Xavier University of Louisiana

A total of sixty-nine (69) Xavier graduates were accepted into medical and dental schools during the 2008-2009 academic year. The University is off to a good start for the 2009-10 academic year, as evidenced by the more than a dozen seniors who have already been accepted into medical schools.

“The distinction of leading the nation in placing so many deserving and talented young people into medical school is a clear indication of our commitment to academic success,” said Dr. Norman C. Francis, Xavier’s president. “There’s something special about Xavier,” he said. “Our faculty and staff take great pride in working with all students from the moment they enter as freshmen until the day when they graduate and enter their chosen professions. I’m convinced that the nurturing and academically challenging environment that we offer is a key factor in our continued leadership in not only the health professions, but in the wide range of academic disciplines that we offer.”

Xavier, the nation’s only Black & Catholic University has long enjoyed a solid reputation for its excellence in the biological and physical sciences. XU Pre-Med advisor JW Carmichael was individually recognized by Meharry Medical College with an honorary degree in 2008 for his role in helping to make Xavier the leader in African American medical school acceptances.

Xavier University, founded in 1925 by St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, maintains the distinction of being the only college or University in the United States that was founded by an American born saint of the Catholic Church. High school students interested in receiving more information on Xavier University are encouraged to visit www.xula.edu/admissions or by calling 504-520-7388 or 1-877-XAVIERU.

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“When a school continues to perform in the bottom five percent of the state and isn’t showing signs of growth or has graduation rates below 60 percent, something dramatic needs to be done,” said Duncan. “Turning around our worst performing schools is difficult for everyone but it is critical that we show the courage to do the right thing by kids.”

“Turning around our lowest-performing schools is crucial for our economy, our communities and our students,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. “These grants will boost our schools’ ability to help put our students back on a pathway to success.”

The $415,844,376 made available to California is being distributed by formula to the state and will then be competed out by the state to school districts. In order for a school district to apply for these funds, it must have a state-identified “persistently lowest achieving” or a Tier III school — a school that has failed to meet annual yearly progress for two years and is not identified as a persistently lowest achieving school.

However, Tier III schools can only receive funds once all of the state’s persistently lowest achieving schools have received funds. California’s application, which includes its list of persistently lowest achieving schools, as defined by the state, can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/summary/index.html.

School districts will apply to the state for the funds this spring. When school districts apply, they must indicate that they will implement one of the following four models in their persistently lowest achieving schools:

•     TURNAROUND MODEL: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

•     RESTART MODEL: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.

•     SCHOOL CLOSURE: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.

•     TRANSFORMATION MODEL: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

Once schools receive SIG funds, they will be able to begin to spend them immediately to turn around schools this fall. States may apply to the Education Department for a waiver to allow them to spend funds over a three-year period. An additional $545,633,000 has been provided for SIG in 2010 and will be awarded to states to fund additional schools in the 2011-12 school year. The department has also made a request for an additional $900 million for the program in the 2011 budget.

So far this year, more than 20 districts have held elections for school parcel taxes, which are levied on individual parcels of property, and at least 16 have approved them. More districts are trying to place such measures on the ballot later this year.

But the tax measures, which require a two-thirds majority to

pass, are mostly winning approval in smaller, wealthier districts,

according to education experts, raising worries about growing

inequality between schools in rich and poor communities.

“It’s a story of widening disparity,” said John Rogers, who heads the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. “Across the state, the pain is felt everywhere, but because of the unequal distribution of wealth, some areas are able to respond.”

Some California lawmakers and education advocates are pushing legislation that would lower the percentage of the vote needed to pass a school parcel tax to 55 percent.

The two-thirds threshold was just out of reach for Alameda, a San Francisco Bay area city that failed to pass a school parcel tax Tuesday even though nearly 66 percent of voters approved it.

Hundreds of volunteers staffed phone banks and knocked on doors to campaign for Measure E, which would have given the city some of California’s highest school taxes, with homeowners paying $659 annually. But it was fiercely opposed by commercial property owners who would pay up to $9,500 per parcel each year.

