Friday, October 31, 2008

At long last the election is upon us.


4LAKids: Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008 - The Election
In This Issue:
2 bumps in the night: The October Surprise — CANTER & KORENSTEIN WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION
GOV VOWS TO CUT FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS: California education leaders told to brace for big budget cuts
NO DROPOUTS LEFT BEHIND: NEW RULES ON GRAD RATES
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT EXTENDS ITS PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (PLA)
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
FLUNK THE BUDGET, NOT OUR CHILDREN Website
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website
4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!
4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc.
At long last the election is upon us.

Soon we will get our televisions and all the commercials for overactive bladders and ED back. No more Propositions 1-12 and A-Z, no more hysterical entreaties about the danger of kindergarten lesbian marriages. After all, teaching about the American Revolution creates revolutionaries; instruction about Shakespeare creates self destructive Danish princelings. Whether we like it or not. No more T Boone Pickens and Diane Feinstein being right about some things and wrong about others. Soon it will be safe to answer the phone and not hear phone blasts about the horrors of being an unregulated caged chicken or an overregulated poultry producer.

It's all over but the voting. Unless you've already voted by mail – in which case the following is of little interest …but you missed The October Surprise!

• Because California is not a battleground state the presidential election apparently does not matter here. That decision will be made by voters in Pennsylvania and Virginia and New Mexico and Florida. All seriousness aside and with our tongue planted firmly in our cheek 4LAKids hopes voters there and here vote for Barack Obama.
• Because we have safe districts in California the assembly, state senate and congressional seats are …uh …safe.
• Because we have school board and municipal elections in off-year/mid-year elections (when the turnout is guaranteed to be low) there are no contested local elections of note.

So we have the propositions.

• I'm not a big fan of the initiative process; historically it's produced a lot of well meant but flawed legislation filled with IEDs of unintended consequences at best …and occasional outright intentional poison pills.
• I am also not a fan of state revenue bonds which borrow money from the general fund rather than creating new revenue streams. When you spend money with "no new taxes" someone pays; every bond dilutes the existing revenue stream, eventually the stream dries to a trickle.
• I am enough of a Keynesian to believe that we will need to spend our way out of this economic crisis, but I believe that the investment in public works needs to be in infrastructure renewal: schools, bridges, levees, courthouses, libraries, public buildings etc. I also believe we need to invest in Green/Sustainable/Renewable energy and energy sources – but as a part of a well-founded policy rather than hit-and-miss special-interest political agendae. Pop culture futurist Thomas Friedman ('The Earth is Flat' & 'Hot, Flat and Crowded') says that 'Green is the new red, white and blue'. We need to enlarge the spectrum.



4LAKIDS BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS

1. A TRAIN TO NOWHERE. Not enough money for a not well thought through high speed train. And it takes money from the state budget that the state doesn't have. Never mind that it was shoehorned into the ballot after the deadline. NO.
2. If the problem of FARM ANIMAL CONFINEMENT exists the legislature should correct it. NO
3. CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOND. A correct use of state bond funds. YES.
4. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF ABORTION. A right wing special interest attack on a woman's right to choose - and the citizenry's right to say "enough already!" NO.
5. NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS REHABILITATION. I'm breaking my own rule on this – and in full disclosure I am on an advisory committee to the youth treatment portion of this proposed legislation. YES.
6. LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDING, GANG PENALTIES. Puts 14 and 15 year old non-violent offenders into the adult correction system. Cage 'em like chickens. NO.
7. RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARDS. Some good ideas masquerading as a program. NO.
8. SAME SEX MARRIAGE BAN. As ugly, nasty and expensive a campaign as ever has been run. Lincoln said you can't legislate morality, he said it back when the state didn't involve itself it matrimony. NO.
9. VICTIMS RIGHTS AND PAROLE. The legislation already exists; it just needs to be enforced. NO.
10. ALTERNATE FUEL BONDS. T. Boone Pickens is not a bad man, he has good ideas. But he is a special interest with special interests. NO.
11. REDISTRICTING. I complained earlier about safe seats. But this bill doesn't go far enough. Let's not put half-steps into the constitution, we need the whole octave of reform. NO.
12. VETERANS BOND ACT. Of all the states California offers the least support to our veterans – 50th out of 50; a sorrier record than even education funding! And because we have the largest population we have a lot of veterans. A correct use of state bond funds. YES.

THE LOCAL ISSUES (In ballot order, alphabetical order would make too much sense)

R. TRAFFIC RELIEF, RAIL EXTENSIONS. FOREIGN OIL. ½¢ SALES TAX INCREASE. Are rail extensions like hair extensions, will they make us look better? METRO/RTD/MTA is the most poorly run/inefficient/unaccountable transit agency in the nation, mismanaged as a political fiefdom by other government agencies and fiefdoms. Metro can't manage its finances and budget – don't give them more money. NO.

J. COMMUNITY COLLEGE BONDS. This one is heartbreaking, but shenanigans between the LA Community College District and the privately-run-at taxpayer-expense Autry Museum – channeling some of these college construction bonds into an unexplained and inexplicable giveaway to Autry's takeover and renovation/relocation of the Southwest Museum dooms this one. SADLY NO.

Q. LAUSD SCHOOL BONDS. Outside interests, Power Politics and the best school board money can buy meets the biggest and most successful public works project in the land. •The economy is in the dumps, the school district doesn't have the operating funds to run itself. •There is a documented $60 billion in need now and this bond invests $7 billion and promises not to ask for more for ten years. •The projects to be funded are not well defined. •There is $450 Million earmarked for charter schools and the charter community is NOT supporting the measure. If the measure passes the charters propose to build "their" schools outside the LAUSD Project Labor Agreement (see below) and outside of (but in tortured Orwellian rhetoric' 'in compliance with') California's Field Act which guarantees public (and private) school construction earthquake standards. LAUSD's legal counsel (inside and outside) has opined that this bond guarantees the Field Act – one suspects more sympathetic counsel will be sought further afield.
•The teachers union is NOT supporting the measure. •The mayor - proscribed constitutionally (and by the courts) from interfering in the governance of the school district - drove the size of this bond up at the last minute. He can claim to have written the largest state school bond in history at $9.2 billion that voters approved in November 1998, now he can have the largest local bond too – if the voters are willing.

And now we have the October Surprise with two independent and moderating school board members stepping aside (See Below). We need to trust the four mayoral loyalists, one independent and two players-to-be-named later to oversee the spending of seven additional billion dollars? What's wrong with this picture?

Much is made of the independent Bond Oversight Committee; but the BOC is advisory only – the Board of Ed controls the spending and does so frequently in closed session.

All of that said, 4LAKids supports this measure – but vote for it only if you as a voter and taxpayer are prepared to hold LAUSD, the Board of Ed and the rest of players accountable. The voters and taxpayers; parents, teachers and stakeholders – every one of us – must follow the money and insist that the investment in the future is made wisely, prudently and in the best interest of schoolchildren. CAUTIOUSLY AND ONWARDLY: YES.

A. GANG AND YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION. PARCEL TAX. Well meant but premature. The city controller's audit and The Advancement Project report identifies millions of dollars in Community Development Department funds that could be reprogrammed to improve gang-prevention programs, those recommendations have not been implemented yet. The city needs to prove to taxpayers that the programs to be funded will work before asking for additional funding. REGRETTABLY NO.

B: LOW INCOME HOUSING PROGRAM REVISION - City leaders and developers say this measure means Los Angeles could continue to receive millions of dollars in affordable-housing money. Proposition B would erase restrictions in place to prohibit low-income housing projects that are larger than five units and taller than two stories. The specter of huge housing projects looms but the politicos say 'Trust us, it won't happen', There is a huge and proven need for low income housing. The city has a sad history here - but carefully and cautiously YES.

ON THE JUDGES: I've met exactly one of the candidates and me saying she's a nice person who gives good first impression and that I'm going to vote for her is non-transferable. Sorry Cynthia Loo.

