"Orange Juice! Politics For The Rest Of Us." - 12 new articles
Must schools use the stimulus money to keep teachers?
School officials are trying to figure out whether federal stimulus money must, can or should be used to avoid teacher layoffs. Duncan outlined a series of steps that states must take to get the next round of dollars. States must report on:
Mrs. Obama told about 350 employees at the Department of Education that President Obama’s nearly $900 billion stimulus package would “prevent teacher layoffs and education cuts in hard-hit states.” “We need to keep teachers in the classrooms throughout this time,” Mrs. Obama said. Last month, California Education Secretary Glen Thomas wrote the lawmakers that the money would, indeed, be spent on local school needs such as saving teachers’ jobs. Miller said Friday that “help is on the way.” Nearly 30,000 teachers in California received layoff notices last month. Schwarzenegger said he will send the dollars out quickly.
“We’re the first to pass these dollars immediately to local school districts, and we’re the first to protect teachers’ jobs with Recovery Act dollars,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The largest teachers’ unions, the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, are urging governors across the country to distribute the stimulus money to schools. States would “do a terrible disservice to students” by diverting precious dollars away from schools, AFT president Randi Weingarten and NEA president Dennis van Roekel said in a letter to governors. An estimated 9 percent of teachers, about 294,000, may face layoffs because of budget cuts, according to a University of Washington study. Duncan has warned he will come down “like a ton of bricks” and withhold the next round of funds from any state or school district that defies Obama’s wishes. To get money from the special state aid fund, California and other states had to submit applications that assure they will make progress in several areas, including teacher quality, turning failing schools around, allowing more charter schools to open and reporting whether state academic standards are rigorous enough. States also must set up sophisticated data systems to track student performance. States must show progress on those fronts to get the next round of stimulus dollars to be distributed in the fall. Obama’s economic stimulus bill provides an unprecedented amount of money for schools — double the education budget under President George W. Bush — over the next two years. “Without question the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds will have an immediate and noticeable impact on California’s public schools, colleges, and universities,” said state education chief Jack O’Connell. “These funds will help schools keep teachers and other education staff employed, continue our efforts to improve student achievement, and help our work to close the achievement gap.” California will get $3.1 billion, $2.6 billion of which will go to K-12 programs. The rest will go toward the University of California and California State University systems. The stabilization money is different from other stimulus funds earmarked for education in that school district officials must apply for it with the promise that they agree to reforms set forth by the U.S. Department of Education. School districts can apply right now by visiting http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ar/. After delivering a stern warning that states and school districts must use their federal stimulus money smartly or risk losing billions more, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his staff are starting to spell out exactly what they mean by "smartly." California will be eligible to apply for another $2 billion this fall. Today’s funding is being made available per California’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available April 1. California is the first state to be approved for the first round of state stabilization funding. “The $4 billion that California will receive is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history,” Duncan said. “The President’s leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible. California can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.” To date, California has received nearly $1.3 billion in education stimulus funds– representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants, Independent Living Grants, Impact Aid dollars and Homeless Education Grants. On April 1, California received more than $562 million in Title I funding and more than $660 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the funding for Title I and IDEA funding that California is eligible for in total. On April 1, California also received more than $28 million in Vocational Rehab funds and more than $5 million in Independent Living funds. One April 10, California received nearly $1.5 million in Impact Aid Funding and nearly $14 million in Homeless Education grants. In order to receive today’s funds, California provided assurances that they will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps, and interventions in turning around underperforming schools. As California received billions of dollars Friday to stave off widespread teacher layoffs, the state’s highest elected education official pledged to reform schools, aligning academic standards with other states, rewarding teachers who work in the most challenging classrooms and improving student assessments. “If we are going to do right by our kids and take advantage of this wave of change, then everything must be on the table, and we need to bring both teachers and management to that table to come up with creative solutions that benefit all students,” state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said in a speech at an education conference in Irvine. O’Connell’s proposals came the same day the federal government announced it was releasing $3.1 billion in economic stimulus funding earmarked for education to California, money that could help save the jobs of some of the more than 30,000 teachers, administrators and others who have received preliminary layoff warnings in the state’s school districts. Write to Joe “no one messes with Joe” Biden!  California also is required by the U.S. Department of Education to report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted and how funds are being used. Source: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/04/04172009.html To view California’s application, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html So, the answer is yes the money should be used to keep teachers from losing their jobs. In every report that I’ve read it states that under no circumstances do they want teachers to lose their jobs. http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/12047
Click on this banner to view the pdf chart for Education.
