Overcrowding in schools has been a hot-button issue in education for years. The complaint is usually that some students get left behind academically among the crowds.

At Casa Loma Elementary School, however, the problem lies in bathroom lines, according to KGET Channel 17.

The school's site council is saying students have to spend their entire recess waiting in line to use the restroom. Some have even wet themselves.

Classes must take 15-minute breaks during class so students can drink water and use the bathroom.

Enrollment is at more than 800 students, an all-time high, according to KGET, and the council says the school was built for 500.

The Bakersfield City School District said it spent more than $800,000 on improvements to the school. Six other schools in the district are larger than Casa Loma, and five of those have fewer restrooms. There have been no complaints at those schools, according to the district.

What are your thoughts? What would be a good solution?

— Jorge Barrientos, Education Reporter

A Standard Middle School parent is upset that a teacher showed an "R" rated movie in her sixth-grader's class, according to BakersfieldNow.

The teacher apparently showed "Kung Fu Hustle," which contains cursing, violence and some nudity.

The school's principal said the teacher was showing the movie as a reward for academic achievement, but the principal acknowledged the showing of the film was inappropriate. The problem was being "dealt with."

What do you think? Is this a big deal? Would it make the difference if the "R" rated movie had educational value?

— Jorge Barrientos, Education Reporter

Shafter’s Golden Oak Elementary School on Thursday received $5,000 for physical fitness equipment and $1,000 for school supplies for winning the 2009 Governor’s Challenge, central valley region.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched the competition in 2005 as a way to get California K-12 students, parents and teachers more active, healthy and fit. The challenge calls for 30 to 60 minutes of exercise per day at least three days a week for a month.

The statewide competition runs through May 31. The grand prizes: new fitness centers valued at $100,000 each to an elementary, middle and high school. Other prizes include free lift tickets at Mammoth Mountain and 30 day passes to 24 Hour Fitness.

In June, three Golden Oak students joined 92 total statewide as finalists in the competition.  

For more information, go to www.calgovcouncil.org/challenge/new_Page1/

— Jorge Barrientos, Education Reporter

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Cal State Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell will reveal in about a month which programs and departments will be cut to meet a $8.3 million budget reduction next year.

I spoke briefly with Mitchell Friday morning as I toured the campus with university spokeswoman Kathy Miller. It was a chance for me to meet university staff as The Bakersfield Californian’s new education reporter.

Mitchell’s shooting for a mid-December announcement for cuts, he said. Everything campus-related is being considered for the chopping block, including language programs and athletics.

The university is approaching the cuts strategically while thinking innovatively, Miller said.

“Everything is on the table,” she said. “We’re looking at this like the money is not coming back. Just isn’t just a budget cutting exercise. This is something we’re looking at strategically for the future.”

She added: “We don’t anticipate the money coming back anytime soon despite our best wishes.”

The cuts are taking place at a time when the university is growing. Freshmen applicants are up 52 percent. The university, however, is expected to reduce student enrollment by 6 percent next year, a state mandate. Winter and spring enrollment has been closed.

Meanwhile, faculty and administrators are taking a 10 percent pay cut in the form of furloughs. And tuition went up for students 32 percent this year. 

— Jorge Barrientos, Education Reporter

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Cal State Bakersfield has already cut millions from its budget, and must make another $8.3 million for the coming year.

On Thursday the Modern Languages Department met with about 150 people to discuss the possibility that Spanish Bachelors and Masters degree programs could disappear.

CSUB would be the only campus in the CSU system that would not have a modern language program if a program cut happened, said Professor Joanne Schmidt.

It would be a big blow to lose the Heritage program, which offers education to Latino / Spanish speakers born and raised with the language, Schmidt said.

A new community action group will organize actions to publicize the situation, Schmidt said.

To date, no tenured faculty have been laid off (they voted to take a 10 percent pay cut in the form of furloughs instead of layoffs; to be clear, many lecturers have been laid off.)

