برچسب: Staff

  • Florida: Ousted Staff at New College Say DeSantis’ Allies Raided Restricted Funds to Pay President’s Bloated Salary

    Florida: Ousted Staff at New College Say DeSantis’ Allies Raided Restricted Funds to Pay President’s Bloated Salary


    As part of his war on “woke,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis packed the board of New College with likeminded right wingers intent on purging the small college’s progressive character.

    Two financial officers who were ousted during the transition revealed that the DeSantis board dipped into restricted gifts to pay the bloated salary of DeSantis-selected President, Richard Corcoran, a politician with no academic credentials. In other words, one of DeSantis’s cronies.

    Suncoast Searchlight reported:

    Two former top finance officers at the New College Foundation say they were ousted in 2023 after pushing back against college administrators who sought to use donor-restricted funds to cover President Richard Corcoran’s salary and benefits — a move they said would violate the terms of the donations.

    Ron McDonough, the foundation’s former director of finance, and Declan Sheehy, former director of philanthropy, said they warned administrators not to misuse a major gift — the largest donation in the school’s history — which they said was not intended to fund administrative salaries.

    Both said their contracts were terminated after they raised concerns internally. 

    “The college was trying to find the money to pay the president,” McDonough said. “And I kept on going back, saying, ‘We don’t have this unrestricted money.’”

    The accounts of their final days on the job, shared publicly for the first time with Suncoast Searchlight, come as former foundation board members and alumni demand greater transparency and accountability from New College amid rising costs and sweeping institutional change.

    Since Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new slate of trustees in early 2023, the small liberal arts college has undergone a dramatic transformation — eliminating its Gender Studies program, reshaping student life, and launching a costly new athletics department. Critics say the administration has also sidelined financial safeguards, raising questions about whether the college is honoring donor intent and maintaining public trust.

    Last month, a group of former foundation board members sent Corcoran and New College Foundation executive director Sydney Gruters a demand letter requesting an audit of how restricted donor funds were used and threatening legal action if they do not comply. The letter follows a string of high-profile board resignations and dismissals, including those who held key financial oversight roles.

    Their exits, and the college’s move last year to hand Corcoran the unilateral power to fire foundation board members, have deepened fears that independent checks on the foundation’s spending are being systematically dismantled.

    A “direct support organization” with close ties to New College, the foundation has never operated independently of the school. But in giving the college president the power to unilaterally remove board members last year, the Board of Trustees further eroded its autonomy. 

    “Good governance is not a side item,” said Hazel Bradford, a former foundation board member who sat on the organization’s investments committee and resigned in April, citing concerns about the college’s handling of the foundation. “It’s the beginning and end of any foundation handling other people’s money…”

    After the DeSantis-backed overhaul of the Board of Trustees, New College named Corcoran president in early 2023, approving a compensation package that made him the highest-paid president in the college’s history —earning more than $1 million a year in salary and perks.

    Because state law limits taxpayer funding for university administrator compensation to $200,000 — an amount that covered only the first four monthsof Corcoran’s salary — New College has turned to its foundation, which manages the school’s endowment and donor funds, to make up the difference.

    “Corcoran’s salary is not a one-time thing,” said McDonough. “It’s not sustainable…” 

    So the new leadership had to find money to pay Corcoran’s lavish salary, and they turned to the College’s foundation. Most of its funds were restricted by donors for purposes like scholarships. Donor intent is a crucial concept. If a donor give $1 million for scholarships, it should not be used to pay the College president’s salary. Future fundraising will be crippled by violation of that trust.

    The older alumni, graduates of the only progressive college in the state, are not likely to make new donations to New College. The new alumni do not yet exist. Maybe Betsy DeVos will bail out New College, which is no longer “new.”



    Source link

  • Texas Floods: Staff Cuts at Weather Service, Plus Local Refusal to Pay Taxes for Early Warning=Disaster

    Texas Floods: Staff Cuts at Weather Service, Plus Local Refusal to Pay Taxes for Early Warning=Disaster


    The disastrous floods that swept through Hill Country and caused the deaths of 80 or more people were made worse by human error.

    The New York Times found that the local branches of the National Weather Service were short on staff; critical positions were empty. The computer specialists who worked for Elon Musk in an operation called DOGE decided that too many people worked for the National Weather Service. Some meteorologists took buyouts, others resigned.

    Furthermore the affected area did not have an early warning ststem. Local taxpayers didn’t want to pay for it.

    The quasi-libertarian belief that we don’t need government services and we shouldn’t pay for them took a toll on innocent people.

    The combination of Musk’s ruthless cost-cutting and local hostility to taxes set the stage for a disastrous tragedy.

    The Times reported:

    Crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled as severe rainfall inundated parts of Central Texas on Friday morning, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose. 

    Texas officials appeared to blame the Weather Service for issuing forecasts on Wednesday that underestimated how much rain was coming. But former Weather Service officials said the forecasts were as good as could be expected, given the enormous levels of rainfall and the storm’s unusually abrupt escalation.

