Tag: Education Fri, March 19, 2010
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Layoffs, Furloughs on the Way for Santa Cruz County Schools
Mar 16, 2010, by Danny Wool News
Over 23,000 pink slips are being sent to everyone who works in education across California this week. Almost no one is immune, regardless of whether they’re a principal or a janitor. Though final notices will only be sent out in the middle of May, just using last year as an indicator suggests that some 60 percent of the people receiving the pink slips will end up losing their jobs.
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Local Schools Don’t Make the Grade
Mar 09, 2010, by Danny Wool NewsYesterday Santa Cruz.com reported that school administrators were anxiously awaiting “The List” of “persistently low-achieving schools” across the state. The list is out, pending final approval by the California Department of Education, and the Bay Area did not do so well. About 20 schools, three of them in Santa Cruz County, found themselves on the List.
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School Administrators Wait for “The List”
Mar 08, 2010, by Danny Wool News
It has all the tension of Oscar night, except there is no little gold statue in the end. In fact, the results are worse than winning a Razzie. School administrators and teachers across California are waiting breathlessly today to see if they made “The List,” and are cited as the “187 worst performing schools in the state.” Superintendents and principals have already been informed, but for everyone else, the news will come at 10am this morning.
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Rally Highlights K-12 Woes
Mar 05, 2010, by Maria Grusauskas News
As a small procession made up mostly of university students made its way down Pacific Avenue yesterday, some onlookers were unimpressed.
“Seems pretty meager for a protest,” one man said, watching as a banner passed that read “We are the Budget Cuts.” What he, and perhaps many Santa Cruz residents, didn’t know is that the meager procession had broken off from a group of at least 400 students, faculty and workers who had been picketing since daybreak at the main entrance to UCSC. In a rare coalescence of solidarity between the town and the gowns, the university protest was, in the form of this small group, merging with a community demonstration to save public education. -
Adult Education on the Chopping Block
Jan 29, 2010, by Staff NewsFaced with a $5.4 million deficit, schools in Santa Cruz are looking for quick cuts. Among the most vulnerable targets are adult education programs, especially those focusing on helping older students get their GEDs
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Breakfast the New Target of School Meal Program
Jan 20, 2010, by Staff NewsAlmost half of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s students eat a school lunch every day.
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“Fight the Budget Cuts!” School Boards Urged
Jan 15, 2010, by Staff NewsAt a meeting of the California School Board Association Region 9 last night, educators were urged to fight the impending cuts to school budgets rather than simply comply with them. Region 9 encompasses Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. “Tell your stories to your local legislator, talk about the pain local communities are feeling,” said Chris Ungar, Director of the Region.
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Sprechen Sie Español? Oui.
Jan 14, 2010, by Staff CommunityNew language school opening in Santa Cruz will offer Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, among others.
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Schools to Suffer Under New Budget
Jan 14, 2010, by Staff NewsSummer schools will likely fall victim to the latest round of budget cuts.
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School Officials Skeptical of Governor’s Pledge to Protect School Funding
Jan 08, 2010, by Staff News
School officials throughout Santa Cruz are skeptical of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s pledge in his State of the State address that education funding will not be touched as the state struggles with a $20 billion deficit.
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Embattled School Districts Sign Up for Federal Program
Jan 06, 2010, by Staff NewsWith budget deficits taking their toll on the state’s public school system, two of Santa Cruz County’s largest school districts, Pajaro Valley Unified and Santa Cruz City, have signed up for “Race to the Top,” a federal program aimed at improving schools.
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County School District Superintendent Michael Watkins hopes to spend another four years in office, improving local students’ access to technology. He may be facing a challenge, however, from former Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Alan Pagano. Though he has not officially entered the race, Pagano says that there are steps he wants the county to take to make education more efficient and cost-effective. Among them is the reconfiguration of the county’s 10 school districts.
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Santa Cruz’s Community College Hurting, Too
Dec 14, 2009, by Allan Lonnberg OpinionCabrillo College adjunct anthropology instructor Allan Lonnberg points out that UCSC isn’t the only Santa Cruz college that’s suffering.
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Santa Cruz Trustees Grapple With Education Cuts
Nov 30, 2009, by Danny Wool NewsSanta Cruz City Schools trustees have a tough job ahead of them in coming weeks: trimming their $60 million budget to the tune of $3.4 million.
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New Charter School Proposed for Watsonville
Nov 20, 2009, by Staff NewsThere may soon be a new charter school in Watsonville, the Escuela Xochitl Tonatiuh. The school, proposed by Teresa Robinson of Los Gatos, is planned for 85 students and would be intended to help middle-school students avoid getting involved in drugs and gang violence.
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School Fundraisers Brings in $332,000
Oct 28, 2009, by Staff NewsDeborah Berkson of Santa Cruz turned down the chance to drive her son to school in a brand new Prius. The winner of this year’s Drive for Schools fundraiser decided to take the cash prize—$25,000—instead.
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Students, Faculty and Workers Rally at UCSC
Sep 24, 2009, by Jessica Lussenhop News
SLIDESHOW: Budget cuts, layoffs and increased fees inspire hundreds to gather at campus entrance.
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An Apple A Day …
Sep 17, 2009, by Staff News
Watsonville students will soon have a whole new range of snacks to choose from at the end of the school day. For four days a week, teens from the Jovenes Sanos youth organization will operate stands outside the schools, where students can buy a cup of berries for just 50 cents.
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Local Schools Improving – But Not Enough
Sep 16, 2009, by Staff NewsSanta Cruz County’s schools showed an improvement in academic performance, based on the results of the 2008 standardized tests.
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Will High School Coaches Turn Down Their Stipends?
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff NewsSchool athletic programs are usually the first to take a hit when there is a budget crisis. Santa Cruz is tackling the problem by allowing coaches to turn down the stipend they usually receive for coaching their teams. While the stipend does not come to much per coach—depending on the sport, certified coaches who work full time at their schools can increase their salaries by $1,639-$3,125—the impact throughout school district could be significant, saving the school board as much as $300,000.
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Santa Cruz Schools to Take a Major Hit
Aug 13, 2009, by Staff NewsBetween 2010 and 2012 Santa Cruz schools will have to absorb at least $12 million in budget cuts just to keep the city’s educational system solvent.
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School Districts Uniting to Lobby Sacramento
Jul 20, 2009, by Staff News
Representatives of six Santa Cruz County school districts met on Thursday to form a steering committee for a proposed new Santa Cruz County School Boards Association. Like other associations throughout the state, the group plans to use their combined power to face state legislators with a unified voice, particularly in matters relating to the local education budget.
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Santa Cruz Schools Team up to Fight Budget Cuts
Jul 06, 2009, by Staff report News
With steep budget cuts to education looming, Santa Cruz school boards are launching a countywide coalition to petition lawmakers for the right to make their own cuts in spending. According to State Sen. Joe Simitian, “Local control has always made sense, but flexibility and local decision-making is now more important than ever.” According to Santa Cruz City Schools trustee Cynthia Hawthorne, “We are much more in tune with what our students need than the state is.”
