Community rallies to save WCI's VP position and a look at the city's 100K employees

Sorry I haven't been able to post many of my rants on this site. I've been busy, very busy, keep up with all the news that's going on in town--there's lots!--as city finalizes it's budget and school lets out. I think we have some good stories on Walnut Creek Patch.

--Walnut Creek's 100K-plus employees About one third of Walnut Creek's employees made more than $100,000 in 2009. Having this number of six-figure incomes: Is it right for this town, in these challenging times, to pay workers in this way. Or is it what we should expect of the Bay Area economy in the 21st century.
--Community Rallies to Keep Two People doing vice principal duties at WCI.

Parent leaders and Walnut Creek Intermediate are working on a plan so that the school has two people providing discipline and counseling and doing other things to keep the school safe and the kids well.

I think we have some good stories on Walnut Creek Patch, and I'm sorry it's different. I'm getting used to some things, too. You should still be able to comment anonymously or under a clever user name. Last I checked, you have to go through the same registration process for the SFGate which very active comment boards. Although, I must say, the conversation on the SFGate blogs are nowhere near as thoughtful or interesting as what we've had going here.

MDUSD parents: Do you think you've been inappropriately lobbied to vote a certain way in the Measure C race?

The Mayor of Claycord shares a story from a fellow Claycordian about what this parent viewed as some pretty heavy-handed pro-Measure C lobbying from her child's elementary school principal.

The anonymous writer said she went to an orientation for her daughter to start kindergarten at an unnamed school in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District.

Claycord.com quoted the parent as saying:

"In with the kindergarten packet was one sheet of paper telling me why I needed to vote “YES” on Measure C in the upcoming election. She then went on to give us a 15-minute speech on why it was the most important vote we will make this year and how our children are depending on us to vote “YES.'"

I am accustomed to superintendents in the two school districts I live in--Walnut Creek and Acalanes Union--to send out e-mails urging us parents to vote one way or another--usually yes--on school-related parcel tax or bond measures. That seems to be par for the course. But did the administrator at this school cross some kind of line in advocating parents to vote in favor the the $348 million bond measure next Tuesday.

Any recommendations for a good program to learn conversational Japanese, Russian?

A while back, I wrote about how we were trying to figure out what my son could do this summer.

You made some great suggestions, including the City of Walnut Creek's Arts, Adventures & Academics (AAA) Summer Camp--which will be offered this summer and, it is hoped, continued through alternative sources of funding.

My son was adamant about taking a summer off--after seven summers of attending some kind of summer camp.

So, we'll let him. Hey, maybe he'll help me out with Walnut Creek Patch, go along on some age-appropriate assignments with me, shoot some video even.

The one thing we wanted to do, together, was take a language class. But the adult education classes don't allow kids. They make exceptions for high school students, but that's it.

The problem--or the cool thing, depending on your perspective--is that he's interested in learning Japanese, and Russian.

Las Lomas High, which he will attend, offers Japanese. But he wants to get a head start. I was up for trying Japanese. It would be the second Asian language, after Thai, that I've studied.

I was also keen on Russian. I took a UC Berkeley Extension class in Russian--after I went to what was then the Soviet Union in 1986.

So, I guess we might have to do some private language program, or a software program, or CDs...

If anyone has any recommendations along these lines, I'd appreciate it.

And, yeah, leave it to me to have the kid who doesn't want to go for the usual foreign language suspects--Spanish, French, or even German.

Can anyone prove that homework helps young students learn?

I posted an article/commentary on Walnut Creek Patch yesterday about a proposed new homework policy in the Walnut Creek School District. The school district provided me with a draft of the policy which I include with the article. Check it out and see what you think.

One thing I didn't come out and say yesterday--because I was still mulling the policy over--is that I have something of a pet peeve surrounding the issue of elementary school age kids doing regular homework--and sometimes a lot of it.

I'm just amazed at how much some parents and educators will insist, with the voice of authority, that homework is a really good thing, that it is a vital component to a young children's education. But how do these people know it's important? What proof do they have that doing homework makes kids learn better?

Just so you know, I am not anti-homework. I accept that it could very well be a good thing for my son to do on school nights-even though it is often a frustrating experience for him, as a sixth grader, as it is for other kids his age and younger. I accept that these assignments, even coloring in maps of ancient Greece--could be helping him and other kids learn. The really could.

But can anyone say so definitively? Beyond their own anecdotal experiences as students, parents, and teachers?

As I said in my Walnut Creek Patch story, this topic of homework intrigues me, because the debate over it touches on much larger societal issues about education, learning, parenting, and the definition of academic and personal success.

I became intrigued enough that a couple years ago I read the works and opinions of some of the top experts in the field. One of those experts is Harris Cooper, a Duke University professor who is considered one of America's foremost homework experts. He conducted a landmark metareview of some 60 studies in 2006. This metareview found "some correlation between homework and achievement in the upper grades, but little effect on students from elementary school to seventh grade.

His assertion about the upper grades makes sense. I remember regularly doing homework in high school, and, yes, I remember that studying helped me do better on math and science tests and that writing papers for English or history deepened my understanding of the concepts being taught.

But according to Cooper, regular homework doesn't have the same benefit for kids in lower middle school and elementary school grades.

So, if what Cooper says it correct, we as a society are creating a public policy that affects the daily lives of millions of young students and their teachers and families--but we don't have a lot of evidence that this policy will do any good.

It sounds like we like our kids doing homework because it sounds good; it seems like the more hours they put into studying and doing those columns of math problems the more they will know. Could be.

I accept that there are many different individual experiences out there--that you might have kids that have thrived on doing regular homework since they were in kindergarten. As a teacher, you might have seen students improve do better on quizzes when they took some work home and studied.