    The staffing shortages suggested a separate problem, those former officials said — the loss of experienced people who would typically have helped communicate with local authorities in the hours after flash flood warnings were issued overnight. 

    The shortages are among the factors likely to be scrutinized as the death toll climbs from the floods. Separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County’s apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of the deaths occurred. 

    In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending. 

    “Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, “I don’t know.”

    The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge, according to Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents Weather Service workers.

    The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.

    That office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees, according to a person with knowledge of his departure. 

    Sign up for Your Places: Extreme Weather.  Get notified about extreme weather before it happens with custom alerts for places in the U.S. you choose. Get it sent to your inbox.

    Some of the openings may predate the current Trump administration. But at both offices, the vacancy rate is roughly double what it was when Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January, according to Mr. Fahy.



    Source link

  • Faculty, staff urge California colleges to make backup plans in case DACA ends

    Faculty, staff urge California colleges to make backup plans in case DACA ends


    Madeleine Villanueva, higher education manager of Immigrants Rising and Maria Barragan, director of undocumented student support services at Loyola Marymount University.

    Credit: Courtesy of Immigrants Rising

    Iveth Díaz has spent much of her career helping immigrant students living in the U.S. without permanent legal status navigate college. But when her own application to renew her work permit and temporary protection from deportation was delayed because of backlogs, she had to resign from her job for three months.

    “It was extremely stressful. It was a time when I suffered from anxiety and depression, which is unfortunately very common within our community,” Díaz said. 

    Díaz and other college and university employees with work permits and protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program are calling on universities to do more to help them prepare for alternative employment plans in case the program ends. Some proposals include helping employees become independent consultants, preparing a severance package or sponsoring work visas.

    DACA offers temporary protection from deportation and permission to work for about 579,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. as children and graduated from high school, completed a GED or are veterans of the U.S. military. Every two years, recipients must apply for renewal. But the program could end at any time. It was found to be illegal by a federal judge in Texas, and that case will likely end up in the Supreme Court.

    The program, launched during the Obama administration, has long been associated with high school and college students, but most recipients are now working adults. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has not accepted new applications since 2017, making the youngest DACA recipients currently 21 years old, and the oldest, now 42.

    “The DACA generation are not kids anymore,” said Madeleine Villanueva, higher education manager of Immigrants Rising, an organization based in San Francisco that helps undocumented people achieve career and educational goals and published a guide for colleges and universities to support undocumented employees. “A lot of us are in our 30s and 40s. We’re doing this work so that the future generation of undocumented students doesn’t have such a hard time like we did when we were going to school.”

    Hundreds of faculty and staff at California colleges and universities are DACA recipients, although the exact total is unclear. According to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration’s Higher Ed Immigration Portal,  there are about 9,211 recipients working in education in California, from elementary school to college. The University of California estimates it has more than 400 employee recipients, some of them students. Spokespersons for the California State University and California Community Colleges said they did not have data on how many employees are temporarily protected from deportation.

    Díaz worked for more than eight years at CSU San Bernardino as an administrative support coordinator for graduate researchers and as an admissions counselor. She now leads a program for students at Cerritos College who do not have permanent legal immigration status. As a fellow at Immigrants Rising, she conducted a survey of about 65 employees of California colleges and universities who at one time were living in the U.S. without permission, most of whom now have DACA protections. The employees included faculty, counselors, researchers and financial aid and admissions workers.

    She said most respondents said their colleges and universities have not prepared for what to do for their employees if the program ends.

    “Are we waiting until the program is canceled altogether, or are institutions being proactive in creating ways to retain their employees?” Díaz said. “I found that 70% of respondents stated that their institutions have not even brought it up, have not even had a conversation to their knowledge about what a response plan would be, which is really worrisome.”

    Laura Bohórquez García, the director of the AB 540 and Undocumented Student Center at UC Davis, decided to start her own business, Inner Work Collective Freedom, to employ herself if the program ends and she loses her work permit.

    “I’m like, OK, how do I prepare? Because I don’t feel like the university would be ready to jump in,” Bohórquez García said.

    In addition to plans in case DACA ends, concerned university employees and advocates recommended that universities offer more mental health benefits and that supervisors check in on their employees’ mental health. 

    “You have to check in with the students, but sometimes no one is checking in with you. How can we help others if we can’t even advocate for ourselves?”

    Eric Yang

    Many recipients working in colleges and universities are employed in positions dedicated to supporting immigrant students on their campuses, helping them get legal services or mental health counseling. But many of these positions are part-time and don’t offer health benefits, which are crucial when living with the uncertainty of losing temporary protection from deportation, advocates said.

    “So much of what they’re doing and the fires they’re turning off when it comes to students, it impacts them as well,” said Luz Bertadillo Rodríguez, director of campus engagement at the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a group of college and university leaders dedicated to increasing public understanding of how immigration policies and practices impact students. “The constant word or feeling I hear when there’s a new DACA update is, ‘I’m exhausted.’ They’re just like, ‘I’m tired of living my life two years at a time and then even that not being certain.’”

