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| 4LAKids: Sunday, Feb 8, 2009 |  | | | In This Issue: | | • | THE ACTION AMERICANS NEED | | | • | STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DELIVERS DIRE MESSAGE TO LOCAL OFFICIALS + STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT RALLIES SCHOOL LEADERS TO OPPOSE CUTS | | | • | SCHIP: OBAMA REVERSES BUSH INSURANCE RESTRICTIONS | | | • | California State PTA: STATE BUDGET INFORMATIONAL ALERT + PARENT RALLY IN GLENDALE ON TUESDAY MORNING: Let Them Hear You in Sacramento! | | | • | HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week + Save the Date | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | THE RAINBOW SATURDAY MORNING stretched from downtown Glendale to downtown L.A. from my Mount Washington vista. The rainbow is good news. The rain itself good news. And the morning: blue skies, crisp and cool.
There is other good news but the backdrop is less appealing. The Stimulus Package relieves cataclysmal unemployment and a bleak economy. Friday's last-minute senate compromise compromises school construction funding and relief for the states; that's Bad News² for California.
SCHIP - the federally funded State Children's Health Insurance Program - was reinstituted by the president. Good news. Unfortunately enlightenment follows eight years of benighted reign.
The No-News is the state budget. No news AND a press blackout: the conspicuous concealment of nothing as a media moment! The governor has officially instated-and-institutionalized underemployment in California in the form of furloughs. State workers get an unpaid day off every two weeks — that's a 10% cut in pay AND productivity. How can the Employment Office possibly address a 9.3% unemployment rate by reducing their hours 10%?
The most tortured Good News/Bad News is the University of California's announcement that they are opening up the application process to more applicants …while decreasing total enrollment. More students will be turned away! Hooray!
I'm a cynical optimist …but we need to find better news - or spinners of it - than that!
I ATTENDED A MAYORAL DEBATE Saturday afternoon. KPCC radio reported (as I was driving to the forum) that the mayoral race has had all the excitement of Jimmy Hahn reciting War and Peace. Seven of the ten candidates showed up and the debate was lively, informed and informative. I don't know which debates KPCC has been going to - or not going to - but based on their review I may go buy that Hahn-reads-Tolstoy book-on-tape!
Conspicuously absent was Mayor Tony - but the candidates present ranged from an avowed Republican, an old time Socialist, an NRA member Capitalist, a new line Socialist, a Libertarian; Red, White Blue and Pink - Anglos, Latino and Black; Conservatives, Gadflies, Liberals - and an activist pastor with a GPS tracking ankle bracelet - courtesy of the medical marijuana police.
• Not a woman in the bunch - what's with that?
• All were a bit whacky (the job IS mayor of L.A.), none totally whacko — with adult supervision all could be better than the absent incumbent.
• All agreed the mayor of Los Angeles has no role in running LAUSD and that the incumbent continues to overstep those bounds. My Facebook-friend David Hernandez made an impassioned defense of former superintendent Brewer, thanks for that. I'm not endorsing you yet David. Not yet!
• All were opposed to measure B-for-Boondoggle - the solar power scam.
• And among the seven present there were probably eight opinions on illegal immigration and the challenges thereof.
THE CONSENSUS: No on B. ABT: Anyone but Tony. Force a runoff. Force an election.
¡Onward/Hasta adelante! -smf
THE ACTION AMERICANS NEED
THE ACTION AMERICANS NEED
Op Ed By Barack Obama | Washington Post
Thursday, February 5, 2009 -- By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished. People everywhere are worried about what tomorrow will bring.
What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.
Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.
That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come.
This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.
In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.
I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail.
Every day, our economy gets sicker -- and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now.
Now is the time to protect health insurance for the more than 8 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage and to computerize the health-care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process.
Now is the time to save billions by making 2 million homes and 75 percent of federal buildings more energy-efficient, and to double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy within three years.
Now is the time to give our children every advantage they need to compete by upgrading 10,000 schools with state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries and labs; by training our teachers in math and science; and by bringing the dream of a college education within reach for millions of Americans.