“Measure E won. It just didn’t pass,” said John Knox White, a parent with two children in Alameda schools. “Where else do we say that one-third of voters should have veto power over a huge majority? That’s not representative democracy.”

Now the 9,500-student school district is moving ahead with a plan to increase class sizes, cut adult education, eliminate its gifted student program, shorten the school year and lay off dozens of teachers and guidance counselors. Several neighborhood schools could be closed next year.

“The kind of impact it’s going to have on students and incoming students is going to be immense,” said Maya Robles-Wong, an incoming senior at Alameda High School. “I’m more worried for my sister and future generations of Alameda High School students.”

Robles-Wong and Alameda Unified School District are among the plaintiffs in a high-profile lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s school finance system. They allege the system leads to unequal learning opportunities and doesn’t provide enough money for students to meet the state’s rigorous academic standards.

Education advocates, meanwhile, are urging Congress to provide another round of emergency money for schools, warning that up to 300,000 teachers could lose their jobs as federal stimulus funds dry up.

“I’m desperately worried about the loss of teacher jobs as we go into the fall,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told teachers at a meeting in Marin County Friday. “We have to take action now.”

By voting to raise local property taxes at the district level, some locales are reversing a 30-year-old trend in which states took the more prominent role in education funding, said Kim Rueben, an economist with the Urban Center’s Tax Policy Center. But Rueben also noted the resulting disparity: “Some places will be more able to pass these taxes than others.”

Between 2001 and June 2009, 83 of California’s 980 school districts approved parcel taxes, but most of those districts have less than 10,000 students and serve fewer low-income children than the average district, according to Edsource, an education research group.

The wealthy Bay Area suburb of Piedmont, which has some of California’s top public schools, has passed parcel taxes seven times in the past 25 years, including two last year. Homeowners in the 2,550-student district pay more than $2,000 in school parcel taxes each year.

By contrast, Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest with nearly 700,000 students, failed to pass a modest $100 per parcel tax in June. The district is laying off thousands of teachers and other school employees as it grapples with a massive budget deficit.

Jack O’Connell, California’s superintendent of public instruction, wants to reduce the threshold to pass school parcel taxes from 66.7 percent to 55 percent, which would allow more communities to secure extra money for schools and reduce inequality among districts.

“We should provide the mechanism for districts to have a legitimate shot” at passing school parcel taxes, O’Connell said. “Think about how many school districts don’t even try to pass a parcel tax because they don’t think they can get the two-thirds vote.”

But taxpayer advocates say there should be a high bar to raise property taxes, especially at a time when many homeowners are struggling financially.

“The two-thirds threshold forces the proponents of the tax make a good argument about why the tax is needed,” said David Kline, a spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association. “It gives more protection to the homeowners who will ultimately be paying a higher property tax for many years to come.”

The CSU Board of Trustees voted 10-2 to increase tuition for in-state undergraduate and graduate students at a special meeting in Long Beach.

The increases mean a $204 jump to $4,230 a year for resident undergraduates. Teacher credential students will see their fees increase $234 to $4,908 annually, while graduate student fees will go up $252 to $5,214.

In a separate vote, trustees decided to raise fees on education doctorate students 10 percent, or $870, to $9,546 a year.

The board also voted to eliminate an annual cap on tuition that benefited a small number of out-of-state students who take a large number of classes each year.

State funding for the university system remained uncertain.

A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore more than $300 million in state support assumed there would be a fee increase of 10 percent _ twice as high as the hike passed Friday.

A similar state Senate proposal assumed a higher increase as well, said Robert Turnage, CSU’s assistant vice chancellor for budget.

An Assembly proposal also reflected a 5 percent increase and would provide more state revenue for the CSU budget.

“None of these three plans, I think, if they were put to a vote tomorrow in the Legislature, could secure the two-thirds vote that is necessary to pass a budget act,” Turnage said.

