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| 4LAKids: Father's Day, June 18, 2006 |  | | | In This Issue: | | • | A report from the front lines of mayoral takeover of schools: | | | • | NYC TAKEOVER OF SCHOOLS GETS MIXED REVIEWS | | | • | LA MAYOR'S SCHOOL PLAN IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE IN SACRAMENTO + MAYOR TOLD FIGHT NEEDED TO SAVE LAUSD PLAN + TENSION BETWEEN MAYOR, ANGELIDES RE TAKEOVER | | | • | NYC REFUSES TO LIFT SCHOOL CELL PHONE BAN + DOE SAYS IT PLANS TO UPHOLD CELL PHONE BAN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS | | | • | MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT STRINGER RELEASES 1ST STUDY OF COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNCILS SINCE THEIR INCEPTION | | | • | Construction meets Instruction: REMAINS, ARTIFACTS ON GRAND+ CONSTRUCTION DELAYS WILL FORCE 4 NEW L.A. SCHOOLS TO OPEN LATE | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | A report from the front lines of mayoral takeover of schools:
New York City, after four years of mayoral control, is beginning to catch up with where Los Angeles currently is in terms of school reform. This has been accomplished not just by replacing elected Boards of Education with emasculated appointed ones, but also by marginalizing, disenfranchising and disempowering parents. In the NYC vernacular: Parents have been "kicked to the curb!"
After thirteen years of school reform begun by then Chancellor Ramon Cortines in 1993-95, New York City Schools are catching up with seven years of school reform in LAUSD —begun by Interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines in 1999-2000. Cortines' methodology of placing power in local districts (in NYC "regions") in both cities has been subsequently undone by imposing top-down/centralized control — but the pendulum of history in both cities now seems poised to swing in sync to local control at the school site. In LA that direction seems to be coming of its own accord; in NY the return is being unilaterally mandated by the Mayor. So far, so good.
Over the past week fifteen parents and parent leaders from LAUSD have been in New York City, meeting with NY parents, educators, education advocates and government officials – from the parents of PS 75 on the Upper East Side to Chancellor Klein. Our work is still ongoing; much of what we've observed remains to be digested and processed.
At this point I don't pretend to speak for any of the delegates but myself – but having said that: If we have seen the future, it doesn’t work.
All power in New York City Schools rests in one person: nominally that would be Chancellor Joel Klein. Except Klein occupies his office by appointment-of and at the sole pleasure-of the Mayor of New York.
But the issue in New York is no more about Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein than education in Los Angeles is about the LAUSD Board of Ed, Superintendent Romer and all the mayors, city councils and county supervisors of the twenty-eight jurisdictions that make up LAUSD.
In both cities public education has to be about children and their future.
Both school districts have adopted "business school business models" as operating paradigms for their missions of reform
Fair enough:
• In LA the "clients" are children and the "business partners" are parents and the communities and citizens of greater LA; The Board of Ed is the Board of Directors, the superintendent is the CEO. The state constitution forbids direct intervention by the other elected representatives.
• In NYC the "clients" are still children, 1.1 million of them - multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual - a diverse but predominantly economically disadvantaged population. The sole "Partner", the CEO and Board of Directors is the Mayor – it is he that orders reform, approves curriculum, sets policy and standards. The Chancellor is his "Chief Operating Officer for Education" – only those two are at the table of power. What the mayor wants, the mayor gets. Ban all cell phones at schools? Done deal. A test to determine which third graders get to go on the fourth grade? Done deal. Multi- billion dollar settlement to relieve generations past of funding inequity? He distributes the largess. From a former courthouse named for the paragon of political patronage: "Boss" Tweed.
There are of course other differences, as fundamental as the differences between the cities' histories and the vertical scale of The Big Apple v. the horizontal landscape of The Big Orange: LA is LA, NYC is NYC.