Then there is the other side of the issue: the kids who get turned off of school and learning because they resent the free time they have to give up on assignments that may be more busy-work than anything else. Homework for the sake of homework. And, I've seen my fair share of that kind of homework come home in my son's backpack.

I just find it interesting how we as a society make public policy on an assumption, on a faith, really, that it is the right thing to do without really having the evidence.

Then again, making public policy on an idea, rather than evidence, that it's the right thing to do--well there is nothing new in that is that. Actually, that's almost the American Way.

Free fair today to learn how to prepare your family and keep them safe in case of emergencies

The Red Cross, the Walnut Creek Police Department, the Contra Costa County Fire District and other agencies will be on hand at Las Lomas High School Thursday to offer you tips to be safe and prepared in case of disaster.

Other groups participating are Ready Care, a Walnut Creek-based emergency preparedness company, the Walnut Creek Community Emergency Response Team, and those who will help you take care of your pets in case of disaster.

The fair will take place 5 to 8 p.m. Free food will be served, and you can stock up on free emergency supplies for your family.

The fair was organized by Las Lomas High junior Katie Lanfranki in order to achieve her Gold Award for Girl Scouts.

Should the city charge fees to bars that stay open late and require a lot of police attention?

I just posted this story on Walnut Creek Patch, dealing with an idea that emerged at last night's City Council meeting.

Council members were talking some more about if and how the city could help pay for the Masters Swim Team, school crossing guards, crisis counselors in Walnut Creek Schools, the Lindsay Museum, the downtown trolley, and the Walnut Creek Concert Band.

The idea has come up that six to 12 bars, which are open past midnight, require a lot of police attention during those late hours, especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Maybe these establishments should have to pay a special fee for the impact on public safety they have.

You can read more on this proposed bar fee at Walnut Creek Patch. Some council members think it's a great idea, others are not so sure. It would be great to see some of your comments there too.

Meanwhile, check back later on Walnut Creek Patch to read about how the council is likely to vote on saving or cutting other programs near and dear to many's hearts: the Masters Swim coach's position, school crossing guards, school crisis counselors, the therapeutic recreation summer camp for disabled kids, and the Walnut Creek Concert Band.

Busted for an expired meter in the private lot behind Peet's: Now I owe $105

I stopped in for a mocha at Peet's coffee this morning, and pumped enough coins into the meter in the rear private lot to buy me 18 minutes.

But I ran into an old friend, and that conversation, it turns out, took longer than those 18 minutes. About 10 minutes past my meter's expiration, I found this warning sign on my window, and I have since learn I owe a $105 for a total of three tickets.

A year ago, I reported that to some degree you can ignore those parking tickets you receive for an expired meter at one of those private lots around town. Legally, those tickets don't have the "force of law."

This is what I reported more than a year ago. I based this assertion on a legal interpretation offered by KGOAM810 radio lawyer Len Tillem and affirmed by former Walnut Creek Public Information Officer Brad who check with City Attorney Paul Valle-Riestra.

So, you can tear up the ticket, and the DMV can't come after you.

However, the parking company that manages these lots, Regional Parking, can come after you if you start accumulating multiple parking violations--and you don't pay them. Regional Parking, which keeps track of your license plate and violations, can tow your car if it catches you for multiple violations.

I came out of Peet's at about 10:42 a.m. and found this sign pasted on my window: "Computerized records indicate that this vehicle [my Toyota Camry] has multiple outstanding parking invoices. Regional Parking Inc., is seeking the establishment of such debt (s) in a judicial proceeding."

My other violations were for August 2009 for parking in a no-public-parking area at Mechanics Bank and for, on October 29, having an expired meter. This is when I took my son shopping at the Halloween Spirit Store, set up in the former Mark Morris tire, at Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Locust Street. It was evening, and Regional Parking employees were set up to pounce on Spirit Store shoppers whose meters had expired.

With this sign, I take it I have been warned. I better pay up or risk getting towed the next time.

The Walnut Creek Library: It's Coming Soon ... And other news I've been covering on that other site

You can read on Walnut Creek Patch, that other site I edit, a timeline and overview of the construction of the new downtown library, which is set to open on July 17. Check out: "Patch Primer: The New Downtown Library is Coming Soon, and It's Been A Long, Interesting Journey."

The author is Robert Taylor, formerly of the Contra Costa Times.

I know this library project been a hot topic on this blog. As I've said before, I was neutral on the new library project, and, as a resident of the unincorporated area, I didn't vote in any of the elections--and didn't pay all that much attention to them. So Robert's overview was useful to me.

I know a lot of you are experts on this topic. Feel free to go Walnut Creek Patch and share what you know and what you think. You don't have to use your real name when you register to post comments.

Also on Walnut Creek Patch this morning:

--A Special Memorial Day Service in Walnut Creek Honors Those Who Fought in America’s “Forgotten War”: Walnut Creek's Memorial Day service Monday paid tribute to America's fallen soldiers while helping some of us remember what many regard as 20th century America's "forgotten" war.

--Talking Broadway and "Into the Woods" with Northgate High Drama Alum Broadway didn’t say no to Ryan Weible. He said no to it. Now, the Northgate High alum and San Ramon Valley High teacher is doing the kind of theater he loves, including a new take on Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" opening June 4 at the Lesher Center.

--Class Sizes at Walnut Creek School District Campuses Won't Get Bigger, But Other Cuts Coming Despite budget cuts, class sizes in the Walnut Creek School District to remain the same.

--Summer Fun in the City There may still be two weeks of school, but we say summer fun starts today. Want something to do in the Creek besides take in latest blockbuster at the Century 14? Check out these top picks for fun, cultural, outdoorsy or family events June-August.