    Whenever a new court decision comes out about the program, employees in the immigrant resource centers often find themselves holding workshops or trainings to help explain the decision to students, yet they are also processing the decision themselves. 

    “You have to check in with the students, but sometimes no one is checking in with you,” said Eric Yang, a recipient who has worked with immigrant students at two different California universities. “How can we help others if we can’t even advocate for ourselves?”

    University of California officials are currently examining ways to support employees if the temporary deportation protections are terminated, according to UC Office of the President spokesperson Stett Holbrook. He added that the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center offered immigration consultation workshops for recipient employees last summer, “many of which identified eligibility for employment, family or humanitarian relief.”

    RESOURCES FOR UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE EMPLOYEES

    “The University of California has a long record of support for DACA recipients, and we will continue to support our students, staff and faculty regardless of their immigration status,” Holbrook said.

    The University of California is also currently considering a proposal to allow the university to hire students who do not have work permits under DACA. A coalition of immigrant students and allies, including legal scholars at UCLA and elsewhere, have argued that a federal law barring the hiring of immigrants living in the country without permission doesn’t apply to state entities.

    California State University and California Community Colleges both offer free legal services to employees who have temporary work permits. However, advocates said many faculty and staff are unaware that these services are not just for students.

    Melissa Villarin, spokesperson for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, said the community colleges have also recently included resources for staff and faculty during the annual Undocumented Student Action Week.

    Díaz also recommended more training for university staff about DACA recipients. She said survey respondents said there was a lack of awareness or understanding among other staff and faculty about their colleagues who have temporary protection under the program.

    “There was just no knowledge by institutions of higher ed about even having undocumented staff and faculty on campus,” Díaz said.

    She said lack of awareness can lead to insensitivity. At one point, for example, she said a human resources director asked her why she didn’t just fix her status or apply for a green card, not understanding that Díaz, like most immigrants who entered or stayed in the U.S. without permission, didn’t have a way to apply for a green card without leaving the country and possibly having to stay out for up to 10 years.

    Yang said universities should do more to highlight the stories of staff who are covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program “so that people in the public know that there are professional staff who are also potentially without any protection or support.”

    Despite the challenges these immigrants face, Bertadillo Rodríguez said they should be commended for their work. “They’re very involved in the students’ lives because they’re able to create such strong bonds with the students,” she said. “They’re some of the most exceptional and brilliant practitioners that I’ve come across in higher education.”





    Source link

  • Trump Slashes Staff at Voice of America

    Trump Slashes Staff at Voice of America


    Voice of America is known worldwide for its straightforward, unbiased presentation of world news. Trump placed MAGA enthusiast Keri Lake in charge. At his behest, she just laid off most of the VOA staff. Remember when America was great? We thought we had a message for the world and that the truth would set us free.

    But Trump doesn’t want to “Make America great Again.” He wants to make America a land of bitter divisions, where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer and sicker, unable to get health insurance, medical care, good schools, or any opportunity to rise into the middle class. For that, you need unions and good jobs.

    The New York Times just reported:

    The Trump administration sent layoff notices on Friday to more than 600 employees at Voice of America, a federally funded news organization that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedom.

    The layoffs, known as reductions in force, will shrink the staff count at the news organization to less than 200, around one-seventh of its head count at the beginning of 2025. They put Voice of America journalists and support staff on paid leave until they are let go on Sept. 1.

    The termination notices are the latest round of the Trump administration’s attack on federally funded news networks, including Voice of America.

    In March, President Trump accused the news group of spreading “anti-American” and partisan “propaganda,” calling it “the voice of radical America.” He then signed an executive order that effectively called for dismantling of the news agency and put nearly all Voice of America reporters on paid leave, ceasing its news operations for the first time since its founding in 1942.

    Kari Lake, a fierce Trump ally and a senior adviser at the news organization’s oversight agency, U.S. Agency for Global Media, notified Congress earlier this month that her agency intended to eliminate most positions at Voice of America. Her letter identified fewer than 20 employees who must remain at the media organization, according to laws passed by Congress to establish and fund it. Friday’s termination notices leave around 200 employees.

    Ms. Lake’s decision “spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world,” Patsy Widakuswara, a former Voice of America White House bureau chief who was placed on leave and is leading a lawsuit against Ms. Lake and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said in a statement.

    She encouraged Congress to intervene and to signal support for Voice of America, which was founded to combat Nazi propaganda and reported in countries that suppress independent reporting and free speech.

    “Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the global information space with anti-America propaganda,” Ms. Widakuswara said. “Do not cede this ground by silencing America’s voice.”



    Source link

  • Students, faculty, staff distrust state college systems’ handling of Title IX cases

    Students, faculty, staff distrust state college systems’ handling of Title IX cases


    Fresno State University

    Credit: fresnostate.edu

    Students and faculty at all three of California’s public higher education institutions do not trust how colleges and universities handle sexual discrimination and harassment. 

    The lack of trust was detailed in a California Assembly Higher Education Committee report released last week that offers recommendations on how the state’s public colleges and universities can better address sexual harassment and discrimination. 