There you have it.



MEANWHILE THE GOVERNATOR calls for a special lame duck legislative session to create an economic stimulus package -- and that apparently (to him) means slashing the month-old state budget and throwing the education-funding-baby out with the no-new-taxes bathwater. Hello suspending Prop 98.

AND THE LAME DUCKS IN BUSH ADMINISTRATION Department of Ed announced new No Child Left Behind policy revisions with their dying quack.

¡Onward/Hasta adelante! -smf
__________________________

Gentle reader: There is a hiccup in the formatting of the newsletter that has me very confused - bullets and punctuation that previously worked now generate strange code. As I am my own (worst) editor I am an even worse IT person.

(English majors who will claim that one cannot grammatically worsen "worst" need to grade someone else's paper, this one gets worser and worser!)

I apologize and will work to solve the problem before next week - when I will no doubt be trying to claim that code is a product enhancement. -smf




2 bumps in the night: The October Surprise — CANTER & KORENSTEIN WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION
â–ºMARLENE CANTER WILL NOT SEEK THIRD TERM ON SCHOOL BOARD

From the LA Times Homeroom Blog by Howard Blume

10:52 PM, October 28, 2008 -- Here's some breaking political news out of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Two-term school board member Marlene Canter, 60, will not seek a third term, the Times learned Tuesday night.

Her decision, which she characterized as purely personal, leaves the contest for her Westside seat wide open.

Canter was best known for leading efforts to ban sodas and junk food, while also improving the nutrition, taste and accessibility of school breakfasts and lunches. As other accomplishments, she also points to an increased focus on academic accountability and improved test scores as well as the district's massive school construction program.

Canter, who owned a successful teacher-training business, financed her own initial bid for office and was never regarded as beholden to various political interests that have tried to control the seven-member school board.



●●smf's2¢: Blume misses Marlene's most important effort: As President of the Board of Education she led the fight against AB1381 and the mayor's attempt to take over LAUSD. She led that fight in the state legislature, she led the fight in the courts and she led the fight in the war of public opinion — and she never, never, never gave up.

• She was relentless in the legislature, where the mayor held and played all the cards masterfully; she lost be three votes.
• She was relentless in War of Public Opinion – she was everywhere - against a charismatic and popular mayor who was never able to muster the popular support he mistakenly believed he had.
• She was relentless in the courts, where the cause prevailed and the takeover attempt was proved unconstitutional and morally and legally wrong.

Marlene was not alone in these efforts, like a true leader she is pragmatic, a consensus builder and a shaper of opinion – she led from the middle alongside Superintendent Romer, a majority of the Board of Education, General Counsel Kevin Reed and a consortium of partners including the League of Women Voters, The California School Boards Association, AALA, PTA, other parents and Congressperson Maxine Waters.

When the fight was over she did her best to pick up the pieces and repair relationships with her opponents. The word 'relentless' appears three times previous, if Marlene relented here it was not from weakness but in strength.

Of all the recent boardmembers Marlene has the singular distinction of being a businessperson; she had made and balanced budgets and met payrolls in the private sector. She had made money in education and improved the training of teachers and learning of children in doing so – there is no shame and indeed great honor in that. She was also an educator and understood how the business model and the education mission could fit together to benefit the kids – not the system or the bottom line.

Marlene would argue that her legacy is about improving instruction and nutrition; the futures, the health and well being of LAUSD schoolchildren …and she would be right.



In rereading the above I can only add that the parts in the past tense remain true in the present and hopefully into the future. This is neither a eulogy nor an elegy - 4LAKids wishes Marlene the best in her future endeavors; this school district and its children are better for her service.

Good job!


â–ºJULIE KORENSTEIN, 22-YEAR L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, TO NOT SEEK REELECTION

THE DEPARTURE NEXT JUNE OF THE LONGEST-SERVING MEMBER EVER MEANS THAT TWO SEATS WILL BE OPEN. THE OTHER WILL BE VACATED BY TWO-TERM-MEMBER MARLENE CANTER.

By Jason Song and Howard Blume - from the Los Angeles Times


October 31, 2008 - Julie Korenstein, the longest-serving Los Angeles school board member ever and a key teachers union ally, announced Thursday that she would not seek reelection, suddenly leaving two pivotal open seats on the seven-member Board of Education.

Her announcement came one day after two-term board member Marlene Canter also announced that she would step down when her term expires next June.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Bill Ouchi, a professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management who has long been involved in school-reform efforts. "These are two people who have put in unbelievable numbers of hours and have exposed themselves to tremendous personal criticism and pressures because they really care about the children and the schools. It's a changing of the guard."

In recent years, the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District has become a battleground for control between forces promoting different visions of reform. The main players have been the teachers union, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and supporters of charter schools, which are independent of direct district control.

Korenstein, 65, who has represented portions of the San Fernando Valley for the last 22 years, is regarded as United Teachers Los Angeles' closest board ally. She was likely to be targeted by well-financed opponents, but said she felt no pressure to bow out.

"I've accomplished a lot with a great deal of energy and fortitude, but it's time now," she said, noting that she was a mother of three when she was first elected and is now a grandmother of four.

During her tenure, Korenstein focused early on environmental issues affecting schools, and she also pushed for phonics-based reading programs that have since become almost universally accepted.

But having seen many reform plans come and go, she grew skeptical of initiatives, including the charter school movement, and distrustful of sweeping change in general.

"In losing Julie, we are losing long-term institutional memory," said Yvonne Chan, founder of the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a charter school in Korenstein's district. "But she's a worrywart. Everything has to be explained many times and it has to be perfect. So it delays reform efforts and pushes away risk-takers who are willing to let the horse out the door instead of beating the horse to death."

Korenstein was well-known for asking many questions, including some that restated previous ones.

"In the best sense of the word, she's a bulldog," said Michael O'Sullivan, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the administrators union. "She will not vote on something until she's had her questions answered."

The six-term board member frequently became a defender of the institution and a critic of funding levels she considered far too low. She also relied on a thin staff, donating the extra dollars instead to help local schools.

Korenstein began in 1968 as a parent volunteer before becoming a district teacher. She also founded a tutoring service for at-risk youth before being elected to the board in 1987. The boundaries of her Valley-based district have changed over time; they now include much of the north and east Valley.

That area has seen an infusion of Latino leadership in recent years, and a Latino candidate is almost certain to emerge among the front-runners.

Unlike Korenstein, Canter, 60, was never closely aligned with the unions or any power bloc. Canter nonetheless won her colleagues' support for two terms as board president because of a reputation for conciliation and fairness.

"Marlene led that board through some of its most difficult times, including Mayor Villaraigosa's effort to seize control," Ouchi said. "She was totally and completely devoted to maintaining the independence of LAUSD from mayoral control. She felt it was her duty. She lobbied probably every member of the Legislature. She was there mano-a-mano with decision-makers making her case."

L.A. Unified finally prevailed over the mayor in court, but the mayor then funded successful candidates for the board. Canter quickly forged common ground with the new members over supporting charter schools and charter-like freedoms for traditional schools.

Canter also was known for her efforts on school nutrition.

"It's because of Marlene that our kids are not eating junk food anymore," said Caprice Young, a former school board member who until recently headed the California Charter Schools Assn.

Canter worked especially closely with former Supt. Roy Romer and became associated with his school construction efforts and his standardized reading program for elementary schools. She also played an instrumental role in the hiring of current Supt. David L. Brewer, a retired Navy admiral with no formal experience in public education.

For some board critics, both incumbents represented gradualism at best.

"To me, Korenstein was a supporter of the status quo," said Mike Piscal, the chief executive of ICEF Public Schools, a local charter school organization. "Her belief in the system is staggering to me. It's not working. Why do you keep fighting to maintain it?"

Piscal termed Canter "a sometime champion of reform. Canter did not fight hard enough."

Korenstein also ran unsuccessfully for Los Angeles City Council and wouldn't rule out another try at elected office after her term expires.

