Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/686175
Quotes & Numbers Compiled by MIKE MYSLINSKI "I can make a whole chicken last a week or two. I'm incredibly frugal." — Montclair Elementary teacher VALERIE LINES in Oakland Unified, quoted in an April 29 San Jose Mercury News story about teachers being priced out of housing in the Bay Area, and having to cope with high rents and take in roommates to make ends meet. "is is not sustainable. We can't live like this forever. We want to be starting families and living like adults." — San Francisco Unified kindergarten teacher REBECCA SHEEHAN-STROSS, quoted in a May 15 San Francisco Chronicle investigation about Bay Area educators struggling to find affordable housing. She rents the dining room of an Oakland apartment, with no closets and little privacy. "This is encouraging news any way you look at it, especially since the increase is occurring as we are introducing much more rigorous academic standards." — State Superintendent of Public Instruction TOM TORLAKSON, in his May 17 news release announcing that California's high school graduation rate has climbed for the sixth year in a row to 82.3 percent. "We, the teachers in this room, are the faces of LCTA. I guarantee that when you step into our classrooms for the coming week, we do the best job possible to make sure our students have the best possible education." — La Cañada Teachers Association President MANDY REDFERN, quoted in the May 14 La Cañada Valley Sun, speaking out at a school board meeting as educators still fought at press time for fair compensation at the bargaining table. "If we want to give children a path to better health and improved academic outcomes, while also pushing back against the inactivity epidemic, we need to invest in quality physical education. It can change the life of a young person. How do I know it can change lives? Because it saved mine." — Former National Football League star HERSCHEL WALKER, in his May 11 column in Education Week. See our story about the importance of physical activity in California's schools on page 20. 78.5% Graduation rate for California Hispanic or Latino students in 2015, up 1.9 per- centage points from the year before, the California Department of Education announced May 17. $591.7 million Amount Los Angeles Unified School District lost to unmitigated charter school growth this year alone, according to an independent analysis released May 10 and commissioned by United Teachers Los Angeles that is posted at thecostofcharterschools.org. 47 Number of U.S. conservative advocacy groups, think tanks and media outlets that act as an "echo chamber " driving the public education privatization movement and union-busting, as cited in a revealing April 27 study at mediamatters.org. $3,500 Median monthly rent for a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment, causing the average San Francisco teacher to spend about 64 percent of their salary on housing, according to a May 15 San Francisco Chronicle story on educators and the Bay Area housing crisis. 7/10 Minimum proportion of U.S. teachers who assign homework that requires Internet access, as noted in "Harper's Index" in the May Harper's. 2/5 Proportion of U.S. students from low-income households who do not have broadband Internet access, from the same Harper's. W E C O M B T H E media daily for the best quotes and statistics about public education. If you discover a quote or stat you think we should highlight, send it along with your name to editor@cta.org. 13 May / June 2016 e Numbers