The fall of Red County?
I used to enjoy reading the OC Blog back in the day, but once they were acquired by Red County I had a feeling they would eventually decline - and that day has come. When did their fall begin? I think that when their former editor, Matt “Jerbal” Cunningham, refused to tell his readers for a month that his pal John Lewis, a GOP consultant, had endorsed a Democrat, Tom Daly, over a conservative Republican, Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson, it was, in hindsight, an act of blog suicide. And then John and Ken, over at KFI Talk Radio, lit into Red County exposing them for what they are, “a blog for Republican Kool Aid drinkers.” Not long after that Jerbal was gone as Red County editor. And now, in the latest Blognetnews.com rankings of political blogs in California, Red County has completely fallen off the map, as they are not anywhere in the top 20. Gone. Just like that. I don’t pay all that much attention to these rankings, as sometimes they are a bit nuts. But our blog is always on that top 20 list. Always. And over the last few weeks we have crept back to the top, while our competitors in Orange County have fallen, one by one. And now Red County has completely slipped off the map. Jerbal used to come over here quite often to rip us and say we are not credible. Well Jerbal, we’re still here. What happened to Red County? To make matters worse for Jerbal, one of our bloggers, Tony Bushala, is starting a new Republican blog for Orange County - a blog for REAL Republicans, if there are any left. He is calling it the OC GOP Blog. If you are interested in writing for Tony’s new blog, email him by clicking here. I suspect it won’t take long for Tony’s new blog to supersede what is left of Red County, CA GOP votes against Arnold ballot measures but is this just a token gesture?
The Libertarian Party of California announced finally on April 7 that they were opposing “Propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E on the May 19 special election ballot,” but they are supporting the passage of Prop. 1F. Now the California Republican Party leaders have finally followed suit by voting on “Saturday to oppose all six measures on the May 19 ballot, including a spending limit and temporary tax hike proposal championed by GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines.” Why is Villines still in charge of the GOP Assembly delegation and why did the CA GOP previously give over $600,000 to Schwarzenegger?
And why haven’t rich GOP gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman donated any money at all to the effort against the Arnold ballot measures? They have opposed the measures verbally, but so far they have not put their ample wallets into play. And why is the CA GOP opposing Prop. 1-F, “which would ban legislative pay raises in deficit years?” What is wrong with that? The Libertarians got this one right - while the Republicans look to be protecting their legislative paychecks at our expense. In my opinion, you cannot trust the California Republicans anymore than you can trust their blue counterparts! The Angels are hurting - but the Yankees suck!