"I've got another eight months on the board, and after that I'll see," she said.

●●smf's2¢: The brief bio above says Julie stared out as a parent volunteer. That explains a lot of things.

4LAKids will lay out at another time the importance twenty-two year tenure of Julie on the Board of Ed. Sweating the small stuff is part of the survival instinct. Sometimes in her board career Julie became bogged down in the administrivial. LAUSD is all about administrivia. In 22 years you come to recognize that the small stuff comes back to haunt you. Happy Halloween.

Perhaps the greatest loss will be to the institutional memory; it leaves LAUSD at the mercy of other not-so-public entrenched long-termers who claim intimate knowledge of the way it was and always has been.

• Who will call them on this?
• Who will say: "Wait a minute in your haste to end the meeting on time?"
• No one ever read a beefing book as well and made it look like she hadn't done so. Who will ask the simple question in public that the board already knows the answer to …but the public doesn't know to ask?
• Who will listen to the three minutes of public comment and take away three minutes of information?
• Who will work as hard, as tenaciously and exasperatingly as a warrior for children as Julie?



GOV VOWS TO CUT FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS: California education leaders told to brace for big budget cuts
EDUCATORS SAY ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER TOLD THEM TO PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE CUTS OF $2 BILLION TO $4 BILLION. THEY SAY THE GOVERNOR ALSO PLANS TO KEEP PUSHING FOR A SALES TAX HIKE. "FOR VIRTUALLY EVERY DISTRICT I KNOW OF, THIS WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC," SAID SCOTT PLOTKIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSN.

By Evan Halper and Nancy Vogel | LA Times Staff Writers

October 29, 2008 -- Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told education leaders Tuesday that he would push for a tax hike and deep cuts to schools to help close the state's yawning budget gap, according to several participants in a meeting with him.

The news, delivered in a conference room outside the governor's office, came as a shock to the educators, who were told to prepare for immediate cuts in the range of $2 billion to $4 billion.

With the announcement of the Governor’s plan to reconvene the lege on November fifth and his intention to cut the education budget, the a State without a budget/a government without a clue 4LAKIDS BLOG ON THE STATE BUDGET MESS is back online after barely a month’s hiatus.

"There is just no way we would be able to cut that much," said Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Assn., who was at the meeting. "For virtually every district I know of, this would be catastrophic."

Administration officials confirmed that the meeting took place but refused to discuss details.

"We never talk about the governor's private meetings," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.

Several educators who were present said the governor stated clearly that he would renew his push for a sales tax hike in the special legislative session that is scheduled to begin next week. The governor unsuccessfully championed a temporary increase in sales taxes during the summer budget debate.

After the meeting, California Assn. of School Business Officials Vice President Renee Hendrick and Executive Director Brian Lewis sent an e-mail to members quoting the governor as saying, "I don't like raising taxes, but this is a moment when we have to."

Lewis elaborated in an interview: "He said we're in a very serious time and we're not looking at a swift upturn."

Analysts say early data indicate that the state budget -- passed only a month ago -- has fallen about $10 billion into the red. A deficit that size represents nearly 10% of all general fund spending. The governor and lawmakers say the rapid swelling of the deficit is related to the recent plunge of the stock market and the broader economic troubles gripping the nation.

The governor has announced that he will call sitting lawmakers -- whose terms end Nov. 30 -- back to Sacramento next week to deal with the shortfall.

Political strategists have said the governor stands a greater chance of pushing through new taxes with the lame-duck Legislature, which includes several members who are leaving office this year, than with the group to be elected Nov. 4.

School officials say that making billions of dollars of cuts in the middle of a school year would be devastating.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer said that Schwarzenegger's proposal would cost the district as much as $440 million. He called cuts of that magnitude "impossible."

"They're going to have to go out and borrow money because we'd go bankrupt," Brewer said. "Fiscally, we can't do that without literally having to shut down schools."

By law, teachers cannot be fired unless they are told months in advance.

"You can't just hand out pink slips," Brewer said. Teachers "have protections, they have union agreements."

The looming cuts for L.A. Unified would follow $190 million pared last year.

The district also had to borrow $550 million last summer to get by while the Legislature and governor were deadlocked over a state budget.

On Monday, Brewer sent all L.A. Unified employees a letter warning them that "California's financial picture is getting worse every day" and "without substantial, systematic, responsible districtwide cuts and help from Sacramento, LAUSD will not be able to make payroll by the end of next school year."

Brewer said he had convened a blue-ribbon committee to find ways to generate more revenue for the district, including putting billboards on freeway-facing schools, which could generate $20,000 to $30,000 a month.

School officials statewide issued thousands of pink slips when the budget was being negotiated earlier in the year, bracing for multibillion-dollar cuts proposed by the governor.

But they were told by the governor and lawmakers that the state would provide enough money to avoid them.

"They told us not to do layoffs, because they would solve our problems," said Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist who represents hundreds of school districts. "Then they put together a budget with fake numbers. . . . I don't know how schools would keep their doors open with cuts of this magnitude."

Schwarzenegger told the officials that even if lawmakers approved a sales tax hike, deep cuts to schools may be unavoidable. The temporary one cent-on-the-dollar sales tax hike the governor had earlier proposed, which was blocked by legislative Republicans, would close only a fraction of the shortfall.

School officials say the governor is focused on the sales tax because it is one of the few available sources of new revenue that would create immediate cash. Other potential tax hikes, such as increased income taxes for the wealthy, would not boost state coffers for more than a year, when taxpayers begin to file under the new rates.

GOP legislative leaders predicted that their caucuses would continue to stand firm against a tax hike.

They suggested that school cuts could be averted by moving money out of other parts of the budget.

"The last thing Republicans want to do is take money out of classrooms," said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis.

"There are plenty of fast-growing programs that should be looked at first. . . . Raising taxes is not on the table. Raising taxes on hard-working Californians is the worst thing we could do in this bad economy when many people are losing their jobs, their homes and are struggling to make ends meet."


NO DROPOUTS LEFT BEHIND: NEW RULES ON GRAD RATES

By Kathleen Kingsbury - Time Magazine

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 -- It's a staggering statistic: one in four American teenagers drops out of school before graduation, a rate that rises to one in three among black and Hispanic students. But there's no federal system keeping track of the more than 7,000 American teenagers who drop out of school each day.

That appears to be changing. On Oct. 28, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings issued new rules that will force states to adopt a common system to monitor dropouts. Critics of No Child Left Behind have long accused the federal legislation not only of leading more schools to teach to the test, but of letting — or perhaps even encouraging — struggling students to drop out before they can lower average test scores. But Spellings is trying to address this problem with new regulations that will set a uniform graduation rate so that a high school's annual progress will now be measured both by how students perform on standardized tests and by how many of them graduate within four years.

Schools that do not improve their graduation rates will face consequences, such as having to pay for tutoring or replace principals. "For too long, we've allowed this crisis to be hidden and obscured," Spellings said in her announcement, made nearly seven years after No Child Left Behind was signed into law. "Where graduation rates are low, we must take aggressive action."

When No Child Left Behind was originally debated by legislators in 2001, states were given a break on graduation rates to help ease the bill's passage. In the years since, Democrats have argued that because of a lack of funding, some states have no choice but to set the bar low, since it's the only way they can be considered successful.

The Bush Administration, however, has now been prompted to action by a series of studies that have shown the severity of the country's dropout crisis. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world where children are now less likely to receive a high school diploma than their parents were, according to an Oct. 23 report by the Education Trust, a children's advocacy group based in Washington. At the same time, two-thirds of new jobs in the U.S. require at minimum a college degree. That education gap could lead to devastating outcomes if a lack of skilled workers leads to more industries heading overseas and more Americans facing poverty and crime-ridden streets. "We are letting every other country surpass us in educating children," says Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of America's Promise Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to improving education. "It's a risk not only to our economy, but our national security as well."

