OCDE Education in the News

Thursday, January 11, 2018

OCDE NEWSROOM

5th-grade students run tests to see how bad water gets after a storm, as season’s ‘first flush’ trashes local beaches

Pamela Conti is on a mission: to take the water samples from Dana Point, and more from the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach, back to her fifth-grade class at The Pegasus School in Huntington Beach so students can conduct tests to find out just how bad the water is after the first major rain of the winter season.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/10/5th-grade-students-run-tests-to-see-how-bad-water-gets-after-a-storm-as-seasons-first-flush-trashes-local-beache

Orange Unified students can get immersed in Mandarin or Spanish learning

Orange Unified offers language immersion programs for elementary school students at two campuses: Mandarin at Fletcher Elementary, and Spanish at California Elementary. The Fletcher Elementary Mandarin Immersion Program is available to students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Students are taught by a trained teacher, with equal parts Mandarin Chinese and English used each day.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/10/orange-unified-students-can-get-immersed-in-mandarin-or-spanish-learning/

Increased police presence set for Thursday at Orange County School of the Arts after bomb threat

Authorities say a bomb threat emailed to some students at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana was not credible — but nevertheless police plan a large presence there Thursday. About 20 students received through social media an anonymous threat that there would be a bomb on campus Thursday, according to school officials.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/10/increased-police-presence-set-for-thursday-at-orange-county-school-of-the-arts-after-bomb-threat/

EDSOURCE

Gov. Brown proposes ambitious education agenda in his final state budget

Even while again predicting an economic recession just around the corner, Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to leave office with a burst of education spending. Taking advantage of a voter-mandated budget formula that determines annual revenue for K-12 schools and community colleges, the governor in his 2018-19 budget is addressing what Michael Kirst, the president of the State Board of Education, calls “pent-up policy needs.”

https://edsource.org/2018/gov-browns-california-budget-proposes-fully-paying-for-k-12-funding-formula-in-his-last-year/592432

Brown's budget seeks big changes to community college funding and online learning

Gov. Jerry Brown wants to change community college funding by giving extra money to schools that serve low-income students while also creating a new online community college for those who can’t attend brick-and-mortar campuses. In his budget plan for 2018-19 — his final one as governor — Brown is moving beyond a traditional formula that funds colleges based primarily on how many students they enroll. Philosophically, he is extending some of the recent changes in K-12 financing to the two-year public colleges.

https://edsource.org/2018/browns-last-budget-seeks-big-changes-to-community-college-funding-and-online-learning/592452

Brown's proposed budget draws praise, disappointment from early education advocates

In his final budget, Gov. Jerry Brown upheld promises made in previous years to fund early education initiatives, and added some new ones, but it still falls short of what many advocates have been pushing for his entire tenure in office. The governor’s proposed budget, which he released Wednesday, increases child care provider reimbursement rates and adds additional preschool slots, while also adding new funding for home visiting and child care programs for children newborn to 5 years old.

https://edsource.org/2018/gov-browns-final-budget-draws-praise-disappointment-from-early-education-advocates/592449

SACRAMENTO BEE

Gov. Brown: State to fully fund education initiatives thanks to expected $7.5 billion revenue ‘windfall’

California will provide an additional $2.6 billion revenue to public education in the upcoming school year, Gov. Jerry Brown revealed Wednesday as part of his preliminary budget proposal. The money will help the state fully finance the Local Control Funding Formula, which gives districts more flexibility to provide additional support and intervention to schools with high rates of disadvantaged students. The added education money comes from a projected overall $7.5 billion revenue “windfall” attributed to higher-than-expected tax revenues and the overall improved state and national economy. The total state budget for 2018-19 is projected at $134.1 billion.

http://newsroom.ocde.us/gov-brown-state-to-fully-fund-education-initiatives-thanks-to-expected-7-5-billion-revenue-windfall/

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