – Elementary class sizes will be larger and about 430 teachers and other school staff would lose their jobs under a plan approved by the Sacramento school board Thursday night for millions of dollars in spending cuts to close a $30.6 million budget deficit. The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the cuts to take effect in the next school year unless the district’s unions join the administration in agreeing to concessions to stave off some of the cu