And now is the time to create the jobs that remake America for the 21st century by rebuilding aging roads, bridges and levees; designing a smart electrical grid; and connecting every corner of the country to the information superhighway.
These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide.
So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.
The writer is president of the United States.
STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DELIVERS DIRE MESSAGE TO LOCAL OFFICIALS + STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT RALLIES SCHOOL LEADERS TO OPPOSE CUTS
• STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DELIVERS DIRE MESSAGE TO LOCAL OFFICIALS
By Caroline An, Staff Writer | Pasadena Star-News
5 Feb 2009 - PASADENA - Saying the public school system is in a "precarious state," California's chief or public education Wednesday urged area school leaders to consider asking property owners for help.
Speaking at a town hall meeting, dubbed "Save Our Schools," in Pasadena, state Superintendent of Public Education Jack O'Connell said parcel taxes, which must be approved by voters, might be the solution to cover local school budget shortfalls.
"More school districts are now looking at parcel taxes. Voters should be given the option of approving parcel taxes to pass to fund schools," O'Connell told about 20 20 local superintendents and school board members who met at McKinley School.
He said he supports legislation to lower the threshold for passing parcel taxes from the current two-thirds majority to 55 percent of voters.
In November, voters in various school districts across the state passed 17 parcel taxes, a sign that residents are committed to preserving their local public school systems, O'Connell said.
San Marino Unified School District is the most-recent district in the San Gabriel Valley seeking a parcel tax. The district plans to put the tax on the May ballot, asking voters to approve a parcel tax of $795 per home to stave off cuts to its academic and enrichment programs.
Alhambra Unified School District Superintendent Donna Perez said her district also faces a budget shortfall of $14.7 million over the next 18 months. She said officials are looking at all avenues to raise funds and save programs, including a parcel tax.
"We are looking for flexibilities. We want to keep class-size reduction because it is a priority for us," Perez said.
O'Connell predicted that, even after the Legislature approves a budget and the governor signs it, "there will be no winners in education."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed budget calls for $11 billion in education cuts, meaning increased class sizes, teacher layoffs and the elimination of intervention programs that have proven successful in helping struggling students, he said.
Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Darlene Robles said the county could lose $3.8 billion. She added she's spoken to numerous superintendents, who say there is virtually nothing left cut from their local budgets.
"We are tired of the budget rollercoaster," Robles said.
Several school officials wanted to know whether categorical funding - money targeted for specific programs or student populations - can be used for other purposes, like class-size reduction. The governor's proposal includes some leeway on how that money can be used, O'Connell said.
Some officials say the class-size reduction program should be altered - from 20 students per teacher to 23 per teacher, which would save millions of dollars.
To help districts save money, O'Connell said his office is suspending non-required compliance visits, in which state officials visit individual school sites to inspect programs, for one year. The visits cost districts money, because officials must prepare for them.
Instead, O'Connell said, schools should focus on students' academic progress.
• STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT RALLIES SCHOOL LEADERS TO OPPOSE CUTS
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC Public Radio 89.3FM
February 04, 2009 - During a town hall meeting in Pasadena today, L.A. County school district leaders warned that students would bear the brunt of budget cuts proposed by Sacramento lawmakers. KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: State Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell told school district superintendents and school board members that planned multi-billion dollar cuts would launch some unwelcome changes.
Superintendent Jack O'Connell: The proposal to reduce the school year, the learning opportunities for our students, by five days, I believe needs to be rejected.
Guzman-Lopez: O'Connell said that students in some industrialized countries are ahead of California students, because their academic year is 40 days longer.
Bob Bruesh, who's on the board of the Garvey School District in Rosemead, said that his students need access to computer technology, and that budget cuts would slow that effort.
Bob Bruesh: We are faced, in the near future, with an extremely large technology gap between rich and poor school districts. We're looking at each of our schools costing us upwards of $800 thousand per school to redo the electricity, just so they can use the technology.