As an Angels fan, I was not happy when the New York Yankees swept in during the off-season to claim the Angels prized first baseman, Mark Texeira. But I was glad that the Angels did not overpay to keep him. Texeira is already off to a rocky start with an injury that has since fated. Oh he will hit his home runs this year, but whether he is worth a mint remains to be determined. The Angels sure could use his power right about now, as their top slugger, Vlad Guerrero, has gone on the shelf for awhile. They have only one legitimate power hitter left, in Torii Hunter. They just got shellacked in Minnesota and figure to hurt for some time as they are fielding a roster full of light-hitting middle infielders right now. And they are going to be in mourning all year after the tragic loss of their young pitcher, Nick Adenhart. But the Yankees have turned their new gazillion dollar stadium into a giant toilet bowl! When they lost yesterday to the Indians by a football score, 22-4, “It was the most runs for the Indians since they beat New York, 22-0, on Aug. 31, 2004, at the old Yankee Stadium. The 22 runs also tied the Yankees’ record for most given up in a home game,” according to the L.A. Times. The Yankees spent a mint signing free agent pitcher C.C. Sabathia, but their pitching still blows. They don’t have five starting pitchers and their bullpen is reeling. Love it! Already this year we are seeing a slew of lower priced teams zoom to the top, including the Florida Marlins, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles. Good! The big spending teams can spend whatever they want but ultimately they still have to play ball. And money cannot buy team unity nor can it help you when injuries set in. The younger, deeper teams have a huge advantage. And that is the way it should be in America’s pastime. Even Stanley Fiala can’t stand Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido anymore
(Stanley Fiala, on the left, and Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides) I had not heard from Stanley Fiala since last year’s Santa Ana City Council elections, with the exception of the occasional crazed comment that we have to delete due to his use of expletives. Fiala runs for Mayor of Santa Ana every two years and has actually endorsed our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, in the last few elections. But things are so bad in Santa Ana that even Fiala has had enough, as witnessed in this email that he sent me today (note: I am leaving his spelling errors intact as they are rather humorous): Because of recent shootings mainly a mother in front of her child, I am pissed and would like to organize the following: 1) Write an open letter to Obama to spoil any Pulido’s future political saspirations and embarrass him. (immediately) 2) Declare Santa Ana Government a Rocketeering Enterprise. (soon as possible) 3) Organize a Recall Action Committee ["RAC"]. (will provide brier on a charter) 4) Recall Claudia Alvarez to send message to the rest. (her third therm was too important to her it would rock the 8th floor as did Susan Boyle) If everything goes well and the God is kind, I may provide necessary seed capital (maybe third quoter????) If you want to participate please release a trial balloon post re coalition of OC bloggers to join RAC….. no pissing contest. Please notice a key word “coalition” and its proper meaning. -Stan Well, Fiala is right about that awful shooting of a woman, in front of her child, by an SAPD officer. But unfortunately Santa Ana has reached the point where Pulido and his team can win with impunity. We are at critical mass. There are so many uninformed voters in town that we cannot win. Nevertheless, it is obvious that our town has gone to Hell in a hand basket - even Fiala has had enough. Perhaps next time he will refrain from endorsing Pulido? Note to Fiala: I will approve your comments here if you can refrain from your usual F-bombs and other expletives. Were the Tea Protests the last gasp of a dying GOP?
So will the Tax Day Tea Protests turn into anything? I was disappointed to see the GOP take over these events. Having a dying party lead the effort can’t possibly be a good idea. Check out this quote from one of the GOP hacks, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy from Bakersfield:
Hey Kevin, wasn’t it a tad irresponsible for your boy Bush to start a war in Iraq on false pretenses and then spend a damn fortune carrying out said bogus war? And wasn’t it rather irresponsible for Bush and his lame SEC Chairman Chris Cox to look the other way while Wall St. collapsed and while Bernie Madoff made off with over $60 billion dollars of other people’s money? Let’s face it, Bush destroyed the world economy. Nothing Obama does will come close to that. I grant that Obama’s economic policies suck too, but I voted for the Libertarian candidate last November, so don’t blame me! And the Republicans should not be blaming Obama. That holds true in particular here in California, where our state has gone to Hell under Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The real Boston Tea Party was an amazing act of public vandalism that started the American Revolution. Do today’s Tea Protests compare to that seminal event? Honestly, I don’t think so. I find it hard to believe that these protests will lead to anything at all. They may well be the last gasp of a party with one foot in the grave. Kudos to President Obama for trying to undo Bush damage in Latin America