To go to New York and not quote Yogi Berra would be a disservice to the American democracy (as-opposed-to the English-majesty) of the language: Much of what we saw was déjà vu… all over again. This week's/this month's/this news cycle's mayorally selected flavor of reform in NYC is stuff we've already done in LA. We banned cell phones, that didn't work here. We did the Learning Walks, they didn't work here. Scripted learning and periodic assessments? Concentrating all power and authority in the central office? Been there. Done That. Moving On.
The New York Mayor says that he - and only he - is accountable to parents; if they don't like what he's doing or how he's doing it they can vote him out of office. But please don't call him on the phone or comment upon your child's teacher, principal, curriculum, lack of textbook, inadequate facility or special needs – he's a busy guy with a city to run. And just re-elected, he can't run again – so voting him out really isn't an option either.
Truth be told: Parents in the NYC system have no voice. Parents described nonexistent-to-poor outreach and communication with them. At Community Education Council Meetings – the appointed bodies that replaced elected school boards where parents are nominally represented – the chancellor's staff informs representatives of what's going on. There may be discussion and debate – but no votes are taken, no approvals sought or required – thank you for your time. Last week the full City Council voted to reverse the Mayor/Chancellor's ban on all cell phones on campus (essentially forbidding possession cell phones by kids traveling to and from school) – and that vote has the force of law. But the mayor has announced he will not abide by it – enforcement will take a lawsuit and court order.
Special Education in NYC has historically been a mess and is not improving substantially in the current regime. Parents and advocates we spoke with told horror stories – often ending in lawsuits and judgments - brought not against the school district but individual schools. Underachieving and underperforming Black, Brown and Special Ed/Special Needs students are "pushed out" of school early into GED and Adult Ed Programs – and then those programs are slashed …ostensibly to support K-12.
If you are looking for the pattern: In LA the April '06 draft plan for mayoral control relegated Special Ed to "leftover" status – with Adult Ed to be eliminated or farmed out.
Is this a conspiracy (or just a ham-handed attempt?) to:
•Force out underperformers and drive up test scores? •Disempower parents? •Save money? •Circumvent Special Ed statutes? •Optimize the business model? •Improve the graduation rate? •Neutralize the Down State Troublemakers from the Upstate State Capital? • Privatize public education?
□ Of course it isn't!
□ Of course it is!
□ All of the above.
□ None of the above.
□ You tell me.
……to be continued
Following are a number of articles on the issue as it moves from the back pages to the political front burner in two cities; there is also an interesting adventure story of an archeological dig posing as a high school construction project. – smf
LA♥NY: Thanks to everyone in New York who spoke with us, and generously shared their thoughts and informed our opinions – parents, educators, officials, students, people on the street – with special thanks to:
Association of New York Community Education Councils
• http://www.anycec.org
NYU Metropolitan Center for Urban Education
• http://www.nyu.org/education/metrocenter
New York Immigration Coalition
• http://thenyic.org
Advocates for Children of New York
• http://advocatesforchildren.org/
Campaign for Fiscal Equity
• http://www.cfequity.org/
Independent Commission on Public Education
• http://icope.org/
New York City Department of Education and Chancellor Joel Klein
• http://www.nycenet.edu
The United Federation of Teachers/NYC
• http://www.uft.org/
The New York City Council of School Supervisors and Administrators
• http://www.csa-nyc.org
• Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
• http://timeoutfromtesting.org • http://performanceassessment.org
• http://insideschools.org
… and the Students, Educators and Parents of: •The Village Academies, • PS 75 and • The Urban Academy @ the Julia Richman Education Complex
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► THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL RALLY & NEWS CONFERENCE TO WELCOME BACK THE LAUSD PARENT DELEGATION FROM THE NEW YORK CITY FACT FINDING & PARENT ADVOCACY TRAINING AT BOB HOPE (BURBANK) AIRPORT AT 6:15 AM ON MONDAY MORNING JUNE 19th.