Guzman-Lopez: Maureen Carlson is part of a foundation that raised $9 million this year for Pasadena Unified. She doesn't think there's enough public outcry to convince lawmakers to spare schools from the budget ax.
Maureen Carlson: There's a collection of the population that doesn't see care of the schools as their personal responsibility.
Guzman-Lopez: Carlson and others at the town hall meeting urged lawmakers to lower the percentage of votes required to pass municipal parcel taxes. That would make it easier for cities to raise money for schools, they argued.
School district superintendents plan a rally on the steps of the state capitol next week to oppose education budget cuts.
SCHIP: OBAMA REVERSES BUSH INSURANCE RESTRICTIONS
Marc Ambinder | The Atlantic Online
Feb 5 2009 -- Politics and policy collide: in August of 2007, the Bush Administration's Medicare and Medicaid overseers limited the flexibility of states to set income eligibility requirements for S-CHIP, the major federal/state health insurance program for children. Democrats claimed that the requirements were particularly punitive to certain states and would cut tens of thousands of children off the rolls, children for whom SCHIP was the most efficient source of insurance.
In some ways, the agency directive was an attempt to short-circuit the S-CHIP reauthorization debate because it forced states that wanted to increase coverage to children in families earning more than 250% of the poverty line to cover 95% of those living below 200% of the poverty line; beyond that, states had to record a decline in the coverage rate of employer-sponsored insurance. Those goals were next to impossible to meet. That was the point.
States have always had flexibility in setting income levels; some, like California, disregarded childcare expenses in its calculation formula, for example.
The Bush Administration had one specific state in mind: New York, which wanted to expand coverage to children in families making less than 400% of the poverty line. Through the prism of politics, it looked like the administration was unfairly punishing blue states, but the reality was different: Edwin Park, a h, notes that 14 states cover children in families with incomes above 200%, including redder states like Oklahoma and Louisiana.
As a result, Democrats alleged, tens of thousands of children were denied access to S-CHIP.
Today, in single-page memorandum to the Department of Health and Human Services, President Obama asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to officially withdraw the August letter and notify states of their regained income level flexibility.
Republicans protest this as waste, with money being driven to families who don't need it. SCHIP, they contended then and believe now, should focus on the least fortunate. On the other hand, one of the major purposes of SCHIP is cover those in gaps -- those for whom private insurance is increasingly less affordable but can't qualify for basic Medicaid health services because their income are too high.
Edwin Park, a health policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for Policy and Budget Priorities, said that recent research shows that efforts to promote coverage for those making above 250% of the poverty line - roughly $46,000 - also improves the program's capture of those who make less than that. More than 90% of those receiving SCHIP benefits, Park said, are in families which incomes of less than 250%.
California State PTA: STATE BUDGET INFORMATIONAL ALERT + PARENT RALLY IN GLENDALE ON TUESDAY MORNING: Let Them Hear You in Sacramento!
• STATE BUDGET: INFORMATIONAL ALERT: Negotiations continue in Sacramento between the Governor and legislative leaders.
Senate President Darrell Steinberg has announced a vote may occur next week on a budget, though he pointed out a final agreement has not yet been reached. Specific details of the negotiations have been kept relatively quiet, but as much as $11 billion in cuts to education, on top of $3 billion already cut last fall, is on the table.
Some new revenues are also on the table, though not enough to seriously mitigate the damaging cuts. In addition, a spending cap may be part of the proposed deal. We continue to be deeply concerned about any budget cap that would lock education funding at the bottom of all other states in per-student spending for years to come.
Steps You Can Take
All legislators need to hear directly from parents and PTAs about the devastating impact that cuts proposed in the state budget will have on children. We know many of you have been contacting legislators or are suffering from "budget cut fatigue." But it is vital to remind legislators that PTA and all parents are watching. We believe they have other options available to prevent deeper cuts that harm our children and California's future.
• Let your state legislators know that California State PTA has an Economic Recovery Plan to safeguard the future of the state.