    The report addressed significant deficiencies in the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems’ handling of Title IX, which is the federal education law that prohibits schools from sex-based discrimination. For example, none of the state’s public colleges or universities review how campus leaders plan to address and prevent sex discrimination as part of administrators’ evaluations. Another deficiency: The community college system does not mandate student participation in annual sex discrimination prevention education programs. 

    The report highlighted that students at faculty across all three systems distrust and resent their institutions when it comes to handling Title IX cases. “The prevailing message from students, staff and faculty is that current policies of the CCC, CSU, and UC do not protect survivors and instead are used to protect the institution from lawsuits,” according to the report. 

    Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, president of the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges, said the goal for every district and campus should be moving from being reactive to being proactive and creating a culture of respect. 

    “When you have someone who has already been traumatized or victimized and you’re asking them to go through this incredibly lengthy and cumbersome process without an advocate, that’s not the greatest way to try and come to a resolution,” said Brill-Wynkoop, adding that an oversight body would be helpful. “Every district tries to do things correctly, but without some sort of system check, it’s difficult.” 

    Furthermore, the report found that California lacks an effective method for monitoring and regulating Title IX standards in its higher education institutions. 

    “California’s public higher education institutions are critical to the future of our state, and we must ensure our values of diversity and inclusivity are reflected in providing all students with a safe learning environment and all staff with a working environment free from harassment and discrimination,” Assembly Higher Education Chair Mike Fong said, adding that he will work with lawmakers to introduce legislation based on the report’s recommendations. 

    The report recommended providing more funding to the colleges to address sex discrimination, creating a statewide office to provide guidance and monitoring, annual compliance reports to the Legislature, and creating systemwide independent civil rights offices for each of the three systems. The committee also recommended more training and education, and making campus leaders more responsible for addressing sexual harassment and discrimination. 

    A spokesperson from the community colleges chancellor’s office said: “The Chancellor’s Office agrees with the findings and conclusions of this important report and looks forward to working with the committee, the Legislature and our colleges to implement the recommendations. We are fully aligned with the commitment to improve California’s higher education systems to better address discrimination and provide safe, inclusive environments for all students, faculty and staff.”

    The Assembly Higher Education Committee conducted the report following a series of news nationally and statewide about mishandled Title IX cases. The committee report cites EdSource’s investigation into Chico State, where a professor was investigated for an inappropriate sexual affair with a graduate student. He was put on paid leave last year after EdSource disclosed that he had allegedly threatened to shoot colleagues who cooperated in the investigation.

    The report also noted other EdSource coverage of Title IX cases at CSU campuses and an investigation by USA Today into the mishandling of a Title IX case by then President Joseph I. Castro. The case led to his resignation as CSU chancellor.

    The Cal State system was found to have mishandled a variety of cases over the year and reports from an independent law firm and the California State Auditor’s office last year found the 23 -campus system lacked resources and failed to carry out its Title IX responsibilities. 

    In response to the Assembly committee’s report, a spokesperson from the Cal State chancellor’s office said: “Any form of discrimination, harassment and misconduct is unacceptable. The CSU stands ready to work with legislators and with leaders from across the CSU system — including university administrators, staff, faculty and students — to make the changes needed to improve our Title IX and other nondiscrimination policies and procedures.”

    The report noted that the university system has already changed its policy allowing administrators who have committed misconduct to “retreat” to faculty positions. 

    CSU is currently implementing the changes and reforms called for in the 2023 state audit and in a report conducted by an independent law firm.

    A UC spokesperson said that system has made changes “to address these issues when they arise.”  Officials were interviewed for the Assembly report, and UC pledged to “review the recommendations closely in order to uphold our commitment to fostering an environment free from sex-based discrimination for all members of the UC community.”





    Source link

  • WCCUSD school psychologists face burnout due to consistent staff shortages

    WCCUSD school psychologists face burnout due to consistent staff shortages


    A group of WCCUSD school psychologists at a union contract rally in 2023.

    Courtesy of John Zabala

    West Contra Costa Unified School District’s school psychologist internship program once flourished. The district recruited from substantial applicant pools from local universities and provided a strong start for beginning school psychologists entering the workforce, often retaining them after the internships ended. 

    Now, however, in the years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, WCCUSD is struggling to recruit interns and fill vacant school psychologist positions. This means psychologists, considered essential pieces of school environments, are carrying larger case loads and working longer hours, leading to burnout.

    WCCUSD, like other districts across the state, is no stranger to staff shortages — the district started the 2023-24 academic year with more than 200 special education paraprofessional vacancies. The shortages have persisted, and on Jan. 31, Public Advocates, a nonprofit civil rights law firm, filed three complaints with the district, alleging some schools failed to provide students with qualified teachers because of problems related to staffing shortages.  

    School psychologists fill a critical role in school communities, collaborating with administration, teachers and parents to ensure students are succeeding academically, emotionally and behaviorally. 

    West Contra Costa has struggled with five to seven school psychologist vacancies for the past couple of years. Halfway through the current school year, the district is still dealing with three.