MANY LOS ANGELES AREA LEGISLATORS TRAVEL TO SACRAMENTO ON EARLY MONDAY MORNING FLIGHTS – THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE SEEN AND HEARD BY THE POLITICOS AND THE MEDIA ON THE ISSUE OF PRESERVING ELECTED GOVERNANCE – OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE - OF WHAT IS - LIKE IT OIR NOT - OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
► 6:15 AM RALLY / 6:30 PRESS CONFERENCE
MONDAY JUNE 19th IN FRONT OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE AIRPORT AT HOLLYWOOD WAY & THORNTON AVENUE - 2627 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505
NYC TAKEOVER OF SCHOOLS GETS MIXED REVIEWS
• United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who originally supported the idea of giving control of the NYC school system to the mayor when it was signed into law, often finds herself at odds with what she believes is the Bloomberg Administrations tight fisted control and the administration's refusal to consider opinions of parents and teachers if it conflicts with its current philosophy.
By Nahal Toosi, Associated Press Writer | June 10, 2006
NEW YORK --Four years after taking control of New York's struggling school system, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has earned praise from many education observers across the country. The mayor of Los Angeles is using New York as a model for his push to take over that city's school system. But in Bloomberg's own city, the reviews are far less flattering.
Critics complain about a lack of checks and balances and some former supporters of mayoral control hope to strip away some power when the Legislature considers reauthorizing the arrangement in 2009.
"What has happened ... is that if you agree with the mayor it's fantastic. But all those parents who disagree with the mayor, they get left out in the cold, and the same in respect to teachers," said teachers union president Randi Weingarten, who backed the idea when it was signed into law in June 2002.
Bloomberg has rebuffed the notion of changing the system.
"I think that if you want to destroy the progress, that's as good a prescription as any," he said earlier this year. "Accountability has to be accountability, end of story."
The New York school system was centralized in 2002 after Bloomberg convinced state lawmakers he could run the 1.1 million-student system, the nation's largest, more efficiently.
Bloomberg and his chancellor, former federal prosecutor Joel Klein, introduced uniform reading and math curricula in most of the system's 1,400-plus schools. They embraced charter schools and started more than 150 small secondary schools.
When Bloomberg faced opposition, he got rid of it. In 2004, the mayor fired two of his appointees to the Panel for Educational Policy and engineered the removal of a third member to get the group to approve one of his biggest reforms: holding back third-graders who score poorly on standardized tests.
More recently, parent groups have clashed with the mayor over a longtime ban on student cell phones in schools. Bloomberg has refused to lift the ban despite rallies, petitions and parents' vows to take the issue to court.
Teachers say they need more flexibility than what the uniform curriculum offers. Early in the takeover, teachers found their bulletin boards and classroom decorations monitored -- micromanagement run amok, they said.
"People are not able to teach in an individual manner -- everything is in a prescribed manner," said Ron Isaac, an English teacher in Queens and vocal union member. "There is a climate of intimidation."
Bloomberg and Klein point to improved fourth-grade test scores and high demand for charter and small schools as evidence of success. Critics counter with a stagnant graduation rate (54 percent is the rosiest estimate) and poor eighth-grade test results.
Earlier this year, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa visited New York schools and praised Bloomberg's management. Los Angeles' sprawling school system, the nation's second largest, struggles with low test scores and high drop out rates.
Villaraigosa says mayoral control would reduce bureaucracy and increase efficiency. His plan, which faces opposition from teachers unions and members of the Board of Education, must be approved by state lawmakers.
School leaders in Massachusetts and Connecticut are also interested in New York's version of mayoral control, Klein said.
Few, if any, of Bloomberg's critics are enamored by the prospect of a return to the previous decentralization. Yet even some state legislators say they'd consider modifications. Bloomberg, who made billions in the business world, has approached the schools as a chief executive, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said.
"Even in corporate America there is an annual shareholders meeting and the stockholders do vote, and the parents to some extent are the stockholders," Silver said.