Once enacted in 2012, the new rules should give officials a much more accurate picture of just how bad the dropout epidemic is. Although high schools are currently required to meet graduation targets each year, states have been setting the bar for improvement, a system that has led to a lot of variation across the country. The Education Trust report found that in half of states, even the tiniest bit of progress was deemed sufficient. In a few states, simply not doing worse than the previous year was good enough. "A 50% graduation rate holding steady should not be viewed as progress by anyone," says Daria Hall, assistant director for K-12 policy development at the Education Trust. "We obviously need more reliable and meaningful statistics."

That's what Spellings and the Department of Education now aim to provide. Up until now, there was little the federal government could do to force schools to set higher standards. In fact, in 2005, all 50 states agreed to enact a uniform graduation rate, but only 16 eventually did. Now officials will require states to spell out how they will implement key elements of the federal law, formal plans that the Department of Education must approve. And officials are hoping more scrutiny will push schools to do better when it comes to dropouts. Not only will data be more consistent, it will also be made public, allowing parents and educators for the first time to make side-by-side comparisons of different schools as well as districts. Results can also be broken down by race and income level. Without such information, "we cannot compare Duluth to Denver," says Bob Balfanz, an education researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

But the new rules will go one step further than that. Not only will they identify schools that need support to improve, but they will help highlight reforms that are actually working. Take, for example, efforts in Georgia, where a graduation coach is assigned to each high school to ensure students stay on track. The program is only a few years old, but the state's graduation rate appears to be rising. The new call for federal data will help other states determine whether a program like Georgia's would be a good use of their resources. Plus, more accurate information may ultimately make the dropout problem "seem more manageable," Kondracke says. "We can't move forward until we can measure where we are now."


Final Regulations for Title I | Summary download files PDF (132K)



LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT EXTENDS ITS PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (PLA)

from The Public Works Blog - Posted by Charles Bradshaw

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is extending its project labor agreement (PLA) for five more years until 2013. The LAUSD modernization project is considered by many as the largest public works project in nation. The project so far has a budget of $20.3 billion dollars. The LA Business Journal published the original story. [following]

Like most good PLAs, this one includes local hiring provisions. This one is literally paying off for the community. Fifty percent of the local workforce are to be district residents. According to LAUSD "12,400 local workers on LAUSD projects have earned a total of $136.6 million in wages since July 2004."

Other highlights of the construction program include:

* 72 schools completed
* Six new schools to open in September 2008
* More than 16,500 modernization projects completed
* One Billion in state funding garnered for new school construction and modernization by Facilities Legislation, Grants and Funding since 1998
* More than 50 joint use agreements in place, with another 90 in development
* In 2007, LAUSD inducted into the Green California Schools Hall of Fame

As stated in a previous blog entry LAUSD is attempting to bundle many of the projects into a $7 billon school bond that will be on the ballot this November



â–ºLos Angeles Business Journal: SCHOOL DISTRICT EXTENDS LABOR AGREEMENT

by Howard Fine - Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

9/24/2008 - The Los Angeles Unified School District, now in the midst of the nation’s largest public works program, extended its project labor agreement on Tuesday, favoring union contractors.

The district’s Board of Education voted to extend the project labor agreement – first negotiated 10 years ago – for another five years, through 2013. Under the agreement, which is one of the largest ever implemented, all contractors must hire at least a portion of their workforce from union-run hiring halls. In return, the building trades unions promise not to strike or otherwise hold up work if disputes with contractors arise.

Also as part of the project labor agreement, 50 percent of the construction workers hired must reside within the district.

The school district has already completed 74 out of the 132 planned new schools in its $20.3 billion construction and modernization program, as well as more than 17,000 smaller-scale upgrades to existing school facilities.

“Between now and 2012, we will be completing more than one school a month. This would not be possible without the partnership with the unions,” district facilities chief Guy Mehula said in a statement.


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources

WALLACE FOUNDATION GRANTS $1.8 MILLION TO TWO ORGANIZATIONS TO IMPROVE ARTS EDUCATION IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY

As part of its effort to support and share effective practices and ideas, The Wallace Foundation announced a $1.2 million grant to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACAC) to advance the region's six-year-old coordinated arts education initiative, Arts for All, and a $600,000 planning grant to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support development of a second 10-year plan for arts education to build on its first successful decade of expanding arts instruction throughout the district.

AN EDUCATIONAL SUMMIT/PARENT-COMMUNITY MEETING IN LOCAL DISTRICT 3 — THURSDAY NOV. 13, 6-8PM

Local District 3 is the Crenshaw, Dorsey, Hamilton, LACES, Los Angeles, University, Venice and Westchester High School attendance areas including their middle and elementary feeders and Marlton, McBride and Widney Special Education Schools

GOVERNOR SUMMONS LAME DUCK LEGISLATURE BACK FOR SPECIAL BUDGET SESSION Schwarzenegger calls back legislators for emergency budget session

With the announcement of the Governor’s plan to reconvene the lege on November fifth and his intention to cut the education budget, the a State without a budget/a government without a clue 4LAKIDS BLOG ON THE STATE BUDGET MESS is back online after barely a month’s hiatus.

With California's revenue plummeting, the governor says lawmakers will reconvene next week. They will discuss solutions to the foreclosure crisis and an economic stimulus package.

Who’s afraid? - VIRGINIA WOOLF: A EULOGY TO WORDS

Virginia Woolf 1882 - 1941

Words Fail Me
29 April 1937 BBC
Virginia Woolf gives a eulogy to words 7 min 29 (requires real player)

●●4LAKIDS READERS: An apology: This has nothing to do with public education in Los Angeles; it has everything to do with public education in Los Angeles.

The BBC in its archive has the only known recording of Woolf delivering this essay. There are English Teachers among the readership, and English Majors. There are English Students and to them this gift for All Hallows and Dia de los Muertes.

With apologies to Edward Albee: Be unafraid …be very unafraid. -smf

PARENTS ANGRY AFTER 2nd, 3rd GRADES MERGED

“But parents weren't a part of the discussion.”

October 27, 2008 -- A month into the new school year, 8-year-old Nathan Geddie and five of his classmates were removed from their third-grade classroom at Calvert Street Elementary School in Woodland Hills.

The students were told they were well-behaved and smart - and would be placed in a class with second-graders.

A letter to parents explained that the combination second- and third-grade class was for gifted students. However, parents later learned the class was created to ensure state funding that provides more than $1,000 per student in classes of 20 or fewer.

AGENCIES SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY ON POLITICAL MAILERS

The Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are “pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure”.

25.OCT.08 -- Some local governmental agencies are walking a fine line when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to send out political mailers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

$7 BILLION MEASURE Q WOULD FUND SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION + LUKEWARM SUPPORT AND LESS FOR LA UNIFIED BOND

LOCAL ELECTIONS

$7-billion Measure Q would fund school construction and modernization

The largest school bond in state history is also the fifth in 11 years for L.A. Unified.

October 27, 2008 -- The case for $7-billion Measure Q, the largest local school bond in state history, goes something like this: Now that the school district has built dozens of new campuses, it needs and deserves more dollars to fix up the old ones.

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Position on Measure Q: Support

United Teachers Los Angeles
Position on Measure Q: Declined to take position

Associated Administrators of Los Angeles
Measure Q: No official position but supportive

California Charter Schools Assn.
Measure Q: Declined to take position

California School Employees Assn.
Measure Q: Declined to take position



DWP TO REFUND $160 MILLION IN OVERCHARGES TO OTHER AGENCIES + DWP TO PAY $160 MILLION TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES + DWP TO PAY LAUSD, OTHERS $160M IN OVERCHARGES

DWP to refund $160 million in overcharges to other agencies

The municipal utility agrees to the settlement more than a year after a judge ruled that it had intentionally overcharged L.A. County, the L.A. Unified School District and other local governments.

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, PAUL VOLCKER? A NATION TURNS ITS LONELY EYES TO YOU.