    “We’re going to weather, this obviously, but we still have a couple of years in which we are going to have a really significant shortage, and we’re going to have a really significant increase in the demand for services, so we’re kind of in for a little bit of a scary period,” said John Zabala, a school psychologist in the district and the president of United Teachers of Richmond. 

    California is generally facing a critical shortage of school psychologists. According to the California Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of 1 school psychologist for 500 to 750 students. However, California schools on average have 1 per 1,000 students. Some schools have 1 per 3,000 students.

    Although WCCUSD’s ratio falls into the recommended range at around 1 school psychologist per 500-550 students, school psychologists in the district still face large caseloads and longer work days, contributing to burnout.

    Some districts compensate for shortages by hiring contractors or traveling school psychologists. Emily Springhart, department co-chair of psychology at West Contra Costa, however, said the district has preferred increasing the caseload of school psychologists and extending their work days to deal with the shortage.

    “A lot of the report writing and the case management — those things just go home with people,” Springhart said. “I’m sure it’s not great for their own personal health.”

    Schools have seen a substantial increase in the number of students requiring mental health and behavioral resources in recent years. In April 2022, 69% of public schools reported that the percentage of students seeking mental health services had increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Covid-19 disrupted early intervention for many students, leading to an increase in the number of students needing support, while the staff who would be able to support them, like school psychologists, have not. 

    Mary Campbell, a WCCUSD school psychologist and former department chair, said she worries about what the shortages and the resulting burnout could mean for the longevity of the profession. 

    Springhart said the school psychologist shortage seems to be caused by the same factors triggering shortages of other school staff: inevitable events like retirement, but also financial hardship, forcing people to move out of parts of California with high costs of living. 

    But another cause lies in the declining number of incoming applicants from universities that typically feed into districts like WCCUSD. Springhart said the number has steadily declined, despite the district having a long and strong history of hiring school psychologists from those programs.

    “It seems like all of the districts are kind of fighting over everybody right now, just because there’s not enough people coming out of programs,” Springhart said.

    Oanh Tran, school psychology program coordinator for California State University, East Bay, said she’s actually seen an increase of applicants to the program in recent years. But because the Bay Area is home to so many school districts, there aren’t enough school psychologists to go around.

    “We have so many districts, so many schools, and just a handful of students are graduating with their PPS (Pupil Personnel Services) credential to service those schools and districts,” Tran said. 

    Tran said new school psychologists are also experiencing burnout earlier in their careers. Not only are they dealing with more assessment caseloads, but they’re also spending their days putting out fires likely caused by a lack of early intervention.

    The best districts, Tran said, prioritize monitoring the needs of their school psychologists, ensuring they have access to helpful mentors, have a manageable caseload, and feel supported by their team. Students are being strategic about finding districts that provide these resources, Tran explained. 

    “In West Contra Costa, I do remember there was a time where they did have a lot of our practicum and interns,” Tran said. “But now, I think because there are so many districts that are recruiting our students, it’s competitive. It’s so competitive. We only have so many students in our cohort, but we have over 50 districts now participating in our recruitment fair for our students.”

    Although West Contra Costa offers competitive pay, especially after salary increases last year, Springhart agreed the shortage has been a regional issue, extending beyond the district. She said more education and recruitment about the profession may be necessary to increase the number of applicants to school psychologist programs. 

    “I think there are ways that we know that we can attract and keep people in these jobs, which can be very rewarding jobs,” Campbell said, “but not when we’re so under-resourced.”





    Source link

  • AI can free up time for principals to engage with staff and students

    AI can free up time for principals to engage with staff and students


    Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education

    Imagine a school where the principal spends less time buried in paperwork and more time in classrooms, supporting teachers and fostering an inclusive learning environment for students with disabilities.

    Embracing artificial intelligence (AI) can make this vision a reality.

    AI holds the potential to revolutionize school leadership by alleviating the administrative burden on principals. Principals are essential to developing school culture and steering our schools toward more inclusive practices. Their guidance and decision-making for professional learning, promoting specific desired outcomes, and allocating budgets and resources directly impact students’ experiences.

    When a school leader is passionate about creating inclusive learning environments and ensuring students have more access to the general education curriculum, little can stop them — except, of course, the ever-increasing tasks and paperwork that keep them in their offices and away from the classrooms.

    Just this past year, the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) targeted the growing number of duplicative mandates that district and school leaders are spending valuable time on as one of their platforms for Legislative Action Day. Nearly 400 education leaders came together in Sacramento this past April to demand change in a handful of areas, including streamlined accountability: calling for less time spent on writing separate plans and reports for the many (often redundant or overlapping) state and federal programs, so more time can be spent in classrooms.

    Not only are principals responsible for numerous plans required by the state, they also have school site plans, emergency plans, loads of evaluations to write, newsletters to the community, emails to respond to, websites to keep up-to-date, data to review and analyze, the list goes on and on. The workload on principals has dramatically increased over the years, and we should be concerned if we want effective leadership in our schools.