A request to Bloomberg's press office for an interview was referred to Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who defended the system.
"I think the pluses ... of mayoral control have been significant. I would totally disagree with those who say that we need to go back to a system of even modified dysfunctionality," he said.
LA MAYOR'S SCHOOL PLAN IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE IN SACRAMENTO + MAYOR TOLD FIGHT NEEDED TO SAVE LAUSD PLAN + TENSION BETWEEN MAYOR, ANGELIDES RE TAKEOVER
►LA MAYOR'S SCHOOL PLAN IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE IN SACRAMENTO
- by Michael R. Blood, Associated Press Political Writer/from the San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, June 15, 2006 - Los Angeles (AP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's ambitious plan to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District — the centerpiece of his mayoralty — is in danger of collapsing in the Legislature where Democrats are deeply divided over its reach and impact on teachers.
The future of the takeover proposal is so shaky that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a close friend of the mayor, warned him in a phone call Thursday that it could fall apart unless Villaraigosa makes a lobbying trip to Sacramento next week to personally pressure legislators and interest groups. Democrats hold a majority in both chambers.
"It's not dead but it's in trouble," Nunez said in an interview. The mayor "is not a threat to the teachers. ... He simply wants to close the achievement gap."
Villaraigosa's office confirmed the call and said a trip to the Capitol was being scheduled for Monday. He will meet with legislators, unions and business leaders with a stake in the outcome, his office said.
The mayor "has known all along that reforming the public schools would be an uphill battle," said a spokeswoman, Janelle Erickson. "He wants to force a debate that makes it impossible for people to say no to reform."
Villaraigosa has anchored his mayoralty to his proposed takeover of the 730,000-student system — the second-largest in the nation — which includes Los Angeles and more than two dozen smaller, suburban cities.
In April, Villaraigosa called on the Legislature to largely strip power from the troubled district and shift much of it to his office, a proposal that is loosely modeled on mayoral takeovers in Chicago, Boston and New York City.
If approved by lawmakers, it would negate the possibility of sending the issue to voters, where the outcome would be far from assured.
The mayor's blueprint would wrest control from an elected school board, establishing a council of mayors to oversee the schools. Los Angeles is by far the largest city in the district, and its mayor would essentially be in charge of the council.
Critics call the mayor's proposal a power grab, and it has strained his relationships with district officials and the teachers union. Villaraigosa has said he expects his proposal to result in a political war over school control.
"It's not a surprise it's in trouble — it's not a good idea," said Barbara Kerr, head of the 335,000-member California Teachers Association. "There are many things we can do for our students, but mayoral control is not one of them.
"If you take control of the schools farther away from the community and the parents, that will make it more difficult all the way around," Kerr said. "We see it as another entanglement — it's like another sideshow — instead of concentrating on the classroom and the teachers and the things that they need."
The perilous status of the school plan made clear that the mayor had been outflanked by the teachers, long a powerful force in Sacramento politics.
LAUSD board President Marlene Canter said she had been in Sacramento about once a week meeting with legislators and aides.
"I've been talking about the fact LAUSD is on the move, and when the trajectory is going up you don't risk anything on behalf of kids," Canter said.
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►MAYOR TOLD FIGHT NEEDED TO SAVE HIS LAUSD PLAN
by Harrison Sheppard, Sacramento Bureau, LA Daily News
SACRAMENTO - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to take over the LAUSD is in danger of collapsing under an aggressive onslaught of lobbying by powerful union and school board opponents.
Even though final legislation has not yet been introduced to lawmakers, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, said Thursday that he was so concerned that he called the mayor and urged him to return to Sacramento soon to prop up the effort.
While Villaraigosa, a former Assembly speaker, has visited Sacramento several times in the past year to lobby for the legislation, Nuñez said the teachers unions and Los Angeles Unified School District board members have been more effective in reaching Democratic members of the education committee.