Alan Greenspan has been discredited in a flood of mea-culpas; a desperate nation looks about for a new Oracle of Wall Street to make sense of the economy.

In a "pop quiz" interview with Suze Orman, the omnipresent blonde and tanned self styled “one-woman financial-advice powerhouse” - the October-November '08 Edutopia gives us this exchange as we grasp at straws for meaning in the ongoing fiscal and credit crisis.

Edutopia: Did you go to public school, or private school?

Orman: A public, inner-city school.

E: What was your favorite subject?

O: Math, absolutely -- math.

E: If you could change one thing about education in America, what would it be?

O: Easy: the cost and quality.

●●smf’s 2¢: We stopped reading here. Cost and Quality are two things. Math is first+foremost about counting things, we learned that from the Count on Sesame Street.


The news that didn’t fit from November 2nd



EVENTS: Coming up next week...

Monday Nov 3, 2008
Valley Region Enadia Way ES Reopening: Construction Update Meeting
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Canoga Park Elementary School
Library
7438 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Canoga Park, CA 91303

Wednesday Nov 5, 2008
Valley Region High School #9: Construction Update Meeting
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Fulton College Preparatory - Auditorium
7477 Kester Ave.
Van Nuys, CA 91405

Thursday Nov 6, 2008
Valley Region Elementary School #6: Construction Update Meeting
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Rosa Parks Learning Center
8855 Noble Ave.
North Hills, CA 91343
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
� SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
� LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-893-6800


� LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Marlene.Canter@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Julie.Korenstein@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385

...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• 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.
• Register.
• Vote.


Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them?




Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is immediate past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is a Community Concerns Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on various school district advisory and policy committees and is a PTA officer and/or governance council member at three LAUSD schools.
• 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.
• To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.



Sunday, October 26, 2008

Programs, not Prada


4LAKids: Sunday, October 26, 2008
In This Issue:
PUBLIC-SCHOOL MOMS ASK: WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION?
TEENS FROM STRUGGLING L.A. PUBLIC CAMPUS GET A CHANCE TO SHINE AT PRESTIGIOUS PRIVATE SCHOOLS
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY ON PRE-ELECTION OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS + SCHOOLS' MEASURE Q BRINGS IN $704,800
CalPERS SUFFERS 20% FALL IN PENSION FUND ASSETS, CalSTRS takes 9.4% HIT
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
FLUNK THE BUDGET, NOT OUR CHILDREN Website
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website
4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!
4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc.
A confession: When I go to PTA conventions I am very conscious of a skewed demographic. There is a preponderance of middle-class white women. I have no problem that there usually about 150 women for every guy; I have always believed that women are better at solving problems than men so that seems about right to me. However as a parent in LAUSD the plethora of white and middle class seems very unrepresentative of urban educational reality. PTA is getting better - but not fast enough.

On Wednesday I was lured by Sandra Tsing Loh (she offered free muffins!) to the Long Beach Convention Center for a little social activism at the Governor's Conference on Women. Sandra and her band of merry prankster 'Burning Moms' wanted to engage Maria Shiver and her posse on issues of public education - somehow absent from the conference agenda. Progressives like to say that "Public Education is the Civil Rights Issue of the 21st Century" …surely Public Education has a place on the agenda as a Women's Issue also?

Sandra and Co. showed up in bathrobes, housecoats, fuzzy slippers and hair rollers to advocate for public ed (I went for the Ozzy Nelson sports jacket but no tie look). We were there to raise some social awareness about public education - to get public education on the agenda of a conference held under the banner: "Welcome to The Village."

Remember The Village… the one it takes to raise a child?.

Our little demonstration immediately qualified for what Mick and Keith called "our fair share of abuse" as a couple of Long Beach's finest hustled us off the concourse in front of hall and down to the street …where we obviously belonged.

This is where I am tempted to write about the tear gas, flailing nightsticks and mace - the brutal denial of our rights! "The whole world is watching!" But it was all very polite …Gandhi would have been proud. The nice policemen laughed at our jokes and politely refused our muffins. Their moms should be proud.

Let me abuse some generalities and political correctness to say this: The attendees of Ms. Shriver's soirée about women were representative of America's true urban core - if that spot is the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way in 90210. It was familiarly very white and female - but it was also very blonde, toned, sculpted, coifed and turned out. Not that it's a bad thing, but it was a conspicuous thing: There was very little excess fat in the crowd - Kate Moss would've felt at home. If 'well moneyed' is a term it applies here. The demise of Mervyns had passed unnoticed - though a sale at Manolo Blahnik might've emptied the hall

There were no children, no babes in arms, no strollers. The middle class represented was the upper echelon - one of the speakers was Warren Buffet and I doubt if even he admits to status above Upper Middle Class.

I don't think it's a stretch to surmise that the Governor's Conferees on Women were on the far side of the $250,000 annual income threshold that separates Josephine the Plumber from Josephine the Hedge Fund Manager in the current political debate.

The Friends of Arnold and Maria don’t send their children to public schools. Neither do Barrack or John or Joe the Vice Presidential Nominee. In her defense Sarah Plain does …but she needed help on her wardrobe.

That socioeconomic rift is not a pothole but a roadblock on the road to public education progress. Folks with disposable income dispose of some it on private education rather than investing their time and effort (and their children) in public education. Or buying bake sale muffins and gift wrap. It isn't class warfare or racism, it's the soft bigotry of low expectations - seen through the rear view mirror of Lexi, BMWs and the occasional stretch limo in the drop-off lane of The Archer School. There is neither noblesse nor oblige; from Kennedys we expect more.


TURN THE PAGE to Column One of Wednesday's LA Times and "Teens From Struggling L.A. Public Campus Get A Chance To Shine At Prestigious Private Schools." A fascinating story about truly engaged teachers who are making a difference for some very special children. Three inner city kids who get scholarships to prestigious Westside private schools though an endowment fostered by public education teachers. A feel good story with a positive outcome: involved teachers who realize how to make a difference for some very lucky, talented and hard working children - those three being the trifecta of the American Dream.

I applaud those teachers and congratulate those kids - I honor those schools. Three is of course not enough. Within hours the conservative blogosphere picked up the story - The Heritage Foundation: "Shouldn’t More Than Three Low-Income Students Be Able to Go to the School of Their Choice?" - blathering that this proves the bankruptcy of public education. Alas and alack, if only all inner city kids had this sort of opportunity; if only there was more choice and vouchers and public funding for private schools and charter schools. The sky, gentle readers, is falling! And it's never the folks' fault that refused to invest in Sky Infrastructure Maintenance.

• Those excellent private schools are very selective; they did not relax their standards or their expectations to accept those students. They did not lower their tuition to the level the government would pay if the government could pay. They did not open their enrollment to all 700,000+ LA schoolchildren.
• And LAUSD, with neighborhood schools, magnet schools, Schools for Advanced Study, partnership schools; occasionally zones-of-choice, pilot schools, open enrollment and - dare I say it?: charter schools — offers many flavors of public school choice.

Could we do better? Of course — please help us do so!

Probably some of the Governor's Conferees read that article over their breakfast of half-caff soy-milk lattes and dry toast. Probably some of them felt good, missing the point in the opposite direction. All is right with the world. Except in the stock market.

¡Onward/Hasta adelante! - smf


PUBLIC-SCHOOL MOMS ASK: WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION?
From the LA Times Homeroom Blog

October 22, 2008 -- More than 10,000 people are gathering today at the Long Beach Convention Center for the Governor’s Conference on Women, which began more than two decades ago as a government initiative for women who are small-business owners and working professionals.

The host is California First Lady Maria Shriver, shown below greeting chef Rachael Ray on Tuesday.

Sandra Tsing Loh, public school activist and performer, writes of the conference:

"We are a growing group of Burning Moms (California public school moms whose fingers are literally singed with all the baking we’re doing to keep our kids in art, music, PE programs and more). This year, we decided to celebrate the Conference on Women’s inspiring theme of self-empowerment by:

1) Not bumming out over the fact that California’s governor and first lady do not consider public education a women’s issue. (Topics covered in the conference included finance, enterpreneurship, leading an authentic life, looking one’s best and reducing stress.)