• Join the conversation by organizing or participating in a local "Off the Hook, 'Round the Clock" phone call activity. Find out more here.
• Keep informed: To help you educate your local members on budget issues and to communicate effectively with legislators, we've prepared State Budget FAQs.
Find more information and resources at www.capta.org
• LET THEM HEAR YOU IN SACRAMENTO!
WHAT: Press conference and local rally to promote the best economic recovery plan for California: Investing more in children.
WHEN: 10 a.m., Tuesday, February 10, 2009.
WHO: Los Angeles area parents join California State PTA President Pam Brady, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, Glendale Unified School District Board President Joylene Wagner, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Board Member Mike Gruning, Glendale Educational Foundation President John Sadd, and other business and community leaders.
WHERE: Glenoaks Elementary School, 2015 East Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale, CA 91206
WHY: As budget negotiations continue in Sacramento, the voices of parents, business leaders and children's advocates supporting education must be heard in Sacramento.
State budget cuts threaten an entire generation of students. And that threatens California's future workforce, economy, and way of life. The Governor and legislators are considering cutting education funding by as much as $11 billion on top of $3 billion in cuts already absorbed by schools. In addition, funding manipulations and a potential spending cap would permanently secure California's place at the bottom of all states in what we invest in our students, on a per-pupil basis.
Our children in schools right now deserve better. The state must take a balanced approach to solving the budget crisis, one that includes more revenues to prevent deeper cuts to education and children's programs.
BE THERE TO SPEAK UP FOR CHILDREN
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
HOMELESS STUDENTS STILL STAYING IN SCHOOL
La Opinión, News Report By Yurina Rico, Translated by Suzanne Manneh, Posted: Feb 07, 2009 [from New American Media]
LOS ANGELES — It's been a month since Carla, who is 10 and in fifth grade, and her mother, Emilia Villalta, moved their beds into a friend’s garage in Panorama City. While Emilia looks for a permanent place to live, Carla continues to attend school.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) estimates that there are more than 12,000 students like Carla, who are classified as "homeless" because they have no permanent housing.
SCHOOL WATER SHUTOFF
LOS ANGELES -- It now appears the water at some Los Angeles schools is much more contaminated with lead than anyone ever thought.
Recent tests done by the district shows that the water at some schools has dozens, even hundreds of times the amount of lead the government says is safe.
At Porter Middle School in Granada Hills, workers have turned off eight fountains and faucets, so students can't drink the water. Recent tests by the school district showed the water on one faucet had a lead level of 954 parts per billion. That's 63 times the 15 parts per billion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is safe to drink.
At other schools, workers are shutting off the water in hallways, in classrooms and in cafeterias.
CALIFORNIA’S @ ROCK BOTTOM: If California wants its share of federal largesse, Sacramento had better get its act together, fast.
February 6, 2009 -- California is now the Wile E. Coyote of states. Our governor and lawmakers have dickered and dawdled all of us off a cliff, but we're trying desperately to resist the realization that there is no ground beneath us. Our legs are pumping and our eyes are on Obama administration stimulus packages and bailout money on the far, sunny slope, and we might just reach them if we don't acknowledge that the bridge is out, or that we've run off the road, or that our Acme wings have failed. Once we notice that we're hanging in midair, we'll fall.
STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DELIVERS DIRE MESSAGE TO LOCAL OFFICIALS + STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT RALLIES SCHOOL LEADERS TO OPPOSE CUTS
State schools chief delivers dire message to local officials
5 Feb 2009 - PASADENA - Saying the public school system is in a "precarious state," California's chief or public education Wednesday urged area school leaders to consider asking property owners for help.
Speaking at a town hall meeting, dubbed "Save Our Schools," in Pasadena, state Superintendent of Public Education Jack O'Connell said parcel taxes, which must be approved by voters, might be the solution to cover local school budget shortfalls.
"More school districts are now looking at parcel taxes. Voters should be given the option of approving parcel taxes to pass to fund schools," O'Connell told about 20 20 local superintendents and school board members who met at McKinley School.