    In much of my work with administrators on creating more inclusive schools, I address these issues through ideas like sharing responsibilities, delegating tasks and inventorying initiatives to help streamline resources, including time; and now I’m adding a new one: Embrace AI!

    New tools, including AI virtual assistants, or SchoolAI and TeachAI, can automate routine administrative tasks like scheduling, attendance tracking, data analysis, and report generation. Tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and Co-Pilot can summarize our notes, edit our writing, and be thought partners when our brains are fried. Just this week I have used AI tools to help with rewording and editing my writing, drafting an agenda, and creating original pictures to use in presentations without having to search the web for what I need, all in all, saving me a few hours.

    And imagine what our principals could be doing with a few extra hours a week — observing classrooms, providing instructional feedback and greeting students. At the Inclusive Leadership Center at Chapman University, I work with K-12 school administrators supporting their strategic planning and providing professional development. We hear again and again that one of the biggest barriers administrators face in creating inclusive environments for students with disabilities is a lack of time — so let’s remove this barrier.

    As we work on improving the quality of education for students with disabilities, leveraging technology and AI to achieve this is a no-brainer. So why not use it as a tool for administrators and not just for our students?

    In addition to taking on some of the mundane tasks, AI can even assist in identifying trends and areas for improvement through data analysis, helping principals make informed decisions that support all students. Once administrators embrace AI, think of how teachers can use it. The possibilities are endless and time-saving.

    Of course, there are valid concerns about artificial intelligence, such as data privacy and the fear of technology replacing human roles. We need to think about AI as a tool to enhance human capabilities, not replace them. We need proper safeguards to address privacy concerns, but solving these issues should not stop us from using AI to the advantage of our communities and students. I am not advocating for AI to take over all our school leaders’ tasks, like generating all school communication, teacher evaluations, and individualized education plans. But it can assist through editing, clarifying and summarizing through the drafting process, even helping with communicating to specific audiences and tone. Most administrators, including myself, have sent an email we later wished we could have asked AI to check first.

    By embracing AI, schools can empower their leaders to spend more time fostering an inclusive, supportive and effective learning environment. It’s time for education to harness the power of AI to benefit all students.

    •••

    Kari Adams directs the Inclusive Leadership Center at the Thompson Policy Institute on Disability at Chapman University and leads the Coalition of Inclusive School Leaders. She previously was a public school special education administrator.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. We welcome guest commentaries with diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





    Source link

  • Crowded classes, staff shortages, insufficient pay are making some California teachers rethink careers

    Crowded classes, staff shortages, insufficient pay are making some California teachers rethink careers


    Kindergarten teacher Carla Randazzo watches a student write alphabet letters on a white board at Golden Empire Elementary School in Sacramento.

    Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

    Insufficient school funding is hurting California teachers and their students, according to “The State of California Public Schools,” a report from the California Teachers Association released Tuesday. 

    The lack of funding has meant insufficient wages and high health insurance premiums for teachers, crowded classrooms and a lack of support staff, according to the report, which is based on a December survey of almost 2,000 TK-12 educators.

    Most of the educators surveyed said that their pay is too low to afford housing near their jobs and that their salaries aren’t keeping up with the rising costs of groceries, childcare and other necessary expenses.

    Ninety-one percent of the educators surveyed who rent reported that they can’t afford to buy a home. Only 12% of the teachers surveyed said they were able to save a comfortable amount for the future, while 31% said they are living paycheck to paycheck.

    “Many educators are spread thin and frankly aren’t able to make ends meet financially, and are working in a public school system that continues to be underfunded year after year,” said CTA President David Golberg at a press conference Tuesday.

    The California Teachers Association represents 310,000 of the state’s educators, including teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists, librarians, education support professionals and some higher education faculty and staff. The survey was conducted for the union by GBAO Strategies, a public opinion research and political strategy firm.

    Teachers who took part in the survey, which targeted teachers throughout the state to provide a representative demographic, overwhelmingly agreed that California schools don’t pay high enough salaries to teachers or have the resources to meet the needs of the students.

    Eighty-four percent said there aren’t enough staff, resources or training to support special education students, and 76% reported that classrooms are overcrowded. Sixty-eight percent said students lack access to mental health support.

    California ranked 18th in per pupil spending in 2021-22, the most recent year nationally comparable data is available – slightly above the national average, according to a November report by the Public Policy Institute of California. When the difference in labor costs were taken into account, California dropped to 34th. In the five years between the 2018-19 school year and the 2023-24 school year, education funding increased nearly 34% in California, according to the PPIC.

    “We’re not even in the top 10 when we compare ourselves to other states,” Goldberg said. “So, that shows you the real disconnect from the wealth that exists in our state and the resources that are going to students and educators.”

    Almost a third of the teachers surveyed have taken second jobs or gig work to make ends meet, 37% have delayed or gone without medical care and 65% have skipped family vacations because of financial constraints, according to the report.

    “These are not extra frills,” Goldberg said. “These are things that we consider part of just the everyday life that us, as human beings and as workers, a dignified life would entail. And, you see that a lot of educators are living with a scarcity around even the most basic things.”