2) Not bumming out over the fact that tickets began at $125 for obstructed view (up to $3,000 per table), money that could do SO MUCH for our struggling California public schools.

3) Being cheerfully proactive by holding our own festive pro-public-school rally on Pine Street by offering (mostly) home-baked muffins to incoming conferees, with a welcome flier. We were forced to celebrate California public schools on Pine Street because the police kicked us off the conference hall outdoor landing where more of the conferees were. The police told us the Governor’s Conference on Women had leased the Long Beach Convention Center, hence the actual Governor’s Conference on Women was a non-free-speech/public-protest zone. Duly noted.

4) Our hope is for our public-school volunteer moms in the building to get a photo of Maria Shriver wearing a: "Hello! Ask me why I’m a BURNING MOM" button, and also to get Gloria Steinem to accept a muffin. Read on to see the flier we attached to the muffins. (Admittedly, many of the women declined the muffins as they seemed to be on diets -- but why? They all looked so fabulous!)

[official simulated flyer]


Welcome to the Governor’s Conference on Women!

We’re not officially part of the conference -- we’re public school moms.

Currently California, the 9th largest global economy, is 48th out of 50 states in public school funding.

So we hope next year public school will be considered a women’s issue.

Enjoy this muffin and back home, please donate generously to your local public school. Families like us are building our kids’ arts programs, music programs, and PE programs one muffin at a time.

Have a great conference!

Warmly,
The Burning Moms


TEENS FROM STRUGGLING L.A. PUBLIC CAMPUS GET A CHANCE TO SHINE AT PRESTIGIOUS PRIVATE SCHOOLS
WITH FULL SCHOLARSHIPS AND A STRONG SUPPORT NETWORK, THREE STUDENTS FROM LOW-INCOME IMMIGRANT FAMILIES ENTER THE WORLD OF EDUCATIONAL PRIVILEGE, WIDENED OPPORTUNITIES
AND YOGA

By Carla Rivera | LA TIMES STAFF WRITER | COLUMN ONE

October 22, 2008 -- What impressed Joel Argueta first about was his locker -- a wide, ample affair that holds his backpack and all of his books. There's also a student lounge with comfortable couches, where he does homework and meets with new friends. "Overall," he said, "it is spectacular."

Heven Ambaye admits to being a bit overwhelmed with homework at the Brentwood School. She is often up until 11 p.m. reading and studying for the next day's quizzes after taking two bus rides to get home. Still, she wants to join the soccer team, maybe lacrosse too, and already has joined a school book club.
Related Content

* Transition to new school
Photos: Transition to new school

Francisco Sanchez was unsure of himself when he entered Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences last month, afraid he wouldn't be able to adjust. But the school's Santa Monica complex of old and new buildings -- it is bisected by an alley -- is like a little community, and already it feels like a second home.

Even for the best of students, the transition from middle school to high school can be trying. But Joel, Heven and Francisco are embarked on a bigger challenge. Children of low-income, immigrant families, they entered three of Los Angeles' most prestigious private campuses this fall on full scholarships. Many of their classmates went to top-rated public schools or private middle schools with vastly more resources than the one they attended, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School a struggling Los Angeles Unified School District campus in Mid-City.

A team of Cochran teachers led by first-year instructor Sara Hernandez decided these three had a shot at making it at private schools, where they would receive a more rigorous college prep experience.

The teachers worked after-school hours, weekends and summer vacations mentoring them, helping navigate school choices, filling out applications and studying for the crucial Independent School Entrance Examination, which is required by most private schools.

The teachers connected the trio with the Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs, a nonprofit placement and support group that offered summer math and English classes mimicking the pace and homework demands of their new schools.

There they met counselors like Christopher Price, 19, a former Alliance participant and a 2007 graduate of Windward School, who could address sensitive cultural challenges such as the classmates who receive cars for their birthdays and spend vacations in Europe.

Price, from Gardena, said that at Windward, on the Westside, he initially judged students who seemed to flaunt their wealth and possessions as shallow but found "you can have very much or very little -- money does not make the person."

"It wasn't so much the environment but how I handled it," said Price, an animation major at Cal State Fullerton. "I try to tell students they are in the top tier of people in the U.S. and the world to receive an education like this, and they need to take every advantage," said Price.

Several Cochran teachers and community members started their own nonprofit group to raise money for textbooks, school supplies, field trips, lunch money and other expenses that the students' families can't fully cover. They are also advising a new group of students.

Cochran Principal Scott Schmerelson said he supports the teachers' efforts, despite what some might see as skimming the best students from public schools. "The LAUSD has great magnet high schools these kids can go to if they wish, and if their parents wish to send them to private schools it's OK with me too," he said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to go off to a prestigious school and to a wonderful college."

At 6:20 a.m., Joel is standing at a corner near his Crenshaw area home taking a dry run on an MTA bus to Hancock Park, the closest pickup spot for Harvard-Westlake's shuttle, which will get him to the campus in Holmby Hills in time for his 8 a.m. class. By the end of classes at 3:15 and his reverse journey, he will have spent nearly 11 hours in school and getting to and from.

On a bus packed mostly with poor workers, Joel, 14, said he has dreams of becoming an engineer, possibly one day working at NASA. He loves math and science and in the fifth and sixth grades received perfect scores in math on the California standards test.

He has never been out of California, but Harvard-Westlake opens a world of possibilities. His mother, Delia, and father, Francisco, a construction worker, say they're ready to work extra hours to pay for his class trips and other activities. Joel is determined to succeed, even if it takes getting only an hour's sleep some nights to finish his homework.

"I'm well organized, and that's going to be really helpful doing homework on time and keeping on schedule," he said, listing what he sees as his strengths.

He recognizes the opportunity he's being given and is already thinking of what the future might hold. He said he wants to get a good job so he can buy a house for his parents and "help them like they've helped me."

His mother, who fled war-ravaged El Salvador in the 1980s, had always wanted something better for her children. She had never heard of Harvard-Westlake before Joel applied. But now she sees an endless horizon for her son. When Joel mentions potential colleges like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or USC, Delia mentions Harvard.

"Even in El Salvador," she said, "they talk about Harvard University."

As a symbol of educational success, Harvard was also in the mind of Zenebu Gebeyhu, who set the college as a goal for her daughter Heven, who came to the U.S. from Ethiopia as a 9-year-old with virtually no English skills.

At the time, mother and daughter had been apart for nearly five years. Gebeyhu, a single mother, had left her homeland for Egypt to find work and then came to the U.S., where she was granted asylum. Working two jobs, she sent for Heven, who had been staying with relatives in Ethiopia.

Heven, 14, was placed in an English as a second language program when she entered Cochran in the sixth grade. Within the year, she was placed in honors English. She defines herself by the challenges she's overcome -- a hard life in an impoverished country, separation from her mother, adjustment to a new language and a country of vastly different cultural norms.

She wrote about her life journey when applying to Brentwood, grabbing the attention of every member of the admissions committee.

"Her transcript showed her going from ESL to honors, getting straight A's in every honors class, and it was like, 'Wait a minute, isn't she from Ethiopia recently? This can't be real,' " said Keith Sarkisian, Brentwood's director of middle and upper division admissions. "We really felt a kind of vivacity and energy to Heven. A lot had to with her background but also the growth she went through personally and in her writing in such a short time."

Heven said she is inspired by her mother's own determination.

"When I see how hard she works, I think it's nothing to do simple homework, and that keeps me going," she said. "I have big family back home, and they're all rooting for me. I want to do it for them and for myself. I know what the bottom is like, and I don't want to stay there."

Francisco, 15, moved with his single mother, Jovita Sanchez, to the U.S. in 1999, and since then they have moved 30 or 40 times, renting rooms and converted garages.