LAUSD SELLS NEARLY $1 BILLION IN BONDS, DESPITE STATE’S WOES
One day after California's credit rating fell to the lowest of any state, investors on Wednesday stepped up to buy $950 million of tax-free bonds from the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The sale suggests that demand for municipal securities remains relatively healthy, even for debt of issuers that could be adversely affected by California’s budget woes.
The voter-approved LAUSD bonds, which will finance school building projects, were sold in terms from one to 25 years. The annualized tax-free yield on the five-year issue was about 2.69%. The 10-year bond's yield was about 3.84%.
ARNE DUNCAN: 'Educate Our Way To A Better Economy'
All Things Considered, February 4, 2009 • As news broke Tuesday that Tom Daschle was withdrawing his bid to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, another one of President Obama's Cabinet picks was quietly at work.
The new secretary of education, Arne Duncan, was visiting a charter school in Washington, D.C., with the president and first lady. More school visits are in Duncan's future, but his focus now is on the economic stimulus package — and the $140 billion currently slated for schools.
GIANT MANHATTAN SCHOOL TO BE BROKEN UP TO FURTHER SMALLER-IS-BETTER POLICY
smf notes that in NYC, a High School of 2,251 students is a “behemoth” . In LAUSD a school of that size might be considered “optimal” – or (with tempered sarcasm) a possible host for Prop 39 charter co-location.
February 3, 2009 -- Louis D. Brandeis High School, an Upper West Side behemoth that takes in some of the city’s most disadvantaged students and has struggled year after year to bump up test scores and graduation rates, will be closed and replaced by three new small schools, the Department of Education announced on Tuesday.
MOM RESISTS VOLUNTEERING AT SON’S SCHOOL — UNTIL SHE TALKS TO THE PTA PRESIDENT
I didn't want to volunteer at my son's school.
There, I said it. I didn't mean forever, just not right then. With my son having recently started kindergarten and his little brother in preschool three mornings of the week, I had visions of free time in my head. But then my head was full of guilt. I felt like a draft dodger keeping a low profile in order to avoid the government, aka the PTA.
EMERGENCY AID MAY NOT STOP LAYOFFS OF TEACHERS
FEBRUARY 4, 2009 - School districts across the country say an emergency federal aid package pending in Congress will go a long way toward averting teacher layoffs, but hasn't eliminated worries over the potential damage to education from the current economic slump.
Public schools and colleges would get up to $140 billion under the $819 billion economic stimulus plan passed by the U.S. House last week, with $79 billion largely designated to avoiding teacher layoffs at schools and colleges.
But some districts have already pared teachers amid the decline in state aid and tax revenues, while others say layoffs will be necessary regardless of whether the education package clears the Senate and is enacted.
Schools Chief: CALIFORNIA EDUCATION SYSTEM ‘PRECARIOUS’
02/03/2009 --SACRAMENTO—Warning that its public schools are in a "precarious" state, California's top education official on Tuesday called for more money even as lawmakers were considering billions of dollars in cuts to help address the state's massive budget deficit.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said California's system of funding education, in which money is directed at dozens of specialized programs enshrined over decades, isn't working.
"The state of public education in California is precarious," he said during his annual state of education address. "Beyond the immediate crisis, and even more alarming to me, is the long-term future of our common education system."
Dumb Board of Ed Tricks: SCHOOL BOARD SWEARS OFF A ‘PROFANE” NOVEL
February 4, 2009 -- A Stanislaus County school board banned a celebrated but controversial piece of Chicano literature from its high school classrooms this week because trustees and the superintendent believe "Bless Me, Ultima" contains too much profanity.
The Newman Crows Landing Board of Education voted 4 to 1 Monday night to strip the coming-of-age novel by Rudolfo Anaya from the sophomore required reading list at Orestimba High School. The district review of the book was prompted by a parent's complaint last year that it was "anti-Catholic" and sexually explicit.