If funding is not restored, enrollment could decline by an estimated 9.5 percent. Even the larger 10 percent fee increase would not be enough to balance the budget, according to a report by senior CSU administrators.

About 433,000 students were enrolled in the CSU system in 2010.

The California State Student Association supported the 5 percent fee hike as a reasonable increase given the dismal budget situation. Still, some students were disappointed by the trustees’ decision.

“They really aren’t working hard enough to find a different solution,” said Claudia Ramirez, a 23-year-old Cal State Long Beach student. “What this means is that they’ll be doing more fee increases for the upcoming semester in January.”

Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association, said the trustees were unwilling to fight eroding state support of higher education.

“People seem to be pulling back from that commitment,” said Taiz, a history professor at Cal State Los Angeles.

Officials with the university system said they have been left no choice.

“We’re facing an unprecedented budget crisis,” CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp said.

Last year, trustees increased fees by 32 percent from the prior year following cuts in state funding.

Those cuts contributed to reductions in enrollment and courses, and to furloughs for faculty members at CSU and the University of California, the state’s other university system.

State schools chief Tom Horne, who has pushed the measure for years, said a Tucson school district program promotes “ethnic chauvinism” and racial resentment toward whites while segregating students by race.

“It’s just like the old South, and it’s long past time that we prohibited it,” Horne said.

The measure prohibits classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group. It also prohibits classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.

The Tucson Unified School District program offers specialized courses in African-American, Mexican-American and Native-American studies that focus on history and literature and include information about the influence of a particular ethnic group.

For example, in the Mexican-American Studies program, an American history course explores the role of Hispanics in the Vietnam War, and a literature course emphasizes Latino authors.

Horne said he believes the Mexican-American studies program teaches Latino students that they are oppressed by white people. Public schools should not be encouraging students to resent a particular race, he said.

Brewer’s signature on the bill comes less than a month after she signed the nation’s toughest crackdown on illegal immigration _ a move that ignited international backlash amid charges the measure would encourage racial profiling of Hispanics.

A Republican running for attorney general, Horne has been trying to restrict the program ever since he learned that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta in 2006 told students that “Republicans hate Latinos.”

District officials said the program doesn’t promote resentment, and they believe it would comply with the new law.

About 1,500 students at six high schools in the district are enrolled in the program. Elementary and middle school students also are exposed to the ethnic studies curriculum. The district is 56 percent Hispanic, with nearly 31,000 Latino students.

Sean Arce, director of the district’s Mexican-American Studies program, said last month that students perform better in school if they see in the curriculum people who look like them.

“It’s a highly engaging program that we have, and it’s unfortunate that the state Legislature would go so far as to censor these classes,” he said.

Six UN human rights experts released a statement earlier Tuesday expressing concern about the measure. All people have the right to learn about their own cultural and linguistic heritage, they said.

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman didn’t directly address the UN criticism, but said Brewer supports the bill’s goal.

“The governor believes … public school students should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people,” Senseman said.

The law doesn’t prohibit classes that teach about the history of a particular ethnic group, as long as the course is open to all students and doesn’t promote ethnic solidarity or resentment.

Arce could not immediately be reached after Brewer signed the bill late Tuesday.

Passa Passa Dancehall Dictionary

KINGSTON, Jamaica _ “Mash up de place!”

If you are one of those dancehall fans who jump and scream when you hear that phrase but have no clue what the DJ just said, don’t fret _ a new dancehall dictionary may be on its way.

Linguist Joseph Farquharson said Friday that he plans to compile a multilingual compilation of dancehall definitions so that fans abroad _ especially Jamaican teens in the U.S. and Britain _ can reconnect with their roots.

“Dancehall is an aspect of Jamaican culture that is very lucrative,” he told The Associated Press. “There are many persons out there who want to learn more about it.”

Farquharson estimates it would take five years to translate dancehall dialect to English with the help of four translators, an editor and a research assistant.

Translations in German, Japanese and Spanish would follow, although Farquharson is struggling to find funding for the project. He said he has sought help from the Caribbean island’s tourism board and that talks are ongoing.