He was shy and didn't take much to teachers or classmates, perhaps because English is his third language after Spanish and Zapotec, an indigenous language of southern Mexico.

In middle school he started piano lessons, performing Mozart's "Turkish March" for his seventh-grade recital. He was placed in honors classes in the sixth grade and so impressed his teachers at Cochran with his writing that he was encouraged to enter a statewide contest, in which he wrote about the lessons he had learned from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels.

Jovita Sanchez said her aim has always been to ensure that her son can fly as high as he is able.

"There are not so many opportunities to go to college in Mexico, not so much support," she said. "I dropped out when I was 15. I was not that smart and I couldn't learn. But I was a good worker, and that's why I've worked so hard to help him get the grades he needs to move on."

Along the way, Francisco's family has been there to help him dodge gangs, drugs and violence.

He has already made some quick adjustments at Crossroads: All ninth-graders spend a few days of orientation at a camp in Malibu, and Francisco didn't know how to swim. One of the teachers at Cochran volunteered to teach him. Francisco, they were not surprised to learn, was a quick study.

As the three students immerse themselves in new experiences, they're still in close contact with their middle school teachers.

"I feel very protective over them because we spent so much time together," said Hernandez, now a student at Loyola Law School. "I've dropped them off at friends houses, taken them to orientation, taken them shopping, picked them up at school. I hope to follow them for the rest of my life. What greater accomplishment can there be for a teacher."


LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY ON PRE-ELECTION OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS + SCHOOLS' MEASURE Q BRINGS IN $704,800
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY ON PRE-ELECTION OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS: The practice is legal as long as the information avoids 'express advocacy,' but critics say some of this year's efforts go too far.

By David Zahniser | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 25, 2008 - Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District mailed voters what officials described as a "fact sheet" on Measure Q, a $7-billion construction bond on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Although it did not explicitly tell recipients how to vote, the taxpayer-funded document dropped some major hints, using such headlines as "Measure Q Improves School Safety," "Measure Q Improves the Learning Environment" and "Measure Q is Fiscally Accountable."

The district went further, writing a six-paragraph script about Measure Q for principals to read in "phone blasts" to parents. And it purchased $21,000 worth of hats and T-shirts, each saying "Measure Q," distributing them on school campuses.

Although government agencies are barred from using public money to pay for campaign activities, a 2005 court ruling states that they can distribute information on ballot measures -- as long as the contents don't include "express advocacy," such as an explicit instruction on how to vote.

A Times survey found that the Los Angeles school district is one of at least eight agencies in Southern California using taxpayer money to stage outreach campaigns about measures that would benefit them. The practice, at times highly sophisticated, is drawing complaints from taxpayer advocates and "clean government" groups, who say public agencies are improperly using public funds to extract more money from voters.

In the run-up to this year's election, the city of Lynwood posted a five-minute video on its website discussing Measure II, a proposal to retain a local utility users tax. Pico Rivera city officials plan to send six mailers about Measure P, a 1-cent sales tax hike to balance that city's budget.

The practice has even produced internal dissent at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which spent $1.1 million on brochures, newspaper ads and radio spots on Measure R, the half-cent sales tax hike for transportation.

L.A. Unified has taken the concept to its limit, waging a $1-million outreach campaign that includes three mailers sent to 450,000 likely voters. Two of the three stop just short of an endorsement. "This November 4th, remember to vote on Measure Q," reads a piece hitting mailboxes this week.

Experts say the last L.A. Unified mailer crosses a legal line, resembling the campaign brochures typically sent by political committees and paid for by private contributors. "This piece clearly takes a position," said Kathay Feng, executive director of the political reform group California Common Cause. "It is not just a quote-unquote educational piece."

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick went further, calling the mailer "a complete bending and stretching of the rules."

"This is why people don't trust their government," said Chick, who opposes the bond measure.

Foes of Measure Q said the taxpayer-funded mailers should have mentioned that this is the district's fifth bond measure in 11 years and that the four prior bonds will eventually cost homeowners $185 per year for each $100,000 that their homes are assessed.

School district officials have a different view, saying their mailings provide indisputable facts about Measure Q, including the monthly cost. They argue that their election strategy provides information, not advocacy, and complies with the law.

"You can quibble about what it is that you ought to put in" a mailer, said Michael Strumwasser, a lawyer for the district. "I don't understand that as a matter of law, you are obligated to tell them how many bonds you have had."

The trend has sparked a debate over what is, and is not, political advocacy by a public agency. Strumwasser, for example, argued that the Measure Q caps and shirts are designed to increase voter turnout and should not be interpreted as taking an explicit yes or no position on the bond.

By mid-October, L.A. Unified had spent more money discussing Measure Q than the Coalition for Safe and Healthy Neighborhood Schools, the official committee that is using private contributions to campaign for the bond measure. The coalition had raised $704,800 and spent $426,373 as of Oct. 18, according to reports.

Ballot measure committees typically thrive on repetition, using mailers and phone calls to remind voters of an issue on a crowded ballot. Now, L.A. Unified is providing much of that repetition, albeit at taxpayer expense.

But although such practices can provide a winning formula on election day, they can also produce a political backlash.

Three years ago, the Ventura County district attorney produced a 38-page report on efforts by the Ventura County Transportation Commission to pass the half-cent sales tax known as Measure B. Although the report concluded that no criminal prosecutions were necessary, it described the agency's use of public funds -- including $273,000 for postcards and voter opinion polls -- as improper.

Earlier this year, the state's Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are "pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure." The FPPC is weighing a new rule that would define any public money used to communicate about a ballot measure as a political expenditure, unless it provides a fair and impartial presentation of facts.

Taxpayer advocates have lodged their own protests, saying public dollars are being used improperly to effectively secure more taxpayer dollars. "The brochures are so decidedly one-sided that they cannot be judged as objective," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

This year, the campaign outreach ranges from modest to ambitious. In the Pasadena Unified School District, officials spent $600 on brochures that are being distributed in person regarding their $350-million school repair bond.

In Long Beach Unified, school officials spent $46,000 on a mailer that discusses Measure K, a $1.2-billion bond measure to pay for classroom repairs. That mailer went to 80,000 likely voters, according to district spokesman Chris Eftychiou.

Lynwood city officials have sent three mailers on Measure II and have at least two more on the way, calling such efforts "public education and outreach." "It's allowed by state law. In fact, I think it's encouraged," said Assistant City Manager Robert Torrez.

Lynwood's website contains a five-minute video of Mayor Maria Santillan discussing Measure II, which would lower the utility tax rate from 10% to 9%. Meanwhile, Pico Rivera’s website features five taxpayer-funded mailers on Measure P, the proposed 1-cent sales tax hike.

The mailers, which also went to voters, contain a series of warnings about the consequences of a defeat of Measure P. Headlines include "Road Repairs at Risk" and "Pico Rivera Faces a Fiscal Crisis That Threatens Vital Law Enforcement and Public Safety Services." Because the mailers were prepared by city employees, the total cost will not exceed $35,000, said Bob Spencer, Pico Rivera's public information officer.

"A handful of people have called us and expressed surprise that we're spending the money," he said. "But it gives us an opportunity to explain what the alternative is, which is the loss of almost $5 million from the city budget."

A much more contentious fight over taxpayer-funded campaign brochures has been waged over Measure R, the MTA's half-cent sales tax hike. County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Michael Antonovich, both MTA board members, challenged the decision to spend $4.1 million on a campaign to discuss Measure R, saying the agency was abusing the rules that allow for such communications.

Although the MTA responded by canceling the remaining $3 million of its publicity program, the agency had already mailed 4 million 16-page brochures on Measure R. A complaint was filed with the FPPC, which closed its investigation without taking action.

Now, every entry posted on the agency's website about Measure R has been reviewed by lawyers, said MTA spokesman Marc Littman.