"He's the best salesman we've got on this," Nuñez said. "The other side is working this pretty hard. I want the mayor to be successful and I want our schools to be successful."
Nuñez said he supports the bill but has not been able to spend much time lobbying for it because he has been occupied with budget negotiations and the primary election earlier this month. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also supports the mayor's plan, saying he would sign the bill if sent to him.
Villaraigosa's staff quickly put together a trip Monday, when the mayor is expected to meet with Nuñez and other key lawmakers. But Villaraigosa said he wasn't surprised the effort has been difficult.
"We've always said this was going to be an uphill battle," Villaraigosa said in a telephone interview. "There are strong forces defending the status quo. And I strongly believe the status quo is just not good enough."
Villaraigosa's proposal, contained in legislation authored by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, calls for creating a Council of Mayors to replace the current school board in overseeing the district.
The council would be comprised of all the mayors in the district, with the most power granted to Los Angeles based on its biggest share of the district's student population.
The mayors would hire the district superintendent, who would be granted increased powers to oversee the LAUSD's day-to-day operations. The school board would continue to exist, but in a diminished capacity.
Romero submitted a draft of her legislation to the state Legislative Counsel's Office, but it has yet to come back to the Legislature in its official language. So lawmakers who form opinions now are doing so based on what they are being told by the two sides before they have a chance to read the details for themselves.
Some key members of the Education Committee said they have not yet heard from the mayor.
Assemblyman Mark Wyland, R-Vista, vice chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, said he has not made up his mind yet, but has had "substantial contact" with opponents of the effort. He said he has not heard from the mayor.
The California Teachers Association, which opposes the bill, is considered one of the most influential political groups in the state, as a big contributor of money and personnel to many Democratic campaigns. United Teachers Los Angeles is affiliated with the CTA.
CTA President Barbara Kerr said even though it is a Los Angeles issue, the group has gotten members from throughout the state involved in expressing opposition.
"We've been saying for almost a year now that mayoral control is not the way to go," Kerr said. "The mayor has his heart in the right place and he needs to work with the teachers. He needs to work together to make some real change. Mayoral control is not the real change."
Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of the Assembly Education Committee, said she believes the bill is still far from the 41 votes it would need to get out of the Assembly.
Goldberg opposes the bill because she believes it is premature, and said the mayor should work more on fully detailing his plan and explaining it to the public.
And she said the issue should be decided locally, not by legislators from all over the state.
"I'm not that anxious to have someone from Fresno or Kern County or Riverside making a decision about how the schools will be governed in Los Angeles," Goldberg said.
School board President Marlene Canter said she has been traveling to Sacramento once a week for the past seven weeks to meet with lawmakers to express the board's opposition to legislation.
The argument she has made to lawmakers is that the district is already improving without a reorganization, as test scores and other measures of achievement rise.
"I've been up there really on behalf of making sure that the legislators were fully briefed on how come I and others keep saying LAUSD is a district on the move," Canter said. "And to substantiate the progress we have made in the last six years with a reform superintendent, Roy Romer, not only in the area of construction but in the area of instruction."
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►TENSION BUILDS BETWEEN L.A. MAYOR, ANGELIDES: Villaraigosa declines to endorse the candidate, who's refused to back takeover of school district.
By Michael Finnegan, LA Times Staff Writer
June 17, 2006 - Tension between Antonio Villaraigosa and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides surfaced Friday as the Los Angeles mayor declined to say whether he backed his own party's candidate to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The rift between two of California's top Democrats became clear just after they appeared with Magic Johnson to celebrate the opening of a Starbucks on Crenshaw Boulevard.
Minutes after Villaraigosa's tepid remarks on his candidacy, Angelides refused to take a stand on Villaraigosa's plan to take over the Los Angeles public schools.
The dual snubs were part of a broad conflict between the two Democrats.