CSUB President Horace Mitchell will announce budget reductions by December 1.

Recent updates: 

CSUB weighing program cuts, Oct 13

CSUB faculty question administrator numbers, Oct 12

 

Can't afford the cost of a ticket? 

Take a virtual educational theme park tour on the Wonderrotunda site. 

From the press release: Kids (ages 7-12)* can do everything from zip line through
a tropical rainforest, steer a submarine through the human digestive system,
dive the Great Barrier Reef or operate a smoothie stand!

It's not all fluffy entertainment: Information used to build different virtual tours came from the NASA website, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Zoological Society of London, among many sources. 

*Warning: Adults may like the tour, too.

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Damon Smothers, a local child pyschologist, filed an application to open a new charter school in the Greenfield Union School District this month. The district can vote to accept or deny the charter based on the application -- but not based on the cost to the district. Schools that are "chartered" in a school district receive state funding per student.

The New York Times published a story on Sunday about Ginn Academy, a charter school in its third year that's turning around dropout numbers in Ohio.

There's a fair degree of similarity between Smothers' plan and Ginn Academy, as you'll read...

This fall the Paramount Bard Acamemy charter school opened in Delano.

Smothers' Preparatory School for Arts and Sciences charter school would open with 160 kids in grades three to six. It would expand to K-12, and accept students from across Kern County. The school would focus on closing the achievement gap among black and Hispanic students will open in fall 2010.

Smothers currently coaches a youth football team and cheer squad.

Recent charter news: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill (SB) 592 which will let between 30 to 35 charter schools “hold title,” potentially allowing them to own and control roughly $500 million in charter school facilities.

This is step toward further legislation that would give charter schools more control over their buildings, as opposed to the "chartering" district maintaining ownership of the facilities.

“The bill removes the most significant barrier to construction of charter schools by creating more options for who can hold title to charter facilities -- a city, county, county office of education, or a charter school," said said Senator Gloria Romero, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, and a candidate for State Superintendent of Schools.

There are about 800 charter schools in California. Less than 10 charters operate in Kern County.

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Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap

It isn't because they don't try hard in school.

The biggest reason Latinos decide not to go to college is the pressure they feel to support their families financially.

9 out of 10 Hispanic students say college is important, but only about 50 percent say they'll probably go on to get a college degree, according to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center.

A much smaller percentage (38%) of the 2,000 national survey respondents said there is an achievement gap between Latino students and whites because they don't work as hard.

Why does this matter? 

In Kern County 76,000, or 58% of all students, are Hispanic/Latino — if only half of them  consider going to college, it's not hard to image how little progress the county will make without an educated workforce in the future.

The Hispanic College Fund (HCF) runs summer seminars — one in Fresno — for Hispanic high school students to help them with gain skills to go to college.

Now the Hispanic College Fund is running a year-round effort with the online  Hispanic Youth Institute.

The organization's goal is to empower more students to go to college, enter a professional career, and give back to their communities — and a good way to do that is to push for change from from the bottom-up – starting with the students themselves.

The new online program will provide student groups with targeted PowerPoint presentations, peer-authored blog entries, expert-written articles, and helpful links to support students’ learning of each month’s theme.

Closing the achievement gap

The state Department of Education unveiled an online Resource Kit chock-full of links to resources to help families, communities, and organizations to develop partnerships with schools to narrow the academic achievement gap.

There's a lot of links to a lot of good information and studies, including Data: An Essential Tool, that includes links to reports about test data, enrollment, graduates, dropouts, course enrollments, and staffing.

The Parent/Family section is also loaded with information about parent rights, handbooks for subjects, and real-life success stories highlighting how change can happen.

“The success of our students is directly connected to the success of our state and national economy," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell on Wednesday with the release of the site.

"That’s why I urge businesses, faith-based organizations, parents, community groups, and others to get involved in their local schools."