Dancehall is a reggae offshoot with rap influences driven by strong beats. It emerged from the ghettos of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, in the mid-1980s, and became popular in the U.S. a decade later when musicians including Shabba Ranks and Beenie Man hit it big with songs including “Housecall” and “Who Am I.”

The genre grew in popularity when Shaggy and Sean Paul topped U.S. pop charts in the early 2000s with songs like “It Wasn’t Me,” and “Gimme the Light.”

But dancehall has taken a beating lately due to the controversial and sometimes raunchy lyrics that some songwriters have composed.

Rights groups have demanded that concerts featuring artists such as Buju Banton, Bounty Killer and Elephant Man be canceled because their songs advocate violence against gays.

Nonetheless, Farquharson believes the unique musical style will live on and attract even more fans once his dictionary is completed.

Farquharson said the reference book also would update terms found in “The Official Dancehall Dictionary,” published in 1995, and “The Original Dancehall Dictionary,” published in 1993 and updated in 2008.

In the meantime, the next time someone tells you to “breed easy,” this is what you do: Stay cool.

An Introduction to the 2010 Census
Counting Everyone Once — and Only Once — and In the Right Place

The foundation of our American democracy is dependent on fair and equitable representation in Congress. In order to achieve an accurate assessment of the number and location of the people living within the nation’s borders, the U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years.

The census population totals determine which states gain or lose representation in Congress. It also determines the amount of state and federal funding communities receive over the course of the decade. 2010 Census data will directly affect how more than $4 trillion is allocated to local, state and tribal governments over the next 10 years. In order for this funding allocation to be accomplished fairly and accurately, the goal of the decennial census is to count everybody, count them only once, and count them in the right place. The facts gathered in the census also help shape decisions for the rest of the decade about public health, neighborhood improvements, transportation, education, senior services and much more.

Reaching an Increasingly Diverse Population
The goal of the 2010 Census is to count all residents living in the United States on April 1, 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau does not ask about the legal status of respondents in any of its surveys and census programs. To help ensure the nation’s increasingly diverse population can answer the questionnaire accurately and completely, about 13 million bilingual Spanish/English forms will be mailed to housing units in neighborhoods identified as requiring high levels of Spanish assistance. Additionally, questionnaires in Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese and Russian –as well as language guides in 59 languages — will be available on request.

Recruiting Census Workers
By 2010, there will be an estimated 310 million people residing in the United States. Counting each person is one of the largest operations the federal government undertakes. For example, the Census Bureau will recruit nearly 3.8 million applicants for 2010 Census field operations. Of these applicants, the Census Bureau will hire about 1.4 million temporary employees. Some of these employees will be using GPS-equipped hand-held computers to update maps and ensure there is an accurate address list for the mailing of the census questionnaires.

10 Questions, 10 Minutes to Complete
With one of the shortest questionnaires in history, the 2010 Census asks for name, gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship, and whether you own or rent your home. It takes only about 10 minutes for the average household to complete. Questions about how we live as a nation –our diversity, education, housing, jobs and more –are now covered in the American Community Survey, which is conducted every year throughout the decade and replaces the Census 2000 long-form questionnaire.
Responses to the 2010 Census questionnaire are required by law. All responses are used for statistical purposes only, and all are strictly confidential.
For more information, visit the 2010 Census Web site at http://www.census.gov/2010

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is talking about another $2.5 billion cut to education – on top of $17 billion in cuts over the last two years.  The latest round of proposed cuts—which will affect health care for children and social services for the poor and elderly—have prompted educators, working families, community organizations, and union members throughout California to plan a “Day of Action” on March 4 to protest the cutbacks.

The purpose of the action, according to the California Teacher’s Association, is to raise public awareness of the devastating impact the budget reductions will have on California public schools.

Peter Somberg, Vice-President of Inglewood’s Teacher Association, says a bold showing is needed to “Educate the public on the far-reaching devastating impact the cuts will have on California’s public schools.”