Villaraigosa is torn between party loyalty and the potential rewards offered by his new alliance with the Republican governor. He plans to campaign with Schwarzenegger for bond measures on the November ballot that could offer Los Angeles billions of dollars for schools, housing and traffic relief. And the governor would decide where much of that bounty went.
There is also a matter of personal ambition: Villaraigosa is widely seen as a top Democratic candidate for governor in 2010 — provided that Angelides loses.
For Angelides, support from Villaraigosa, a major political star, is crucial, especially in Southern California. But the mayor's top priority is his school takeover plan. And it should come as no surprise that Angelides is distancing himself from that: The effort's No. 1 opponent, the California Teachers Assn., has spent more than $1 million promoting Angelides for governor.
With that backdrop, the mayor was less than enthusiastic when asked outside Starbucks whether he supported his party's nominee for governor.
"I'm a Democrat, as you all know, but I've not made any endorsements at this time," Villaraigosa told a media cluster as Angelides waited nearby for the camera crews and reporters to turn his way.
With his school plan in jeopardy, thanks largely to the clout of the teachers union in the Legislature, Villaraigosa plans to lobby for the proposal Monday in Sacramento. That, he said, is a higher priority than announcing support for Angelides.
"At some point, I would campaign for him, should I endorse him," Villaraigosa said. "Right now, I've got to focus on this issue."
As he walked to his SUV, Villaraigosa said he had asked Angelides to back his school proposal — to no avail. "I think right now he's probably focused on his campaign, just like I'm focused on mine," the mayor said.
Angelides described his refusal to take a position on the schools issue as a matter of principle. "That's a decision for the local community to make," he said, echoing remarks he made during his primary campaign.
Angelides also brushed off speculation that Villaraigosa's potential interest in a 2010 race for governor might lead him to prefer a Schwarzenegger win.
"Oh, nooo — no, no," Angelides said. "Antonio Villaraigosa and I have shared values. We know that this governor's cut schools, turned his back on kids who need healthcare, and that together, we can do much better for California."
If Angelides wins the November election, he will be the party's presumed favorite for a second term, most likely forcing Villaraigosa and other Democrats with an eye on the job to wait until 2014 to run.
The intra-party split comes as Angelides is trying to rally every major California Democrat behind his candidacy. Apart from Villaraigosa, he has been successful. His rival in the primary, state Controller Steve Westly, endorsed Angelides the morning after the election last week — and called the treasurer "brilliant."
On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, another potential candidate for governor, threw his support behind Angelides and campaigned with him at a North Beach health clinic. Newsom, highly popular in his city, has also offered to gather every Bay Area Democratic official in a room to urge them to work for Angelides' election.
Newsom's unabashed support only underscored the unusual nature of Villaraigosa's reticence. Nearly all of California's other top Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, supported Angelides during the primary.
This week, the candidate hired a campaign media consultant, Bill Carrick, who produced television ads against Villaraigosa for former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn in 2001 and 2005. Angelides did not support Villaraigosa in those campaigns, but party leaders who know both men played down talk of any political grudge as the source of the current chill.
"I don't believe he would hold that against Angelides," Los Angeles County Democratic Chairman Eric Bauman said of the mayor.
For Schwarzenegger, the clash among Democrats is good news, particularly given the mayor's iconic status among many Latinos, a crucial constituency in the race. The governor has endorsed the schools plan.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger applauds Mayor Villaraigosa's courage in fighting for the children of Los Angeles to give them a hand up at a better future by reforming the public school system," said Steve Schmidt, manager of Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. "It is disappointing to see, once again, Phil Angelides' lack of political courage to put the kids first, to put the teachers first and to support Mayor Villaraigosa's very important proposal."
State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), co-chairman of the Angelides campaign and a close friend of Villaraigosa, said it was just a matter of time before the mayor endorsed the candidate.
Angelides said he and Villaraigosa would be "getting together in the next few days" to talk things over.
"Look," Angelides said, "we're going to have a very united Democratic Party. The mayor's a friend of mine."