IT’S TOO EASY TO AMEND CALIFORNIA’S CONSTITUTION
The Proposition 8 battle showed that the process to get an initiative amendment on the state ballot should be more rigorous.
February 4, 2009 -- Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage unleashed a storm of controversy that has moved to the state Supreme Court. The cases filed there grapple with, among other issues, the fact that the measure isn't just a garden-variety statute passed by the people but an addition to the state Constitution. Amid all the other debates caused by Proposition 8, we need to open one more: Does California make it too easy to amend its Constitution?
CALIFORNIA BOND RATING DROPS LOWER THAN ANY OTHER STATE’S
Standard and Poor's cites the budget impasse and near-empty treasury. Meanwhile, interest groups show growing resistance to possible compromises by legislators on labor issues and taxes.
LAUSD GOAL: $1 BILLION IN U.S. FUNDS
02/04/2009 -- Los Angeles Unified School District officials are confident a little help from paid Washington, D.C., lobbyists and a few personal appeals to U.S. congressmen and -women can secure the school district $1billion in federal stimulus money.
The money will balance the district's budget, which is expected to be slashed by nearly the same amount this school year due to dwindling state resources.
"We have a president who understands we have to invest at home in education," said LAUSD Board of Education member Yolie Flores Aguilar. "All eyes are on D.C. as we've lost hope for funds from the state."
$19.5 MILLION NEEDED FOR SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM
Op-Ed by Jack O'Connell & Tom Torlakson | San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, January 30, 2009 - Even in our nation's darkest hours, we have worked to make sure every child has enough to eat. That's why during the Great Depression visionaries instituted the school meal program that has helped to feed our neediest children, generation after generation.
But today, as more and more hungry children turn to the school lunch program for their only meal of the day, California's program is in danger of collapse. We must act quickly.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: The federal stimulus package should serve as an impetus to state legislators to fully fund the education system.
uesday, February 3, 2009 - Year in and year out, the fate awaiting California's education system has been the same-cut after cut after cut. State legislators, though alleged believers in education as the greatest investment for the future, have yet to demonstrate that belief with adequate state funding.
Last week, the federal government acted on that belief when the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Obama's $819 billion stimulus package, a much-needed jolt designed to create jobs.
The package could translate into millions of dollars for California's public schools and higher education systems, the University of California and the California State University.
LAUSD BOND SALES: Munis Slightly Firmer in Afternoon Trade
STIMULUS. CIRRUS. CUMULO NIMBUS II: Sometimes you do need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows!
Below is a document prepared by the Congressional Research Service which estimates the amount of education funding that each school district will receive from certain aspects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill.
Specifically, this document estimates what each school district in California would receive under the bill’s program allocations (not including the $79 billion State Stabilization Fund) for Title I ($11 billion), IDEA ($13 billion), and K-12 School Modernization ($14 billion) over FYs 2009 and 2010.
EVENTS: Coming up next week + Save the Date
School Board Member Marlene Canter
and The League of Women Voters of Los Angeles
present
TWO CANDIDATE FORUMS
with LAUSD DISTRICT 4 SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
MIKE STRYER
Teacher, Fairfax High School
and
STEVE ZIMMER
Teacher, Marshall High School
MONDAY FEB 9
Woodland Hills Academy
20800 Burbank Blvd
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
7:00 – 8:30 pm
WEDNESDAY FEB 11
University High School
11800 Texas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90025
7:00 – 8:30 pm
and / save the date
PTA HEALTH FAIR - Saturday Feb 21, 2009
Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA
&
Tenth Street Ready for School Resource Center
Invite you to a
Free Dental and Vision Screening for Adults and Children
Resources on: Oral Health, Nutrition, Developmental Screenings,
Learning Activities, Health Insurance, & Much More!
Tenth District PTSA
1000 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213 745-7114)
Saturday, February 21st
9:30A.M.-1:00P.M
________________________________________
• 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
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.
| |  |
| Scott Folsom is a 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 has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools.
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