I am no fan of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but he has been democratically elected numerous times - and there is no question that he is a big-time regional leader in Latin America. Chavez recalled his Ambassador to the U.S. in September, but on Friday things began to change as U.S. President Barack Obama went out of his way to meet Chavez, at the Summit of the Americas, and make nice with him. After Obama introduced himself to Chavez, “”the two men talked about their mutual desire to change the relationship between their countries,” according to Politico.com. Chavez also “said Saturday that he had proposed a former foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, as his ambassador to Washington in a move toward restoring normal ties with the United States,” according to the New York Times. Things started to thaw when Obama announced his initial plans to thaw our relationship with Cuba. Many of the Latin American leaders are upset today because Cuba is not allowed to participate in the Americans Summit meetings due to the American embargo. No question about it. Obama needs to restore relations with Cuba now. Why wait? I must say that it is refreshing to have a President who spends time trying to make peace instead of war. The Fullerton Observer - Shilling For City Hall Again
In its mid-April edition, our old friends (lower case f) at The Fullerton Observer pulled their typical stunt of shilling for the bureaucrats and bureaucrat loving politicos over at City Hall. County Supervisor Chris Norby had submitted to The Observer an essay on the proposed redevelopment expansion that we had previously posted on this very site. Not content to print the letter and let responders respond - on their own and without coaching, The Observer apparently gave Norby's letter to the City where somebody in Redevelopment wrote a "response" in the form of a series of "facts" - really just disembodied statements meant to show how the City, at least, was following the minimum requirements of the law. Click here to read more. Agran Machine Clone Running for Congress
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Beth Krom, clone of the Agran machine that foisted the Great Park boondoggle on Orange County, has announced her intentions to run for Congress. While we should applaud anyone throwing their hat into the ring to do the work of their fellow citizens, the thought of this Machine clone going off to DC brings a heart stopping pause! Consider: Krom lied about the Irvine Planning Commissions plan to pack the Great Park Neighborhood with more homes than originally agreed. Like we need more population density in southern California. Thanks Beth!
Then there was the lawsuit where the City Council held “closed door” meetings with a developer. Wonder what changed hands behind those doors? So do the people of Irvine! Mr Agran and Beth Krom and Sukhee Kang provided a no bid contract for their friend Arnold Forde for a public relations contract and Arnold has helped them run their politcal campaigns. This is a violation of State code 1090 and it is a felony. Need more fun? Read about how Krom and Agran engineered Communist $$ for the Great Park, in return for pretending Taiwan doesnt exist. Bend over and kiss the ankles for the Chinese, eh Krom? This article really is hilarious by the OC Weekly guys. Anyone wanting to know all about Krom, just pay attention when campaign season starts. This group is going to be pulling a lot of shady crap. So the facts are there. Beth Krom, clone of the corrupt Larry Agran machine, wants to take her bags to washington where she can do even more damage. Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna… are you paying attention? The OC Teachers Unite! A Blog for Local Teachers in OC!I created a blog that includes many links for Educators to refer to. It has many useful links from how to contact your local lawmaker to all of the Unions in California. Also, I have included RSS feeds with up to the minute Education news. Please visit if you’re a teacher or even if you are just interested in EDUCATION. Click on this banner to visit the site.
Santa Ana Tea Party photos by LG
Did a Santa Ana cop shoot an unarmed man who was running away?
“The man shot and killed by Santa Ana police officers on Friday was unarmed and running away from police who had stopped the car he was riding in, the car’s driver said Saturday,” according to the O.C. Register. This guy was a bad guy with a long record, but this shooting, which happened in Santa Ana’s Sandpointe Neighborhood, comes on the heels of another recent incident where a woman was shot and killed by an SAPD officer, with a baby in her car. What is going on in Santa Ana? Have our cops finally flipped with all the crime they have to deal with? Is this some kind of aberration of crazy macho trigger-happy behavior? Or are these cops innocent? Somehow I doubt that the SAPD will tell us the truth. |
Click here to safely unsubscribe now from "Orange Juice! Politics For The Rest Of Us." or change your subscription or subscribe
Unsubscribe from all current and future newsletters powered by FeedBlitz
| Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 |
0 коммент.
Post a Comment