NYC REFUSES TO LIFT SCHOOL CELL PHONE BAN + DOE SAYS IT PLANS TO UPHOLD CELL PHONE BAN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
►NYC REFUSES TO LIFT SCHOOL CELL PHONE BAN
wnbc.com | Associated Press
June 14, 2006 -- NEW YORK -- Can you hear me now?
That's what parents, students and lawmakers who want a school cell phone ban lifted asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration at a city council hearing Wednesday, but the city is refusing to budge.
One parent said the city's policy wouldn't affect her family's actions.
"My children will continue to carry cell phones," said Carmen Colon. "No one is going to tell me otherwise. I have no choice."
[article continues, other articles included | follow link]
MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT STRINGER RELEASES 1ST STUDY OF COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNCILS SINCE THEIR INCEPTION
►Report Says DOE Violated State Law by not Providing Parents with Adequate Training and Support
Press Release from Stringer's Office
(June 14, 2006) New York, NY – Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer today released the results of a ground-breaking new report on Manhattan’s Community Education Councils (CEC) that finds significant failures by the City’s Department of Education (DOE) and violations of state law as it pertains to their obligations to adequately provide support and training for the parent councils.
Stringer’s study, titled “Parents Dismissed,” is the first critical analysis of New York City’s CECs since they convened in 2004, through state law to replace Community School Boards as part of the shift to Mayoral Control over the public school system. The report finds that a striking 92% of respondents are not being trained on one or more of the CECs state-mandated functions and 61% indicated their council was not fulfilling one or more of its responsibilities mandated by New York State Education Law.
Borough President Stringer was joined at a press conference on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse by CEC members, parents and education advocates to announce the results and call on DOE to immediately take action to address the inadequacies and violations of the law pointed out in the report.
“There is no doubt parental involvement is an essential part of any child’s education,” Stringer said. “Sadly, this report shows that DOE is failing to deliver on their most basic duties and in doing so they are further quieting what is already the muffled voice of parents in our education system. The facts of this study speak loudly and resonate across the city: CECs are not performing their legally mandated functions, not receiving adequate training, are crippled by high turnover rates and low participation and DOE is to blame. It is time for DOE to face the facts, find solutions and uphold their obligation under the law to see that parents have a real seat at the table.”
Construction meets Instruction: REMAINS, ARTIFACTS ON GRAND+ CONSTRUCTION DELAYS WILL FORCE 4 NEW L.A. SCHOOLS TO OPEN LATE
►REMAINS, ARTIFACTS ON GRAND: Old cemetery's remnants lie under high school site
by Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer, LA Daily News
Friday, June 16, 2006 —Overseeing construction of one of the nation's costliest schools, archaeologist Monica Strauss unearthed a treasure trove of the city's history beneath the LAUSD's former headquarters.
At the site of the $208 million performing arts high school at 450 N. Grand Ave., crews have found 140 artifacts, including the remains of 80 bodies, which they are going to extreme lengths to identify.
"Our historical research is so fruitful - the ample burial records, the historical maps," said Strauss, who's worked as an archaeologist for 10 years.
"Usually you get a lot of dead ends, but the history of the site is really coming together. It's the best feeling when you get a lot of information. It's like a mystery, like something out of `CSI.'
"Things are coming together and we're painting a picture of what life was like on the hill from the mid-1800s to now."
Once the highest point in Los Angeles, the site was known as Fort Moore, a lookout post during the Mexican-American War in 1847.
Probably due to its panoramic view of the city, people began using it as a place to bury their dead after the fort was vacated. In the 1860s, the booming city opened the hillside as its first cemetery.
The school district took over the land in 1887 and eventually used it to house the first building constructed as a high school - a structure converted to a junior high in the 1930s. In the mid-1900s, the Los Angeles Unified School District built its headquarters on the land.