Teresa Lewis, a parent with two children in the public school system, says she has been talking to other parents about the proponed cuts.

“We need to see that these cuts are not just affecting our children right now, but that the cuts will affect their future,” Lewis says. “The state of California public education is ranked, what, 45th, 46th out of 50 states in receiving funding?  How do we expect our children to be prepared when they won’t and have barely funded our schools?  Not all of us can send our children to private schools. Not all of us want to send our children to private schools.  What my children have access to now, what they learn now is what will determine how far they get in life.  I want better for my children.  I want them to be better than me. I want them to be able to compete.”

William Brown, a single parent, says that some sacrifices should be made in these bad economic times, but also wonders about the current plans.

“What happens when the economy turns around? Brown asks. “How will my child and other children, who have been pretty much ignored when you look at the funding for our schools, be able to function [and] compete in what everyone is calling a global society when they have not received the proper training because of the elimination of needed programs and the extreme cuts to education?”

According to the California Charter Schools Association, the number of students going to charter schools has consistently increased by approximately 20% on an annual basis in recent years.  Many parents believe that this growth is due to the fact that the K-12 public schools have neglected many of the enrichment programs that are attractive to parents and children in an effort to improve academic performance.  As a result, many parents would rather send their children to a charter or private school in search of a well-rounded education.

“Public schools are becoming more of a factory assembly line where our children are now numbers: come in, take your test, and get out,” said, Guadalupe, a charter school parent advocate.  “Offer my child everything and he will learn.”

A parent who did not wish to be identified said, too many of the standard public schools are focused on test scores to the exclusion of broader concerns.

“Because of the increase of charter schools, all some of these schools talk about now are the state test scores,” the parent said. “I took my daughter out of a school because they said their focus was only on the end of the year test scores, so basically, all my daughter was learning was how to pass the test.  Just because she scores well on the state test doesn’t mean she’s well educated.  It doesn’t make sense that my daughter can’t get what the private school students get. And the schools, because of the budget cuts, don’t care about anything but the scores. I am going to attend the March 4th Rally, and hope that together we can also let Sacramento know we want the same quality education that the politicians and the president’s daughters get.”

The issue of educational cuts affects everything from the special education curricula to the gifted and talented programs. While many are aware of the hardships and budget constraints for the special education programs, many are not aware of how the cuts have affected the gifted and talented programs. Last year’s report, “2008-2009 State of the States in Gifted Education,” from the National Association for Gifted Children (NACG) and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted, found that America’s 3 million gifted and talented students in the k-12 schools are being neglected at all levels in the United States.

The report cited several failures on the part of U.S. education: “A full fourth of states provided zero funding for programs and resources for gifted students last year, and in states that did provide funding, there was little consistency, with per-pupil expenditures ranging from $2 to $750.”

The report also noted “a shift in focus away from academic excellence toward ‘bringing up lower-performing students and maintaining adequate yearly progress’ and a shift in staffing away from gifted programs,” a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of the President George W. Bush administration. “At a time when other nations are redoubling their commitment to their highest potential students, the United States continues to neglect the needs of this student population, a policy failure that will cost us dearly in the years to come,” said Ann Robinson, in a prepared statement quoted by the report.

NCLB, a federal legislation, mandates that if states receive federal funding for their schools, then those states must develop assessments or tests, in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades. This mandate is the result, many educators believe, of many schools neglecting the “Whole Child” educational approach to the “Test Scores are What Matters” model.

David A. Sanchez, president of the 325,000-member CTA, says he is encouraging everyone to participate because the March 4 event because “…investing in our public schools and colleges is essential to building a stronger California for all of us,” Throughout the cities of California including the State Capital in Sacramento, marches and rallies will be taking place. In Los Angeles, there will be marches and rallies at many locations including Pershing Square in downtown L.A., then to the Governor’s Office, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State LA, Dominguez Hills, and other locations.  More information can be gotten at StandUpFor Schools.org.