    Four out of 10 of the educators surveyed said they are considering leaving the profession in the next few years. Nearly 80% of the teachers said that finances were the primary reason they would consider the job change.

    Sacramento-area TK teacher Kristina Caswell said a recent increase in the cost of healthcare premiums at her district swallowed up the recent raise she received. She said the affordability tool on the Covered California website rates her healthcare costs for a family of five as unaffordable.

    “I will spend money on my students before I will think about going to that doctor’s appointment that I need and spending that money on maybe a prescription that I need if I get sick,” she said. “That’s something I will stop and think about. Whereas when I’m thinking about my students, I don’t (stop to) think about spending the money.”

    Despite their concerns, 77% of teachers surveyed said they still find their job rewarding, although 62% are dissatisfied with their overall working conditions.

    “I’m really thankful and grateful that I have the job that I have,” Caswell said. “I absolutely love my job. I adore my students, I adore the families that I serve.”





    Source link

  • West Contra Costa compromises on staff cuts, but may have to cut student services instead

    West Contra Costa compromises on staff cuts, but may have to cut student services instead


    United Teachers of Richmond gather at West Contra Costa school board meeting Wednesday to protest staff cuts approved a week earlier.

    Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource

    In a move consistent with dozens of California school districts, West Contra Costa Unified board members have had to choose between eliminating staff and services for students or exploding its budget deficit.   

    At the start of the debate at Wednesday night’s school board meeting, the district had proposed cutting about 177 staffing positions and, after nearly three hours of debate, the board voted 3-1 to cut all but eight. But saving those eight positions jeopardizes funding for services for at-risk students.

    “Ultimately, with these decisions, our students will suffer the most without the staff that is needed to provide them with an excellent education that they deserve and which is necessary to decrease the longstanding education gaps for the district’s Black and brown students,” said Sheryl Lane, executive director of Fierce Advocates, a Richmond organization focused on working with parents of color.

    Out of the positions that are being eliminated, 122 are already vacant, according to district officials. And so far, the district has also received 27 resignations and 47 retirement notices. 

    It’s unclear if there will be layoffs, but on Feb. 6, interim Superintendent Kim Moses said that because of vacancy levels, the district administrators “expect that there will be a certificated job available for all current WCCUSD (West Contra Costa Unified School District) educators for the 2025-26 school year.”

    Throughout this month, educators, parents, students and community members showed up in large numbers to speak, as they have in all board meetings since the budget talks started, urging the board to reconsider cutting staff positions. 

    “We saw today the dysfunction,” United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz said during the meeting. “We need collaboration. Every single cabinet member has my direct phone number. Every board member has my phone number. We have been excluded from the decision-making process and in the collaboration since the new administration took over. This situation has been imposed on us, but we’re ready to fight.” 

    A split board

    It took nine amended resolutions for a vote to pass on Wednesday night. Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy attempted to save high school teachers, school counselors, social workers, psychologists, speech therapists, and career technical education educators. 

    But the board was split.

    Board President Leslie Reckler and trustee Guadalupe Enllana voted down the motions while Gonzalez-Hoy and trustee Cinthia Hernandez were determined to save some staffing positions. 

    The successful resolution saved one part-time psychologist position, one part-time and seven full-time high school teachers. Reckler voted down the resolution and trustee Jamela Smith-Folds was absent. 

    In an email to EdSource, Reckler argued the board had already approved the fiscal solvency plan and if the cuts weren’t passed, “it shows the board to be an unreliable steward of public funds, and I will not be lumped into that category.”

    “My prime responsibility is to ensure the long-term fiscal solvency of the school district and ensure continued local control in decision-making,” Reckler said. “Last night’s vote will make it more difficult for the school district.”

    The top priority for Gonzalez-Hoy was to save the high school teacher positions because cutting them would have caused some schools to go from a seven-period day to six, he said. English learners, students with disabilities and students who need more academic support would be most affected because they often need to take on extra courses and benefit from having more class periods. 

    “I could not in good conscience make those reductions, knowing the unintended impact they would have,” he said. “Even though it was a very difficult conversation and decision, I did vote to cut the majority of the positions, in part due to our ability to possibly retain some of those positions through grants, but also due to our financial situation.”

    In an emailed statement, Enllana said the board and district can no longer continue to be “driven by individual interests but must prioritize the needs of all students.” 

    “There is a clear distinction between needs and wants. Our first responsibility is to secure what our students need, and then work towards fulfilling the wants under our current budget.”

    California schools are in a budget crisis

    This week, other Bay Area school boards also made the difficult decision to lay off employees for the coming school year. Oakland’s school board voted to cut 100 positions, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. According to KQED, San Francisco Unified will also send pink slips to more than 500 employees. 

    West Contra Costa Unified has to balance between the need for fiscal solvency and keeping the schools adequately staffed with teachers, social workers, psychologists and other support staff. 