[article continues – link below]
►CONSTRUCTION DELAYS WILL FORCE 4 NEW L.A. SCHOOLS TO OPEN LATE
by Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writer
June 17, 2006 - Construction delays at four Los Angeles Unified School District campuses have forced officials to postpone opening the new schools by a month.
For the roughly 3,200 students scheduled to attend the informally named Panorama, Arleta and North Hollywood high schools — all in the San Fernando Valley — classes will begin Oct. 3 instead of early September.
To make up for the lost time, those schools will run on compressed schedules with shorter vacations. The two-week winter break will be cut to one week, and a five-day spring break will be shortened to two days, said Dan Isaacs, the district's chief operating officer.
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
►Monday Jun 19, 2006
SOUTH REGION HIGH SCHOOL #12: SCHEMATIC DESIGN MEETING
Please join us for a community meeting regarding the design of South Region High School #12.
At this meeting we will:
* Present schematic design drawings
* Receive community input on the design of the project
6:00 p.m.
93rd Street Elementary School
Auditorium
330 E. 93rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90003
►Tuesday Jun 20, 2006
CENTRAL REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #19: COMMUNITY UPDATE MEETING
6:00 p.m.
Hammel Elementary School – Auditorium
438 N. Brannick Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063
►Wednesday Jun 21, 2006
RAMONA OPPORTUNITY HIGH SCHOOL: COMMUNITY UPDATE MEETING
6:00 P.M.
Ramona Opportunity High School
231 S. Alma Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063
►Wednesday Jun 21, 2006
SOUTH REGION HIGH SCHOOL #7: PRESENTATION OF DESIGN DEVELOPMENT DRAWINGS
At this meeting we will present the design of the new school and discuss the next steps in the school construction process.
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Middleton New Primary Center
2410 Zoe Ave.
Huntington Park, CA 90255
►Thursday Jun 22, 2006
SAN ANTONIO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADDITION: OPEN HOUSE - Please Join Us At An Open House For A New Classroom Building!
Ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m.
San Antonio Elementary School – Multi-purpose Room
6222 State St.
Huntington Park, CA 90255
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213.633.7493
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213.633.7616
What can YOU do?
►CONTACT YOUR ASSEMBLYPERSON AND STATE SENATOR [link below to find them]. Tell them what you think about their wasting their time, effort and the taxpayer's money on the mayor's attempt at takeover or makeover – an effort that is patently unconstitutional and will never survive a court challenge. Their time, the mayor's time, the board of education's time – all of our time, thinking and hard work - is better spent working together rather than at odds to continue and support the very real efforts at reform already begun. Their time is better spent helping LAUSD find a new superintendent, guaranteeing an improved funding stream for all California schools and helping kids in the classroom, on the playground; during, before and after school.
• LAUSD ASSEMBLY DELEGATION
Assemblymember.Richman@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Montanez@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Levine@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Pavley@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Koretz@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Frommer@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Liu@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Goldberg@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Nunez@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Bass@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Ridley-Thomas@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Chu@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.DeLaTorre@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Richman@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Horton@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Lieu@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Karnette@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Oropeza@assembly.ca.gov
• LAUSD SENATE DELEGATION
Senator.Alarcon@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Scott@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Cedillo@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Kuehl@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Romero@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Vincent@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Murray@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Lowenthal@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Bowen@senate.ca.gov
Senator.Escutia@senate.ca.gov
• TO DETERMINE WHO YOUR ASSEMBLYPERSON & SENATOR IS & GET THEIR ADDRESS PHONE & FAX NUMBERS:
http://192.234.213.69/smapsearch/framepage.asp
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Marlene.Canter@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
Boardmember-elect Monica Garcia • 213-241-6180
Julie.Korenstein@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Mike.Lansing@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Jon.Lauritzen@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
David.Tokofsky@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think!
Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• Vote.
| |  |
| Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is President of Los Angeles 10th District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He serves on various school district advisory and policy committees and is a PTA officer and/or governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is also the elected Youth & Education boardmember on the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council.
• In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
• FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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