"Every word, every comma has been vetted," he said.
________________


SCHOOLS' MEASURE Q BRINGS IN $704,800

By George B. Sanchez, Daily News Staff Writer

10/26 /2008 - Donors have given more than $700,000 to support a proposed $7 billion bond that would benefit charter schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Yes on Measure Q campaign reported on Thursday receiving $440,500 in the first 2 weeks of October, bringing the total sum of contributions to $704,800.

A majority of the donors are construction and management groups.

Two groups - an iron workers union and a Riverside construction company - each donated $50,000 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, the highest donations for the reporting period.

No formal opposition campaign to the measure has been established.

The Coalition for Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Schools, which is running the campaign, spent $310,000 during the same period, bringing the expense total so far to $426,373.91.

The largest expenditures were for printing and mailing campaign pamphlets.

Measure Q would be the fifth bond in 11 years that would benefit the Los Angeles Unified School District. Local charter schools would receive $450 million from the bond.

The bond would mainly pay for building repair and remodeling as well as new technology. In promoting the bond, LAUSD officials note that even after the completion of its current $20 billion construction program, more than 200,000 students will remain in portable classrooms.

Measure Q needs 55 percent support to pass Nov. 4.

_______________________
●●smf 2¢: When the Times and the Daily News get the same story completely different the spin is dizzying!

There is a seeming disconnect (and/or an inappropriate connect) in the LAUSD/Measure Q part of the story. I'm sure political types will try to maintain that the LAUSD "Get Out The Vote" effort is wholly (not holy!) separate from the the Coalition for Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Schools effort. I understand the 'arm's length' business - but at the same time there is need for real coordination and also for real accountability.

I am interested is seeing the budget and cost breakdown on the GOTV effort - including an accounting of where the money is coming from. The school district's operating budget? The facilities budget? Bond funds? …or what? And then I'd like to see the questions asked by the omnipresent critics and experts answered; "We've always done it this way! …or "Everyone else does it this way!" does not answer whether its legal.

Or, gosh forbid, the right - or a better - way to do it.


QUESTIONED CAMPAIGN MATERIALS ON MEASURE Q: Suggested phone blast script for principals & Materials mailed at taxpayers expense



CalPERS SUFFERS 20% FALL IN PENSION FUND ASSETS, CalSTRS takes 9.4% HIT
CalPERS, AMERICA'S LARGEST PUBLIC PENSION FUND, COULD BE FORCED TO ASK THE EMPLOYERS WHO FUND IT FOR MORE MONEY AFTER SUFFERING A 20% DECLINE IN ASSETS IN THE SIX MONTHS TO OCTOBER.

By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent | The Telegraph (UK)

24 October -- Calpers – the California Public Employees' Retirement System – saw the value of its assets fall by about $50bn (£31bn) from the end of February to October 10 because of stock markets falls and other heavy investment losses.

The pension fund now looks set to tap Californian state employers for higher contributions, at a time when the state's budget is stretched to the limit as a result of its own investment problems.

CalPERS, which was one of the first public pension funds to begin investing in private equity and hedge funds, has seen its net worth fall from approximately $240bn in February to $190bn today.

A decision on whether employers will need to increase their contributions will not be taken until returns for the 2008 fiscal year are known.

"Cushioning the impact of investment setbacks is the fact that Calpers experienced double-digit gains in the four years leading up to the 2007/08 fiscal year," said Ron Seeling, the fund's chief actuary. "We had saved 14pc of the fund for cushioning the blow of a future market downturn, and our smoothing policy is working as it should."

If returns do not improve, Calpers said it may require employers to increase payments. The current average employer contribution rate is 13pc of payroll – but increases in contributions could exceed 4pc if losses continue.

Even if increases are needed, they will only come into effect in the fiscal year beginning July 2010, due to the benefit of substantial gains in previous years.

Whether Californian state and local authorities could meet those payments remains to be seen, however. The state has been one of the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, reducing tax-take and leading to additional spending on social welfare.

The situation in California had become so bad at one stage earlier this month that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he may need a $7bn loan from the US government in order to meet short-term cash needs as a result of money locked up in the frozen credit markets.

That immediate need was resolved after institutional investors purchased revenue anticipation notes from the State treasury, but the overall financial picture remains gloomy.

Calpers is not alone in its problems, with the California State Teachers' Retirement System, America's second-largest fund with 795,000 members, seeing a 9.4pc drop in value to $147bn in the three months to the end of September.

The situation adds further woes to Americans already struggling with price inflation and reduced incomes as a result of the continued economic downturn across the nation.


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
►L.A. Downtown News: NO ON MEASURE Q
Oct. 27, 2008 DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - We think cynical greed lies at the heart of Measure Q, the school bond on the Nov. 4 ballot.

►LOTTERY REVENUE FALLS AGAIN = Less money for schools
Sour economy hits California Lottery too: Tickets sales have dropped two years in a row. That means less money for schools and raises questions about Schwarzenegger's plan to borrow against increasing future lottery money to balance the state

►EXPO LINE PROJECT HITS A CURVE IN THE TRACKS: Los Angeles Unified School District says crossings at Dorsey High and Foshay Learning Center would pose a danger to students.

Judge Kenneth Koss ruled that the Expo Line should build pedestrian bridges over the crossings, both of which are next to schools in South Los Angeles -- Dorsey High and Foshay Learning Center.

►GRANADA HILLS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS STOLE OR VIEWED SAT EXAM + U P D A T E: The campus' executive director says five students were involved. The scores could be invalidated
The head of Granada Hills Charter High School acknowledged to parents Wednesday that students had stolen or viewed SAT exams before taking the college entrance test earlier this month.

►COMMENTS BY BARBARA LEDTERMAN, VICE-PRESIDENT FOR EDUCATION of CALIFORNIA STATE PTA at the EDUCATION COALITION MEDIA BRIEFING - October 20, 2008
Barbara Ledterman, California State PTA Vice-President for Education, said parents across the state are seeing firsthand how children are suffering because of the state's budget cuts to public schools.

►LA ARTS HIGH SCHOOL BRINGS PRESTIGE, HIGH COST
A steel tower wrapped in a spiraling ribbon is one of the most striking features of a new arts high school set to open next year.

Its $230 million price tag is another.

►EXPECTING EXCELLENCE: EXCELLENCE FOR ALL
There's more to excellence than reading, writing, and arithmetic.

What does it mean for a school to be “excellent”? Is it excellent if no one fails but no one does terrifically well either? Is it excellent if the best, but only the best, do superbly? This question is important because the way we define excellence dictates the way we achieve it.

►WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM L.A.: Tracing the Rise-and-Fall Pattern of Urban School Reform
When I told former Mayor Richard Riordan that I was studying school reform efforts such as his city’s Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now, he replied: “That’s easy—LEARN failed.”

Riordan, like most observers, saw education reform as a project, a coherent, relatively short-term set of fixes to the existing system. After half a dozen years, it was easy to conclude that the project had not lived up to expectations.

The view that one project after another has failed leads to a “spinning wheels” notion of reform in which nothing gains traction. Our historical study of the Los Angeles Unified School District and studies in other districts around the country lead my colleagues and me to a different conclusion. We believe that the whole institution of public education is in flux, abandoning old ideas born in the Progressive Era of the early 20th century and trying out new ones.

►$400M HIGH SCHOOL OPENS TEN YEARS BEHIND SCHEDULE
The most expensive high school in Los Angeles history -- delayed for years because it was being constructed over potentially harmful gases -- opened Saturday near downtown.

A ribbon-cutting was held at the 2,808-student Roybal Learning Center at 1200 W. Colton Ave., which was to have been called Belmont High School until the $400 million construction project ran into problems.

When first proposed, the district hoped to complete the school for around $45 million.


The news that didn't fit from October 26th



EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-893-6800


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Marlene.Canter@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Julie.Korenstein@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385

...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• 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.
• Register.
• Vote.


Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them?




Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is immediate past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is a Community Concerns Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on various school district advisory and policy committees and is a PTA officer and/or governance council member at three LAUSD schools.
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