    “These decisions by the school board are tough ones and speak to the structural changes needed at the state level to change the revenue it receives that can go towards funding local school districts, like WCCUSD,” Lane said.

    The district has been under financial stress since last year and could risk insolvency if its fiscal plan isn’t followed. 

    When districts can’t get out of deficits, they risk being taken over by the state and losing local control over budget decisions. Twenty-six years ago, West Contra Costa became the first district in the state to go insolvent and received a $29 million bailout loan, which took 21 years to pay off. 

    To stay out of a deficit, West Contra Costa has to cut $32.7 million in costs between 2024 and 2027. District officials have said about 84% of the budget is used to pay salaries and benefits — the reason staffing cuts would be unavoidable. 

    The district needs to put forth a fiscal solvency plan approved by the Contra Costa County Office of Education to avoid going insolvent and risking a takeover, Moses said. The staffing cuts are tied to the plan and must happen for the district to stay on track. The board approved the plan earlier this month. 

    “It would be multiple millions of dollars of impact to the general fund if we don’t take action,” Moses said during the meeting. “The response to the county, if that is the case, I think we would be sending a strong message that we are not addressing our fiscal stability, and that would not be advisable as they are oversight agents.”

    The price of compromise

    Saving the high school teacher and psychologist positions will add $1.5 million to $1.75 million to the deficit, Moses said. The district doesn’t have a choice but to use funds that are meant for student services and will likely have to dip into the $4 million set aside for math curriculum. 

    “We value all staff and their dedication to our community; however, the fiscal health of our district has to be prioritized as the foundation for our ability to continue normal district operations,” Moses said in a news release Thursday. “I am concerned about the added fiscal uncertainty we face after last night’s board meeting.”

    Cutting the money for teacher and math support is a step backward for the district, which makes it more difficult for educators to help students improve, said Natalie Walchuk, vice president of local impact at GO Public Schools, an organization advocating for equitable public education. In West Contra Costa, only 1 in 4 students are performing at grade level in math and just 6.1% of seniors are ready for college-level math.

    “Teachers need the right tools and resources to support their students, yet the district has lagged for years in adopting a new math curriculum,” Walchuk said. “While we recognize the difficult financial decisions the board had to make, it is critical that the district prioritizes student learning.” 

    The positions on the chopping block came from two pots of money — the general fund, which accounts for 40 positions, and grants, which cover 137 positions. Money for grant-funded positions is either expiring or has been used faster than projected, said Camille Johnson, associate superintendent of human resources.

    Trying to save the grant-funded positions would add to the deficit, Moses said. Although the district staff is working to secure more grants, the funds districts receive from the federal government are uncertain. 

    “We were not in a position to consult the (teachers) union because we do not have money to pay for these positions,” Moses said during the meeting. “Negotiations in terms of what stays and what goes was not possible in this scenario because it’s strictly driven by money that is expiring or money we aren’t responsible for assigning.”

    The district doesn’t have a choice but to eliminate some positions because they are dependent on school sites approving the positions in their budgets, Moses said. If approved, about 78 positions could be reinstated. 

    The deadline to give layoff notices is March 15.





    Source link

  • Student Achievement Through Staff Culture: An Interview with Max Wakeman

    Student Achievement Through Staff Culture: An Interview with Max Wakeman


    School leadership gold in this interview with Max

    Over the past year we’ve been learning from 40 schools in Walsall and Sandwell England. These schools, located outside of Birmingham in areas of unusually high economic deprivation, were chosen to participate in a Priority Education Improvement Areas (PEIA) grant to increase self-regulation and meta-cognition (and therefore academic and social outcomes) in students.   

    Windsor Academy Trust, the visionary and organizer of the program, reached out to us to provide a training and support, and we’re thrilled to have been a part of it and thrilled to share that the initial results have been really encouraging.  

    Together with local education leaders, we’ve had the opportunity to visit all 40 schools, train leadership teams on Engaging Academics and Check for Understanding techniques, and study video of teachers implementing the techniques in their classrooms. From the video study alone, we’ve been lucky enough to cut 17 videos that we’ve been using in training, several of which you’ve read about on this blog here here and here for example.

    In June, we started our second round of visits, to assess growth in meta-cognition and self-regulation, and we were delighted that of the 16 schools we visited, 13 of them were implementing techniques to positive effect.  Obviously the real evidence will be in the form of assessment outcomes, which we are very optimistic about (there are lots of very promising leading indicators, including Goldsmith Primary School, part of Windsor Academy Trust being named an Apple Distinguished School, one of 400 schools chosen internationally) but in the meantime we’ll be writing more about what we’ve learned, and we couldn’t wait to share this interview with Max Wakeman, the Head Teacher at Goldsmith, where we taped two of the outstanding lessons we shared above.

    In this interview, Max reflects on his school’s success in our work together, he talks about the importance of creating a strong Culture of Error for his teachers – and about showing love for students by holding them to the highest of expectations.

    TLAC team-member Hannah Solomon had so much fun talking to Max here – we know you’ll enjoy learning from him as much as we did!

     

    nbsp;

     



    Source link